Back to the Ol' Grindstone

It's been just another week in the life of an international student for me. The daily four-hour classes continued all through last week and will keep going this week as well. We do get a nice little 15-20 minute break in the middle, thank God, so that we can all go downstairs and stand out in the freezing cold... which helps to wake me up after listening to the lecture for 2 straight hours, so I guess that's good. The teacher is pretty cool though. He's a professor from Malta. Yeah, like the Humphrey Bogart Malta. He has this funny little accent, and he's really friendly. I brought my laptop to class one day and he saw that I have the Grand Canyon as my desktop background, which led to a little chat about where I was from, etc etc. Turns out he's been to Phoenix and Flagstaff for work; he lectures sometimes at seminars for the American Marketing Association. He speaks American English really well and is always throwing in these obscure little quips and phrases during the lectures that no one else understands but me, and I just sit there laughing.

Our presentation on Wednesday went pretty well. It was in a sort-of debate format, where we had an issue to talk about and gave the pros, while another group gave the cons, then we talked about it as a group afterwards. Our topic was on being a socially responsible company and behaving ethically. So when we were choosing topics, I made sure to sign us up for the pro side, because really; who wants to argue against being socially responsible and ethical? It was pretty obvious the other side was hating it during the debate.

Well, I didn't embarrass myself in squash, because I didn't end up playing. The weather was disgusting again the last week; freezing cold, rain, even fog, but thankfully no *new* snow. There is still some snow on the ground here and there though. The squash games get planned for midday, and class starts at 2pm so usually the others just shower at the gym and go straight to class afterwards. With the way the weather was, I would have been lugging around a second pair of shoes, clothing, and a laptop, so I just skipped it to make life easier. Spring is supposed to arrive - at the end of MARCH. I hear it's already 75 back home. UGH.

The weekend was pretty relaxed again. A bunch of us got together at a friends house on Friday night and just had some beers. Saturday night I went out with a few people to this place with a live band. When we showed up, they were playing American style blues/jazz music. It was really trippy to be sitting in a bar in Italy and listen to 'Sweet Home Chicago' with an accent. That was basically it for the evening... We have another big paper and presentation to do this week so everyone is still pretty much in study mode. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot to look forward to after this week; the class we're in now will be ending Friday, and starting on Monday we're going to be having classes at 8am. BARF. I haven't seen that side of 8am in a while, and I really wasn't missing it. Luckily it's not everyday, but still... it's just cruel.

I'm still waiting for my 'permit to stay', a piece of legal documentation that more or less entitles me to be here for extended periods of time. I applied just a few days after I arrived in September, but even if I got it tomorrow, that would be on the short side of things from what I have heard. While getting some information about it on an online forum, I found this interesting article about the differences between Italian and Anglo-Saxon/other European legal systems: http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art315.htm . The tone it is written in seems a little biased to me, but I think some of the points are probably valid. It's an interesting little glimpse into part of the Italian culture. I think the article may be looking down its own nose a little, in light of our less than perfect legal and judicial systems; but it certainly raises some eyebrows nonetheless.

Hopefully everyone had a nice State Day yesterday. Yes, February 14th is Arizona's statehood anniversary day, for those who don't know. I'm sure everyone was at home making Arizona-shaped cookies and watching old westerns on TV. Not like there is anything else going on that day...

Until next time!