First day of school! Or should I say nomera uno lezione.

     Living in historic downtown Florence and having to walk past the Duomo everyday to get pretty much anywhere, I realize I am in tourist central. However I have decided that so far I have heard more English and seen more seemingly Americans than I have Italians. I had never thought about this when I decided to study in a tourist city, but having the local industry be appealing to Americans seems to hamper the opportunity to be fully immersed in the culture. I have stumbled upon some of the cutest restaurants in random alleys, yet upon closer inspection I see the menu is printed in both Italian and English. In my mind this takes away from the experience, how can I claim I found a wonderful “authentic” Italian place when they obviously are appealing to a tourist clientele? Today at the supermarket, hoping to practice out my new speaking skills, I asked how much in Italian. The cashier looked at me, and in perfect English told me how much I owed and asked if I would like a bag. I nodded and said Grazie, since I had already exhausted all the Italian I knew.

     As for school, since that was the reason I started this post, it is so different than any class I have ever been to or heard about. Since this is an art school, something I did not fully realize until arriving, everything is structured in order to not hinder the “creative process”. What the hell is that? Just give me a damn syllabus and let me know what is due, how it should be done and when. My creative writing teacher today went on and on about how we have assignments, but he understand if we don’t due them if we feel we have a task going that is a better use of our creative time. Ummm, so do I not have to do the homework or do I? When it comes to school, just straight up tell me. I don’t want to have to guess on what my photography teacher means when he says we have an introspective landscape project. Is that a photo of hills? Am I supposed to express myself through the hills?

     The professors are also a lot more casual and open than my professor back home. This also may have to do with the art aspect of it, but when a teacher says that they are “jonesing for a cigarette so everyone have a ten minute break” it kind of takes you aback. But all three so far have seemed extremely passionate about what they teach and the students in their class. My largest class is eight people so it is a very intimate experience. I have met one other journalism major, which makes me happy since I was getting a little tired of hearing everyone discuss the pro’s and cons of oil pants verse watercolors and what not.

     Oh and one last thing, artist are very good and original dressers. My two pairs of jeans, smart walking shoes and black tees are not fitting in at all!