Every day is my best day; this is my life. I'm not going to have this moment again

Quick update from Italy-land.

-I’m getting the hang of driving stick-shift. Dare I jinx myself and say I’m not even stalling… even when stuck in stop and go traffic. Happiness is not stalling your car with angry Italians behind you.

-I apparently mispronounce my last name. Funny how I’ve gone 26 years without knowing this. My student on Tuesday asked me my surname, actually the one on Monday did too but she got it right away and didn’t make fun of my pronunciation, she also commented on it’s popularity around here (many other people have the same last name as me around these parts). My Tuesday student had me say it twice before he even questioned if it was Italian, then made me write it before he said “oh, I know this name, you’re pronouncing it wrong.” At this point he gave me a lesson in pronunciation and I bit my tongue over the fact that he mispronounces the word ‘closed’ no matter how many times I correct him.

-I was also told yesterday that I looked more professional than the previous two times I saw my student. This was because I was wearing my glasses. I think he just didn’t want to tell me I looked smarter or he didn’t have the words to say it. It makes me wonder if I just looked like some English speaking person dragged off the teach to talk to him in English the previous two times.

-One of my Monday students was confused about my first name, she had heard me being referred to as Jen and Jennifer (I just introduce myself as Jennifer since it’s easier and I don’t want to start a Jenny fiasco around here, but my coworkers just call me Jen). She didn’t understand the correlation between the two, I also explained that some like to call me Jenny and that I hated this. She now refers to me as Jenny.

-I still trip down cobblestone streets while wearing heels. Apparently tripping is a trait in Jen world-wide. I’m fairly certain that I can’t blame it on the cobblestone and that it’s just my lack of talent in the walking department.