And just like that, almost a year went by

Well,

hello there. I haven't touched, nor glanced at this ol' blog of mine since February, until today that is. I kept thinking it was because I was uninspired and tired of the feeling that I kept pouring my heart out to no one. But to be fair, here's what happened: life happened. Life swooped in, changed everything all around (like it usually does) and all of a sudden I found myself having absolutely no time or energy on my hands.

In February I started working for a local designer, making handmade bags and even joining her for the A/W 2012 show in Milan (it sounds very glamorous, I know). I kept doing bags for her from home, but felt very double about it all. I got really self critical and would redo things over and over, looking for absolute perfection where none was to be found (HANDmade y'all? Sort of implies imperfections and varieties). It was fun and I learned a lot but I kept feeling a bit uneasy and unsure about keeping on working like that. One day, a lady contacted me asking if I would be interested in working in a bilingual school. This sort of threw me off a bit, because when I moved to Italy I kept thinking that I wanted  to do something different from what I had been doing in Berlin. At the same time, I got really curious and went for an interview at this little combined pre-school/elementary school outside of town. And I loved it, of course. The people were great and I was finally feeling like myself again. So I started working there during the afternoons and after a month or so, my boss asked me if I would be interested in co-teaching a pre-school class for the school year of 2012-2013. Here's the thing: Italy is a country knee deep in shit right now. Even in the north, mind you. If someone more or less throws a job at you, you don't pass it down, no matter how much you would love to "do your own thing"/"be a part of a creative collective"/"learn something new and decide over your own time" or whatever I might have been blogging about a year ago. You say: hellz yez, and you take it. Even if the salary is so low it makes you giggle or cry every time you open your busta paga. And here we are now. I love, LOVE my job. This is the truth. I get really tired of it every now and then but seriously, I laugh so hard every day I sometimes think I'm gonna wee myself.

As for everything else... Charlie has grown up. Not into a lady, however. She's still the whirlwind she always was and incredibly spoiled with cuddles and fluffy duvets to sleep on. My darling A has got some seriously exciting projects going on and I am so, so very proud of him. I hope to be able to share some of his stuff soon as well, because he really is nothing less but fantastic. Never in my life have I ever encountered someone as creative and determined to realize ideas.

What about the Italian, someone might wonder. Well, I had a private teacher coming over once or twice a week to teach me the essentials for a couple or months. She was really great and we had a blast but then she moved to England to teach. Ever since I've sort of been teaching myself in less traditional ways. And you know what? It sort of worked out. My Italian is far from perfect, but I manage. I can keep up conversations with Andrea's family, crack a joke or two, communicate with children and parents at school, order my own food and compliment older ladies on their beautiful dresses. I'm constantly picking up new things and am always eager to learn more. Life in Italy has improved incredibly with at least a decent level of Italian, but things are still quite often confusing and frustrating.
I'm realizing more and more that this sleepy little town of ours might not be enough for me. I dream of moving. Big city street lights and all that. Or, if I can't have that, an old villa in the Tuscan countryside.  I'm not even sure we'll stay put in the old country. Nothing is carved in stone and I'm not ready to make any major decisions yet. Life is working out, and that is good enough. For now. Pin It