Tomorrow

Way back when I was a soon-to-be freshman I journeyed to Madison for a few days in summer to enjoy the lovely event that is SOAR (please understand that that comment is drenched in sarcasm. No one, I repeat, no one enjoys SOAR.) For those of you who didn't attend this event, freshman go to SOAR to register for their classes for their first semester at UW-Madison. 

I knew going in that I wanted to study a language, and having taken four years of latin in high school I was ready for something that I could actually speak. I also knew that whichever language I chose would determine where I went if I ever traveled abroad. So I sat at SOAR looking through a handbook about languages offered at UW, toying with french or german or italian. I talked to some advisors and began looking at the actual classes and lo and behold! Italian offered an advanced intro course open to people who had already taken four years of a romantic language. Knowing that my goal was to become fluent by the time I was done with college, it just made sense to me that I would take the language that I could get the best head-start in. I enrolled and began my italian studies. 

It seems strange that a course I enrolled in almost on a whim would come to be such a huge part of my college career. In less than 24 hours I will be on a plane headed to a place where I will know no one and be in a culture I've only ever read about. It is still very surreal for me to think about, and it will probably continue to feel surreal until I hand the taxi driver in Bologna my address and say all'hotel Regina, via dell'indipendenza per favore! 

While I did take that advanced italian class freshman year and have consequently taken the equivalent of 5 semesters of italian classes over the past two years, I am the first to tell anyone that my language skills are far from perfect. That will be the first hurdle to overcome in my new home. But I am so excited to immerse myself completely in italian culture and language. Hopefully my enthusiasm will make up for my lingual ineptitude. 

Goals I have (as of now) for my time abroad would be:

• become conversationally fluent in italian
• make friends, both in my program and outside of it
• travel! (Florence, Venice, Munich, and Cinque Terre are all on the list as of now)
• learn a lot about food and wine
• enjoy every moment I have in such a beautiful city and never forget how blessed I am to even have the opportunity to study abroad 

I know I will learn so much during my time in Bologna and can barely believe that it all begins tomorrow!

If you'd like to contact me, facebook, my email (mschlecht@wisc.edu), and google hangouts (schlecht.maria@gmail.com) would work the best until I have my phone plan sorted out over there. 

Otherwise if you'd like to send me mail or packages it can be sent to:

Maria Schlecht

c/o Indiana University - BCSP 
via Malcontenti 3 
40121 Bologna – Italy


Arrivederci for now! As the classic soundtrack from the 1977 animated hobbit movie says, The greatest adventure is what lies ahead! (Those of you who don't know this wonderful song can click here and enjoy the catchy tune.)