What a flight! Boeing 767 is the way to go and the United flight attendants were more like hostesses, always making sure the passengers were comfortable and had something to drink. I had the pleasure of sitting beside a very nice young man from Ukraine who was good company. He and his family used to live in the States but then they moved back so he was just over there visiting. The 8 and a half hour flight consisted of three movies (Pitch Perfect, The Avengers, and My Fair Lady), surprisingly decent food and no sleep. When I finally got to Munich and found my gate for Venice I also managed to find a group of CIMBA students who were also on my flight. Most of them were from Iowa and were pretty used to seeing snow but I was beyond excited to see the snow in Germany. The flight into Venice was by far my favorite though. At cruising altitude you could clearly see the tops of the Alps penetrating the upper level of the clouds which was really neat! When the plane finally descended through the clouds we were directly over Venice and you could clearly see all of the little islands and canals through the city. I had arrived (and so had my luggage)! In VCE out group of six had multiplied into a cult of 50+ American tourist. We boarded a bus and were headed through the winding streets of Northern Italy. The houses are beautiful and so in keeping with the history of the cities. People even have small vineyards in their back yards which is wild!
Upon arrival to Paderno we checked in, picked up books and got rooming assignments. I managed to get a single beside some guys from Clemson (the only other southerners I've met so far in the program). After a delicious pasta dinner in the cafeteria we all decided to go to the campus bar. Yes, the campus has a bar (side note, we share the campus with a Catholic Italian boarding school for high school students and the campus is the size of the Court of Carolina). It was crowded but so much fun, and so much like a college frat party. That part was a little eerie. Anyway, I got to meet a good portion of the 126 students but I am sure I will get to know them all REALLY well during out THREE WEEKS OF ORIENTATION. Classes do not start until the 4th of February. But the night ended as early as it started because none of us have a sense of time.
Over all this has been a successful 24+ hours, Italy looks promising. And best of all...my curls held and looked flawless and no headache...ever!
It is now 10:47pm in Paderno del Grappa so, Buonanotte!
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