Long time no see! I have been failing to upload daily posts - I promise I will try harder this week. Anyway, here are some observations from last week:
1) I keep noticing how most Italians do not see the need to get new cars and phones. It appears that as long as they work, the Italians are fine with them. I don't think this is the case in either America or Korea. Based on my experience, people in America and Korea are more obsessed over getting the most recent iPhone or something. However, I still see many people with flip-phones, if not smartphones that are at least 5 years old.
2) There is no Thanksgiving here (obviously), so Christmas decorations have been up for the past couple of weeks! The most wonderful time of the year is finally here, and it makes me really excited. Of course, Christmas is a big deal almost everywhere in the world, but here in Italy, the mood seems to be more festive and religious. Meanwhile, I am going to search for some nice things at the Christmas flee market that recently opened.
3) A silly and rather trivial observation: I was going through my recent photos the other day and realized that I am wearing my satchel in every single one. No wonder why my satchel has become my signature item...
4) I was watching the Italian news on the death of a pro-Kurdish lawyer in Turkey. All the sudden, the news showed a rather gruesome image with a lot of blood. Only his body was mosaicked. I was shocked, to say the least. My host mother forced my host brother, who is 7 years old, to turn away because she thought that the news was too brutal for a young kid. I quite frankly agree with her. I am not sure whether this is the norm for the Italian news or not.
5) Today, the sweetest thing happened when I bought my monthly bus ticket at a local shop. The owner, who appears to be 50 years old or so, is very sweet. Often when I see him open his shop on my way to school, I greet him politely. Anyway, as per usual, we talked and he gave me a compliment about how my Italian is improving. Afterwards, I said, "Grazie a lei" (thanks to you - lei is the formal way of saying you). He responded, "Dammi del tu" (give me 'the you' - you don't have to use formal lei to address me). This is the Italian way of saying, "Oh, you don't have to call me Mr. Smith. Just call me John." I am so excited to finally greet the owner every morning with a friendly remark, "Ciao, Lorenzo!"
Until next Sunday - ciao!