Roommate Dinner Night!

So the roommates and I are getting along very very well.  Today, we did a lot of shopping for food, drinks, housing supplies, etc.  In addition to two different orientation meetings.  The orientation meetings were actually very helpful.  They discussed precautions on how to remain safe, understand the culture, and have a good time without spending an arm and a leg.

The food here is WONDERFUL.  In addition to only paying 5 Euro for a bottle of Red wine (which is fabulous).  My roommates and I have been very hot lately, so, as you can see, we had dinner together with out shirts off because it's 90F degrees outside and we have no AC.  You can see we are very comfortable with one another already after one day.

If you were to come here to Italy, you will find yourself going to the grocery store and shopping marts everyday if not every other day.  The food and drinks are fresh, real, and very delicious.  In addition to being very Euro friendly.  Of course, we pay $1.20 to their 1 Euro.  But that's not too bad, just stay positive!

Tomorrow we take our placement testing for something, I'm not quite sure yet of exactly what will be taking place with that.  So more to come with the following posts!

Everybody here walks the streets, very friendly people, and definitely willing to help you in any case.  Just remember to keep your personal belongings to yourself and up front because pick-pocketing is very high here!  So always bring a travel buddy.

To the left is a picture of what I saw out of my window last night.  You can see that I have a nice view :)  Some time in the near future (maybe tomorrow), I'll post a few pictures of what my apartment looks like.  However, HERE IS THE LINK to the apartment if you would like to stay here :)  There are a few pictures, and you can see the awesome reviews it has received!  And our Landlord, Antonello, is very friendly and showed us how everything works.  He also told us to take into considering conserving lots and lots of water and electricity because rates are very high her in Italy.  They're very pro-conservation of energy.  In addition to recycling and trash, even the police will check your bags to make sure you're sorting correctly!

Another thing to me that was a culture shock is how low-key everybody is.  When you eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc...eating is a VERY calm, relaxing, ritual thing.  It is very custom to take about 3 hours to eat lunch or dinner, and spend time reading the newspaper, talking to friends/family, or just absorbing the atmosphere.  Outdoor cafes are very popular here, and coffee, espresso, and pastries are absolutely EVERYWHERE!  No room for complaining so far whatsoever.

Finally made it!

Leaving Dulles Airport was actually a simple task!  Never once did Cameron and I have any trouble getting through the TSA and all of the security checks.  (On a side note, Cameron really is a wonderful girl and I really miss her).  She arrived in Barcelona safe and sound and says she has nice/cool roommates.

From Dulles (leaving at about 5pm), we flew into the night and arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark at around 7:02am the next morning.  From there, I caught a 9:15 am plane to Frankfurt, Germany.  And THEN, finally left Frankfurt to leave for Italy.  However, nothing ever goes completely 100% your way when your traveling (or at least for me).  I'm currently without my check-in baggage, meaning I have absolutely no clothes except of which is on my back right  now. Hopefully tomorrow or the following day they will have found it because I honestly don't like the idea of having to go out and buy new clothing.  Getting from Italy to Lorenzo de Medici was a breeze, just taking a cab over from point A to point B, in which I was greeted with members of the program to receive information about housing and the orientations we'll have tomorrow.  I met a lot of cool people within the program, a few nice ones, a few not-so-nice.  But you can't win them all, can you?

Finished Packing!

As the days come closer, things are coming together.  Funny story though, I have made no real progress with my packing...I've actually just bought more clothing to take over there.  Rumor has it (and I may be wrong) that their style is much more up-scale than Americans.  I've been told that you will usually never seen an Italian leave their house in sweat pants, mesh shorts, or a hoodie.  Usually going out means to look nice.  So I looked into buying nice shoes with sturdy soles and that fit my feet, new socks (very important), and a few pairs of nice pants (slacks).

As for packing, this is what I've been trying to do all day.  Be sure to give yourself a TON of time to pack.  I'm learning that even with one LARGE bag, packing takes a lot of TIME and PATIENCE.  This man in the video knows what he's doing, and he was able to pack all of those clothes inside one little carry-on bag.  I'm having trouble with a check-in bag.  The bag can be no more than 50 lbs (before I get charged for it being overweight).  Most bags now are within the limits of check-ins so there was no need to measure and see if it was within limits quote-unquote.

As you can see it definitely worked!  Who would have thought?  Of course, as usually, we usually always over pack and everything, but I'm going to Italy for the experience, not for the goods.  As bad as this sounds, what can I buy there (clothing wise) that I can't buy here?  I might get a few leather goods and such, but we'll find out when the time comes!






And as always we can never forget some good ol' entertainment!

Starting to pack

Great news today!  My passport and visa finally came in!  After about 6 weeks or so, and lots of sweating over when this would arrive, it has.  So a word to the newbies out there, make sure you give yourself PLENTY of time to apply for your visa (and passport if you don't have one).  The great thing about passports is that they don't expire for a whopping ten years.  So it's quite a cheap investment.

On the other hand, I've started my packing and creating a checklist of things that I needed.  Luckily, Towson has already provided study abroad students with an awesome pre-made check list of things that should be considered and packed.  Most of these things include clothing, shoes, accessories, toiletries, etc.  But it's all written out and very detailed.  Something to make sure you look into (while packing) is to look at your countries average temperature and weather based on previous years.  Luckily for me, Italy has very similar weather to Baltimore meaning I'll be wearing pretty similar clothing to what I would normally be wearing.

As you can see, I have really started packing (not really).  Most of my prep work is beginning to wash most of my worn clothing so it's less work for when I get there.  I'm starting to realize that for the next few days, I'm going to be bumming it around my home town because most of my nicer clothes will be packed away!  Hope my friends and family don't mind seeing me in mesh shorts and a t-shirt. 

About me

A little bit about myself before I start to really get involved with studying abroad.  My name is Tyler Scheff.  I'm currently a (super) senior at Towson University, a transfer student from Frostburg State University, and studying Communication Studies.  Semester after semester, I've been told from multiple sources that if I wanted to travel anywhere, now is the best time to do it.  So, of course, I didn't listen at first and procrastinated, but hey, I'm finally going!

I'll be heading off to beautiful Florence, Italy at Lorenzo de Medici.  I'm taking 12 credits (4 classes) which include:

1. Intercultural Communications
2. Quarters of Florence (History)
3. Wine and Culture
4. Italian 101 (Required)

I'm not quite sure exactly what to expect, and it hasn't necessarily hit me yet that I'm leaving for Italy in about 13 days.  In fact, I haven't even received my Visa yet with my passport!  Hopefully, throughout my stay, I can write daily (or something close) blogs to be able to have my own little journal.  I usually write my entries in pen and paper, so this will definitely be something new.