I am now *two* days away from my internship in Tuscany! I cannot believe how quickly the past month has gone for me. My final shift at Shopper's was this past Saturday night; it was blissfully busy, and therefore quick and somewhat painless. I even sold 4 cameras and one memory card...that's kind of a record for me at this job. ;)
Tonight I had dinner with my family and then went to see "28 Weeks Later" with Hollis, my dad, Lyndsay, and her boyfriend. It was fun, and a decent flick.
Tomorrow my packing and planning continues. Tuesday I finish packing, eat at El Burrito Loco with Hollis and my family, and get to bed at a good time (i hope). Wednesday I wake up nice and early, get my stuff together and fly out of Fredericton. I'll be flying from Fredericton to Montreal, Montreal to Munich, Germany; and finally from Munich to Florence.
Apologies if this is not quite as coherent as usual...I'm just so excited! Now I must try to sleep...
Love,
Bridget
Monday, May 21, 2007
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Getting closer...getting closer...
The days leading up to my trip are going by in an odd fashion - one moment it feels like fifteen days will be an eternity, and the next I feel them slipping by me so quickly. I have had that wonderful butterflies-in-my-tummy feeling since Sunday, and it shows no signs of letting up until I leave. I have to admit that I have not been this excited for anything in such a long time; probably not since the last time I performed on stage last summer. It's a beautiful and terrifying feeling, like preparing to jump off of a cliff knowing that you have a bungee chord tied firmly around your waist.
I've been trying to kick my attempts to learn Italian into high gear. I bought this great interactive CD Rom lesson plan the other week, and that has helped me immensely. I'm currently only about half way through the second of five discs, but it's going great now that I have learned some of the basics. I can ask to use the bathroom, count to 100, order drinks and food, ask the time, and ask for directions. All very useful things to know, I suspect. I've even been able to stop accidentally mixing in French and Spanish words for the most part, so horray for that!
Over the last few days I think the fact that I will be leaving soon has really started to hit me. It's funny, because three months is really not that long when you think about it, but as I prepare to leave, I feel like I am going to miss so much! It is extra funny because I come from such a small town...nothing much ever changes here.
I've been having these weird moments of reflectiveness and nostalgia too. I'm starting to remember things from the past 22 years of living in this city that I had forgotten: people, places, events, emotions, sensations...It's all just so weird to me because I am so used to living in the present, not the past. I think that this reflectiveness in necessary for me to mentally let go of this town while I am away; by paying homage to my past and remembering all that I have learned in my life I am better able to live in the present and create the best future possible for myself and those around me.
Well, I am off to take a walk, study some more Italian, and go to work.
Love,
Bridget
"Time.
He's waiting in the wings,
He speaks of senseless things,
His script is you and me, boys."
-David Bowie, Time
I've been trying to kick my attempts to learn Italian into high gear. I bought this great interactive CD Rom lesson plan the other week, and that has helped me immensely. I'm currently only about half way through the second of five discs, but it's going great now that I have learned some of the basics. I can ask to use the bathroom, count to 100, order drinks and food, ask the time, and ask for directions. All very useful things to know, I suspect. I've even been able to stop accidentally mixing in French and Spanish words for the most part, so horray for that!
Over the last few days I think the fact that I will be leaving soon has really started to hit me. It's funny, because three months is really not that long when you think about it, but as I prepare to leave, I feel like I am going to miss so much! It is extra funny because I come from such a small town...nothing much ever changes here.
I've been having these weird moments of reflectiveness and nostalgia too. I'm starting to remember things from the past 22 years of living in this city that I had forgotten: people, places, events, emotions, sensations...It's all just so weird to me because I am so used to living in the present, not the past. I think that this reflectiveness in necessary for me to mentally let go of this town while I am away; by paying homage to my past and remembering all that I have learned in my life I am better able to live in the present and create the best future possible for myself and those around me.
Well, I am off to take a walk, study some more Italian, and go to work.
Love,
Bridget
"Time.
He's waiting in the wings,
He speaks of senseless things,
His script is you and me, boys."
-David Bowie, Time
Monday, April 30, 2007
28 Days...
It is the last day of May, and I am beginning the final countdown to my departure from Canada. Twenty-eight days from this moment I will likely be getting off of a plane in Florence, grabbing my luggage, cabbing to the train station, and traveling to Sienna where I will meet the eight other interns who I will be living and learning with for the next three months. From what I know so far, there is a good group. We've got one man from England, one girl from Hungary, five girls and one guy from America. I am the lone Canadian of the group!
To say that I am nervous is an understatement. The past few weeks have been a jumble of elation and fear. This will be my first time traveling outside of North America, my first time on a plane, and the longest I have ever been away from some of my closest friends. Of course, I am so grateful to have been picked for this internship...it is the chance of a lifetime! However, I know that I will miss my loved ones so much. This nagging little voice in the back of my head tells me that everyone and everything will move on when I am gone and that I will be confronted with a strange new world when I return. (Or maybe I will be that one that is strange and new. Logic and experience tell me that things in Fredericton rarely change.) I don't think that the reality of being in another country for three months has sunken in yet. For the moment those are just words on a page; I don't think that I will appreciate their full implications until I have arrived in Europe.
Don't get me wrong. Through all of this anxiety, I am happy and excited to experience a new culture and to meet new people. I am, perhaps, more excited than I can express in words. I suppose people often focus on the negatives, even when they are far outweighed by the positives...
My plane leaves on May 26th from Fredericton. From there I have stops in Montreal and Frankfurt, and I arrive in Florence at 10:10am on May 27th. By 5pm I will be in Sienna to meet with my group and travel to Spannocchia. My last day will be August 27th, and I will be taking the same route home, touching down in Fredericton on August 28th. Please keep me in your thoughts while I travel, if you feel so inclined.
I will not have a lot of access to computers while I am on my internship, but I will try to keep this blog updated so my friends and family know what I am up to over the three months that I am gone. I have a digital camera, so I will try to post some of the photographic highlights on here if I am able to.
That's all for now. I will keep posting here as I count down my final weeks in Fredericton and prepare for my internship.
Love,
Bridget
To say that I am nervous is an understatement. The past few weeks have been a jumble of elation and fear. This will be my first time traveling outside of North America, my first time on a plane, and the longest I have ever been away from some of my closest friends. Of course, I am so grateful to have been picked for this internship...it is the chance of a lifetime! However, I know that I will miss my loved ones so much. This nagging little voice in the back of my head tells me that everyone and everything will move on when I am gone and that I will be confronted with a strange new world when I return. (Or maybe I will be that one that is strange and new. Logic and experience tell me that things in Fredericton rarely change.) I don't think that the reality of being in another country for three months has sunken in yet. For the moment those are just words on a page; I don't think that I will appreciate their full implications until I have arrived in Europe.
Don't get me wrong. Through all of this anxiety, I am happy and excited to experience a new culture and to meet new people. I am, perhaps, more excited than I can express in words. I suppose people often focus on the negatives, even when they are far outweighed by the positives...
My plane leaves on May 26th from Fredericton. From there I have stops in Montreal and Frankfurt, and I arrive in Florence at 10:10am on May 27th. By 5pm I will be in Sienna to meet with my group and travel to Spannocchia. My last day will be August 27th, and I will be taking the same route home, touching down in Fredericton on August 28th. Please keep me in your thoughts while I travel, if you feel so inclined.
I will not have a lot of access to computers while I am on my internship, but I will try to keep this blog updated so my friends and family know what I am up to over the three months that I am gone. I have a digital camera, so I will try to post some of the photographic highlights on here if I am able to.
That's all for now. I will keep posting here as I count down my final weeks in Fredericton and prepare for my internship.
Love,
Bridget
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)