Week of Oct 6 - Oct 12

I am once again behind again! I am not very good at keeping up with my blog, but I really want to because I know I'll regret it if I don't and I want to…I just get more and more behind and then…before you know it it’s October 28 and I’m trying to remember what I did on October 6. But anyways, it’s better than nothing so here goes…

Monday…Hmm…ah yes, Joy was still in Paris! I had work and class…Haha oh and yes worked on my blog…good work Sam…

**sidenote: I just opened a bag of Halloween peanut candy things…and emptied out a few and put the rest of the bag back…why did I do that? Am I kidding? Its just me in my room…and I know I’m going to finish the rest of them and I’m not sure why I pretended otherwise by putting them back… I have now reopened the bag**

Tuesday had class and work all day. Today I ran errands all day…or at least so it says in my planner because honestly I don’t remember really which defeats the point of me writing a blog. Hmm. Jane brought fudge into work today from England! I remember that! Haha…and Joy brought it delicious little pastries for Ilaria since she left…yummm…

After work I went over to Marcela’s and we made Risotto!! Katie taught us how to make it…and by taught us I mean, I started drinking and taking photographs while Katie suggested maybe I stir the Risotto before it burns J I love cooking…ha. Anyway, it was for our “cooking class.” Which isn’t exactly a cooking class yet…however we are actually cooking tomorrow!! Yess…(Oct 30 that is). So, yes, Risotto, turned out well, I was impressed. I will also be even more impressed if I can ever make that on my own/figure out how we got from rice and cheese to delicious. Ooh and I made decent Banana bread tonight…Success.

Wednesday I had off work! These days turn into “errands” days since I have free time during the day. I attempted to do my laundry I recall, but that didn’t go so well since they laundry machine broke. “When will it be fixed” I asked the doorman. “Ooh, maybe today, maybe tomorrow…this week…we’ll see.” “Oh ok, brilliant.” Italy. SO…I hit the gym and worked on my blog (as my journal says? I do not remember this…my God my memory is appalling). Off to class! After class Katie, Rachel, and I went to Aperitivo at Cheese…so delicious. We got drinks…and some more drinks after careful consideration…and chatted. I got home, packed for London and stayed up unreasonably late watching Gossip Girl…I admit I have a problem. I think I’m flirting with addiction. I'm aware.

Thursday we had our fiel trip in Busn class. We went to Mila Shoen and Rachel and I ditched out on the second exhibit to get lunch instead. Brilliant idea. I had a yummy tuna salad at my favorite Bar across the street from class, and I’ve figured out that it’s called Bar Spuntino. Then I headed to work, with my bag for the UK…

I decided to go to London a bit randomly, all my friend were going out of town and I realized I didn’t want to spend the weekend doing nothing by myself. Don’t get me wrong. I love being in Milan. But, I just thought it’d be a good opportunity to visit Grandma/Granddad since everyone else would be gone as well!

After Work: YAY LONDON!! My flight was ok…this horrible Italian woman had her knee in the back of my chair the entire flight. Yes. The entire flight. Pleasant. But, I got there eventually! Uncle Pete and Auntie Deb picked me up and took me over to Grandma and Granddads. We had some tea (divine…oh the wonders that tea does work) and chatted then I hit the hay, before my Grandparents, obviously.

Friday Grandma made me an English breakfast! It was so yummy, we had eggs, bacon, tomatoes and toast J I haven’t had eggs for breakfast in way too long. Croissants…I will forever be haunted by croissants. “Brioche.” I took a shower…oh Grandma’s shower…I don’t know how they aren’t fed up with that shower. It did make me giggle though. No one would believe me unless they saw it first hand…but its dripping water. Completely and honestly, its a leaky faucet. Ha, but it worked…in the end.

Then we played board games! Which was really fun! Although, possibly more fun for Granddad since I’m sure he purposely chose games he knew he’d win at. Although we all one once and that one game where you march your four little men around the board, only to be knocked off by a lurking Grandparent just as you reach home base! Then we played Sevens which I’d never played before. It’s a card game and It’s really fun. I caught onto that by the end too and ending up winning at least once I think…then we had a grandma bitty lunch! So yummy! We had rolls, cheese, min sausages, salad, tuna, crisps, chocolate, crackers, chutney, ham, bread, all things yummyyy…and to my delight, more tea. I love Grandmas.

Then we lounged around a bit and watched some TV, Trevor called a bit later and informed us we were going to Indian for dinner…only thing was is that we were all still quite full! But, we met Nick, Trevor, and Kyle for dinner and went to Trev’s afterwards to see Nick’s bed? Not really sure what that was about…but I think it had something to do with Kyle wanting us to come visit. Oh yes…haha Granddads car. It took at least four tries for Granddads car to start, which was highly amusing because the boys were standing there waving and laughing in the window the entire time and Granddad was making loud noises as usual. Haha…it was amusing to say the least.

Back at Grandma’s we watched some funny home videos and I came to the conclusion that I was a total weirdo and Rachel cried a lot. A lot. Ha, in almost every scene Rachel would end up in tears…sometimes I don’t even think she knew why. I on the other hand was on a completely different planet. I was usually found wandering around by myself talking to no one/nothing in particular (or myself? Impossible to know for sure) or irritating Rachel. Still two of my favorite pastimes. After some Ovaltine, I called it a night, again, well before my Grandparents

Saturday we had a light breakfast, which was still yummy: Cereal and toast, and tea J We hung about for a bit and Granddad and I had a lovely chit chat. I also discovered that the UK has “Deal or No Deal” but not the flashy, sexy, high tech, fancy, dramatic “Deal or No Deal” as I am familiar with in the US. No, this one was normal people and casual conversation. The set was pretty low budget and everyone was completely laid back wearing t-shirts and drinking tea. Ha, I found this really funny since the people in the US version, aren’t actually people but Blond Robots in miniskirts. Cultural differences are funny. Then we met the Randall’s at “The Old Jail” Pub for lunch…I had been told I must have the chicken skillet, and I was also told I needed to make up my mind by the time we got there so it could be ordered in advance since it was fresh and took a half hour to prepare. Well, after all this talk about a chicken skillet, I had but no other choice. And it was really yummy! Then we went to Coolings to visit and hopefully embarrass Edward. This was Grandma and Deb’s idea. Apparently, Edward doesn’t like it when Deb comes to visit since the last time she was there she dropped a big flower pot on the ground and Edward was forced to retreat, ha. I actually wish I could have been there for that! So anyway, after we felt like Edward had served his time, we went and looked around the garden center and had some tea and cakes in the tearoom. From there I headed straight to the airport wit Deb and Pete…which was a nightmare! There was an accident and it took much longer than it should’ve to get to the airport. But, I’d checked in online so it worked out ok.

At the airport…I bought too much candy as WH Smith…not in my opinion, but in the obvious opinion of the woman at the till…she must’ve thought I was mad…or obese. However, I have no same and walked off with my $18 worth of Cadbury goodies with pride.

Sunday I slept in until 12 or so. I got lunch and played ping-pong with Kristen and Ryan…Then I watched the Japanese GP in which Massa and Raikkonen made complete idiots of themselves by driving into walls and pulling out of the pit lane with the fuel pipe engaged…whopsie daisy Ferrari!

Week of Sept 29 - Oct 5

Ok, so in order to try and keep up with my blogging, I wrote this one on October 8 and am posting it now!

This was a pretty good week! I got sick during the middle which was a bit of a bummer…still am sick actually now that I think about it. Monday was our first day of classes! I had my IB 340 (Fashion/Busn) class and that went well…we took a tour to the Cattolica library. We are going to be doing a lot of “field studies” which will be interesting. The teacher is quite nice, just a bit hard to understand her accent sometimes. Side note…people are fascinating. Some people really ask the most bizarre and unnecessary questions. Just to be difficult? Ignorance? We’ll never know…

Then I had my cooking class with Marcela! So, we get into class and one of the first things our teacher says is, our chef “e’ morto…” He died. Eight days before our class…in a motorcycle accident. We were all a bit shell shocked really, I mean, what do you say to that? So, they’re looking for a new chef/cooking school we can use. For the meantime, we have take-home cooking assignments. Actually, Marcela and I are going to attempt a risotto tomorrow night! Hopefully, this goes better than my first attempt at baking… “Baking powder” is not easy to find in Italy…so one night Alison and I decided to just have a go with self rise flour. She made chocolate chip (aka M&Ms because chocolate chips are nonexistent) cookies and I made banana bread…and I threw in some M&Ms to prove I live on the wild side. Well, turns out baking powder is pretty important. Sure, my banana bread rose, about an inch. It was more of a banana brick really…the cookies turned out ok. But, you’ll be pleased to know we finally found some baking powder and this weekend (Saturday the 4^th) we tried again with cookies and were supremely successful.

Anyway, so after class on Monday I went straight to work which can be explained in detail at a later date…


Then I went over to Alison’s and we decided to go to the “girls” appt for dinner since Jocelyn was cooking and we really couldn’t turn that down. And good thing we didn’t because it was amazing, she made us pasta with salad AND Nutella crepes!! Heaven landed on my plate that night…and I ate it. At least three times.

Tuesday I had work again after Italian 200. After work I needed a walk, and gelato…so that’s what I did. I walked to the Duomo, got gelato and walked back to the IES center where I took the metro back. I can’t walk to where I live…since I’d have to cross a freeway to do that…It would be more funny if I was joking.

Wednesday is my free day! I had class in the morning and then picked up some groceries. I got Michael’s package today which was really nice. I had lunch at the Collegio and then headed back to the bar across from IES to meet Marcela and Alex to go over our “group hw” from our cooking class that is a bit lacking since we still don’t have a chef…My other class (the internship seminar) was canceled today because Ilaria was hospitalized! So, I came home, skyped with Dad, and headed over to Alison’s to try our hand at baking. Yes, this was our first attempt that didn’t go so well! But, we ate the cookies and got Pizza OK 5 for dinner (Oh! I also discovered last night there is a Pizza Ok 6?! By Marcela’s appt…random) Oh yes…this was also the evening we decided to book a trip to Prague on a whim! Which I am so pumped about…I’ve always wanted to go and I didn’t think I’d be able to, and now I am!! Yippie!

Thursday I had work again…everyone was in Paris so I worked on Editorials all day. Today was the day I started to get a bit sick…

Friday after class, Alison and I decided we weren’t doing anything so we should just walk around! So, we did! We walked all over, we took the tram to Duomo…oh that’s right! During class there was a strike outside and our teacher let us go upstairs and check it out. It was crazy! I wish I’d taken pictures. The entire street was crammed with high school kids protesting. There was loud music and banners and police in riot gear bringing up the rear! When we got back down stairs our teacher explained they were protesting a new political leader who wants to make some changes in Milan’s high schools. She said it was probably most of the high schools in Milan marching around and that they’d walk all over the city and end at the Duomo. She then looked a bit confused, and asked us if this was common in America too? Hmmm…not so much. It’s funny because she thought this was weird. She said people go on strike here all the time, its to be expected. Anyway…so Alison and I went to the Duomo to try and find them ha. But, we failed, so instead we went shopping! We walked down via Torino and had a really yummy lunch at Caffe Torino. We also walked down via Genova. I surprisingly did not buy anything! Which is good, because I am now on a budget of 45euro a week…which is actually going well this week! I’ve spent under 5 euro everyday (so far). Getting more sick…

Alison and I decided to make omelets for dinner! Ooh they were so good…we found the two story Esselunga and it was fantastic. The aisles were so wide we twirled around a couple times. I felt like skipping. Anyway, we wanted to make fruit salad and omelets…Alison insisted on getting a pineapple haha. Which actually turned out well! We bought some other bits and I went home for a bit.

When I came back I made kickass omelets and fruit salad! Then much later we went out with Marcela, Jocelyn, Julia, Hannah Duckett and Rachel. We decided to go to Karma…And we got there…eventually…it was pretty fun, we just danced for most of the night!

Saturday I slept in! I watched Gossip Girl all day and was feeling really crappy. Definitely sick at this point. Alison and I tried our hands at cookies again, and they turned out wonderfully because we had found baking powder!! Yippie! So we made those, and then FINALLY went to diner at the yummy looking restaurant by her house…called “Seafood and Pizza” I cannot remember the Italian word for seafood…but that’s what it is. It was sooo good. I had salmon pizza and Alison picked something random from the menu which turned out to be pizza with mussels and tomatoes ha. She ate most of it and then decided afterwards she doesn’t much care for mussels. Haha…so after our little date we went over to Marcela’s to drop off some cookies and then headed home to bed…because tomorrow is GARDALAND…

When I got home the Italians were having a Collegio party! They asked me to join, but I just went to sleep...

Sunday we were up at 8am to head off to Gardaland!! Yay!! Haha…Gardaland was awesome…everything was decked out in Halloween garb! There were 5 or so rollercoaster-ish rides and we saw a show…hahaha which was hilarious to say the least! It was called Halloween on Ice and was the most inappropriate children’s show I’ve ever seen. It started off alright. Dracula came out on ice skates…it was actually pretty cool! They did some awesome stunts, had some funny Italian Halloween songs…I was hoping they would do the “thriller dance” ..and they did!! Which was great…moonwalking on ice looks sweet. So we were enjoying ourselves when a scantily clad dance waltzes out onto the ice and attaches herself to a flying hoop. She then continues to perform racy stunts and sexually charged dance moves to Evanescense and an intense rock and roll song…just as we’re thinking this show isn’t really so G rated…things got weirder…The next ice skater comes out prancing and I realized I recognize the song theyre playing…that’s because its KATY PERRY’S I KISSED A GIRL AND I LIKED IT!! We couldn’t believe it! They played Katy Perry and a children’s ice skating show. I couldn’t stop laughing…I suppose no one there actually speaks English so it doesn’t matter…but WHAT?! This would never go down at Disney…What would Walt think?

Ha, another funny thing that happened…there was only one rollercoaster that took a long time…and that was MAMUT…oh Mamut. We saw the huge line but decided we might as well wait, we weren’t exactly busy or anything. So, we waited….and 80 minutes later I was dangerously close (literally) to causing physical harm to the italian couple behind us in line. Personal Space…this concept is completely foreign and unimportant to Italians. I cannot understand why they insisted upon standing so close to us we could feel them breathing…although, on the upside I can literally turn around and say: “You are so annoying, what the hell is wrong with you!?” and they haven’t got a clue…it is slightly satisfying at least. So by the time we get to the front we’ve waited almost 2 hours and decide what’s 5 more minutes wait to sit in the front! The ride was similar to thunder mountain so the front seats were a train! So, we skipped out turn and waited for the front row. Just as we are about to hop in, the fast pass people are let in and two little kids dive into the front…just as we’re about to crack, the man operating the ride kicks them out!! Hahaha…That’s a life lesson kids. We EARNED those seats. It was really funny.

So, Gardaland. A positive experience…except the one ride that just toggled us upside down for like 30 seconds, multiple times. That was just weird…but overall a pleasant experience. Unfortunately, we missed the 6pm train home, so we kicked around for another hour and headed back. Fun day!

Some pictures!!

Weekend in Milano

I think this is where my first blog leaves off...I did a rough summary up until this weekend and so here is a more detailed update of what I got upto on my free weekend in Milan!

Friday, I think I started my blog this day haha…when I did a recap! Today I went shopping. None of my friends were around this weekend so I kindof did whatever I felt like. I don’t like just sitting around in my room doing nothing because I can get a bit homesick. So, I like to get up and walk around Milan. So, I did! I walked all around corso Buenos Aires in search of boots. And, just when I’d almost given up hope…I found them! They are beautiful black Italian leather boots. Not what I was going for initially, and actually I do still need to find some basic flat brown boots…but they are fabulous and I love them. Haha. That’s a big thankyou to my Mom who bought them for me!!

That night I met Ashley (from work), Alexis, Alycia and Mary for an Apertivo…I wish I could remember the name of this place (***actually I found out! It's named Cheese! And I have been again since!)…BEST Apertivo thus far I’d say. The drinks were massive…and they had flavored long island iced teas!!! Pineapple, Coconut, you name it. It was awesome. The food was also fantastic. All I know is it’s sortof off of via Torino next to Yguana. I was planning on going to the Collegio party after this…but I ended up staying out with the girls and going to Alcatraz which was so much fun. Sidenote: Italians love old American hits from the 70s and 80s. Its hilarious. Before the “dancing” music came on, there was a 30 minute live show where a guy performed to YMCA, and that one song that goes something like “Heeeeeeeey Baby, Ooh, Aah, I wanna knoooooooow, will you be my girl?”

Saturday I hung out all day and watched a Sean Connery movie with Irene and Luca and some other Italians. This was very funny to me…because it was an English movie, dubbed into Italian, with English subtitles so Irene and I could understand haha…and the fact that it was Sean Connery was amusing. What is a Sean Connery movie if it’ dubbed?

Sunday was the Singapore GP!! I had a lot of fun watching this with the Italians because Ferrari performed atrociously. Massa drove off with a fuel pipe and Raikkonen crashed into a wall…hahaha…wonderful. They however, were not amused. Actually, Luca sent me a picture of Massa with Hamilton following him with the caption “You will always follow!” Which is interesting because both Hamilton and McLaren are leading the championship…eat that Ferrari! There is a race this weekend I am excited for (Japan). I got another upset stomach tonight, but I cant quite figure out why!

So, I've realized some of these entries might be a bit confusing because I am writing them at different times, for example today’s date is Wednesday October 8, 2008. I’ve had to play a lot of catchup. I’m hoping I’ll do better from now on! Also…I wont even be able to post these for ages since apparently my blog has been deemed as possible spam and it’s been restricted until it is approved…hmmm

MONZA

MONZA was AMAZING!!

I had so much fun...It was one of the most exciting things I've ever done. I knew I wanted to go and there were the possibility of a couple guys tagging along but, it came to me going alone or me not going...so obviously I went! I was so pumped.

A big thank-you to my wonderful father who provided me with the monetary necessities to be able to go. :)

So, the race was the weekend of September 12, 13, 14. Friday was practice day and I didn't get to go since I had class. Saturday there was a practice and qualifying. Sunday was raceday! Saturday I got up bright and early at 8:45am and set off to Monza. I had looked up where I was going-ish and had a vague idea of what I needed to do. I got on the metro headed towards P. Garibaldi to catch the train to Monza...however I got to Garibaldi and got a bit lost...just when I was about to jump back on the Metro to just go to the train station at Centrale...a pack of red dressed Ferrari fans jumped off the metro...
"Um, you wouldn't happen to be going to Monza are you?" I asked.
"How did you guess?!"
"Do you know where you're going? If so...I'm coming with you!"
Ha...so I ended up following some (German?...definitely not italian) Ferrari fans to the train and eventually got my ticket and got on board!

On the train I met an American couple who were very nice and who had been to the practice session on Friday. They explained to me where to go to get my tickets and where the best places to sit were! I then told them I might follow them for a bit until we got to the track. So, we get off the train and we take a bus...then we walk...quite a bit...i had no idea Monza had an actual park surrounding the track. Then it POURED with rain...and I had NO rain gear...oops. The American couple waited with my while I bought a poncho (which I insisted on being green instead of red in case someone might confuse me for a Ferrari supporter) and then pointed me in the right direction and I was off!

I got my tickets and headed to the track...I could hear the cars and was getting so excited :) I wandered around for quite a bit and started off over by turn 11.

http://www.formula1.com/races/in_detail/italy_800/circuit_diagram.html

I was in the 21e section area ish I'd say since I didn't have a grandstand ticket, I just had a general admission pass. Then once practice was over I took the opportunity to walk around a bit. SoI wandered over to the merchandise area and after much deliberation bought myself a Lewis Hamilton hat which subsequently fell into the mud moments after I'd put it on my head. No worries. It has been saved. So anyway, I walked around a lot and remembered from a blog I'd read online that down by the first chicane there are some great places to sit/view the race. So, I walked over there. By turns 1 and 2 (first chicane) there was a really good viewing area! However, there were already a lot of people around and I thought I'd keep walking...so I continued walking towards turn three on this sort of nature path...So, to put this in perspective, as I'm walking, there is nature on my left and on my right a fence, 10 feet and another fence...As I continue walking, I notice that there are some people on the inside of this first fence. So, they are literally one layer of metal linkings away from the racetrack. So, obviously I want to figure out how to get in there too! So I keep walking and finally come to a wall and lots of bushes...then i notice a hole in the first fence!! So, I climb through! Then I am able to walk back down to the area right by turn three! It was amazing. It was me. fence. racetrack...so cool! Then, I decide to climb up the fence to get a better view. So, I sat atop the fence with a couple other people. From here it was me and the racetrack. I could see all the way back down to the first chicane and got some great pictures! I stayed here until the end of qualifying.

It's worth noting I did attempt to continue walking along this "illegal path" and ended up behind a barrier on turn three...there was about a foot of space to walk between a wall and the barrier...when i looked under the barrier and realized I could see race car tires zooming by...it dawned on me that this probably wasn't the best idea and that if a car happend to spin out and hit the barrier...I'd be dead...so I turned back to my original fence spot :)

Afterwards, I got something to eat and decided to explore the racetrack a bit and see if there were any other viewing places worth noticing. So, I walked around the entire track and found some decent spots on the inside, but after a long hike and far too many creepy men I decided it was probably time to head home.

That night Jocelyn, Alison and I attempted to find the bar with "a big red door." Well, it doesn't exist. Honestly. So, we had dinner at Twelve instead by the Porta Romana metro stop area and had a great time! Very cute waiter haha.

DAY 2: RACEDAY!

Today I was up at 7:20am and was completely prepared. I had legging, running shorts, running shoes, a zip up, trusty poncho, backpack and lock, hamilton hat and granola bars. Set.

I was at the track by 10am (race started at 1pm) so I had plenty of time to get myself settled. There were already a lot of people there. The frustrating part about yesterday had been that I had great fun watching the cars, but I had no idea what was actually going on. So, I was a bit shocked when I found out the qualifying results! I noticed that some people had portable TVs and headphones...curious, I found the stand and found out that with the TVs you get live tv feed, info and stats, commentary in ENGLISH!! and more! So, thanks again to my very kind and understand father I rented one of these for the day and it was awesome. It honestly made my whole experience because I was able to watch my screen and then see the drivers come past me and know exactly what was going on all the time! It was so exciting.

So, after I got my TV i headed back over to turn 3 to get my "spot." Well, turns out, as I'd suspected, what I was doing yesterday was highly illegal and there were at least 7 policemen/guards guarding the whole area. Hm...bummer. Furthermore, this time there were 10x the amount of people around...and they had forts. Legit forts. They had built contraptions onto the fences and in the trees to be able to stand taller and see over the barricades. I couldn't really find a good place to stand because everyone was already standing there! On higher ground! (as in buckets, tree branches, ladders, you name it) Then i noticed a bunch of people standing on the camera man's giant tractor looking machine right at the first chicane. It's the machine that extends the camera man into the air so he can video. There was also a fence around this, so I climbed up the fence. It wasn't exactly comfortable and my feet were going numb. This is where I meet my new italian buddies.

"Ciao! Bella!" Oh great I'm thinking. But, I am polite and play along. Then they want to take a picture with me and start talking to me...at first I'm annoyed but then I think it over...OK there are way creepier guys here and these guys are actually friendly. But, more importantly they have a great spot standing on that tractor and that's exactly where I want to be...So! I got friendly! I took a couple pictures with them and then introduced myself...as Katia. I also told them my Dad was standing over in the stands, which was a great idea, because then they stopped asking me out. So, they let me up onto their tractor spot...I also made many more friends around me because I had a TV!! Haha...i even got a free breadstick out of it. They also offered to buy me a sandwich. The best part however was when they found out I was from California. This started the ongoing sing along to the OC themesong "California" which was sung at full vocal capacity. It was highly amusing and somewhat embarrassing haha.

Basically I had an awesome time! The spot was great because I could see the cars coming off the start and there was a lot of good action at this first chicane. I also ended up getting asked out by a 40 year old polish man which was lovely...I declined. It poured with rain, but I was set with my poncho and stuck it out till the end! Then, I jogged most of the way back and got out quite quickly! Aside from a very creepy American man who literally kept popping out of nowhere to try and talk to me when I least expected it.

All in all, I had an amazing weekend! It was so fun. I am also quite proud of myself considering I was one of the only people there alone, and 100% the only girl there alone! But it was so much fun, I wish my Dad could have been able to come! But, I'm really glad I was able to go and I came away with some awesome pictures and video :)