The Last Days

So, welcome to my blog.

Over the next six months, I'll be writing about the various experiences I will be having in good ol' Italia. For those of you who don't know, I will be in Bologna from August 19th-January 31st, taking class at the University of Bologna in Italian.

(Fun fact: Dante went to school there).

I will be living in an apartment just 6 minutes down the road from the University :) 

I'm trying to keep an open mind about everything and not trying to have tooo many expectations, but all in all -- this is the moment where I will finally get to fully immerse myself in a culture.

But let's be real here... I would be lying if I told you I'm completely worry free.

Just hours before this post, I was finishing up packing. I was going through my check list when the next item on my list was an alarm clock. I took out the battery to my alarm clock, and time stopped. With Bon Iver playing in the background (thanks Calgary and Stacks), everything hit me.

Calgary:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd-N6wo8Cwk 
Stacks:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6rAmBt8xPs 

I envied that time stopped on the clock, but time was actually still moving forward.

The past few months I've been blinded by how scared I am of leaving, and haven't been able to really accept how amazing this experience is going to be. I'm sure you're wondering why I'd be scared, I'm going to freaking Italy for f-sake.

But, yet again, let's be real here... I don't always handle change well. 

Luckily, I have some pretty freaking amazing people in my life, and someone was able to shake me and knock some sense into me. They reminded me that in the future, I want a job where I will be traveling frequently, and will sometimes be completely alone. Thus, Italy will just be a test run that will help me be more capable of achieving my goals.

End result: I feel much, MUCH better.
Reality: I will still probably cry at the airport on Saturday: sorry I'm not sorry.

For now, I just know that I'll be in an apartment (room number unknown) at Via Zamboni 5, with 4 roommates (still unknown), I will be studying in Italian, I have a suitcase that probably weighs over 60 pounds, and I'm leaving Saturday morning.

I won't have a phone after Friday night, so skype me, facebook me, and stay tuned for my room number so you can send some snail mail.

My skype is: olivia.giavanna

I love you all, cheers to the last days here, and stay tuned for more news.

PS: Let's all hope my experience is just as good as this:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc0d510zTA4&playnext=1&list=PL8909F64238EF25A5&feature=results_video