Chapter 8: Clubbing in Florence

I'm having no trouble keeping busy this semester, taking five classes and traveling almost every single weekend, but I decided to check out my school's extracurricular clubs anyway. I decided to join the Cinema club and the "Slow Drink" club. In my cinema club, we meet every Monday night and watch classic Italian films. The films are shown in Italian, but with English subtitles, so I thought it would help me a little with my Italian language skills-- hearing it spoken in actual language, instead of a teacher who is slowwwlllyyy sounding out each syllable for me like a child.

Which I absolutely need, by the way. It's strange to be at such a low level of speaking, especially for an English major who's used to having a really firm grasp on the language she's speaking. It's not as if my classmates and I are kindergarten students-- it's much more like we're babies! Think about it: at least a kindergarten student knows how to tell her teacher what she wants, I don't even have those skills! It's incredibly humbling to be the foreigner here, I will never again grow frustrated with someone who can't speak English in America. It's so frustrating to try to do the simplest things, like buying dish soap or laundry detergent or baking soda, and not be able to read the label of a single thing in the stores!

Anyway, back to the club. I love it! The movies are excellent, and I love listening to the language. The other club I joined, the "Slow Drink" club, is a wine tasting club with the goal of teaching foreign students the Italian art of enjoying wine and food at a leisurely and appreciative pace. It's so exciting to feel like I'm really diving into real Italian culture in these two clubs, instead of just passing the locals by on the streets every day and never really understanding their lives. The wine tasting takes place in a local restaurant, with an Italian wine connoisseur teaching us about the process of making red, white, and dessert wines (all in Italian, with an English translator), and then we sample a few, along with some fabulous cheeses and bruschetta. My schedule is crazy with school, homework, traveling, and clubs, but I'm so glad to be getting a taste of the real Italy in my spare time!