It's a Teutonic Land, baby.

First week of non-officially-started Erasmus.

Right now, I'm laying on my bed at Steffi's Hostel, Heidelberg, located in the amusing german region of Baden-Wuttemberg.

I finally got a home with my Erasmus mate (yay!) after a worrying start of our research. I'm ready to start my studies, or at least I think so... And all that's left to do regards bureaucracy - that hideous thing I thought I would have eventually left in Italy, until next fallout of the system running Ca' Foscari website. Because there'll be one as usual, I expect. But I'm prepared for that.

The matter is, I was not even slightly prepared to face German bureaucracy, not only because of the amount of things it compels, but also because of a structure I didn't expect.

The Italian curious phenomenon described perfectly throughout something like "The twelve tasks of Asterix" movie shows an office system ready to freak you over.

"We are not the right desk for this, try the second on the left at Central Building's second floor!", "Not really, you should go to Info Center at Uni Square to be sure", "Well, if you just try to ask the City Hall...", and so on. I can assure you, this is not an Italian exclusive method (ohohoh, destroying stereotypes, how I llove it!).

Sure, German efficiency is pretty famous and correctly assigned in most circumstances. Even in this one, I'd say. But cases like the Italian offices' Triathlon happen pretty often, actually - I experienced some in the past days.

This notwithstanding, if I'm a foreign student that arrives at the beginning of the month, moreover after notifying it to you, I expect to apply for my studies at your offices when you told me to be there. Right? Not a parade, nor a sumptuous Ceremony like Hogwarts'. Just doing what I'm supposed to do.

So, finding closed the desk responsible to sign most of my documents for the exchange during the entire first week before the Orientation and the Language placement Test is not pleasant.

Let's also add my still-not-acquired knowledge about German national holidays, that makes me try to apply during the Day of German Unity, running to get to the offices before offices closing time and finding them all shut. I felt terrible, with all the matters I still ought to manage before the lectures start.

So, I'm a little upset.

Anyway, apart from these traumas, I still reckon there're loads of differences from Italian University system, starting from spaces and places dedicated to students' academic and private time, adding the availability of Staff and Students' Support, pretty affordable living costs and so on. Moreover, if you don't know German, in most cases you'll find someone that can speak English just around the corner - not everybody, of course, but a good percentage of citizens can manage a little English, or even Italian in my case. Speaking of that, it's pretty common to get in touch with other Italians, noticing their home accent at the bus stop and pointing out there's a big Italian community nearby, as well as encountering nationals within the Hostel guests or waiting at Uni offices like you. Pretty fun, to be honest.
All of these things go along with a very fascinating atmosphere, permeating the Altstadt, or Old Town, and many other places.
To close this quick (yeah, for me this is short) post, I can assure you that it's not a case if I came here for Japanese and Asian Studies.
At least I can overheard the discourses between Asians guests in the Kitchen without them knowing. And considering how they've been occupying the stoves in the common room, I don't even feel guilty for it. It's called karma, dearies.
Sooo good! :D *giggles*

Tschüß!

Dear Universe, the whole concept of "sarcasm" should be banned, sometimes

I've been thinking about a couple of things, in the last few days. Nothing special, someone would say, even if those were actually soul-mode-made. (soooo much love for this kind of words)

The most exciting point of this is that even if the majority of them was thought in Italian, right now I feel way better writing in English. You know, there are moments, in every linguist's life, in which you can't carry on speaking in your mother-tongue.

Really, that's simply statistics: you get bored, you need to hang on anything that keeps your brain active, responding to the world trying to confuse it with its unbalance and, as a matter of fact, you end up changing language.

By the way, why, heavenly spirits, did I pop up with such a title??

That's actually the very first sentence that came up to me as I selected the "post" button in Blogger's summary.

It did, certainly, have something to do with my weekend's duties - even if I startled myself, too, as I wrote down this kind of brainy-like aphorism. I'm not actually starting to behave as the-pompous-writer-I-obviously-am-not-and-never-be. Do I?

- As if it wasn't clear,

I hereby declare I will always worship

hyphens and hyphens-related words.

Aww. - 

To be honest, I'm losing grip on today's theme once again. Don't bother, I shall go on. Maybe. Even if I can't be truly reliable on how much it will take to recover from this beginning. But yay, shan't we try? I just want to write something, after all.

Theme. Focus. On. The. Askjbfksdklgattic. Theme. {said her to herself, tilting the head as if something pushed it down}

The theme was something sarcasm-related. I'm sure of that. I'm right now not quite aware of the content I was about to put in my very personal instance about it, nor I'm aware of why I'm in this world and not in some kind of other parallel Universe, but still.

Oh, yep. Maybe I'm on it. Not sure, but I'll try.

Let's think about it, sarcasm is on our way in any time, any moment, any cantankerous (lovely word) and bilious person we shall meet while walking our path on road's sidewalks. I'm a pretty sarcastic person. But to be real, even the most sardonic individual may be annoyed by the umpteenth "You Don't Say??". Being it in a conversation, being it the new meme on Facebook.

Honestly, I'm the first one to be accused of the massive amount of sarcasm thrown upon people. And things. And Animals. Livings, objects, situations, your mother's eyes like Harry Potter, or even the not-like-his-colour-at-all Lily's eyes in the last movie. Whatever. Anything, really. I can be terribly tiring.

But there are times that's too much even for the stressful young woman I am. Because there are some.. let's call them... "unique", dear people out there, that should ask to Universe, as they wake up "Really, is this the day in which I'll finally be able to recognize when I should talk? I've been sooooo looking forward to it!".

Actually, they don't mean it, it's simply spilled out of their mouths in the worst moment they should take.

Seriously. Thinking about it, it's a Universe's fault, featuring the World with all its things - and, I'd bet, also someone else who decided to have some fun with us, mortals, for a change (really, I believe in You, but.. why??).

The fact is, the fateful - and, if you're lucky, temporary - mediation of one of these Chaos-bringing sarky people may as well ruin your discourse, making you lose your point or, worse, wear off your self-confidence in doing/telling/realizing something you've been considering for a bit.

So, annoying. I know when not to use sarcasm, commonly. Maybe, not sure.

Oh my God, I might myself have been one of those beings.

Too complicated. Why did I even start this thing?

Beats me.