I HAVE MY VISA!!

Tentative Spring Schedule:

Monday/Tuesday/Thursday
8:30-9:25am Italian 102 – Beginning II
9:30-10:25 Philosophy 472 – Philosophy of Art
Break and Lunch
2:20-3:15 Finance 320 – Principles of Finance

Tuesday
3:35-6:15 Marketing 310 – Principles of Marketing

Wednesday

3:35-6:15 English 305 – The Writing Traveler

So I have two night classes that are almost three hours long, which isn’t very fun, but oh well.

ITAL 102:

Required by all Florence students doing two semesters abroad. I’m really excited to see how much Italian I can learn in my time away. Between studying it in class and speaking it in daily life, I hope it’s a lot!

PHIL 472:

A 400 level philosophy elective is part of the GU core. Philosophy of Art sounds pretty interesting to me.

BFIN 320:

Part of the Gonzaga Business School core. I’m really not all that interested in finance right now. I know a lot of accounting majors do a finance concentration too, but I really don’t think that I will do that.

MKTG 310:

Also business school core, but I did a lot of marketing in high school, so I think I’ll enjoy this class.

ENGL 305:

So this one is a fun one (I think). It was recommended to me by people who have already been on GIF. I have heard that it’s basically a class about how to journal. And since keeping a travel journal is part of my study abroad goals, this will be excellent. I only wish the class was offered in the fall, so I could become a good journaler before the end of the year…

I’m taking 16 credits again in the spring. And then I’ll be in Summer school next summer (life of an accounting major).

After being here in Spokane for such a long time, I really am so excited to get back home! Mostly because once I get home I can start getting ready to leave for Italy! Since there’s really nothing I can do from Spokane to get myself ready to go (I did order most of my text books buts that’s really all I can so) I’m getting so flipping antsy up here!

My passport came back from the Italian Consulate in San Francisco with my lovely visa in it! So I am really going! I am really getting on a plane and going to Europe for the first time ever. (The furthest I’ve ever been before is the East Coast and Canada – and Tijuana.) And once I get on that plane, I won’t be back for 8 months!

ALSO today is my MOM’S birthday so everyone tell her HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes its been a while, but I havent had any news...

Trips in Italy!!!

The study abroad office e-mailed all the Florence kids with a list of weekend trips offered during the year and the approximate costs. Unfortunately there are none offered to London, Paris, or Greece, so I’ll be doing those without the school. Also I really want to visit Copenhagen since I almost studied abroad there.

Offerings:

1. Isle of Elba
2. Cinque Terre
3. Amalfi Coast, Capri, Pompeii, and Sorrento
4. Southern Tuscany
5. Bosnia and Croatia
6. Rome
7. Sicily
8. Ravenna (day trip)
9. Austrian Alps
10. Venice for Carnevale
11. Assisi (day trip)
12. River Po and Ferrara
13. Vienna
14. Barcelona
15. Munich
16. Southern France

Also in the e-mail was the tentative Itinerary for the Opening Tour…

9/7 to 9/10 is free time in Berlin (meaning Oktoberfest!!)

9/11: Go to Krakow, Poland

9/12: Tour of Krakow in the morning; go to Auschwitz in the afternoon

9/13: Salt Mine tour with free time in the morning and evening

9/14: Leave for Prague, Czech Republic

9/15: Tour of Prague

9/16: Church and museum visit

9/17: Leave Prague for Italy

Now, BIG news!!

Christmas Tour is planned for CHINA! I am so excited to see China since it is a place that I don’t think I would have ever picked to go on my own, but it will be so interesting to go to a place that hasn’t been westernized like Europe and America. The Florence program used to take students to an Arab country around the Mediterranean (like Morocco) but it’s too dangerous because of politics now. But we are still going to a non-Western country. Can’t wait to climb that Great Wall!! My Dad told me that they eat caterpillars and fungus over there, so the good is slightly worrisome, but I’m sure everything will be fine.

Study abroad also said that they have gotten a lot of the visas back and are in the process of making copies of everything, so I might be getting my passport with Italian visa back soon!

Note on grades and classes: I did very well in Spring Semester and did fine in Accounting 360 and 361 this summer. I am currently taking Human Ecology (biology for non-majors) and will be done with summer school on August 10^th.

My parents are also planning a going away party for me for the last Saturday in August (I have a feeling it be just because they got new furniture, but I can’t be sure…) so my Mom might be sending out an e-mail (e-vite) for that in a few weeks.

Quick Note on Summer: My Summer in Spokane has been pretty fun actually; I’ve been super busy with my classes and working but I’ve had time to do fun things as well. As always, visitors are welcome to come up here anytime! I don’t know for sure when I’ll be back home in C-Mas though. I went to Lake Chelan for the Fourth of July with some friends and we had a great time! I hope everyone is having a great summer!!!

Start of Summer.....

Yesterday I took my last final of sophomore year!!

Take a look at the photos from recent times. (Just click on the word photos over there, its a magic link!) There should be some fun ones in there.

So about finals. I really don’t know how I did this time around. But if my grades are good, I'll post them, so if I did bad, then you'll know cause I wont say anything.

Because of my accounting major and dream of becoming a CPA after only 4 years here, I need to take a lot of extra credits to get enough to be allowed to sit for the CPA exam. So I'm taking 10 credits this Summer (including some accounting upper division prereqs, because Italy doesn’t offer Accounting.) Then next Summer I'll need to take another 6 credits. So moral of the story is, I basically never get to live at home again. Which is sad. But I'll be home in August and I'm making my parents throw a party for me before I go to Italy in September, and everyone's invited! (And note to parents: now that I put it on the internet you have to do it! hahaha)

For Summer I'm living in Burch Apartments, which is almost identical to the one I'm in now. Except Burch has air conditioning. Which is exciting! I've never lived with air conditioning before! Its a twp bedroom apartment and my friend Katie is living in the other bedroom, so I'll have an extra bed and a couch and a chair and a big floor and a small balcony for anyone who wants to come up to Spokane and see the sights!

My roomie Jenne left this morning, Alyse is leaving tomorrow and I have training for my job next week, so I'm moving rooms on Wednesday. Then I’m starting classes the next Monday (May 22). My job for the summer is working with different conferences and camps that are held on campus over the summer, and because it’s through the housing department I get free housing! But there’s no campus dining, I'll be completely on my own to feed/cook for myself for the first time.

Now, progress on Italy...

I got my ISIC (International Student Identification Card) so I can get discounts on all sorts of things all over the world! yay! I'm turning in all my Visa stuff when Mom comes to visit me over Memorial Day. And at the last meeting Study Abroad said they havent had a Visa rejected from my consulate for at least 10 years, which is good news for me! I got a travel physical from the school doctor and he signed me off, I have no diseases/medical conditions!! So start planning your trips to Florence to visit me! I cant promise I'll know any Italian other than "more wine please!" and "where’s the bathroom?" but I can try!

Here’s a little outline of my year abroad:
Sept 7 - Leave United States
Sept 8 - Arrive in Berlin
Sept 9 - 16 Opening Tour in Germany, Poland, Czech Republic (including Oktoberfest in Berlin!!!)
Sept 17 - Arrive in Florence
Sept 18 - Start Classes
Dec 20 - Last day of Fall Semester Classes
Dec 22 - Jan 2 Christmas Tour (destination is yet to be announced)
Jan 7 - Start Second Semester Classes
April 17 - End Second Semester Classes
April 18 - Must leave housing, meet up with Parents
April 18 - 28 Europe with Mom and Dad!!!
April 28 - Come Home

There’s a zillion weekend trips and whatnot I'll be going on and blogging about for sure, and posting millions and millions of pictures!!

I ordered my books we all have to read to get acclimated to Italian culture before we go from Amazon so I should be getting those in the next few days. They are mostly about manners and how to fit in and all that jazz, so probably won’t be all that interesting.

And has anyone else been listening to this singer guy Mika? I’ve been like listening to a few of songs pretty much non stop for the past week or two.

Schedule Changes!!

I had to change my class schedule for next fall. The dean of gonzaga-in-florence added a few business classes, and being a business major, I adjusted. I added Management 350 and I'm going to take my 300 level religion in the spring.

So my schedule looks like this:
9:35-10:35 Italian (M-Th)
10:40-11:40 Operations (M, T, Th)
11:45-12:45 Art (M, T, W)
lunch
2:15-3:15 Management (M, T, Th)
3:35-6:16 Economics (M only)

so yeah, I have to go to all five classes on Mondays. And that's 16 credits.

I turned in a bunch of my paperwork last Friday. Theres a financial form due in May, and stuff for the visa in June. There's a meeting coming up in about a week and half too.

Class Schedule

I registered for Fall 2007 classes last week.

I'm taking:

ITAL 101: Beginning Italian I
This is and 102 are required for everyone studying in Florence. Hopefully I'll pick up italian quickly!!

RELI 360: Worship in Western Christianity
I need to fill my religion 300 level requirement to graduate, and this one seemed more interesting than the other 300 level option

VART 293: Introduction to Florence
I'm taking this class pretty much completely for fun! I only get an elective credit for it. But in the class you go on a tour of a museum or something in Florence every week! And the class only meets twice a week so only half the class will be lecture.

OPER 340: Introduction to Operations Management
This is a core business school requirement, but it could be interesting.

ECON 311: Global Economic Issues
I might need to have an "international" credit or I might try to get a concentration in economics, so either way, this is a good class for me to take.