Wine festival and Munich!

4:09 PM in Italia~ - Hello all! I am writing a quick message from the study center to let you know I'm still alive. This week I have been living in my new apartment and it has been pretty cool. Not all of my roommates have moved in yet but the ones who have have been really nice to me. It's going to be a fun year I'm excited.
So this week I have been busy meeting new people and trying to learn how to make pasta. Dave's a pretty good cook he has been showing me how to put meat, sauce, etc. in a pan and cook it up. We'll see I havent tried by myself yet.
Last night I went to Bardolino to visit Giulia! There was a big wine festival in her city and she hooked me up with a place to stay in her hotel. I met her dad and her sister for the first time and we also saw her mom and her friends. Her friends are sweet we had a lot of fun. When I get a chance I will throw up some pictures. Hil-arious.
Tomorrow at 5 AM I am off to Munich. I still don't have classes for next week. But they haven't even posted some of them yet. Silly Italians. I'm not worried though. OK I must go. Hopefully I'll check in Monday with some good pictures. Ciao!

TIGERS IN! CHISOX OUT?!

Unreal. Congrats Tigs and Twins.

Moved.

12:00 AM CEST, 6:00 PM EST - Hey all! Greetings from my new apartment. Since we don’t have the Internet just yet I won’t be able to send this out at least until tomorrow, maybe later, but I figured I’d write it anyway. This weekend was pretty fun we went to Portello both Friday and Saturday nights because this is the last weekend that it is open. Poretllo was a cool place near my old dorm right on a river where about 15 of the bars from town set up little outside bars right by a river and everyone just goes to socialize. It was really cool, but they are closing it now because it is the end of summer and now they are moving back into the city. This year they have implemented a new thing though in the city where the bars stop serving at 12:00 midnight and they have video cameras everywhere apparently in the city. I guess the kids were getting too rowdy or something, who knows?
Weekends in Padova, despite a lot of the students leaving to go home are actually really fun. Saturday is when the markets are all open. Pretty much every piazza has their own little market and then there is a BIG one at the Prato delle Valle. But there are so many people out and about on the weekends. Sunday is the same thing, everyone just goes out and there is always something to do. Today there was a theatre event celebrated 25 years of the national children’s theatre or something. But everyone comes out and brings the family and the city is just packed. People playing music, people eating, people just socializing. It’s really cool to see.
Friday at the mensa (cafeteria) we met some kids from the Boston program that are in Padova. They aren’t studying at the universita because they have their own program, but they have the option to if they want. Again, they are all girls, and 2 guys, but we didn’t get to meet the guys. Davide and I have been the dynamic duo this week just getting things together. I am hoping to find some kids to play some basketball with sometime soon because Dave claims that he is no good. I don’t believe him but whatever, we ended up going to the market at the Prato on Saturday and then we made – no, strike that – he made a real good meal and showed me how to make it. I am going to have to go do some shopping tomorrow so that I don’t have to keep eating out all the time. Though the mensa is usually pretty good and pretty cheap. Annnd then we went to a vineyard that the girls from the Boston program invited us to go to for a little wine-tasting. It was actually really cool, hopefully I’ll have some pictures from there because it was really neat, I just wish I knew more about wines and what to look for. This lady that showed us around couldn’t have been nicer and showed us through the vineyard in the beautiful Italian countryside and then we were able to taste some great wine and she fed us too. It was really really nice I’m glad I went.
After that I came back and met up with Francesca one of my roommates and the others should be arriving tomorrow. They all go home for the weekend, which is actually really nice for me. Dude, Europeans are weird, I am watching this really messed up video on MTV by Rammstien, a German band. Yeahhhhh… I hope I never see that again. Gross.
I was finally able to talk to my mom today, I haven’t talked to her in a while and she told me about the Michigan State – NS game. Typical MSU, just like the Lions. Speaking of the Lions I wonder how they did today. Kristy informed me yesterday that the Victors lived up to their name and my mom said the game was rather uneventful. I’ll have to ask Cody, he’ll bring me up to speed on the Wolverines position by position. Will someone please let me know how my Tigs are doin? And I heard the Wings started up too. Jgnaisjgas I MISS ESPN! You know? It’s times like this though, where all I have to do is sit back and be like “Steve, you just went wine-tasting at a beautiful little family-owned vineyard in the heart of Italy,” and then the scores of this weekend reallllly don’t matter much after that. I need to learn how to relax here. They have it down to a T. They don’t worry about anything until they absolutely need to and even then they just kind of talk it off and turn it into a social event. Nothing ever gets done, though. If I knew this darn language I’d fit right in. A huge cricket just rolled right by my foot and I didn’t even think to kill it. I just let it go on its merry way. Is that weird?
Anyway, this one is getting long and I am getting a little tired so I think I am going to call it a night. I hope all is good, Love from Italia
Stevo
PS - Just read your post Mike, sorry I couldn't get you the well you wanted.

Dottore! Dottore!

10:02 PM CEST, 4:02 PM EST - Hey all, hope you liked my previous post. I had a lot of fun doing it and it didn't take very long so I might do it again sometimes. If you're lucky. This picture is of a newly graduated student from l'Universtia di Padova. Poor girl, they were dousing her with flower and calling her bad names. I want to graduate from UM and here.
Sooo.... I've been packing all day, going to move tomorrow and then hopefully watch Michigan beat some Badger butt. Alright well that is all I have for now. Catch ya laaaater!

OSW: The First Podcast

I'm sorry I had to try. Forgive me.

It's about time.

7:14 PM CEST, 1:15 PM EST - Hey all, I think this one should be a long one as a lot has happened this week.
We have been going to a bunch of different places this week, a lot of history and a lot of school work. They have us going to school for about 6-7 hours each day and then about 3 hours of homework. It hasn't been much fun. However we have managed our own fun.
Monday we celebrated Melanie's 21st birthday American style. We bought some American adult beverages (including Coca-Cola) and we decked out my room for her with our American peace flag (thanks Aunt Chris) a Michigan flag and some surfing pictures out of Dave's calendar. It was awesome. Next day, not so much fun.
We have pretty much stayed in the last couple of days however I have gotten some stuff done. Firstly, I have keys to my new apartment! I am anxious to move in, I think I am going to move in tomorrow. I went out to have a spritz (a drink that originated in Padova) with my new roommates, they seem really cool. I am excited, however it is definately going to be an experience haha listen to this... They told me yesterday that I only have it until March so I'm going to need to try and find another apartment then. no big deal. Then they said that the landlady doesn't know I am going to be staying there because I am taking the place of a girl that is going to France for the year AND she thinks that one of their friends is living there and is a twin because the place is supposed to be rented to girls only apparently. haha but there are two guys in there as well so Mom don't worry. Oh, and Mom, yes I know I have grammar errors, and I'm sorry if they really bug you, but I am trying to make this as authentic as possible and this is who I am, soo... sorry? deal.
Oh and the quote of the week goes to Christina who actually said, and I quote, "I think I might be a little high-maintenance" end-quote, today. I got a kick out of it. Not that I think she is high maintenance or anything.
I have just been watching a bunch of highlights from last weeks football game vs Notre Dame (entitled "Brady Quinn for Heisman") and some clips from last year's Penn State game which Danny I'm sure remembers. Also they had this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkwiBWVryIw&NR
Which I am sure is going to make anyone who loves UM swell with pride and anyone who doesn't, puke.
This week in Padova has been the end of Finals for a bunch of students and so we have seen some kids graduate. And there has been a lot of graduation celebrations in the center this week. Graduation here is full of tradition so I'll share a little of what I thought was cool:
- Friends and family of the graduate take the graduate to the center of town and make the graduate do absurd things, singing, dancing, whipping them, and inbetween it all handing them drinks - BEVI!
- The friends make a poster for the graduate with ridiculous sayings that they have to read out loud in front of everyone. We saw a nun reading one of the posters today... I was REALLY interested as to what she thought of it.
- They sing a song to the graduate as well that is rather inappropriate, "Dottore! Dottore! Dottore del buco del culo" kids, please don't translate but in short it means: yeah you graduated but, so what, you're still an..."
I'll try to take a picture tomorrow if I see someone getting razzed.
Today we went to the observatory where some old men looked at the stars (I don't think Galileo got his hands on this stuff though). Then Dave and I got a haircut (looks decent) and then I payed for my Oktoberfest trip! Woohoo!
So as you can tell I am having no fun at all, and my next post should be from my new room! Hope all is well!
Love, Stevo
PS - I am a little jealous of my friends going to see DMB tomorrow in c-ville. just a little. oh and the Michigan Daily stinks. k bye.

In giro..

0:11 CEST, 6:11 PM EST - HELLO WORLD! Finally I am able to put some more stuff up. It has been a really long, fun week this week. We have had a ton of schoolwork to do which is really not cool at all, but they have taken us to a bunch of cool places for art and history. Yesterday during the day they took us to a city nearby, Vicenza. It is between here and Verona and we were able to check out an old theatre and some cool buildings and gardens. I posted some pictures from there, I didn't put them all because I feel like they can get boring and some of the cooler places you weren't allowed to take pictures. Or you were but SENZA FLASH! So they didn't come out that great.
It was really nice because the lady that we are with she is our art-history teacher and this girl knows her stuff. I just wish she didn't have to speak in Italian because she explained some really cool stuff that I only understood some of. And I had questions to ask her but I didn't know how to ask so I didn't ask them at all or I ended up butchering them. Oh well. I asked her if once I get better at the language we could do it again and she said yes, or she said I could ask questions in English if I wanted but only when the other teachers weren't looking. haha. This teacher though knows her stuff, the other Italians touring the places we were (and they were mostly Italian tourists because these are like little known hotspots that we have been going to) they would listen to her because she knew a lot. It's really cool to have such a great guide.
Mmm.... what else. Well on Friday we played some vino-pong outside. We had fun the Italians probably thought we were crazy but we didn't care. Saturday we were on a trip allll day from 9-7 at night and we came back and grabbed some food and then we prepared for the big football game. Dave and I listened to it on the radio online. We listened to the whole thing and Melanie and Christina were in and out but they knew whenever something good happened. Which much to everyone's surprise was a lot of times. I was really excited the entire day for the game, I called my buddies at the game and everyone I was really excited.
I hope my Tiger's are doin just as good. I think I read online today that they are about 2 games up. I'm hoping they can pick it up but save enough for TIGER PLAYOFFS! Mmm, that's all I got for now. Check out the new pictures. Check ya later ;-)
Stevo

Don't have time for a real post tonight...

23:41 CEST, 5:41 PM EST - Ho-k, so, I really don't have time to do a real post, but I'll give you a quick update and a movie that you might like. We saw a chapel last night (amazing) and went to the Basilica today. We have an amazing art history teacher that knows everything and she is awesome to have as a guide! But I have a test tomorrow and I have been screwing around all day so I need to be on my way, but here is a movie that we took yesterday from the window of our classroom. Hope you enjoy.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~schragoo/MOV00788.MPG
OK I'll write after the test tomorrow, it's supposed to be rainy here alll week. Boooo!