Pre-departure

Innamoratevi! Se non vi innamorate è tutto morto! Vi dovete innamorare, e diventa tutto vivo. Per essere felici dovete patire, stare male, soffrire. Non abbiate paura di soffrire: tutto il mondo soffre.(Robeto Benigni)

Language.

The end of a university degree is a time of change for anyone; for me, this change involves not only leaving school, but leaving my home, my family, my friends and my country. Not that any of this is new, as this will be my third time since 2007 moving to Europe to live for an extended period of time. However, what is new is the loss of the safety net of UBC. My elusive Bachelor's degree has loomed ominously in the background for five years, always calling me home. While this was cumbersome and limiting in the past, I was happy enough to receive this call. A Bachelor's degree seems to be a prerequisite to life these days. While I still don't quite understand this, what made sense to me was sitting in class, being spoken to in French, reading in French and attempting to make myself articulate in French writing and speaking. Not only do I have the nice ability of adding the words "BA" to my CV, but more importantly, after the letters BA I can put "French." It is a beautiful and lush language that I now fear losing because I'm not moving to France, as I was half-expecting to do a little over one year ago. I'm moving to Italy instead, where my limited language skills have been frantically put together at warp-speed throughout the past year.

Love.

After eight months of Benigni-approved suffering, the long-distance chapter of my 13000km, cross-continental, 9 hour time difference relationship is coming to a close. I would not recommend doing a long distance relationship (even to Benigni) unless you are very serious about that person on the other side of the world. It is lot of work and the rewards of that work are tragically far away. Time plays tricks on you, speeding up during the moments of togetherness and lurching to an awkward halt when life is already being dreary or difficult. That being said, it says something about any couple that has the desire to survive such intense separation. There needs to be a light at the end of the tunnel. When I left Italy in August, it wasn't even a question that I would be back as soon as I possibly could (which proved to be especially true after finding a cheap flight for a whirlwind visit in October!) My life is in Italy, so long as Gio is there. 
As I recently told Gio, I'm ready for a new challenge. This long-distance nonsense is getting real boring. Well, if it's a challenge I want, it's a challenge I will have! Yes, I am gallivanting off to one of the most luxuriously romantic countries in the entire world, but no, I will not be gazing into Gio's eyes under soft moonlit twilight for the rest of my days. Unfortunately. 

Life.

Life still goes on. Gio still has a Masters to complete and I have to be doing something with my time whilst living in a household of hard-working Italians. So, as soon as I arrive I will be frantically re-learning how to drive a stick-shift (thank goodness for my six-month stint of driving small children around the Alps!) so that I can go to work the following week as a language instructor.
Leaving Canada will be emotional, our reunion will be incredible and the new challenges will be plentiful. It's a lot to take in. But, I feel so lucky to be embarking on something so exciting. If I had told myself back on February 2^nd 2010 that I would be moving to Italy to be with the Italian guy I just met in the navy-blue "Why lie…?" sweatshirt, I might not have believed it. 
But it did happen. (Magnolia)