Get Her Done

Hello there stranger,

First off, a quick update of what I've been up to for the past few days. Mainly; running errands. Here's a recap of my to do list and how far I've come with it.

TO DO LIST:

1. Get my Italy Visa approved.
2. Wire money to rent owner to confirm my spot for housing.
3. Credit card dealios. (waiting for it in the mail)
4. Get phone unlocked. (should be a quick phone call/should double check with Rogers)
5. Buy plug converters.
6. Read my travel books. (uh...about this...)
7. Buy new luggage bag.
8. Pack. Oh god, it's not going to be pretty.

But overall, not bad at all! Look at me being proactive and finishing all my errands. 

I've finally finished wiring the money for my housing deposit so it's official: I'll be living with four local Italian boys! Oh how this will get interesting. I've contacted all of them and we've already hit it off quite well. Can't wait to meet them, especially with the language/cultural/gender barrier, things will get interesting. Shit going to get REAL (hood girl coming out). And it looks like I have no choice but to accept the fact that football will become a part of my new life. It's only a matter of picking between team Roma or Juventus. 

Aside from chatting it up with my to be roomies, I've also had a chance to talk to a LUISS exchange alumni last night over Skype who gave me some advice/tips on my time in Rome. My takeaways: 

• Bureaucracy =  grab a novel and spend my whole day waiting in a long line up (worst 3-5 days)
• Bus pass? What bus pass. Get caught, get fined, ignore. Repeat
• LUISS students are rich preppy kids. And they hold a formal event at the end of the year. So pack a decent dress.
• No high heels, leave them at home. Why did the Romans create cobblestones? WHY!!! At least it'll save me room in my SINGLE luggage bag.
• Try to take the train whenever possible (beautiful scenery).

COUNTDOWN: 12 MORE DAYS!!!

New Beginnings

Hello Stranger,

Without any formal introductions, I'm just going to jump right into it. My name is Michelle and in exactly two weeks from now, I'll be on a plane to Rome, Italy for six months as an exchange student (say it with excitement). It has been brought to my attention that perhaps I should write a blog throughout this whole journey so I won't forget the people, places and food that I'm about to meet. You never know when you'll get Alzheimers, and not everyone has Noah from The Notebook to write your story for you, so it looks like I gotta start now. 

My ultimate goal this year is to visit at least 20 countries, and as noob as I am in writing blogs, this will be my travel diary along the way. So I'm sorry to anyone who wandered onto my blog expecting great things from me but I'm just a little Asian girl who wants to document her adventures and look back on it years from now and smile at how juvenile I used to be. 

Speaking of "duh" moments, I had one today worthy of sharing. I was just enjoying one of my daily pomelos when this happened...

Dad: You're so healthy, I should be more like you. I'll have a banana. A natural food that elephants will consume, skin and all!

Me: Wait, elephants eat bananas with their skin on?! (truly, I was amazed)

Dad: Uh...of course. Who's going to peel the skin for them?

Me: *facepalm*

Aside from that embarrassing moment today where I have just lost the right to 10 IQ points, I've been busy with this whole leaving the country business. 

TO DO LIST:

1. Get my Italy Visa approved.
2. Wire money to rent owner to confirm my spot.
3. Credit card dealios.
4. Get phone unlocked.
5. Buy plug converters.
6. Read my travel books.
7. Buy new luggage bag.
8. Pack. Oh god, it's not going to be pretty.

So much to do still, oh how I'm such a last minute planner. But it'll all work out in the end, I'm sure of it. At least it better... 

And until next time, CIAO!

Michelle