I'm Back... and in Columbus, OH

Hi world!

Life has been very busy and bustling and FULLLLLL of changes since my last post when I had just returned from Italy.

I suppose the biggest change of all is that I now live in Columbus, Ohio! I've lived here for nearly three months now and to my relief a new, wonderful life is beginning to take shape.

If you weren't aware, Brett (my boyfriend) and I have been together for over 5 1/2 years, and have spend 4 of those long-distance (Texas to Ohio). It was expensive and difficult, but SO worth it to us. Well now we are FINALLY together! He got a job at Ernst & Young in Columbus, so I moved up to Ohio to be with him.

It was difficult for me to accept that although to me my English degree is one of my most prized and special things about me, to others it is not worth a whole lot. But the job search began regardless. I suppose my dream job that I can still hope for one day is to work as an academic advisor at a university, or in the study abroad department. For now, however, I found a job at a pretty cool, inspiring business retreat center. The job has been fun so far, and I've made some friends working there which is always a plus.

Of couse what you do in life often does not incorporate all of your passions, as is the case with me. I felt like I was going a little bit crazy, not talking about literature or music or theater, so here's what I did: I started a separate blog for each. Maybe this is ridiculous, something no one will want to read, but it is at least a vent for me to somehow share my thoughts and feelings about each.
My more literature-ish blog can be found here:http://novelette-lau.blogspot.com/
And the more musical/theater blog is here: http://onesongglory-ap.blogspot.com/


Brett and I joined a kickball league which has been entertaining to say the least, and I found a great pick-up soccer league that plays every Monday. We enjoy trying out the TONS of restaurants in the area, especially during happy hour deals, and have been doing a lot of cooking, watching the Indians, and playing with puppies in our spare time :)



Just getting used to how different Ohio is from Texas has been an interesting challenge...

There are no access roads along freeways. Only really tricky entrances that are quite easy to miss.

Yep, a lot of people say "pop"

People abbreviate a LOT of words, places, etc. Columbus is called Cbus. Just fyi.

The weather in the summer is beautiful. Mostly 70-90. People complain about the heat anyway. I cannot understand.

People like to say "heyo"... it's too difficult to explain the exact proper use... but I hear it often.

Ohio State is basically worshiped. The football team at least. I'll probably have to invest in some OSU gear soon, or not make any friends here.

There isn't a whole lot of state pride though, I guess especially since I'm comparing it to Texas.

People "smash on" food.

I guess those are the most prominent things I have learned thus far about being an Ohioan. Check back later for more ;)




One of our best food creations thus far:


Playing with ADORABLE puppies!



My room in my new apartment:


One of our favorite areas so far, Short North:


Columbus!


Fourth of July at the Columbus Clippers Stadium:

The Last Week in Italy & .... HOME!!!

The last week in Italy consisted of tonnnns of gelato (yogurt flavor mostly; it's SOOO good!), crepes, pasta, and bread. It was kind of crazy because instead of trying to maintain some sort of figure I thought "oh well, I'll be home to diet soon enough" and just went crazy.
The Tuesday before I left everyone that I'd become close to came to a sort of "going away party," if you will, for me. And they all tried to wear some sort of pink...just for me! That is how incredibly sweet and thoughtful the friends are that I made there. We had a delicious and huge aperitivo at Lab 16 and then went to Karaoke. Karaoke was absolutely fantastic. Hester & Andrew sang Eye of the Tiger, Alex & I sang Total Eclipse of the Heart (but a weird stupid version with extra verses).... and many more songs. It was a blast...and totally weird to think I wouldn't see most of those people again for a long time, or maybe ever.
The rest of the week I got to spend more time with Alex, Lillian, & Hester... & then was able to see Dide one more time on my last day before I left. Saying "bye" to everyone was horrible... I just wanted to cry all day that day. At the end they all gave me the sweetest cards/ little gifts & then I just wanted to cry more. I couldn't have ever asked for more amazing friends to spend an incredible three months of living/learning/experience/travel/fun with.





After too long of a flight for my liking I was back in Dallas. It still blows my mind that I can get on a plane in Italy and end the day in Dallas, Texas. I lugged all my suitcases through customs and cried when I saw my mom again. What's the first thing I did then? Went to Walmart with my mom on the way home of course! ;-) I got Nutella, fruit, and vegetables...you know..the essentials. Sadly, I next arrived at home and stepped on the scale, so the Nutella has yet to be opened. Probably the biggest most noticeable and shocking differences to me when I arrived were 1) the friendliness of EVERYONE. I love it. And I'd missed it SO much. 2) The driving... not like maniacs. 3) the enormous selection of products. I was looking for my favorite cereal from Italy in the cereal isle... I walked down the whole 30ish foot isle looking for it...the entire isle was cereals. Then I turned around to the parallel shelves, and there was more. 4) The weight of people here. Probably Walmart wasn't the best place to be observing. But I'd say most people are probably 10-15 lbs on average heavier than Italians. 5) I don't have to breath clouds of smoke everywhere I go! yaaay! 6) Water is free and public restrooms exist...YAY!!

I can't lie, it feels REALLY good to be home. :-)


In other news... my amazing boyfriend got a job at Ernst & Young in Columbus, Ohio. He worked so hard to get that position. With his intelligence, work ethic, incredibly personable, humorous,genuine personality, and not to forget stunningly good looks, there wasn't any way EY could NOT hire him. He blew them away in the interview & was hired by the time he'd driven half-way home. So I'll be moving up to Columbus, Ohio hopefully mid-June to finally start a life together with Brett. Now all I have to do is find a job (much scarier than it sounds! eek!).

Italy with Brett & just lately..

Wow, I've been terrible about keeping up with this blog lately... sorry!

So hmm, what have I been up to?
Well.. from the 5th-12th of March Brett came to visit me :) The first night we went out with all my friends in Bologna which was just the best. I was so happy to have Brett meet the people who have become so important to me over the past few months. He also got to experience probably the most brilliant thing in Italy: Aperitivo. <3
The next day we were off to Rome for four days. We packed in the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Vatican, and some other random sight seeing during the days, then incredible meals of pasta (one each) and pizza (split between us) every night. After Rome we traveled to Vernazza (one of the cities of Cinque Terre). It was the most amazing TINY little Italian city you could possible imagine. It is made up of all these little streets and hills and cliffs etc. that you see in books, movies, postcards, etc, but that you miss in the big cities like Rome. We were absolutely in love with it. After walking through the town 5 or 6 times (yes, it's that small), and doing some hiking to get great views, we returned to our room that was the top level room of someone's house on the hill of Vernazza. We drank some wine from Cinque Terre and dreampt of our next vacation to see all 5 of the cities.
The next day, after 5 incredible fresh Italian pastries, fresh orange juice, delicious cappuccino, and fun conversation with a very outgoing pasticceria owner, it was back to Bologna. Traveling was exhausting, especially all the 4 hour train rides, but we managed to muster up enough energy in Bologna for one more big meal of some great pasta followed by a nutella crepe.








Since then I've mostly just been soaking up every ounce of fun possible with my friends who I'm going to miss so much when I leave. I went with two of them, Lillian and Alex, to Lake Garda last weekend to get into some nature and away from the grayness of the city. I don't think it was what anyone expected. It was one of those trips where many things went wrong or weird, but that made it all the more fun, and we had a blast...and ate soo much seafood!

So far as much as I can predict what I'll miss about Italy is my friends more than anything. Then Italian coffee... also Italian nail polish is way better than ours (random, I know.)... crepes. being able to walk places. fresh pastries.. I'll be curious to see what I really miss once I'm back home. I only have about a week and a half left.
I finally feel homesick though. I guess it's sort of perfect timing. Now that I feel homesick I realize that up until now I haven't, which I'm pretty impressed with myself for. It's nice though that now finally when I miss home I will get to go soon.
It's too bad I'm leaving right when the weather is getting nice. It was about 60 and sunny today and a few of us went to the park and just layed out in the sun for hours before getting some delicious gelato. <3 I'll miss that too.

Carnevale

Last week on Saturday we went to Carnevale in Venice. I was on the fence about going...it's expensive, crowded, etc. But going there was the best decision I could've made. We all had SUCH a wonderful day. We arrived around 11am and took the water bus from the train station to Piazza San Marco. It was SO beautiful to be on the water and see the city from a different view. It was the best spent 6 Euros yet. From the moment we got off at Piazza San Marco until the end of the day we were fighting crowds, but somehow it wasn't at all frustrating, mostly just fun and exciting because of all the different masks & costumes you could see along the way.
To save a little money three of us bought panini & a bottle of wine with plastic cups and sat on the steps in front of the Rialto Bridge. It was just a beautiful & magical sort of day. The pictures speak for themselves.















Today I'm SO happy because I picked up Brett from the airport this morning! We walked around Bologna a bit, but he was exausted & is sleeping now, resting up to meet my friends later :). Tomorrow we leave for Rome for 4 days, Cinque Terre for 1, then back to Bologna. It's a short trip, but I think it will be wonderful. Blog about it next time. :)

First Week of My Real Italian Adventures

It has now been a week since I moved out of the house and I couldn't be happier or be having a better time. I've gotten to experience grocery shopping for myself, which is so fun...exploring the different ways you buy things and the totally different variety of foods that are available. I get to cook for myself (& often with friends).


I live right in the center of the city now, so I can get almost anywhere it seems in about 5 minutes or less. I LOVE it. My room seems like it was probably meant to be the dining room of the apartment, so it is sectioned off with sheets, but I have plenty of room, privacy, furniture, etc. I live with two Italian girls who are students at the univeristy here, and two girls from California who are also students studying at the univeristy for a semester. All are very nice.
(My Room)




The last week has mostly consisted of grocery shopping (I bought mostly bread, risotto, pasta, nutella, many cheeses, instant cappuccino packets, and fruit). I also had to buy a few kitchen things, like a pot, silverware, a few plates and cups, etc. But most of it I was able to get for 1 euro each (except the pot which was still only 8). We also had a lot of dinner dates with friends which is always a blast :) And last night a bunch of us got a giant pizza (literally called "pizza gigante") for 8 euro total and stuffed ourselves. It was quite fun :)


Tonight my Dutch friend Dide is letting me use her student ID to go to a wine tasting class put on for the study abroad students at the University. A few others are going too. We pay about 12 Euro each and get to learn a lot about wine, which I've always wanted to know. Right now I cannot really tell the difference between any wines :( But I will learn!
The only problem lately is that I have no income. A friend has been trying to help me get in contact with someone who would want to do English conversation lessons, but I haven't heard from the person yet. Hopefully I can get something like that set up though.

For now I really miss my family and my friends, but I'm so happy to be here and be able to have this amazing experience :) <3

(Didn't I say Italy just seemed like such a happier place now?...)

A Whole New World

As many of you may have already heard the family that I was staying with in Bologna was somewhat...difficult. As far as I'm concerned there were too many issues within the family that it really wasn't a place to bring someone else into.
Long story short, I thought I was supposed to be a part of the family and be a friend and English teacher to the children. They thought I was supposed to be second live-in maid/nanny/cook/English teacher. Communication also didn't seem to exist. I won't inculde all the details, but it was quite bad.
SO... at the moment I am at my friend's apartment where I've been sleeping in her HUGE walk-in closet (more like a separate room) for 2 nights and today I'm moving into another apartment which I couldn't be more excited about. I'll live with 2 girls from UC Berkeley and 2 Italian girls. My room is basically part of the living room sectioned off by a wooden divider thing and sheets, but who cares?! I am staying there for sure for 2 1/2 weeks until Brett arrives for our 1 week vacation to Venice, Rome, and Cinque Terre.
At the moment I'm trying to figure out a way to make a little extra money while I'm here...babysitting or something.. so that I can either stay in this new place the full 6 weeks until I'm supposed to return, or find another place after the vacation for the remaining 3 weeks. I just don't want to leave Italy yet. I feel like only now am I really discovering it. Walking around yesterday the city seemed so beautiful, so much brighter and happier (despite the windy, rainy, freezing weather). I cannot wait to go to the supermarket and shop for myself, cook my own meals, get to know my roommates, etc.
I promise to keep everyone updated.

For now.. just look at how AMAZING my friends are:

(Everyone that rescued me the first night listening to my stories & making me risotto!)


(My Risotto!! mmm!)


Seriously... I couldn't have asked for kinder, more generous, fun, happy, just incredible friends to meet here in Italy. :)

Dancing, Venice, & My Birthday

Not too many interesting things to write about...just been having fun with friends... :)

Last Wednesday I went to a party that the University hosts a few nights a week at different bars. It was fun... lots of people my age from many different places. Our "bologna family" as I think Alex then named us had a nice dinner at her place before & I met two new people, Dide from The Netherlands and Gianna from UC Berkeley! Then we went dancing all night. Basically all the songs are pretty well-known American songs, so they're very fun to dance to :)

(the majority of us that went dancing)



Saturday 6 of us went to Venice just for the day (it's about a 1 1/2 hour train ride). We just walked around for a while... to Piazza San Marco & back to the train station, with a nice lunch in between (I had the most delicious gnocchi!).
((Some pics of Venice))










That night we went out for my birthday dinner. It kind of gets old when on every menu there is only tortellini with pomodoro or ragu, or tagliatelli with ragu, or tortellini in broth. But I at least found some tortellini that were stuffed with something and came with asparagus sauce (finally, something (sort of)different!) and they were delicious. I made a cake & brought it and then Dide who is Dutch made me a Dutch Apple pie!! It was absolutely amazing & we all ate the desserts at the restaurant.




Yesterday (Sunday) was my actually birthday (22!). It kind of didn't feel like it all day though, without my family & friends from home or enough pink clothes to wear and feel special. The family I live with kind of just stayed in their own rooms all day & when I came upstairs at 6pm the house was dark & everybody was gone. That could have been a very depressing/lonely birthday but luckily it was Susan & Lily to the rescue. They invited me to come have burritos with them. Susan cooked everything (and it was amazing)...and so nice to have Mexican food! We had fun just hanging out/talking for a while & then went and got the most incredible gelato. I got chocolate and coffee... the chocolate one was so thick that it was almost like cold frosting... it didn't melt unless you chewed it.



Today I'm hoping to do a tiny bit of shopping... maybe get a cheapish black coat with a little bithday money from my lovely parents so that I don't stick out like crazy when I walk around Italy (which is basically what happens if you wear anything besides black or just dark colors right now). I should be able to find a good sale because stores are starting to put out spring clothes (although it's mostly still in the 40s for highs). The rest of my money I'm trying to conserve for short weekend trips. This next weekend a bunch of us are going to Florence, and I think there are a few more weekend trips in the planning stages right now. It's so wonderful to have met people that I can have fun and experience Italy with. I'm very thankful.

Sadly there was no way (that I'd heard of) to watch the Super Bowl here. Most people that I talked to actually seemed to think the Super Bowl was for baseball. I'm happy especially for the King family that the Packers won (or more that the Steelers didn't :) )
I just can't believe Lea Michele was in Dallas and I wasn't there!

Baci a tutti

Art & my house

Saturday during the day I went for coffee with Valeria, a friend of Cristina who I worked with when I interned at Paciugo. She was so fun and nice... and she helped me find PEANUT BUTTER!! yesss! Skippy. Everytime I eat it, most people in the house make faces and say "mi fa schiiifffooo!!"..but whatever, I'm very happy.

Saturday night in Bologna was this thing called Notte Bianca, which kind of sounded more exciting than it was. Apparently it's just places that(mostly museums..also the library) stay open late and have different kinds of art, modern art, sciencey stuff, etc. on display. A few of us went to one art mixed with science display in piazza Maggiore. There was some pretty strange stuff there... including a robot! But actually it just followed a red ball with its hand, a little unimpressive. There was a display about outer space/the moon so there was an American flag, yay! The following picture is one of the creepier things that was displayed there as science/art:


some art that appeared in the library:


But at least I got some beautiful night views of piazza maggiore


There are so many buildings in Bologna that are SO old, but they're all blended in to the other newer buildings so you have to read the plaques on the side, or have awesome tour guides (ie Martina & Valeria). This particular one dated back to 14th-15th centuries!



other random news:
Saturday night I finally got another crepe :)
Sunday it snowed a LOT. But melted the next day.
I made it through January! yay! 2 months to go.
For lunch today I ate fresh mozzerella with prosciutto. I will never be able to eat a cheese stick again.

These are the aforementioned (in a previous blog) amaaaazing croissants that I eat almost every morning with a tiny bit of nutella in the middle.


Lastly, I snuck a few pictures of the house I'm living in in case any one is curious:



(can you believe this is the sink for the whole kitchen? It's hardly even IN the kitchen!)