Scratching the Surface

6th - 8th October 2016

Today a lady at the bus stop struck up a conversation with me. And by conversation, I just mean an exchange of minute information since it was mostly in Italian.

She first said that it was quite cold (FREDDO), after all, it was 9 degrees, anyone can understand that without knowing the word 'FREDDO" itself. I have realised that when it comes to communication, we sometimes feel that it is just words but there is so much more; body language, expressions, context of social situations, tone of voice and some knowledge of the way sounds are put together (vaguely) in that language. I feel that these are necessary to understand most of the situations that require immediate action; conversation is a completely different issue altogether.

As mentioned earlier, when the lady asked me "PRIMO ANNO" I knew that she was asking if I was in my first year. I simply replied in the affirmative. A funny thing happened here though (thankfully I was not misunderstood), I wanted to say that I liked her jacket so I said "MI PIACERE" and signaled to her jacket. It was only later that I realised that I was supposed to say "MI PIACE" (I like). I had in fact told her that 'it was nice to meet you' instead of 'I like that'. I consoled myself by telling myself that I didn't say "MI PIACI" (I like you; romantically) at least!; that has far too many consequences.

She seemed to understand what I was trying to say so I guess that it all worked out in the end. I realised that I knew some Italian words. It is only when we are put into unexpected situations that we come to understand ourselves even better. I also realised that many Italian words sound very similar to English words but they are spelled in unrecognisable ways sometimes.

(^__^)

There is a 6 minute delay at the bus station after mine. I think that it serves two purposes, one to catch up if the driver is late and the other simply because the bus driver needs a break (last stop in the line up the hill and then he starts going down the hill again). I find this quite interesting, it is a buffer time in a way.

I tried to use a printing card machine. Basically, you pay 10 EUR and get a card that gives you credit to use at the printer. The problem is that machines speak only in money and humans speak in words. As expected, after looking at the machine and understanding what the Italian said, I still didn't know what to do. It is now that I used my Italian helpline and asked an Italian who was nearby. Thankfully she knew English and explained the machine to me. Thank you dear Italian!

I found anime otakus! For those who don't know it is a term used for people who love Japanese animated series (Like Death Note and Fullmetal Alchemist). I am a fan and I found some Italians classmates who are also fans! I love that people can find common likes among people in completely different geographical locations (it proves to me that we are all in fact, just human).

(^__^)

There was a traffic jam at 7:30 AM. I guess that school is the main reason since my bus was packed with students as well. While we were stuck in the jam, I heard the students speaking and it was quite surprising to hear English words mixed into their conversation. I heard "Ah Okay" quite often, apart from "Easy peasy" (hilarious right?) and "Oh shit!" (of course, what is school without that!)

I appreciate that the students here are taught at a young age (10 maybe?) that they can take public transport by themselves. Independence is a powerful thing, it is only when you rely on yourself do you truly grow as a person I think.

(^__^)

Today was my Immigration Office appointment as directed to me by the Post Office (POSTE ITALIANE).

This was the first time that I came face to face with Italian security. To be honest, I was apprehensive. I felt like they had the power to evict me from Italy if I didn't 'act the way I was supposed to'.

Nonetheless, it was much calmer than I expected it to be. There were people from the university to help us to communicate with the officials and we only had to submit some documents and sign some forms. After this, they told us to wait to give our fingerprints. For some reason they took palm prints as well (maybe they are more advanced in palmistry than we thought?). I feel like Italy knows more than my home country when it comes to this data (they even know my height now! I didn't know it myself!)

A friend of mine had his appointment on the same day and by some grand culmination of errors, had a different number assigned to the stay permit process as compared to mine (every process has a particular number assigned, stay permit for student is a particular number). This error led to him being asked "Do you have a son?". He was clearly dumbfounded by this question since he didn't have a son (that he knew of :P). The number that happened to be assigned to him (by mistake), was a number for a stay permit of an adult and a son. It was quite a hilarious moment in hindsight but quite a serious blunder on the part of the Post Office. Thankfully, they were able to admit their mistake and therefore my friend didn't need a son to have the stay permit (unless they allowed him to wait a few months :P).

An important part of the stay permit process was to sign an "Integration Form". This 'contract' basically asked us to try to integrate ourselves into the Italian society and to study Italian till A2 level in a certain amount of time. Although I have been told that this form is now outdated and unnecessary to follow (by law it is deemed unnecessary to follow through the clauses of the contract), I found this to be quite intriguing. I would love to find a way to integrate into another culture/society. But I know that there are many who would not even consider this proposal. In many circles I find that people who come from different countries stick to the way of their country (like the way of a ninja) and do not 'adjust' or adapt their lifestyle to the place they inhabit. This can give rise to rebellion quite easily if the percentage of people is just right. Therefore, I feel that more countries should have an "Integration Form" to make living better for each country as a whole.

Dark - 65% Light 35% = secret to a beautiful life?

GER+ITA+English = GEngLian

I happened to find myself in a German-Italian tandem. One friend wanted to learn more Italian (spoke German) and the other wanted to learn more German (spoke Italian). And then there was me (bits of German and no working knowledge of Italian). It was enlightening if anything, I could grasp some German but the Italian flew right through me. This is what it feels to really be left out (not that I complained really). We did speak in English sometimes (mostly since I gave them blank stares). Nonetheless, I had a lot of fun because this was a new experience!

Did Bubbles come to life and grow up? (Powerpuff Girls)

Dakgalbi

My friends and I decided to make a spicy Korean dish named 'Dakgalbi'. This dish has cabbage, chicken and ricey cylindrical things. It was delicious! The funny thing is that none of us were Korean. USA, Mexico, Czech Republic, India and Vietnam was represented on the table as we ate. That's the thing about international studies, you meet the whole world and you just want to learn more and more about the world. I love this!

Tempting house made of candy

ITALIAN WORDS (that I realised I knew)

TRE SETTIMANA (three weeks; since I joined uni)
VIOLA - violet (pronounced we-oh-la)
difficile - difficult (pronounced dee-fee-chee-lay)
AUTOBUS - bus
PEDALI - by foot or using feet (walking by foot)

[After my unfortunate choice of 'first picture' in my last post, I have decided to pay a little more attention to the order of my pictures :P I hope that you weren't scarred for life! Thank you for reading! A DOPO (see you later!) EDIT: changed the month from September]