rain

It is the first time to see rain for 3 days non-stop. It is also the first time to understand why Westerners attach their feelings to the weather (lots of literature has such connotation). And yes, I had been so depressed, and sooo lazy (god damit!)...

Rain here brings biting cold. I feel freezing so much that my fingers/ toes become numb when I walk to the university. Looking out from the lecture hall, I am very much surprised to see snow on top of a mountain which is further away. (Hello? I thought it is only Fall.) My classmates smoke and I can feel that they become warmer. But you know, cigarettes here are expensive. I warm myself with hot Macchiato, which I have recently learned how to drink hot coffee like Italians do.

The only thing I long for is to get myself back to bed. Warm every part of the bed with my own body's temperature and sleep and wish there is no class tomorrow (wish..). A lot of time I wish my boyfriend could be with me. He knows how to warm me up.

After that 3 days, rain stops. Here comes the shiny sun. I and Karin sat out in front of the university, eating pizza and having a long conversation as if we were afraid the sun will be gone so soon. I am much happier now for almost 3 days..and still stay tuned to the weather forecast.

Feeling pretty at home

Patricia suggested that we had Thai lunch today...

uhmm??

I had a vague idea where it was as I walked past it some time ago, but had a funny feeling that it should not be so "Thai". (You know, like we serve Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese etc and all that sort and the owner turned out to be a European who has been in Asia once or twice..)

To my surprise, it is a really Thai take-away restaurant and there were Thais actually cook and sell in the shop. I am so happy to speak Thai, though briefly, and found out that she has lived there for 18 years (oh!). I enjoyed my Pad Thai and all my friends enjoyed their choices like Tom Kha Kai (Chicken in coconut milk), Kai Pad Mamuang etc. Gosh...and it tastes like Thai. The lady told me she had Somtum too...yummm. Definitely I will be visiting this resto again.

The highlight was that we took our take-away food and ate by the lake in the park. It was a splendid scenery and I enjoyed myself pretty much. Thanks to Patricia's great idea!

Though I feel quite estranged to this foreign land - Italian language, culture and stuff and close friends who speak German, I guess I am getting better and find where I fit in. I believe that I don't have to sacrifice my values, beliefs and own self in order to get along with the locals. I guess what I need is the understanding where they are coming from, being super open and sincere like I am treating my friends at home.

Seriously to the point of having local friends, there was this French guy back home telling me that he could never ever make friends with Thai (but a romantic relationship) and now I reverse that statement to my situation - will I be able to make friend here, particularly with Europeans - like to have an open talk; tease them without having a second thought whether I irritate them; travel with them; share them my secrets; hug them like best friends etc. I am making my way to it now... of course, I pretty much give time to it and develop friendship naturally. Will they feel the same like I do? or are they being nice?

Well, having Thai lunch today brought me back a little bit closer to home, though symbolically. There're lots of pressure out there, testing my strength and whether I will be homesick so soon. But so far, I am doing pretty much ok and I am just glad..

หนามยอกต้องเอาหนามบ่ง - this is why I'm hot

There are several problems that I have solved by doing the opposite direction.

Problem: I have pain on my legs because I walk for a long distance everyday.
Solution: Today I wore high heel shoes and shopped at Coop and came back with 2 kilograms of stuff. Pain miraculously stopped.

Problem: I feel cold so much that I could not sleep.
Solution: I got out of the bed, washing dishes, swept the whole flat, rearrange stuff in the closet and went back to sleep. I felt warmer.

Problem: I hate math!
Solution: I got out the Microeconomics book and forced my left brain to work and work all night and I even hang out with a friend who has 6-year experience as an accountant.

Problem: I can't cook.
Solution: I cook, obviously. I bought tons of ingredients from Asian market. I cook spicy padkaprao with spaghetti and tuna spaghetti. Every weekend, it is always me who cook for us. And this coming weekend, we will do - กุ้งอบวุ้นเส้น ยำวุ้นเส้น ต้มยำ ผัดกระเพราหมู และผัดเต้าหูทรงเครื่อง But only Alex and I eat...!

Problem: I miss my friends at home so much - I wanna chat with them in Thai, share them juicy gossips, shop with them and watch movies with them.
Solution: I made new friends. Currently I have hang out with George, a Greek guy most of my lunch time. I went out at night with Sophie (Swiss who speaks French) and Julia (German) and met up with a bunch of guys from my program. I had a fun time talking during the break with Zurich girls (another Julia and Patricia). I have made friends with Chinese exchange students and Vietnamese girl. I randomly talk to people at the tutorials and get to know them, like Tomas (French) and Karen (Italian). And at night, the missing friends pain disappear and I can update my life to my friends normally, without a single trace of a pathetic missing home girl.

observing

I officially moved to Lugano. It has been 4 days and I have seen the changes in the weather, I guess Fall is coming. Well, I have not seen a lot of different seasons in my life, but those of 30 C, near 20 C or close to 35 C in temperature. So, this is an astonishing change for me.

I stay in a small street, embraced by low residential buildings, 10-min walk (if you walk fast..if not, say 15) from the university. My appartamento has a lovely view - facing the mountains rich with trees and above it is the clear blue sky. Since the apartment is on the ground floor, I have an advantage to own the whole garden (you can have 2 tables for party very easily) and to pick the juicy grapes along the fence (now I sound like an uptown girl).

This late afternoon, while I sat at the terrace, studying Italiano, I heard trees talking to one another. I believe it started from the mountains, and slowly the words spread to the big trees near our building. I looked at them with surprise... Those big trees moved up and down so hard as if they agreed on some important issue. Freezing wind blew, piercing my skin, then I decided to get into the room, shut the door and closed all windows.

I looked out and watched the trees again...grass and flowers seemed to agree with the plan they want to roll out tonight...

Then, the sun began to set, and like someone pulled out the plug, the light sky became dim so sudden.

Looking at the online weather indicator is also a fun thing to do. There're changes in the weather of Lugano every hour, from 23 to 20, to 18 and now to 15.

It was such a conspiration - though I hide myself in the house, the wind and the trees seemed to know that someone heard their plan. They helped each other creating a scary sound as if there were a huge cyclone from the mountain.

I hid myself under the blanket and hoped the sun would come up soon