Conversations and Conjugations

On Conversations:

On Sunday, September 4th the Student Life staff was in Berlin and we were ready for the students to arrive the next day. After dinner we walked around the neighborhood nearby to the hotel and had a drink in a little bar. Walking back to the hotel Shelley said, "Just think, right now 195 students are flying through the skies, on their way to us." Wow, that is an incredibly awesome mental image; it is a way to imagine the immensity of the experience of these students. They are leaving their country, many of them for the very first time, and are on their way to a semester, or year, in Italy. All of these hopes, preconceptions, goals, nerves, and anxiety - all at an apex as they fly across the world on their way to us. I hope that at times when they cause problems or frustrations, that I can reflect back on this idea and reframe my perspective.

And Conjugations:

A vast majority of the people with whom we have interacted in Germany, and a good number in the Czech Republic, speak English. I know the same is true in Florence. All of these kids grow up learning at least two languages, many of them three. While it made traveling easier as I know very little German and absolutely no Czech, I am also embarrassed. I am committed to learning Italian, and need to keep this commitment going, as I've already seen how easy it is to get by with English.