A new post on my main written blog
Along with my image blog, here on Tumblr, I also maintain a written blog (as shown by the link above). It chronicles my thoughts and experiences as I make my way through Europe and Italy, especially.
Photos from my visit to the Roman Coliseum.
Pictures from the Roman Forum during multiple visits.
Today, 14 October 2011, this is what I look like. I wonder how not only my cognitive self, but my physical self will also change after my study abroad trip. Will my personal taste in clothing change? In food? In men? How about my mannerisms, will they also take on an “Italian twist”? How about my outlook in life?
Just bought a travel guide a friend of mine suggested. He said that it’s the right guide for me during my travels through Italy as it keeps the college student on a budget in mind.
Come nei Film
Imagining myself living and traveling in Italy brings up images of films that started my fascination with the country. I imagine myself walking the same cobblestone streets as Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. I find myself dreaming of walking through Roman traffic and being swept away by an Italian man such as Marcello in Under the Tuscan Sun. I can see myself being surrounded by silent, narrow walls as I ride down a gondola in Venice. I want to sit outside surrounded by strangers, being a stranger to my surroundings myself, and enjoying un caffè (a cup of coffee) or un bicchiere di vino (a glass of wine) as the Italian life and culture consumes me. To be in the presence of things that have lasted more than several generations of human lifetimes… there’s a quiet, humble beauty to it all.
Through this journey, I do hope to go through a transformation, an inevitable self-discovery. To live life for each and every moment, every sensation and emotion like Katherine in Under the Tuscan Sun or Liz Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love. Or to be like Frances (Diane Lane), who fell in love with Villa Bramasole, bought it, and found herself, love, and adventure… I want to experience all this Italian romanticism. A romance with the self.
I want to experience all these things. Sure, there may be those that might find my goals as overly-idealistic or romantic, but I think they can really happen for me… We can find love in distant places we may have never dreamed of stepping foot in. We can find our most concrete and beloved selves by keeping an open mind to new opportunities. When my life passes on, I want the next generation of people to think of those that came before them and passionately stepped foot on the very same cobblestone streets they stand on… because I am/will be/was one of them.
Posso entrare nel vostro paese?
This past week I had to turn in a few (actually all) of the documents I needed for my trip.
- A medical history self-evaluation
- Proof of international student health insurance (which I had to buy)
- Housing/Roommate contract
- Photocopy of my passport
- Photocopy of my flight itinerary
- Long term (90+ days) Italian visa application
- etc.
I definitely did a lot of running around this whole week to get all these documents taken care of. Having to buy my round trip ticket(s) and international health insurance, making photocopies of several documents, signing countless forms, trying to interpret vague questions and having to insert my answers to said questions in the small space/box(es) they provide… Tedious work, but I just try to focus on the fact that in just a little over three months I will be surrounded by beautiful people, beautiful architecture, immersed in a beautiful language, and living a portion of my life in a place I never thought I could ever reach.
Everything was pretty standard procedure, but in the back of my mind, there’s that pessimistic part of me that thinks something may still go wrong. For example, having my visa application denied. There’s no reason for it to be, but as humans we always think of the good, but there is that portion of us that tries to stay skeptical/pessimistic in order to expect even the unexpected. So the title of this post was Posso entrare nel vostro paese? meaning “Can I enter your country?”
I’m sure things will run smoothly. I just can’t wait to get my passport back in a few weeks with the Italian visa posted in it. It will be like a tangible promise to a romantic, beautiful future filled with great food, wine, scenery, and a moment that will placidly change my life.
Lo Straniero
Hi! I’m Kenneth and this will be the place where I’ll be putting my thoughts, ideas, and photos of my study abroad experience(s) in Italy. I know that I won’t be leaving for another three months and four days, but preparing for my trip is definitely worth writing about (along with the whole trip itself). This is/will be an exciting journey for me as I have never been to Europe before, and I hope to find an eternal piece of myself during my travels.
The title of this post is Lo Straniero meaning “The Stranger” in Italian. What I hope to accomplish with this blog is to successfully record my whole experience to the fullest that I possibly can, share those experiences with you, and hopefully change our relational status from “strangers” to gli amici or “the friends”.
So, dear stranger, would you be willing to share this journey with me?
KC
