First Day of School

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It has been a very long time since I had a first day of school. I take classes in America for a lot of different things; Italian for one, digital photography, digital video, etc., but all these classes meet, at best, once per week. It has been ages since I have had to go to a real school/university/institute or otherwise on a daily basis for the singular purpose of education. For all the kids/people that are fortunate enough to be in school, my advice is stay as long as you can. There are many merits to having a steady job and career and I count both of those as blessings. Still, that being said, the dedicated pursuit of knowledge is something that is a lot of fun. Of course, one must be ready to accept this situation as an opportunity. I found myself in a very unique situation; the planets were aligned correctly, and so, I decided to take advantage of it. My job, whatever that will be, is going to be ready for me back in America (at least I hope :)). Still, I know that there will always be something for me even if it’s just the barista position at the local coffee shop.

Speaking of kids in school, I have to mention that I applaud my fellow boarder here in Siena. Mike just recently graduated from high school and between his graduation and eventual enrollment at Dartmouth is spending three months here in Siena. To all the readers, please don’t think that this opportunity is only for folks of privilege. Heck, I’m here and I definitely don’t count myself as someone of privilege. This is the best time to visit Siena for education reasons. It’s winter, which means that in a couple of weeks, we are expecting snow (I’m not sure that I’m prepared for this). It also means that it’s not an expensive time to be here and for a student it’s an optimal time to be here for education. Mike and I are also staying with a local family (we have rooms in their house) and this is not only a great way to stay economically but also a great way to learn the language. My hat’s off to Mike and his fellow education seekers that are here in Siena or other places.

Back to the first day, I was very excited to be walking to school this morning. I was so excited that I missed my turn and ended up at the local sanitarium which turned out to be one of the worst places to ask for directions. I found a local map at the nearby university and it turns out that wasn’t a good source either. I asked a local woman and she recommended that I ask someone in the bar (this just means coffee shop) and it turns out that was almost good enough. I was pointed in the right direction, asked a security guard and that was what finally what did it.

I arrived at school 20 minutes late, said sorry about 20 times, and took the written and oral tests. I was placed, accurately I might add, in the class that is one level below advanced fluency. I started the class and I was extremely comfortable with the level, but that is not what I am here for. I’m here to be completely uncomfortable; I don’t want anything to be easy. I would rather be the dumbest person in the class and completely uncomfortable than satisfied with how well I’m doing. So, as a typical American or more accurately Californian, I complained. After class I told Silvia that I had already finished the book that we were using (which was true). She said that she would see about moving me up one level especially since I was able to construct a sentence with imperfect subjunctive and a conditional phrase. It’s a good thing that I did that during class otherwise she might not have thought to move me up. When I told her that I had already finished the book, she looked at me with a somewhat dismissive (but not in a negative sense) “so what” look.

One last funny fact about the class. I was joking, back at home, that I had requested a class made up of only women. How strange, but I found myself today in a class of all women including a fellow Golden Bear. Her and her husband are here for two years; he works for Novartis. All things considered, what a great gig to be “stuck” here in Siena for two years. Since I complained today, I’m sure that I won’t be as fortunate tomorrow...