Slipping into the Fog



the fog in Milano

So, clearly the seasons have changed here. A few weeks ago the weather was bright and sunny and even warm midday. It was reminiscent of Savannah, where you layer up in the morning only to peel each one off as the day goes on. But now, here in Milan, the fog has rolled in something fierce. You wake up- to fog. You take the kids to the playground, at noon- in the fog. You leave work- in the fog. You look out your window as you write a blog post- and see only fog. Starts to make you feel a little "foggy" yourself at times, or maybe that's the dizzying days at work?!?


This week was a crazy one at work. First, it was Parent Teacher Conference day, which at May Howard, meant a really nice work day for those of us 'special' teachers. Here, though, it means something quite different. I met with 44 parents, 42 of which each had 10 minute appointments and two which decided they also should be squeezed in. It was my own personal Groundhog's Day. I found myself saying the same things over and over again, because since I have worked with their children maybe 10 times for our 38 minute class. I think it's good that I know their names, when they are in their classroom. (Here, you can call most of them Lorenzo or Luca or Leonardo and get away with it!) Anyways, while it was a repetitive nightmare, the parents were friendly and generally just wanted to say hello. Thankfully, it's a long time before the next go round of conferences.

Firenze

Since my last post I had the chance to visit Firenze, otherwise known as Florence. What an amazing city! Whenever someone mentioned travels in Italy, I always heard how they loved Florence. I'm not quite sure what it is about it either. Even in the off-season it was crowded and full of people. Restaurants were difficult to get into and the lines were long for many tourist favorites. But, the energy in the city was fantastic. It was different from Milan. Here, even though there is plenty of English speakers, it's not geared for quite the tourist scene Florence is prepared for. In Florence, there were tourists to your left and right, in front of you and behind. It was difficult to tell who actually lived in Florence. The stalls of leather goods, scarves and clothing were everywhere. While I resisted a major "bag" purchase, I did find some gifts to bring home at the holidays. So, when you come to visit me in Milan, if you haven't been to Florence, put it on your list!

Next week is Thanksgiving...how is that possible? (Today is exactly three months since arriving in Italy!) Thanksgiving is not a holiday here, but because I work for an American school, we are off Thursday and Friday. I'm flying out to Manchester, UK to see Christy and then we are taking the train to London on Friday. Thanks to my sister we got a really great hotel deal and I splurged and bought tickets to the ATP World Tennis Finals for Friday night. The sports lover in me could not resist such an opportunity- top 8 men's players in the world...we'll get to see one singles match and I'm crossing my fingers for Djokovic/Murray...but I've promised myself not to be disappointed if it's not that match! We are also going to see the Wizard of Oz and hopefully find some time to do a little sightseeing and shopping!

I'm including a link here to some of my pictures if you do not get to see them via Facebook. Also, the American School of Milan is celebrating 50 years of education in Milan in 2012 so they are gearing up for a big celebration. If you'd like to see where I work everyday and get a glimpse of the campus, children, and staff you can go to our webpage and look for the video linked on the page. Finally, based on a request, I am working on a blog post entitled "Man or Myth...the Men of Italy". I've been collecting some pics so that I can accurately portray my thoughts on this subject. Buona serata!