Forever Young

“The American Male at Age 10,” By Susan Orlean is a rather interesting look into the life of the “everyday” 10-year-old. Little Colin is exactly as you would image a little boy to be. He loves pizza, comic books, football, superheros, and his current best friend, Japeth. Naturally, he hates girls, because they are so unpopular and just plain dumb…who would have guessed.

This feature story is different from any other one I have read because it’s not so much an interview, but an actual day in this boy’s shoes. Most reporters and writers would not find a child’s life newsworthy, or even applicable to any story…However, Susan thinks quite the contrary. The beautiful, boyish innocence and unconscious longing to belong is apparent throughout the entire story. The reporter got to know Colin by putting herself on his level and living life through his eyes. I personally thought this was genius and absolutely adorable, as I have three brothers and can see so many similarities.  However, I sadly don’t think this is the case today with every 10 year-old boy. I think our society has become so corrupt that innocent little Colins are few and far between. His ideas of what marriage and being grown up consist of are so far-off, that I doubt hardly any 10 year-old boy today would agree. But these viewpoints are very refreshing and sweet.

I think the lead and ending were very fitting from this story. The opening totally grabs your attention as it lists off all Colin’s ideal lifestyles for his future–from no sex, to TV every Friday night, you realize being a kid is what matters most to Colin. The ending scenario, with the Evil-Spider Web trap, almost makes me want to cry! His imagination is what drives him and keeps him forever young. You only have to wonder how far his imagination will take him; before he actually grows up, and the days of video games and baggy jeans have ceased to be. This touching feature story takes you on a journey to a place we have all been before, but now is a place that only exists in our memories.

The Right Way To Write

Over the past three years at Creighton University, I have had grammar, style and writing etiquette crammed down my throat. With that pleasant visual in mind, I must add that as a modern-day journalist, the AP Style Book has become my Bible, my rock, dare I say… my friend?  Ok maybe I don’t feel that deep of a connection for my Style Book, but nevertheless it has taught me more than any other book in any other class. Unfortunately, because of this book I have an extreme love-hate relationship. This is because of the uncontrollable cringing it has caused me any time I see incorrect punctuation or tenses used. Sometimes it even makes my stomach turn.  The fact of the matter, however, is that aside from logical grammar rules, there is no RIGHT way to WRITE, because everyone has their own style, preference and even personality put into their work.

Personally, I would best describe my writing as creative…no wait, scratch that. How about an occasional stream of consciousness…no that sounds bad too. You see, I tend to write the way I talk, so if you know me well you can basically hear the exact tone I have embedded into each sentence. So, if you don’t understand sarcasm and have no sense of humor, you probably won’t understand my writing, nor me. And that’s your loss buddy.

That’s the beautiful thing about journalism. Any random person can take a simple story and transform it into their very own. If you were to ask five people to cover the exact same story, you still would have compeltely dissimilar work and focuses. It allows you to open up the creative part of your mind and work accordingly, without limits.  And creating stories without limits or boundaries, my friend, is the real RIGHT way to WRITE.

There’s no place like home…

     Over the course of my trip I have come to realize many things. To sum it up:the life I lead in America  is more than I could ever want. Before coming to Europe, I had a false image of perfection in my head. My biggest realization from going abroad is this: everyone, everywhere, desires what they don’t have. After meeting countless amounts of Italians, Swedes, Germans, and English people, they all had the same reaction to Americans. “Oh my gosh I wish I lived in America!” or “Tell me everything about America, I have always dreamed of visiting there,” or something along those lines. All my life, I have always thought: I have to get to Europe, I have to get out of America and see what else is out there. I figured the only thing I would truly miss from America is my family. Wrong. No matter how many beautiful paintings, buildings, or people I saw, at the end of the day, I yearned for my life back in America.

     I compiled a list of America vs. Europe pros and cons.  American pros were quite obvious and what I realized are the “four f’s.” Family, friendliness, food, and familiarity. You cannot beat the feelings of sitting around at home with your family-that’s what I truly missed most. Secondly, as for friendliess in America (or at least the Midwest) you can count on people. People will help anyone out with anything, whether it be holding the door for a stranger or stopping to help someone with a flat tire on the side of the road. In Italy, I had a total “every man for himself” feeling. There are no such things as lines, everyone just crowds around, budges, pushes, does what they need to do to get ahead. So many times I would ask a local for directions and get totally blown off or pushed aside. I took  the simple acts of kindness back home for granted. For food, there is something to say about variety-which I love about America. I literally ate pasta and pizza for every meal. Now, I’m not complaining because obviously it was delicious. But every now and then I wanted something other than carbs, but would have to pay at least 20 euro for a chicken breast or steak. Lastly, familiarity, was the second biggest factor in my feeling homesick at any point. Going to the grocery store and seeing familiar faces, walking around and knowing exactly where I am going, having a routine…these simple things I missed so much.

     European pros are endless as well. From the beautiful scenery to historic museums, there is always something exciting to do and see. One thing that was nice was that there was no tax on anything you bought. And with all the street venders, you can find things way cheaper (even in euros) than you could ever find them in America. However, I found that my favorite Italian feature was their ideals on love. I grew very close with my professor (Patrizia) and I would even see her outside of class. She is a fifty year old woman who is not married and explained to me that there can be love in one’s life without marriage. The American lifestyle seems so typical: you fall in love, get married, have kids, etc. In Italy, there are so many single (and happy) forty and fifty year olds who have never even considered marriage. She said most Italians think that the definition of a fulfilled life is one full of family, friends, good food, and hobbies you are passionate about-there doesn’t have to be romance to be happy. I had an epiphany and loved it. All throughout college I have wondered where Mr. Right is and when I will find him so I can be complete. I was so misled. I thought long and hard about this new lifestyle and discovered, I don’t need marriage or a man to have a full life. It made me feel so foolish to think I was so set, so closed minded, on living my life on a one way path and eventually down the aisle.

     I feel that my European adventure was the best thing I could have ever done. It made me  a new, stronger person. I depended on myself,  did everything for myself, and learned about myself. I figured it was one time in my life I would allow myself to be compeletely selfish and completely focused on Lucy. This was such an empowering feeling. Despite all the “me time” it also made me so appreciative of what I had waiting back home. A loving family, caring friends, a great education. I have a new sense of what happiness truly is and honestly feel like the sky is the limit. I have just begun my life and have so much lying ahead. Going to Italy was the first step towards the rest of my life, and my travels are far from over.

Wishing I knew Italian…

Throughout my entire trip, I haven’t found  the language barrier to be extremely difficult. I realize this is mainly because most people know English in the heart of Florence because of tourism. However, my train ride home from Rimini was my first experiences with the barrier being a problem.

I took off earlier than my roommates because my cousin was arriving at 4:30 pm from Aviano, Italy, (where she is studying) to visit me for a night.I left the beach Sunday morning at noon, knowing I had a half hour bus ride ahead of me and a three hour train ride if I wanted to make it by 4:30. I tried asking a local which busline was going in the direction of the train station…I was told wrong because he didn’t understand me. I rode in the wrong direction for quite awhile until I finally realized something was wrong. I got off and hopped on the next, hoping this bus driver or a passenger would speak a little English. No luck. I stayed on it just praying it was the right one, luckily I saw the station. It was now 1pm and I still had to buy my ticket and figure out which train to take since I missed the one I originally wanted due to the bus delay.

The line was unbelievably long for tickets. I stood in line for a half hour staring at the time, watching me miss each train ride possibility I had wanted. The ticket distributor spoke some broken English, so I was a little relieved when he gave me the right tickets although I would have to get off and switch trains halfway through. I did not understand my ticket or which train to get on since Florence was not a destination area, just a city passed along the way. I walked around trying to find someone to speak any English to direct me in the right place, again no luck.

Finally I heard a woman speaking French to her daughter. My ears perked up because I have taken five years of French. Who knew French would be more handy in Italy than English! I found where I needed to go and had a successful, though stressful train ride home. I made it on time, exactly when my cousin was arriving, so things panned out. The lesson I learned is if you are coming to a foreign country, do yourself a favor and learn a little of the native language.

My weekend Trip to Rimini

This past weekend my four roommates and I packed up and headed to a beach town called Rimini. It’s a friendly and quaint  town by day and an exciting, young crowd by night. We headed up north about three hours by train Friday morning. Immediately we checked in to our beach front hotel and headed for the white sand beach! We were grateful for the sand after laying out on rocks in Cinque Terra a few weekends ago.

After a long day of soaking up sun we headed to a cute restaurant right outside of our hotel. Little did we know we would come back for every meal for the rest of our trip! With four euro  pizzas, two euro glasses of wine, and a cute waiter, we found no need to search elsewhere.

After a great dinner we headed back to our hotel and I sat out on our balcony facing the Adriatic Sea. Florence has been outrageously hot and Rimini was  cool at night with a beach breeze, so I was in heaven! We explored the nightlife and found that we were literally the only Americans in this town. Rimini borders Switzerland, so everyone I met was Dutch or Swiss. What a change from all the tourism in Florence! People were so excited to meet Americans and claimed they had never met any in this town. We felt special to say the least! After a late night, I was happy to go back to our air conditioned hotel.

The next day consisted of the same lounging about the beach and good food. However, in the morning I woke up with one of my roommates at 6 am and went for a swim in the Sea. It was so beautiful out and we saw the sun rise over the water. I took tons of pictures and the water felt like bathwater. It was one of the best parts of my trip.

Arno River Canoe Ride

     Earlier this week my group and I went on a canoe ride down the Arno River. It was a very beautiful and scenic trip. We had our CEA tour leader give us a little history about the Ponte Vecchio and various surrounding buildings. One story in particular I found extremely interesting. She said when World War I was occuring, Adolf Hitler went on a canoe ride, (similar to ours) to have a better view of the Ponte Vecchio. He was debating on bombing the bridge at the time, but after the canoe ride he decided it was so beautiful he would let it remain. Apparently Hitler was a sucker for art and beauty and the Italians won him over with one simple canoe ride. After our ride we got gelato from Florence’s #1 gelateria. I chose strawberry cheescake and hazlenut chocolate, it definitely lived up to the standards.

    Our time is coming to a close here in Firenze! I feel I have done so much, but have so much left to do!  Little things like gelato, watching the sun set by the Ponte Vecchio, and eating outdoors with  girlfriends is what makes my time here so special.

When in Rome…Part II

     After a long day and late night, all I wanted was sleep. Unfortunately, that is not what I got. We had to be on our us and rearing to go by 7:30. After finding it in me to climb out of bed, I realized the hotel provided a breakfast. I didn’t get too excited because my expectations were toast and fresh fruit. I walked into the eating area and saw a full fledged smorgasboard. I perked up real quick after seeing the spread. I had three different kinds of pastries: cream filled, chocolate filled, and custard filled. Obviously the chocolate won. After coffee cake, scrambled eggs, bacon, yogurt, and fruit, I got to my favorite part-coffee. I never realized how lucky I am back home to be able to brew a full pot of coffee and drink as much as I like. Here, you order a coffee and get a tiny espresso shot or even a tiny cappucino that I could finish in two sips. So when I saw a coffee machine with normal sized mugs, I went biserck and drank to my hearts content. I was full for the rest of the day because free food is hard to come by in Europe, so when you find it you need to stuff your face!

    After breakfast we loaded up the buses and headed to Vatican City. After waiting in line for an hour and half we finally got in. It was so beautiful. I took so many pictures of all the landscape and monuments. My favorite part was seeing Saint Peter’s Basilica, his body is preserved in the middle by the altar. Walking out, it was so neat to think that the Pope lives just feet away from where I was standing. After hitting up the gift shop and loading up on rosaries we headed to see the Sistine Chapel. We got SO lucky because people were on a strike and therefore taking pictures in the Chapel. There was nothing the guards could do since everyone was doing it. So I got a great picture of the “Creation” painting on the ceiling. The religious history was so interesting and impressive since we don’t have many things that date that far back in America. It was an awesome trip to Rome but I wish I could have stayed longer.

When in Rome…

I spent an amazing weekend in Rome with my CEA group. We left at six in the morning on Friday morning on a charter bus-we had a four hour trip ahead of us. When we arrived at ten we immediately headed to the Coliseum. It was over 100 degrees out, so I knew it would be a long day. Despite the heat, the Coliseum was absolutely unreal. It was massive with so much intricate detail. Although the mood was not how I had imagined because there were thousands of people, I took a few moments to reflect on the many young gladiators who had died long ago.

After seeing the Coliseum we headed off to lunch at a nearby pizzeria. The heat had been draining my energy so I ordered a big pepperoni pizza and a side of fresh bruschetta all for myself. After lunch went and saw the Roman Forum, The Pantheon, and some old ruins. It was all so interesting and scenic, but the heat was too exhausting to fully enjoy the experience. After our day outdoors we checked into our hotel, which was very upscale and very air conditioned-which was our first priority. Later my roommates and I went out to dinner to a more touristy Chinese restaurant because we heard Rome has much more Americanized food selections. I thought I would steer clear from my usual order of sesame chicken and rice and try something new. I had calamari and tried frog legs (which my roommate ordered). Surprisingly they were both delicious and I was glad to have branched out…”when in Rome” I thought!

At night we went to a pub crawl by the Coliseum and it was fantastic. You paid 20 euro for all you can drink, pizza, and a free t-shirt, and got to meet people from all over! Over 170 students were at the first bar. I met some really cool Austrailians, Canadians, and Scots, so it was a really cultured experience! After our long day, we were elated to go back to the hotel and sleep in our air conditioned room.

Seeing David himself…

     Today was a simply great day here in Florence. After class I went home and made some homemade guacamole from avocados I had bought at the market I had bought the other day. It was a perfect afternoon snack to have! Then I met up with Ryan, an Australian my roommates had met on their tour group earlier this month and became quite close with. We went to lunch at the Italian’s version of Subway called the Oil Shoppe. However, it blows Subway out of the water with the choices of pesto sauces, spices, and breads.

    After lunch we ventured around for a nearby  pub to get a cold drink and discuss our favorite parts of our trip so far. We found a quaint little Irish Pub called The Lion’s Fountain, in which I tried an English cider beer called Bulmers and loved it! Then I decided I should show him some of the  historical parts of Florence, so we went to the Academia Museum. It was my first time seeing Michelangelo’s David sculpture. It’s amazing how much more you appreciate something when you see it for your own eyes. It was far more impressive to see each crevice and shape in the enormous marble statue.

     Surprisingly enough, my favorite part of the museum was not the David statue. It was a photography exhibit in a closed off, dark room. A very talented photographer from New York passed away two years ago and his photos are just now starting to receive recognition. Because of the originality of the photos, he had his own exhibition in the Academia-what an honor! The photos were all about the human body and it’s uniqueness. From black people to white, from men to women, from naked to clothed; his focus was on muscle definition and skin color. The models posed in ways that best defined specific muscles he wanted to emphasize. The contrasts of the black man next to the white man’s naked body was so intriguing. The Academia Museum was far more interesting than the Uffizi, so I was very impressed!

The little things…

        Things are going well here in Firenze and time is really starting to fly by. Next week is my last full week of class–I cannot believe it! The weather here has been unbelievably hot, it is supposed to be a little over 100 degrees today. I wish there was a body of water closer than Cinque Terra (three hours).  However, my roommates and I have resorted to just laying out and baking in the heat at a nearby sanded “beach” area. I don’t really consider a place with just sand an no water a beach, but it will do. The place is a little secluded and full of locals. Sometimes we go just to hang out because it’s nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of tourism.

     After laying out for awhile, we always decide to reward ourself with gelato! There is a nearby park with a gelato stand and benches. I love to grab a gelato, sit down to people watch, and read a book for the afternoon-it’s so relaxing. After trying honestly every kind of gelato Italia has to offer, I found I cannot escape the simple duo of rich chocolate and strawberry on a cone. Anytime we take a daytrip somewhere I feel the need to sample the town’s gelato and compare it to the rest. This is my guiltiest pleasure of the trip by far. Well I am off to go see the Academia Museum which holds the infamous David sculpture, more updates later! Ciao!