Though I’ve been in Japan for almost 2 months now, this is my first blog post. The first month alone was more hectic than a whole year back at home! So far, I’ve gotten more used to the lifestyle here and things have slowed down. Despite having been to a lot of places here in Japan, and experiencing a lot of different things, I’ll start off slow and work my way through what I’ve done slowly until I catch up with what’s currently happening. So how about I introduce myself… and some Japanese food!
Swedish Castles and John Lennon’s Birthday
I have been living in St. Petersburg for almost two months and am still caught up in the whirlwind of the city and culture. Whenever I leave my apartment in the morning either for class or to meet up with friends I have no idea where I’ll end up that day, and I love it. [...][...]
Siena and Viareggio
On September 7 we visited the Tuscan city Siena with our art history class. We toured the Duomo and some other museums there, focusing on pre-Renaissance art. We saw Lorenzetti’s The Allegory of Good and Bad Government in the Sala dei Nove. We got to climb up and get a great view of [...][...]
La Giostra del Saracino — The Joust!
Arezzo has a great tradition of a semi-annual joust of the Saracen, “La Giostra del Saracino.” It is held in the Piazza Grande in the center of Arezzo, and the four neighborhoods, “quartieres,” compete against each other. It has a long history in Arezzo, dating back to the[...]
Lost in Lambo Land
On Labor Day we had a day off class, so we decided to take the day and visit the Lamborghini Factory! It ended up being a fun day, but had quite the rough start. The factory is located in Sant’Agata Bolognese, a tiny town outside of Bologna, which meant two trains and [...][...]
October 1st, 2011 - 5:14 pm § in Italy, OU in Arezzo
La Sagra in Ponte Alla Chiassa
First, I must preface this by saying I have an amazing set of Italian family here around Arezzo. They are somewhat distant (one group related to my great-grandfather, and the other group we don’t even know exactly how–just know that we are indeed family). I call them my “cousins&#[...]
October 1st, 2011 - 2:11 pm § in Russia
One month down
One month down! I am probably more proud of myself than I should be for surviving my first month here without getting hit by a car or walking into an open manhole, but oh well. I have settled in and adjusted to life here more or less, but there are still a few things I [...][...]