Sunday, October 31, 1999

SkiPass

Working for a snowboarding company is the most incredible thing....

I met up with Dan in Modena, where the Ferrari factory is and met Bruno, one of the Italian sales reps....it was so chill! Even more so than in the States, I couldn't believe it....I have really strong convictions when it comes to business ethics, but EVERYONE was drinking at SkiPass so I joined in....people working there were walking in with 'supplies'=tons of beer :) We did really well for the day and went out for dinner and such afterwards...i'm stoked, i'll be working for Dan again in November in Switzerland

Now i'm in Dublin--went on a pub crawl last night and to a dub concert....SO DOPE! There's something about the Irish that's makes me feel like i'm home, maybe it's the bit of Irish that's in me coming alive. My Irish family moved from County cork to Chicago, Illinois....these are some lyrics from a band at a pub last night:

--To the city of Chicago, now the evening shadows fall, there are people dreamin of the County Cork--

Then I brought the guide from our pub crawl to the Twisted Pepper--the venue of the dub show...so bomb, not like the SF or NY.....better :)

Peace!

Dublin, Ireland.

Tuesday, October 26, 1999

Snow Anxiety

So, I travelled yonder to the other side of town to check out the snow/skate shop there (called Verticale), but it was closed.....bummer, but I got to look in the window and it looks like my version of heaven.

However, on the same day! I found out that the Sessions European Sales Manager, Dan, will be in Modena, Italy for the SkiPass event this week! I'm going to be able to meet up with him on Thursday, then on Friday I gotta get back to Bologna for my flight to Dublin....I'm so psyched I get to meet him though, even if it's only for a day :) And I'll get to see an action sports trade show which is pretty tight.

I spent the morning in bed researching how to get to Sochi, Russia to ride the resort where the 2014 Winter Olympics will be held.....it's pretty damn expensive. I'll keep you posted.

Ciao for now.

Thursday, October 21, 1999

South Park marathon

So, it's the middle of midterms. Really....i've taken 3 so far and I have 3 more to go: Italian, Renaissance Art History and International Buying and Marketing. So I get pretty massive insomnia during finals and midterms, I don't know why. It's not even that I'm nervous...I just won't sleep...

The night before my Intercultural Communications final I watched an entire season of South Park. Ahaha...okay, it's more like I had it on in the background while studying (kinda, not really). Yea, so far...apart from the more recent seasons...seasons 5/6 are my favorite. This is my favorite clip...I started cracking up during my test this morning because this clip came to mind :) It's from season 5, Butters' Very Own Episode. The gas station guy is probably my favorite character.


I love South Park.

Tuesday, October 19, 1999

After much thought....

Well "After much thought....."

I have decided to only briefly recap what has occured, so as to get to the good stuff.....what's happening now.....

So, the first week I got here it was SO hot!!! I loved it :) It's like being in the desert....when you are completely and totally surrounded by heat, and when you breathe in you can feel it, that's the type of heat it was.....

I made friends quickly......when i'm in a new environment i become incredibly extroverted, even though I would typically consider myself pretty introverted. Katya, Brie and I became close and decided to look for an apartment together. After searching for an entire day, we found one we really loved: It's on the 2nd floor (but in the State's it'd be considered the 3rd....they call the first floor- the zero floor), it has 3 bedrooms, a fireplace, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and some storage closets. My room is the smallest, we actually call it the "prison" due to lack of light and bars over the tiny window :) But I like it.....it's cozy and warmer than the rest of the apartment....

My first trip was to Croatia....I had a mission to go see Plitvice Lakes and it was the most amazing place I have ever seen. I felt at peace there, I didn't realize how much I enjoyed the outdoors until recent years...but hiking around crystal clear lakes that had waterfalls leading into each other was something I will never forget. On the way to Croatia, I met some kids at the Bologna train station where I spent the night before my ferry, got propositioned by a man from Kosovo and chilled with a couple Aussie chicks on the ferry. My last night in Croatia was in Zadar. There I met a bunch of guys from Leeds and stayed up with them all night drinking and partying with the security guy in our hostel :)

Soon after, I took a trip to Barcelona with Brie and Katya. That city is phenomenal. I cried when I went into Gaudi's Casa Batillo. Modernist art and architecture really seems to define the city, it gives it life. Oh yea, sangria is my new best friend. ahha.....I had a day there on my own since I don't have class on mondays but the girls do...I spent HOURS just walking around the narrow streets and exploring the city.

I am so grateful to have met Kaitlin at the San Francisco consulate while applying for my Visa. She goes to school in Oregon and is studying in Florence this semester. Her and her roommate Ashley have become such great friends...we have a tradition of going to a Mexican restaurant named Tijuana and trying every flavor margarita :) So far we have had strawberry, amarillo, and classico! About 10 more to go! can't wait!

The Leeds Boys came to visit in Florence. Joe and Jake are graffiti artists travelling around Europe seeing different graffiti and doing their own along the way. Duncan also stayed at the apartment, he's from Perth and a funny ass guy when he's drunk. Then we all met up again in Milan....

I ended up in the emergency room in Milan. I was jumping over a medieval fence with Joe at the time and sliced my elbow open. Yea, that shit went all the way to the bone and I had to get 4 layers of stitches, 15 on the surface layer. But I didn't pay one cent for it, including the ambulance ride. I fully support socialized health care.

I've also made trips to Perugia for the Chocolate festival and Siena with Brie and Kat.

So this was a pretty long post, but missed many details.....will do my best in the future to keep updates.

For now, gotta study for the 5 midterms I have this week.....

Ciao!

Monday, October 11, 1999

Okay, I'm gonna try this blogging business

Hey Hey,

Been a while, but I just didn't think that this blogging thing was gonna work out for me....i thought, who the hell would want to read this stuff and why do i really even want to put it in a public place. Well, I've decided it's my best chance at keeping a record of my journeys :) Over the next week, I am going to try to enter new posts so that I can update the blog on EVERYTHING that has happened thus far, it's been a lot....wow....kind of overwhelming thinking back on it, but hey...that's why I need to write it down, right?

I should also say it's thanks to Kaitlin and Ashley that I'm going to start doing this...they both have blogs and inspired me to continue mine :)

Next post I'll tell you about the first couple weeks in Florence!

Ciao.