completely rediculous.
came to peterlungers class today. he's my viticulture professor, and also the guy who's supposedly, like, in charge of me while i'm here, my advisor or whatever, and the guy who pretty much slumped me off on simone that first day when he had no idea what else to do with me. he's a nice guy, pretty fun to talk to, very knowledgeable in the wine world. anyway, came to his class today for our long lecture (2 hours). the classroom was pretty much empty except for this adorable boy from spain, i think his name is sergio. we had that brief but rewarding intro italian class together last fall. i smiled at him and then went outside to check that i was in the right room; its 2 monthes into the semester and i havent seen him in class before. i was right, but we both managed to have missed opposing classes, so this is the first time we were both there. we chatted pleasantly for a while (he speaks great english), and then, when it became clear that half an hour had passed, we started bitching about the italians and their bizarre knack for completely destroying the concept of schedules.
"i don't know how it is in your country," he said, "but in spain, this sort of stuff, this not showing up, no note, just nothing, this is completely absurd and unheard of." i told him that, pretty much, in the US we like our schedules and appointments, too.
was glad to talk to him, as it seems we've been going through the same thing; random days where the professor just doesnt show, classes cut short, started late, weeks on end of nothing. he showed me his notes for the entire semester so far, which boiled down to 2 pages. i showed him mine, 3 pages. glad to know im not alone. i tried to explain that theory for not wanting to slit your wrist over this nonsense, that theory that the Evil Spaniard and i came up with in which these little blips are "gifts of time"- no professor for an hour? well then, take an hour for a nice cup of coffee and a chat. semester starts 2 months later than planned? well, then, hop a boat to greece, happy sailing! when i look at it like that, i don't mind this stuff so much. sergio wasnt quite on board and said, "yeah, well. it kind of pisses me off."
is crazyness here, but as i am studying the culture i just have to ride it out, this "italianness" of theirs. and i'm not one to complain about 4 month long semesters boiling down to 20 hours of class lectures, to be sure. my ecology professor, Zerbi, the great crazy old guy from calabria who drove me all over udine last fall introducing me to people, just like, up and went on vacation for the last 3 weeks. supposedly theres a note on his office door, but after attempting to go to his class 5 times to no avail, i ran into simone, and he gave me the heads up. otherwise, i would have just kept trying i guess. the italian kids just seem to either know through some 6th sense, or they just don't care. this semester, on the schedule, is suppose to end in mid-july. however, word of mouth is that everything will be done by mid june, exams and everything. when are exams? "don't know, june sometime". when do classes stop? "don't know, maybe june sometime". is insane, but i'm rolling with it.
anyway, time for lab work with the only punctual italian that exists. a gem.

btw, comment people, or i get discouraged and dont feel like writing anymore. i need feedback!

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