Life in Milano after a month

it has already been a month since i started with the language school. starting Monday i will be in another level. fast isn't!!! yep time for sure pass by faster than i thought. i was telling Fede it felt like i have been in Italy for months.

I am getting use to Italy. Ppl are still rude in Milan. I guess that is never going to change. life is getting a little easier day by day. I am able to go to the restaurant and order some food for myself now. not bad at all :)

As for friends. i made few since i have arrive. therefore i don't feel as alone as before. i don't ever feel that alone here in Italy cuz i have Fede. He is a great husband to be and a friend.

Our renovation for casa fusi is still going. we are still deciding the tiles and kitchen.. it seems like it is a never ending process. We are hoping we will get the whole house done by middle of July. Cant wait to have a house. it will be great!!

Milan finally have few rain drops this last few days. as a result the temp has been a little bit nicer for me to walk around the city.

As for the wedding we are still in the stage of choosing our reception place. Fede and I have been busy with house. we will get ass together and see some castello this weekend. I hope.

Lotti Porto

Last Sunday, Carolina, and Fede took me on their boat. We started out from Lotti Porto, and docked at Lerici. It was a perfect day for sailing. The weather was nice and hot. There was a slight breeze. Perfect for sun tanning.

On the right. this picture was taken at the very beg of the trip while Fede's uncle and Fede get ready to sail. Us girls were busy doing nothing.. :)

Below: This picture is where Porto Venere, aka Venera is the Goddess of Beauty. From the name you can imagine how pretty the place was.

There was a castello right by this village. right by the village there was a church. We didn't stop at this place. Fede continue the sails and docked at Lerici.

Many of you will recognize this castello by Lerici. This is where Fede propose to me :P

Anyhow, we docked here for about 2 hrs. We swim a little. ( I had my first swim in the sea :P I was holding on the noodle super tight. that thing was the only reason why i can float for a long period of time :P ) We cooked on the boat. had some pasta, some bread, some prosciuitto, some melone..some salame...etc

During this whole time, I putted on SPF 50 sun screen to protect myself. Fede and Carolina was making fun of me. How is possible someone put on such a high SPF sunscreen. Will guess what! I STILL GOT SUN BURN don't ask me why :S cuz i have been asking myself the same question.

My flight with Verbi Irregolari

It has been almost 2 weeks since I started my Italian classes. ( Did I mention I am one of the oldest student in class! notice i didn't mention i am one of the mature one :P) Things are okay in class. I have two classes. My early morning class the teacher is kinda crazy. She has random yelling moment. At first it was kinda scary,there are few time i was pretty offend, but after few times it is kinda funny to see her going crazy and screaming at everyone.

Most of you are wondering why she yell. Well for lots of reason but mostly it is because none of us can remember the irregular verbs. Those nasty verbs are hard to remember! When they gave you 10 at the time! HELLO Brain capacity is not on the highest level right now!!!

Anyhow for now.. i am still at the stage of learning random vocabs. I can hardly put a sentence together. If i do usually no one really understand what in the world i am talking about.. ( Weird.. in my mine i always thought i put a sentence together correctly .. i think it is the teacher. her Italian level is just not as high as me :P)

News for Wedding

Oh yeah! progress everyone. Fede and I have met the prist this weekend. It seems like i will convert to catholic next year and after that a wedding can finally be planned. not bad isnt! >P

An emotional week

There has been lots of ups and downs last week...Didn't feel too good about being here.. felt really home sick. everything i do and say i felt like someone is looking at me. Every reaction i get from the random clerk or milano ppl i felt uncomfortable.

Dispite the fact i have moved to different cities all my life i never felt this alone in Milano. Where i lived, usually has a large asian community. Unlike in milano. Many time i go to a shop i get treated differently because my language problem. But i love the fact they just simply called me the Chinese! Very rude dont u think. yeah my conversation level is still at the babe level but trust me when i have to i understand what they are talking about. Even my teacher calls my the chinese !!! drives me crazy.

Last week of full of random cases like this. From school, to little boy. I know they dont mean it but i feel like crap whenever i am out. I just dont feel like i belong in this community. If it is not for Fede's support i think i am already on the plane back to San Francisco.

Milano, Italy is a great play to visit. It is romantic and full of culture however living here is another story. The reality hits. English may not be as useful you think.

I NEED TO SPEAK ITALIAN. I NEED TO START BEING MYSELF. STRONGER AND GET OUT THERE MORE. I THINK THIS IS THE ONE AND ONLY SOLUTION FOR ME TO FEEL LESS OUT HERE BY MYSELF. OF COURSE THIS MEANS WHEN I FELT I AM MISTRATED I AM MORE ABLE TO DEFEND MYSELF.

First day at skewl

At age of 26, I am back taking classes. The experience is nothing new. it seems like i have taken a time machine back to 16 years ago when my family moved to Vancouver Canada.

Walking to a classroom full of new faces. The only difference is this time the teacher speaks italian. I felt very helpless. It seems other students already know much of the language except me. Honor student at Highschool, graduating top 10% in University and finish 1st at Berkeley yet I was being sit aside when other was participating in little number games. This is a feeling hard to discribe and i hope none of you ever of experience.

I think it is the super Rowena side of me comes out. I want to be the best. Miss know it all. sitting at the desk today did not make me feel comfortable at all. Yet i think i will improve the most in class since that is what happen 16 years ago.....

School is expensive 710 Euro. not cheap. So i decided to at least give it a month. Did I mention they only gave me an excerise book and not a text book.. ummm where should i start studying.... On the brighter side, at least my day is going by faster now....

2 more days to my Birthday , yet this year i am not looking forward it at all.... not because i am getting older!! just because i dont feel like there is much to celebrate at.

I am really having a great time here in Italy, I have Fede. I know things will get brighter and better as each day goes by. I think for now going by each day is too big of goal for me. .. i think going by hrs is my new goal....

dont worry i am really doing better each day!

Suprise! Fontanellato

I couldnt help it two days ago when i call home, the sec i heard my mom's voice i burst into tears. My mom, Jessica and my brother were all stress out with these sudden burst. I just need a little emotion out flow.

I miss home. and miss my family and friends. I miss being able to go out drive around, pick up cell call someone and chat for 10 mins. yes Fede is around me and trying his best to protect me and yes i understand when school starts everything will be easier however it is just hard at times.

Poor Fede saw me crying on the phone and decided to take me out for a drive. He try to cheer me up with this! Fontanellato!! The Sanvitale Fortress aka Fontanellato Castle is at Parma less than

one hr drive from Piacenza. This is a very cute castle. Small but full of cute things. The Castlewas build by the Sanvitale family coming from France in Mid 14 Century. The castle is complete by the 17th century.

The two most amazing rooms was the Optic room and Parmigianino's room. The optic room is a small tower originally used as a prison. In late 19th cenutry and works by a complex filtering of teh light through prisms projecting on to the concave screens two views of the around castle.

The Parmigianino' Room is about the tale of Actaeon ad Diana. I can go on and on about this room. The young painter at the age of 20 finished painted in less than a month. The details of the art. The story behind this master piece was full of sadness and belief and of a mother who lost of son. Send me an email if you want to know more about it.

As you can see bratty Rowena feels a lot better at the end of the day with Fede babe me with Castle and gellato . I am heal from home sick for now.

Renovation of Casa Fusi

the last few days was one of the many long weekends in Italy. Fede and I went back to Piacenza to look and choose new materials for our house. we hope the whole renovation will be done in late June. if everything is on time....

Choosing floors, discussing which wall to keep which wall to destroy, which window we want to make it larger, type of stairs, type of restroom .etc i never know there is that much decisions to be make. by the end of the day, Fede, Marina and I were all out of brain power.

Redesign the kitchen was not a easy thing too. we have a cute little kitchen which need to squeeze in a full kitchen, oven and stove and all the other good stuff,. gives me and Fede the biggest headache. now the design has been done we will see what happen.

i have to mention our contractor, Max is pretty easy going. everything you ask he will say sure no problem. On the other side we have a wonderful architect who says no, on almost most of things Max suggest. standing there watching to two go at it was pretty fun.