Leaving Day
Some things cannot be done until the last minute...
My flight leaves later today, from St. Louis to Atlanta, then on to Milan. I’ll arrive at 10a tomorrow, local time, and then find the bus to Torino, then the train to Bra, and then a short walk to my apartment.
I am looking forward to unpacking and sorting and arranging and making my little apartment into a home.
In the very most Italian way, I got information from the school just this morning for orientation next week. We have tours and introductions, book delivery (at the “Savoia Book Delivery Space”), and even a photo shoot. (So I won’t need to take a selfie with a chalkboard sign, “Brian’s First Day of 23rd Grade.”)
And that’s just the first day. Two more orientation days of tours and meetings follow, culminating on Thursday afternoon with a placement test (a TEST on the third day?!?!) for the Italian Language Course, so we’ll see how those Duolingo lessons have been working.
Last week we got information to sign in to our school email (which was full) and the class calendar (which is still empty). Campus-wide emails about found keys, student council elections (nope nope nope), and a bunch of tastings and “sensory labs.”
Several people who have been through other masters programs here told me there’s a lot of non-class time that will be easily eaten up with lots of student-run classes and tastings and group activities. There are several hundred people in town from all over the world who love food, so I’ve been advised to “say ‘yes’ to everything.”
Toward that goal, I’m so far in What’sApp groups (this is how the students all communicate nowadays) for Foraging, Bread, Coffee, Food & Justice, and The Tasting Club. I have a Loire Valley wine group meeting at the end of the month (I have to find a €15 bottle of French wine, somewhere), and I’m going on a foraging hike this Saturday. This is truffle country, but I doubt we’ll be finding many of those. I’ve also registered for a grappa tasting, but it was a very large invite and we’ll see if I make the cut.
I’m now at my gate in St. Louis, a couple hours early but fairly relaxed, having packed and re-packed and triple-checked everything. My checked bag was way under the weight limit, so I lightened my carry-on. Mise en place.
The past few days have been a whirlwind of last meetings (for a bit) with friends, going over lists of to-dos with the team, packing, checking off lists, and keeping up with things that will need doing at school.
For all the planning and checklists and meetings, for as many months as this plan has been in action, for all the prep work, I am now feeling under-prepared to leave behind so much that is familiar in exchange for so much that is not. It’s really Go Time for this adventure, and I am passing through the Looking Glass into a new world of new things.
I’m glad you’re all along for the ride. Thank you so much for your support!
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