T Minus 4 Days

It’s now thirteen and a half months since I left Manchester for Florence, and only four days remain of my year abroad. I know I keep saying how unbelievably fast the time has gone, but it’s hitting me more than ever now.

I’m very pleased to say that Trento has only gotten better as the semester has gone on. I’ve done all my exams now and got the results back. Being honest, I was pleasantly surprised with them. Considering how worried I’ve been about my Italian, my lecturers clearly thought I was doing something right, because my grades have been higher here than they have ever been in Bath. Which is strange considering the extent of my new found laissez-faire attitude towards studying; the Italian way of life is sinking in!

Straight after my last exam, I headed back to Alderley for just over two weeks; a very important two weeks for the Lucas family. The first week my wonderful parents celebrated their 25^th wedding anniversary (my Mum is still demanding that somebody award her with some sort of medal) and in the second week my Dad turned 50. Of course, in true Lucas style, both events involved great company, a shed load of my parents’ amazing cooking (centerpieces can be seen above), and crate upon crate of booze. It was great catching up with family and friends after not seeing them for so long, and we managed to get all the family together for the anniversary celebrations; not an easy feat to accomplish. Also I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that got involved with our master plan present for my parents, they absolutely loved it and there were even a few tears. Photos to follow in the coming weeks, when I’m no longer surviving on minimal internet.

Wimbledon

Wicked!

Aside from that, it was great catching up with y’all over those two weeks. A huge shout out has to go to the Pasquale family though, for surprising me with tickets to see Wicked! as an early birthday present. A cheeky Nando’s was even thrown in just before the show. My idea of a perfect evening! Not going to lie, I shamelessly broke down during Defying Gravity. It was a brilliant cast and if there is anyone out there that hasn’t yet seen it, I would highly recommend it. It’s not just for hardcore musical goers like me; it’s really funny too. Plus you can get theatre ice cream pots during the interval; what’s not to love? Thank you so much Em!

Maybe the weirdest thing that happened during my time at home was a realisation that I had when I went to watch the Minions movie with friends. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I had an epiphany, but it wasn't far off. Try not to judge me, the logic works out: I found myself laughing at certain points in the film when others weren’t. At around the halfway point of the film, I realised why this was. I remember someone saying once that the minion language is a mix of Italian, French and certain words from various other languages. So there I was, watching a children’s film, understanding the total nonsense that is minion speak. I wasn’t sure how to feel really. It’s certainly not one to write on the CV, and I tried telling my Mum that I had understood minion language, but she clearly thought I’d just been out drinking all afternoon and had lied about going to the cinema.

So following an eventful few weeks up north, I headed back to Italy two weeks ago today with the fantastic Miss Charlotte Hoare (soon to be Mrs Charlotte Wells!) for a week of frivolity, shenanigans and general troublemaking on our first international endeavour together. We managed to get quite a lot done; we went twice to Lake Garda for a fun filled time of cable car trips and lakeside drinking, and the day before Lotty headed home we hit Venice, where we met my exchange partner Paolo, who helped us to see Venice through the eyes of a local. All in all that was a hilarious day, and I’ve come to realise that no matter what language I’m speaking, I will always be the target of (relatively) friendly abuse. It’s quite a thing to witness when two of your good friends, despite language barriers and no prior contact, can communicate rather smoothly through mockery of their mutual friend. We had a great day, mainly involving pizza and a ridiculous sun hat. Wine was a helpful addition for a day of serious translation too, unlike me but most enjoyable. There's nowhere quite like Venice, and I couldn't have asked for two better compadres to spend a day with there!

Dan's a lucky man!

Rialto from our gondola

The day after Lotty went back to old Blighty, my oldest and wackiest friend Laura came to stay for four nights. And I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone to be so enthusiastic in the space of such a short holiday! This made me really happy, however, as I realised that her reactions mirrored my own from the first time I’d seen certain places, Venice in particular. Several highlights from my four days with Laura include running away from a man snorting cocaine in a park in Bolzano, asking a gondolier to row us through Venice avoiding the sun as much as possible (hence the purchase of a parasol, don't judge me), and drinking as many Ugos as we could possibly afford/stomach. Plus, I’ve finally found someone who appreciates a good Grom as much as I do. Again, thanks for coming Laura, always a pleasure and I don’t think I’ve laughed so much for a while! I’ve also never met anyone who is so unfazed by language barriers and can communicate mainly through the art of mime. Impressive.

The only way to travel

Venezia, ti amo!

And finally, Wednesday saw the final year abroad reunion of Georgeganor (Georgie, Megan and Eleanor, it took us forever to work that one out). As you can probably guess, we went to Lake Garda, our new favourite place, and we also headed to Verona to have a proper look around. We hit the sightseeing bus and several shops including the Disney store; a winning combination for my last day trip of the year abroad. Els and Megan headed to Siena today for a couple of days of relaxation in the rolling Tuscan hills, but I’ve come to realise that I have a lot more to sort out than I thought I did before my departure, so I’ve stayed in Trento to sort my life out and enjoy the mountain views whilst I still can. I’m also mentally preparing myself for some serious post-year abroad reverse culture shock (it’s a thing, honest!).

An Erasmus student walks into a doctor’s surgery…

Sounds like the start of a bad joke, right? Not far off. The day before I came back to Italy, I had to go to A&E having dropped a hefty wine bottle on my feet. So, having spent all afternoon of that day being told off by various Northerners for wasting alcohol in such a frivolous manner, I returned to Italy with stitched up feet, feeling quite apprehensive about having to negotiate healthcare issues in Italian. Somehow I managed to come out the other side unscathed. But my God, going to the doctor here really makes you appreciate both the NHS and British etiquette in day-to-day situations. Turning up at the doctor the first time, I was a bit worried that I would mistranslate and that he would amputate my leg. That didn’t happen, the doctor was lovely and all of my limbs have remained intact. I did become quite concerned, however, when he was having a look at my injuries, took off all my various bandages and dressings and then announced that he didn’t have any new ones that he could give me so I would have to go and find some from somewhere else. I say again, a DOCTOR said this. And this is where being a hypochondriac really comes in useful; I then pulled out a full medical kit with various bandages, elastoplasts and antiseptic creams. It actually took the doctor a moment to decide which one to use. He was both impressed and bemused at how prepared I was.

And then when I went back the following week, I had to fight people to get in to see the doctor. I’ve never known anything like it. I can’t wait to get home and queue. There, I said it!

Italian men

Now, I don’t wish to generalize, but over the last week I have had more attention from the opposite sex than I have had possibly ever, and there's only one possible explanation for this; all of the blokes involved were Italian...

Exhibit A: a man on the train started quite a nice conversation with me. After no more than two minutes, he said, “So, English, we make the sex now in the bathroom?” When I laughed at this, he looked at me quizzically, clearly not understanding why I wasn’t taking him seriously. I proceeded to bolt to the other end of the train, which was out of air con (desperate times), and hid under my oversized floppy hat in case he came looking. 

Exhibit B: On the train back from Bolzano with Laura, having just legged it away from a cocaine den in the middle of a park, we relaxed thinking we were out of trouble. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire; a guy came and sat next to us and for some reason chose to try and chat me up instead of Laura (already you know he is visually impaired), and kept asking me to meet him for a drink and to give him all my details, be it Facebook or phone number. So if anyone asks, I deactivated Facebook and lost my phone. He was ridiculously persistent, so I think he was probably drunk.

Exhibit C: Today, walking through Trento, a man stopped me walking through town to shimmy in my face, saying “che bellissima.”

What we can conclude from the above evidence: it doesn’t matter who you are or what you look like; as long as you're breathing and you get your legs out, you've got a shot in Italy. There is hope for me yet, watch this space! 



If anyone needs me over the coming days, you will find me gorging myself on pasta and proper coffee whilst I still can, or staring wistfully at the mountains surrounding Trento. Don't worry yet though, I imagine there will be some more blogging to come in the coming weeks. I'm going to milk this for all it's worth whilst my life remains relatively interesting before the hell of finals begins.

A presto peeps.

G x

20 Things That I’ve Learnt From My Semester in Italy So Far

    1)   When something negative is said against the English it’s a fact, not an opinion.

2)   Pasta will never be the same again 

3)   Neither will coffee

4)   Or gelato (I could go on)

5)   Italians are every bit as nice as you’ve heard

6)   It’s a wonder that anything gets done with Italian bureaucracy. One document took 4 weeks to be signed and was sent to four different people.

7)   Sometimes, Italy can feel about 10 years behind everywhere else (no Wi-Fi in halls).

8)   If you want to be considered a freak by the locals, go ahead and order a cappuccino after 10.30am. Or eat pasta for dinner.

9)    Roads should be avoided after 12pm until 7am, due to the lack of functioning traffic lights.

10)                The Erasmus grant is not generous enough. I will never be able to go everywhere I want to in Italy.

11)                Gocciole are the food of the devil.

12)                Public transport is surprisingly efficient. Trains arrive early here.

13)                When Italians say ‘mild weather’ they mean 30°. When you hear that, buy some sun cream and get your sunnies out.

14)                Electricians will come to your room if you have a problem, but they won’t fix anything. They use your toilet and dance around to Jess Glynne instead.

15)                No camera will ever do the views justice

16)                You don’t speak Italian until you learn to gesticulate properly.

17)                Hopefully a bit more of the Italian language.

18)                Finals look even more depressing now.

19) I'm never going to want to leave.

20)                Without wanting to sound like every other Erasmus student that's ever been before me, this year has been the best of my life so far. Masters abroad anyone?

Italy 2.0

Ciao amici! Rather unbelievably, I’m now writing to you all from my third and final year abroad destination; Trento, a city hidden in the depths of Northern Italy.

To all the haters whose faces fell when I told you I was coming to this part of Italy, the joke is on you my friends. I’m 40 minutes away from Lake Garda in the car, less than an hour from Verona on the train, two hours from Venice, and an hour from Austria. I can be in Rome in three hours on the train and can get other direct trains to Munich, Florence, Bologna and Naples. So HA. 

The city itself isn’t at all what I was expecting. I’m not really sure what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. It’s a beautiful place, its so clean and everything is very grand and surrounded by mountains, which, let’s face it, makes everything better. When I first arrived I was concerned that I would freeze to death, but in the week that I wasn’t here, things warmed up considerably- by nearly 15 degrees in fact. It’s almost too warm to wear a coat in the mornings, but the mountains mean that after around 2.30 in the afternoon the temperature suddenly drops. I’m so glad I brought my thermals with me because to begin with we spent most of our time in the clouds.

So, first impressions. I think I’m going to have to make a considerable effort to speak Italian here. It seems to me that Trento is the go-to university for Italian students who want to study English. The majority of the lectures here are taught in English, which makes life quite difficult. And people that I’ve met who are just starting their second semester here haven’t spoken any Italian because they haven’t needed to. So, looks like I’m going to have to be as keen as I was in Aix! So far that hasn’t been a problem. I’ve found two tandem partners and I’m going to au pair every Friday (hopefully!) so I should be doing around the same amount of extras that I was last semester. You also get many more hours for your ECTS credits here. But I was determined to keep the four day weekend for travelling, which means my 18 hours a week are packed in from Monday to Wednesday. So if I go incommunicado on those days, it’s because I’m probably in some kind of Italian induced coma.

My modules all take place in the sociology department, and include studying theories of European integration, the formation of international organisations and their true purposes, and political science.  Lectures so far, all conducted in Italian, are going a lot better than I expected because I actually understand what’s happening. And in sharp contrast to France, whenever England is mentioned it’s in an amicable way and depending on whether the lecturer has caught on to my nationality, I often get a smile whenever my country is mentioned. Problem is, I think the next stage of this is being asked questions relating to our political system or Eurosceptic views, rather than nodding in confirmation to the lecturers’ statements. I’m going to have to brush up on the difference between the House of Lords and the House of Commons or things could get embarrassing.

Accommodation. Let’s just say that I knew that I didn’t go through the trauma of Eastwood for nothing and that I would be rewarded in some way eventually. Halls are great. I’ve met lots of great people, from all over the world- Vietnam, Russia, Hungary, Thailand, Germany- and, of course, many Italian students who have offered to correct me whenever I make a mistake. Everyone is really friendly, we have a cleaner that comes in EVERY DAY and I have a stonking great mountain greeting me when I open my curtains every day. It won’t be hard to believe that every morning of the first week all I wanted to do was throw my curtains open, leap out on to my balcony and start singing the opening number from the sound of music. I decided that this might have been slightly inappropriate, seeing as I share a balcony with an Italian guy who has no idea what he’s living next to.

Best part about accommodation so far has been our international eating experiences (obviously). Living with people from the Far East means that the kitchen is always full of amazing food. We even had an international dinner for which I made afternoon tea and cake- with pre made cakes. We have no oven and the hob takes 20 minutes to heat up, so I was rather restricted. I would have made a Yorkshire pudding and gravy but it wasn't going to happen without a magic wand. 

Culture Shock is even worse here; I have two countries to compare everything to now!

1)  Italians don’t use duvets. To all of you that will be snuggling down under duvets tonight, make sure you properly appreciate them. I have a top sheet and a blanket. It’s flabbergasting to me that I live in the mountains and duvets aren’t an option. Things have gotten so drastic that I’ve even contemplated whacking out the dreadful fleece onesie from M&S.  

2)  Italian food is great. This is common knowledge. Less recognised, however, is the incapacity of the Italians to make decent bread. The amount of times I’ve woken up wanting to stroll down to the boulangerie is overwhelming. This is what France has done to me. Never again will I take baked goods for granted. It’s not all bad though, seeing as we’ve found a curry house in the centre of Trento which more than makes up for the lack of baguettes.

3)  Here’s one that is just downright concerning; after 1am, traffic lights in this part of Italy are switched off. OFF. This means that late night road safety is left to the average Italian driver. Crossing roads in the early hours of the morning is treacherous. The Jaws music is playing in your mind, just waiting for a vehicle to appear out of nowhere and mow you down. You’ve got to laugh though, because Italian driving is every bit as reckless as they tell you. I was in a taxi yesterday and the driver was doing 140 kmh on a busy motorway. And he wasn’t even overtaking anyone…

4)  In Trento there is a rather unorthodox method of letting the locals know when it’s midday. Picture this if you will: first week of the intensive language course, Megan and I were sat blissfully unaware enjoying the glorious weather in the main piazza, tramezzino in hand, having a great time. Suddenly, an air raid siren goes off at earsplitting volume. I jump straight up off my bench and immediately look for somewhere to take cover, ready to shepherd the locals to safety. I was the only person in the piazza to do so. Can they not just use a clock tower? Seriously. I don’t need any other opportunities to look stupid (please see final section, it’s a corker).

Aside from this, I’ve been cruising around Italy over the last few months with my main girl Megan. So far we've visited Verona and Venice. Verona is really lovely, not as big as I thought but full of lovely buildings, Fiat 500s and lively piazzas. It is, of course, better known for its affiliations with Romeo and Juliet. Visiting Juliet’s balcony was really great. The walls of the courtyard are absolutely covered in post-it notes and heart shaped locks, and they have Michael Buble playing on the overhead speakers. Of course, as soon as I walked in to the courtyard, the lyrics “I just haven’t met you yet” blared out. It’s cool though, I had a word with Juliet and she’s going to sort things out for me. Reading some of the messages was surprisingly emotional, for several reasons. Firstly because there are so many lovely happy messages, which are both poetic and cheesy. Secondly because there are people who post letters to loved ones who have passed away or who have not yet appeared. And thirdly because there are people that leave notes to 5SOS and One Direction there- when I say emotional, I’m including disgust. I’m ashamed to say that after visiting the courtyard, we unexpectedly stumbled upon a significant Roman arena- just goes to show how aware I am of my cultural surroundings. So Verona- well worth a visit!

Venice was a step up from Verona though, as was to be expected. I was like a child on the train there, mainly because the seats were divided up into carriages just like the Hogwarts Express, but also because I get very excited visiting places I’ve never been before! We got there in the cold and the rain, and it took us over an hour to walk to our hotel which wasn’t great, but it was well worth it. The hotel was right on a canal very popular with local gondoliers and every morning we were woken up by velvety tones of O Sole Mio and the occasional accompanying accordion.  We went up the campanile (the Venetians thought ahead and installed a lift) hopped on and off boats, and even went and had a Bellini at Harry’s Bar, which was a complete rip off but justifiable as an important cultural experience. Venice can't really be explained- no words or pictures do it justice!

Language Blunder

I’ve missed sharing my shame. And I don’t know how, but I’ve managed to outdo myself once again. I didn’t think it could get much worse than being a creepy diner, but my language skills have recently led to me partaking in criminal activity.

Last week, Megan and I went to our favourite restaurant (well, not anymore!) for some lunch. At the end of our meal, the boss of the restaurant, who is usually always present, had popped outside for a smoke, so we went up to the till to pay and the very young waiter said to us that we didn’t need to pay because we’re always there and they wanted us to spend our money doing other nice things around Trento. I immediately thought that this was odd, but he insisted that we didn’t have to pay. As I walked out the door, he said, “No, really, you can go! Have a nice day!” Of course when we headed back there this week we were informed that he was kidding about giving loyal customers free food and that we had broken the law. Awkward is an understatement. Seriously though, why would you joke with English people who look at you blankly every time you speak to them at speed in Italian? Do the math buddy. I reckon the boss just told him off, but it meant that we had to fork out for two meals when we went back. We won’t be going back there in a hurry!

So all in all, things are pretty fantastic. This year abroad business is excellent. Just a shame that it's not long before I head back to England. So I'm going to continue making the most of my time on the continent and therefore gloating about it online. Until next time!