Life in Italy

They showed us this before we left, but I forgot to post it before. It's surprisingly accurate, from what I saw. And I think the Italian language is as silly as it sounds, and I think it sounds silly, like German.

Click on it & check it out! I promise it's worth you're time, if you haven't seen it already.

Life in Italy

BEEP BEEP !

It truly was another world.

Sunday in Italy

On our last day in Italy, the summer heat was replaced with cool clouds. It turned into a thunderstorm on the highway that looked really dangerous to a bus full of students. It felt like a giant was constantly running after us sloshing large buckets of water at us. We also had no idea where they were taking us. We soon found out it was Lake Maggiore (or Lago Maggiore or Verbano), home to the three Borromean Islands.

The Borromean family was one of the three most powerful families during the renaissance period, the heir of which is now one of the original princes of Italy. Their family owns three islands on the lake: Isola dei Pescatori, the fishing island; Isola Madre, which someone built for their mother; and Isola Bella, the island of the Borromean summer home, where we were going.

You can see the cute fisherman's island from here.

I think that's Lake Madre. The mountains in the background have the marble this part of Italy is famous for, also what they used to build the "house."


Unfortunately, they didn't let us take pictures of inside the house, and I couldn't because there was just too much to see. Many part of it were centuries old, and being an Italian style, the designs were much more intricate and lavish than normal castles built as battle fortresses. It's still a summer home, the family uses it in the summer because it's cool being surrounded by a body of water. They led us to their gardens, which I guess is kinda famous.



Warning: run-on sentence. If I were born into a wealthy, old family with history that ties into my country's political and religious background, I'd like to have giant statues in my backyard with albino peacocks in my summer house with 195 rooms on a private island where my family owns the whole lake.

Saturday Milano

9:00- week after Fashion Week, everything is on ...

!

9:40-
There were people everywhere. To some, this is their shopping of the year, it's the week after Fashion Week in the Fashion Capital of the World! Stores had great percentages off to clear out their inventory in time for Fall Fashion. Across the street:

It was so easy for me to spend Euros because it felt like play money. It was so much fun! paper for clothes! It was like Hong Kong! Paper for stuff & yummy food and drinks (but a different kind of yummy from Asia)! But the Euro is expensive.

13:15- We took a taxi to

This entrance.
and when we walked inside, we entered a large, open room with one wall painted
of the very original, Il Cenacolo or L'Ultima Cena, by Leonardo da Vinvci. This is an illegal picture taken, because photography inside is prohibited. I also took this photo from my friend's facebook. I'm not ninja status enough to steal a picture from a gallery. But here it is, a giant mural that was restored in the 1960s, painted by one of the biggest geniuses of all time.

15:30- we went back to the Duomo to finish some more shopping. Shopping, what is shopping? They told us when we went to Milano, the thing that we must not miss out on is shopping.

19:00- dinner @

with

21:00- after dinner we went to this giant arc

around the corner is the popular river

They say in the daytime it's relatively quiet, but at night it comes alive with people, drinking, eating gelato, talking, hanging out. A little dirty, impossible to park, with tons of people, this is Italy. We were so tired from all the walking that day, I stayed long enough to get a Tiramisu flavored gelato that tasted divine, watch a fight break out, and see a lot of Italians before I headed back to my hotel room to pass out.

Even in the dark, we noticed how dirty the river was. One of our program advisers said that Italians never grew up learning how to clean, so they grow up in a dirty environment to be dirty people. For my last night in Italy, I didn't have a blast, but I love it. It felt like people here were almost the total opposite of me. Don't hold back. I could imagine here people falling in love, and getting hurt, not being afraid of anything that could or would happen; but to live life with passion (hence the fight across the street, i guess?). Not recklessness, but give it all you got. I'm too lazy to give much of anything all that I got, wouldn't want to risk getting disappointed to lost efforts, wasted time, another unforgivable mistake, another regret. I look for passion in everything all the time, and I revel in it; but I suppose it's just a diversion to ask what passion have I got. Will there ever be anything worth giving it all I got?

Milano at night

I'm sorry it's so detailed, Milan is a very visual city. They've got colors, the new clashing with the old, so many tall skinny girls in heels so high, walking on cobblestone floors. So many hot guys with sunglasses in tight shirts. So many couples, all this affection, all this love.

After our tour of the city, our whole group was split into 3 hotels like 20 walking minutes from the square. It was so sweaty and humid. We found dinner not far from the hotel. Nothing like a nice cold can of Heineken to wash down a fresh, hot pizza, on a hot, sunny day. They don't put much vegetables on their pizzas, just like artichokes and mushrooms, & it was a little too salty for me. But I love mozzarella!!!

WTF? even their soda cans are tall and skinny! Afterwards, we met up with the rest of the group in front of the Duomo to see if we could find a bar. This couple outside the church were in a very heated argument, his hands raised in the air, her eyebrows furrowed. Five minutes later they were all over each other making up, hands on each other and faces touching and everything.

I love Italians. One of our Program Assistants is Italian and he said you gotta watch out for Italians. They will whistle at you, and they do. You're looking nice today? I'm gonna give you the attention I think you deserve. Because it's in their culture, it's like instinct; they check out women. Europeans are so much more affectionate, it's adorable. Us Americans have nasty PDA that always involves some form of body fluids. Here, we can touch, and keep it dry. Italians love their women, they look like they can treat you right, and couples look so adorable here, very nicely dressed, with matching leather and shoes and everything. But I think it's also easy for them to cheat, just because.

We walked halfway with the group that was going to the bar. Because we waited so long, a lot of people left to do their own thing, and so did we. If we did follow the rest of the remaining group to the bar, we would've gotten free drinks and watch my friend immortalize herself by dancing on top of the bar counter. But we didn't know until the day after. We found a corner cafe, and ordered some drinks. I had sex on the beach, and I gave Judy my cherry.

Three girls walking under the influence in a foreign country past midnight? Sounds like time for pictures! I took these from Judy's facebook (but I forgot to ask her for permission). Happy Fourth of July.

Milano in the Afternoon

Spouting from a water fountain, a knot at the end of a thread that ran under the road to across the street in front of the main train station through a needle. Contemporary art in a historical city to symbolize the world capital of fashion, the colors symbolizing diversity (or whatever the tour guide lady said, her accent was adoringly thick but difficult to understand).

another peek

Along the way, it wasn't just the weather that was hot!

Ever faithful to hit the most popular tourist spots, there was the famous Opera House

and across the street was the Galleria,

a giant mall featuring only the best

they have a McCafe inside, just like Hong Kong! Once we walked straight across, we arrived at the center of Milan, the Duomo di Milano;

with hundreds of gothic spiresand Our Lady at the top, once the highest point of Milan.

Inside was just as impressive, but we were not allowed inside if we were showing our shoulders and/or knees. Males were not allowed to wear hats

Across the square stood

the ever great Napoleon, who conquered this region of Lombardy once. His presence is well known in Europe
and not just by humans! But it's not specifically because of Napoleon. Random guys would stand around the statue all day, holding a palm of bird seed, they would come up to tourists, take their hand, pour seeds into it and gently raise it up so the birds would flock to them. A perfect picture opportunity. I didn't get my picture taken, we were told not to trust a lot of people. We were all afraid they would start asking us for money afterwards.

When we finished touring the Castello Sforzesco earlier, this guy suddenly grabbed my friend's arm and tied a rainbow string on her wrist like a bracelet. It was alarming since I was standing and walking right next to her. We were lucky we had a program assistant there to tell him off, but these guys were all over the city, unexpectedly giving tourists bracelets and then ask for a price. Most of them were Africans.

Europe has immigration problems too. I saw a news segment on BBC about phony football scouts in Africa saying they're looking for the best players to play in Europe, they'd sign up a family, take all their money so their son could go to Europe and "train" there, fly them over here, and leave them. That's just one of the many ways they move north. I'm sure many come up here looking for a better life. Is this better than what they left behind? It's like Mexicans in California. Am I a monster for discussing this but not making any action for a better change? I can talk all this talk, but it never means I really care.

Milano in the Morning

Early Friday Morning + 3 hour bus ride = MILANO!
Montreux: small, quiet wine country town
Milan: fashion capital in the world, one of the most famous cities in the world
- more space for parking cars than walking and grass on sidewalk.
- uber cool Smartcar & awesome mopeds all around
- graffiti and air pollution from automobiles reminiscent of LA

Castello Sforzesco

lovely fountain in front

Half-naked man cooling at the fountain

the courtyard inside

with multiple museums inside. We went through a gallery of European art, sculptures of Christianity and political leaders, grand tapestries, some angels, and a Da Vinvi painting.

Sorry for the bad quality. At the end of the exhibit, standing all on its own, is one of Michelangelo's last sculptures, the unfinished Rondanini Pietà
It's the Virgin Mary holding his dying son, whose arm detached is from his body. High school spent hearing about the greatest artists of all time from hundreds of years ago thousands of miles away from home is here, in front of my eyes.

My People and Places

So far, I'm having fun in Switzerland. Not as much as I could have or should have in my state, but my reckless stage is over, I paid my dues. At first I was worried cliques would appear. My friend did the Travel Study program in France and she said her group got really cliquey. In the beginning we were cliquey, we didn't really know anybody, so we stuck to those we know. But afterwards, I felt we were comfortable talking to most people. Now, I think, we've resorted to the decision that after we've explored the groups and types of people out there, we've settled back into our groups comfortably simply because that's the type of person we are.

People are different, and they're complicating. To me, it feels like we have our groups that we're most comfortable with yet it's also okay to hang out with other people. Cliques but never exclusive. I like that. In high school we never had cliques, or it felt like we didn't; just a separation between those wanting to go to college and those who don't. It was weird how it just so happen to go along ethnic lines. In college, my dorm was extremely cliquey, separated by gender and floor. For now, I'm happy the love is all around.

I'm glad we're all good with each other. But I don't think it's so hot when we're around people outside our program, specifically people who actually live here. I didn't know this until I got here, but Californian college students are loud, obnoxious people. There's a stereotype of "socal" people being a tad bit dumb and very superficial, especially when it comes to being an individual. I mean it's understandable, you're young, you're in a new country, there's free music, easy alcohol, it's summer, everyday should be carpe diem day. But DUDE, please have a little respect and consideration for your environment. Maybe it's because I'm a nerd that I came to Europe to learn. I'm not saying I didn't come here with the sole intent to drink, party, and meet people. I just didn't think being the group of people I came with would come with such Southern California perspectives.

For one thing, I didn't complain about nail polish, nail polish remover, hair curlers and/or straighteners within 40 minutes of arriving. I don't give a shit about my hair and nails and I think i can live without it for 5 weeks. I don't think it's absurd nothing is open on Sundays. I have no problem that people here don't speak my language because I am the one who's not from here and I should respect them. Just because I'm a customer doesn't mean I can do anything. I fucking stick out here anyway for being Asian, but I don't make it seem obvious I'm stupid by being loud and obnoxious. I feel crummy being with them sometimes. It must be worse for the natives here being around them, I don't like Americans either. But I'm also being very critical of my peers, I should be having fun with them too, not standing on the side rejecting their company. What's wrong with me?