Sunday/Monday: The Flight

So I haven't really been able to update this very frequently because I didn't have internet until early this morning.

The flights here were not all miserable. Out of the 3 flights, the only one that had major problems was the flight from Frankfurt to Milan. First of all, I came in more than 2 hours early, so they didn't post any of the flight information and I had no idea where to go in the airport. So I call my mother at 1 am her time (sorry Mommy) and asked her if she could look up my flight information. And when she couldn't figure that out, I burst into tears...in the middle of the Frankfurt airport. And so some kind Canadian man came up to me and suggested that I ask someone who worked there. And so I asked someone, and while she didn't have any information on my flight, she was able to at least direct me to the airline that I was supposed to be on so I could print my ticket...which was an experience of itself that I need not delve into any detail.

So the 50 minute flight from Frankfurt to Milan was potentially the most terrifying flight of my life. I don't know WHAT was going on in that cockpit, but whatever it was caused so much turbulence and I thought I was going to die. And I hate flying anyway so this didn't really help. I was sitting next to this group of children from Portugal and they were all in sports uniforms. So I naturally thought that it was a soccer team, but then the flight attendance asked what sport they played and they answered...brace yourself...roller skating. I didn't that was a thing either...

So I had no problems with luggage and there was an Italian student representing our study abroad company there to greet us and direct us where to go. I met a very nice music student and it turned out that we had actually been on all the exact same flights and didn't even know it. We took a train from the airport to the station that was in walking distance of our study abroad center in Milan. Once we got there we were greeted by a fleet of young, handsome, Italian men who immediately came to help us with our bags. Love. Shortly after, we were given a tour of the abroad center and sent to our housing in taxis. And they paid for the taxis, which was very nice!

So I am staying in a selective dormitory-like housing, but it didn't open until the first of September, so the two of us who were staying in this housing had to get temporary housing...which happened to be in the program director's (who happens to be away in the US on sabbatical) apartment. It was a very cute apartment in a beautiful building. And the director of the program is some big composer guy who has had his stuff performed at La Scala and he gave a presentation at Harvard because they were studying some of his music in one of their courses! What?!

We were able to spend a few minutes at the apartment before we rushed off to our reception in this really nice restaurant in the Duomo, which is the center of the city. We were able to meet all of the other participants in the program and get our first taste of Italian food...which was delicious, of course! I wonder how the Italian women here are so skinny!