Italian Class Letdown + The Difference 1

So the bad news is that due to disorganization at the university, I am no longer in the official Italian class. Bummer. They say I can start in the next session, in February. To which I ask, if it's OK then, why isn't it OK now? However, I have been looking at my labmate's notes, and frankly I don't think the class is going very fast. It will not be hard for me to keep up with the written and grammar parts of the class. The bummer is the spoken part. I would like to do more of that. I should start just forcing my Italian speaking comrades to talk to me more. And my listening is improving just being around here. So, I have decided to continue more with the Pimsleur, and that is going well.

The disorganization can be one of the toughest parts of Italy, as far as I can tell. People often don't respond to emails, and then when you call them to follow up act all surprised. You have to be very proactive to get things done. People will often casually give you wrong information. My friend Nati told me that it would drive me crazy, and it is doing its best. I mean, we say we have a lot of beaurocracy in the US, but Italy might be tougher to navigate. And not just because of the language barrier in my case.

Lots of things are different here. I figured that it might be cool to start mentioning these things a bit here, so I present to you the first "The Difference" moment in my blog:



This plaque on the fence? That's a street sign. Street signs in Italy seem to be designed for pedestrians. They are flat plaques against the side of buildings or fences. The heights vary. Some are up 10 or 15 feet, some, like this one, are at eye level. Often, they are roughly the same shade of stone (or whatever it really is) as the building. The letters are carved in, but not colored in any way. They are incredibly easy to miss. I don't know how people driving cars manage to spot and read them. The only advantages I can see over American street signs is that they can't shift positions or get lost. (Though I did miss one while walking somewhere... How was that possible? Must have been the sand on sand coloring.)