If I was at home right now, this is what I'd be doing...
I'd be decorating the tree at home with my family, watching the delicate pearl coloured snow flakes fall, baking gingerbread cookies and buying an extra tub of vanilla icing for extra
deliciousness, wrapping presents in every colour imaginable, stashing my purse with candy canes... I'd be making a snowman and donning her in my pink plaid scarf, and going beer boganning with my friends at H. H. Knoll park. I'd throw snow balls at the side of the house, sip hot chocolate inside by the fire, go Christmas shopping at the Pen Centre, and walk down West Street arm-in-arm with mom picking out new ornaments. I'd be buying candy cane scented soap from Harmony on West, listening to Christmas music and drive around the city appreciating everyone's lights display.
My favourite part about this time of year is eating yummy holiday candies with my sister on the couch while having a marathon of all the classic Christmas movies. Our personal favourite is A Christmas Story.
Missing out on Christmas this year makes me realise that I don't think I can miss out again next year. I think that this is my one year to really put myself out into the world and travel and experience Europe, but next year I would like to be able to be closer to my family so I don't have to miss out on things like this.
Niagara-On-The-Lake is, in my opinion, the world's most picturesque city - especially at
Christmas. There's horse carriages you can ride around on, beautiful Victorian mansions that are dressed up in their Christmas best, and the most incredible Christmas store in the world. Its open all year round and sells everything you can imagine that has to do with Christmas.
This week, they're putting a huge Christmas tree up at the Vatican, which I'm really excited about. Last night, Nathan and I were taking another nighttime walk around Rome and appreciating all the beautiful Christmas decorations and lights. He's leaving for Paris today and isn't coming back until Sunday, so we wanted to see each other before he headed off. He said, "Even though I love this city, I can't wait to go home for Christmas." Sigh... I told him that I'm not going home for Christmas. I expected him to say how terrible that was, and that I should be with my family, not in Europe. But I told him my plans, and he was really enthusiastic for me, which made me feel really good. I probably already mentioned this, but I'm going to travel with my Austrian friend Magda for Christmas.
Actually, today is exactly 3 weeks until my trip, and I'm so excited. I'm flying to Munich first, where Magda is picking me up. Then we're driving back to Salzburg to spend Christmas, and we're travelling to a place called Upper Austria as well. Then we're going to spend a few days in Vienna, and then Prague for New Years. So even though I'm not going to be home for Christmas, I'm still so excited to see Magda and travel to so many new places.
When I arrived in Italy, my life became technicolour. And now, I never want to leave. I was talking to my friend Taylor about this, who's living on the border of France and Switzerland. I'm really proud of her, too, because she was supposed to go to the University of Toronto for law, and now she's learning French and having the time of her life. She says, "The only problem with coming over here is that I never want to leave." I couldn't possibly agree with her more.
Ever since I moved into my new house, I haven't had much time to update my blog because I'm literally in the heart of Rome. I no longer have to wait for anything or anyone - I can go wherever, whenever. And every single day, I'm out and about. I also have loads of free time, so I've been spending most of it out with friends, window shopping, touring around, eating more food... It is pure heaven over here.
One of my favourite people here is my good friend Kelsey, who I spent Sunday evening with. We met up at the monument in the centre of Campo dei Fiori and split a bottle of wine. I keep a wine opener in my purse at all times. We talked about her busy weekend, and my new house and I gave her the details of my new beau. We'll call him Nathan.
Nathan is 20 years old and is studying here with my other American friends like Connor. I met him a few weeks ago at Scholar's but nothing really happened between us until last week. I went out with my au pair friends and the Americans on Friday, and Nathan was there. I've never been this attracted to a guy before. He's from Boston and has tanned skin, dark brown eyes, and a perfect smile. On top of his charming looks he's an actual gentlemen, and asked about how I grew up, what my family's like, and all that important stuff that's sometimes awkward but really wasn't at all. He's really easy to talk to, but its bittersweet because he's going home to the U.S in three weeks. I was talking to a friend about him and said how terrible it is that I just met him now, and that I wish we had met sooner. She reminded me that it could be worse, and that I could've met him three days before he left, or maybe not at all. This is true.
So, after Kelsey and I had some wine, she walked me to Scholar's where I went to meet with Nathan. His favourite football team, the New England Patriots were playing, and they won, so he was pretty happy about that. We hungout there for a bit and then decided to walk around the city. Rome at night is beyond any kind of beauty you can ever imagine, especially the Trevi Fountain, with its electric blue water and gold lights.
It still has tourists and romantic couples lounging about even at 1 am. We walked everywhere, and eventually ended up at Villa Borghese. We just hungout there and had a view of the whole city. The best part was St. Peter's Basilica, which was decorated with gold lights. It was definitely one of my favourite nights in Italy so far. I don't know how much I want to, or should reveal about my current romance going on here. I actually get the butterfly feeling with this guy, and so I want to respect his privacy as formally as I can. When he was walking me home, I saw my Swedish friend Ronja, who I've been running into spontaneously lately. She thought that maybe he was Italian or Greek or something, and said, "Who's the hottie? What country is he from?" He replied, in perfect English (and that irresistible Boston accent), "I'm from the U.S." She was really taken aback, but then laughed and said, "That's too bad, I was hoping we could talk bullshit about you behind your back right now." Oh, Ronja...
I have moved into my new house in Rome. Finally, I am here. I'm living in Campo dei Fiori, which is in the heart of Rome. Everything is in walking distance, and I'm nestled right in between the Vatican and Piazza Navona. Piazza Navona is a beautiful square filled with outdoor café's and has several large, marble fountains situated right in the middle. In my opinion, I am living in the ultimate location in Rome, for day and night. How lucky am I?
Speaking of luck, I've had a lot of it lately. What I mean is that before I moved here and took the bus, I would show up at the stop and it would magically arrive within the first five minutes of my being there, when it usually takes between 10 - 15 minutes of waiting. Then, when I was out for dinner with my friend the other night, the waiter came over and apologized because he actually sat us at someones reserved seat. No big deal, right? We'd just move. Well, I guess they felt pretty terrible about it, because we scored a free bottle of wine. Also, I went to the grocery store the other day because I wanted to pick up a box of tea for myself. I didn't know that there was a huge sale on the vanilla tea that I love, but even better than that, I got the last box.
So - my new living situation. Its a beautiful yellow house filled with lots of art and interesting details. For example, there's a spiral staircase, wooden beams, and archways here and there. My bedroom is painted a light cream and I have those Japanese cherry blossom flower pattern on my curtains. I have a chandelier and wooden beams across the top of my million foot high ceilings, and a picture of an angel hanging over my bed. I like to think this will make me have only good dreams. I have my own private bathroom right across the room from me that is painted this amazing shade of bright orange.
Not only do they own a beautiful house in the centre of Rome, but they also have their own castle in Tuscany as well as their own private island. I swear, someone could make a movie about these people. But oh, wait - someone already did! A couple weeks ago there was a film crew taping part of a movie at their house.
There are 10 of us living in the house: the parents and their four children (Clemintina, Manfredi, Lodovica, Desideria), not one, but three Filipino workers, and now me. So its a busy household. Actually, the one Filipino worker is currently home in the Philippines for a little while, but he's coming back sometime after the holidays.
Clemintina, the oldest, spends most of her time out with friends or in the upstairs loft painting. Manfredi is rarely home, because he's always playing sports. Which he could do perfectly at home, since they have their own basketball and volleyball court. I'm really only responsible for the two little ones, Lodo and Daisy. Lodo is curious about everything I do, and tries her best to ask me questions in English. Her and Daisy follow me everywhere, and have become my two little Italian shadows.
The kids all go to the private, super exclusive French school in the heart of Villa Borghese that was a palace designed by Michelangelo. Man, if only I could've had the education these kids are getting... Its really tempting to speak French since we all know it fluently and their English isn't so good. But Lodo really does try hard, and I can't imagine trying to be trilingual at the age of 8. Daisy has created her own personal language called Frenglian. French, English and Italian all rolled into one.
Anyway, the house is literally sitting on top of pure Roman ruins. There is a pathway under the house where there were old shops, and they keep their wine and ping pong table down there. So, I can play ping pong in Roman ruins without having to leave the property. Another interesting fact about the house is that during the medieval century it housed a madwoman.
During this time, my bedroom and the parents bedroom were connected, and she was imprisoned for chopping off her father's head. She eventually died here, which is a nice thing to know about the room I'm going to be sleeping in for the next 6 and a half months.
On Saturday, I surprised my family by calling them at my grandparents house. Its my grandparents 56th anniversary and my nana just turned 79 this past month, and so all the family on my mom's side had a party. I was in touch with my cousin Graeme who knew I was going to call, and he picked up the phone right away when I called.
Last night, Kelsey and I went out for dinner to celebrate Thanksgiving. I know Thanksgiving was a month ago, but Kelsey is American, and so this is her day to celebrate. We kept giving it formal names like, "The day in which we give thanks to God." We went to this little restaurant in the Jewish ghetto of Rome. It was my first time going to that neighborhood and it was a nice change in scenery. There were amazing little kosher restaurants and we had such a delicious dinner. Fresh bread, to start, and then I had gnocchi. It was steaming hot, smothered in tomato sauce, and had melting mozzarella cheese dripping through it. I have never tasted anything so perfect in my life. Kelsey had couscous and vegetables, and we shared a bit of each others meal. After our fancy dinner we walked over to Scholar's to visit my friend Connor who goes there every Sunday to watch the American football games. Connor is the guy from Atlanta who saved me from that French guy. Connor was there with a few of his other American friends and he hit me with some tragic news. They're all going home in a month. What? I thought they were at least staying until spring. It was so sad, but we had a really great night together and I loved celebrating 'Friendsgiving' twice. I think I will make it a tradition once I come home to celebrate both Thanksgivings. Why should the best holiday known to humankind be celebrated once a year, if you can celebrate it twice? I don't know why I didn't come up with this idea sooner.
Kelsey and I also flipped through my thick book on Rome. The book was published by National Geographic and has hidden maps, cool ideas for what to do and where to go, off-the-path excursions, and interesting facts about the city. We found so many things that we want to do together.
My current host mom is in Poland for the week, which means I am solely responsible for Giulia until I move out on Wednesday. My bags are almost entirely packed, except for this load of laundry I'm going to do before I go. Giulia went to her viola lesson after school and did some studying at home. After we got that out of the way, we made popcorn and watched A Bug's Life. I haven't seen that movie in about a decade, and I forgot how adorable it was. I love watching old Disney movies. I also walked around my neighborhood and took cool pictures of displays and found this really funky furniture shop. It was a great way to kick off the new week.
I did some shopping, and that's about it. My favourite store in Rome is called Tally Weijl, which is similar to Forever 21. I bought a hot pink skirt, black glittery top, and a dippy-wrappy-kind-of-funky leopard print top. I also bought some cool jewelry, a new scarf, and, best of all, A NEW COAT. But not just any new coat! A snow white, winter pea coat that fits me beautifully, even when wearing a thick sweater underneath. It has these cute silver buttons that make me feel like an adorable and feminine British soldier. Because its white, I can wear any coloured scarf with it, which is wonderful. It also has these white silk-lined pockets that make me feel like I'm touching heaven whenever I stick my hands inside. I wasn't planning on buying a new coat, but my beloved grey bell coat is tattered.
I bought this grey coat two years ago in the States and I fell in love with it. That thing got me through the freezing cold winters of Canada and France, and we shared a lot of beautiful memories together... However, two of the big buttons are missing, which wouldn't be such a problem if it took more than four to do the coat up. There is also a huge chocolate stain on the front of it from my gracefulness of eating a crepe. As my nana Whyte would say, it was 'well loved'. Since we're on the subject of my nana and I love history (not that she is historical, but wait for it) her mom - so my great grandmother - was the first female principal in Ontario. Pretty cool, huh?
So - on a more important note... This Wednesday, I am moving in with my new family. This day has crept up on me, and I'm beginning to pack my belongings, which is making everything more surreal.
In a perfect world, I think I might possible maybe spend another year abroad... I really just don't know what to do. Part of me is saying, "Go to Ottawa! You need to go back to school." But then this other part of me is saying, "School will always be there, I promise. Right now you are young and have the ability to be flexible and travel and do everything in the world that you want to do."
I talked to Cely about my dilemma in not knowing what to do about university. She didn't offer any help, although she did listen to me and give me a banana. When in doubt, have some potassium...
I'm playing ping pong in my brain. Europe, university. Europe, university. The thought exhausts me.
I found this interesting questionnaire on the internet. One of the questions read, "How do you define success?" I used to think the answer would be happiness, but that's a mood, not a destination. So... How would I define success? By learning a new language. Traveling to new countries. Eating dinner at that exotic new restaurant or sitting on one of the world's greatest ancient monuments while eating cinnamon gelato... That isn't success though, that's just what I like to do. And its a very depressing thought to know that I can't live this way forever... I just don't where which direction to go. If I came back to Europe again after next summer, would I be stuck in the same question as I am now, and could I really be away from my family again for another whole year? That's the reality when you move halfway across the world.
I recall something I read about in the book Influence by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. They put together a book that includes personality tests, opinions, favourite quotes, photographs of their favourite designer clothes, places of travels... There was something in there called the Proust questionnaire. Marcel Proust was a French writer who believed that a person must first understand themselves before they figure anything or anyone else out. I decided to fill out my own Proust questionnaire.
1. What is your greatest fear?
being abducted, or losing my eye sight
2. What is your current state of mind?
content
3. What is your favourite way to spend time?
traveling and exploring, but on a normal day, spending time with friends, drinking tea, writing
4. What historical figure do you most identify with?
i don't know
5. Which living person do you most admire?
oprah winfrey
6. Who is your favourite fictional hero?
robin hood
7. Who are your real-life hero's?
my papa whyte
8. What is your most treasured possession?
the teddy bear my papa pressé gave me
9. When and where were you happiest?
here in rome
10. What is your most obvious characteristic?
possessing a creative mind, making others laugh
11. What is the trait you hate most in yourself?
stubborn
12. What is the trait you hate most in others?
being late, dishonest and arrogant
13. What is your greatest extravagance?
the fact that i live in rome
14. What is your favourite journey?
the one i'm currently on
15. What do you most dislike about your appearance?
my height, i wish i was taller
16. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
perfection
17. On what occasion do you lie?
when I'm annoyed and i say that i'm busy
18. Which words of phases do you most overuse?
"keep calm and carry on"
19. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
not being such a perfectionist
20. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
moving to france alone at 16, then moving again to italy at 18, learning languages on my own
21. Where would you like to live?
right here in rome, where i am. or in buckingham palace.
22. What is the quality you most admire in a man?
a good listener, spontaneous, genuine
23. What is the quality you most admire in a woman?
independence, a strong sense of self
24. What is it you most dislike?
bullshit
25. What do you value most in your friends?
their ability to love and support me no matter what i do or where i go
26. How would you like to die?
in my sleep, obviously
27. If you were to die and come back as an animal, which animal do you think it would be?
a lion
28. If you could choose an object to come back as, what would you choose?
a book
29. What is your motto?
everybody dies, but not everybody lives
30. Who has been the greatest influence on you?
oprah winfrey
31. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
i don't know 'who' yet because i haven't met him but writing and traveling are my two favourite loves at the time. i'm consistent and dedicated to them as i haven't been in my other loves.
32. Which talent would you like to have?
singing, or the ability to pick up languages the same way that animals can pick up diseases. you know?
33. What would you like to be?
"a wise woman"
I have to share my new favourite song, Paradise, on this blog because it is absolutely wonderful. Its from Coldplay's new album, Mylo Xyloto, and it just so happens to be on constant loop on my laptop. What can I say - I'm obsessed! A lot of people criticize Coldplay for their songs being the same one after the next and putting people to sleep. I admit, sometimes I fall asleep to it - but only because its soothing. But some of their songs have made it onto my 'Jogging' playlist, so there! Anyway...
By nature, I am not a zen person. I'm loud, passionate, and get excited easily. When I laugh, you can literally hear me from half a mile away. Lately I've been spending part of my afternoons reading Pride and Prejudice on my favourite bench at the park. When I don't feel like reading anymore, I just watch the ducks swim in the pond and... well, that's it, actually. I don't think, I don't feel, I just watch the ducks swim because its relaxing.
Before I begin to tell you how I've been spending my last few days (sorry for not updating, guys!) let me tell you a little tale about last Saturday. As the world knows, Berlusconi has made headlines for quitting his job as prime minister. On Saturday, Roman citizens, news crews, reporters, journalists, and even tourists lined up outside the gates of Piazza Colonna. It was truly incredible to see how happy the Italians are. The busiest street in Rome, Via del Corso, was blocked off because police were worried about people attacking the government as well as the private black cars that were sneaking their way through the back of the building. I made friends with this Italian journalist Alessandro, who told me everything that was going on. I am so glad I met him, because of course I love journalism, but he was feeding me all the information on exactly what was happening.
The crowd of people then walked to Berlusconi's house which isn't too far from Piazza Colonna, and you will never believe this... HIS HOUSE IS RIGHT BESIDE SCHOLAR'S! YES.
All this time, I've been drinking right next to the prime minister's house. Scholar's is literally right beside his house. Its funny because I always wondered what this beautiful building with a large Italian flag was, and was even more curious as to why there were always policemen lined up outside, but I never would've guessed he lived there. I guess you really do learn something new every day, huh?
