Florence Friday: My first "temporary setback"

Let me start out with this.

                   

That's right people, there are Segway tours in Florence. AND I'm over 18. So I can ride one all by myself.

So I did some more research and found this pixellated lie:

Small print:
1 hour=18 Euros

This ad is design genius. 

Because the things that really are offered "free of charge" are the maps and the helmets, and they live in the "Free of charge" oval. 

You have to pay for the segway rental.  That's why it lives outside the "free" oval.  

Pure. Marketing. Genius.  

Lure in the stupid Americans like me.

18 Euros an hour isn't so much...but on a student's budget? Yeah... I'll do it someday.

Bike Rentals are much cheaper.  They're 10 Euros a day for students. 

I can rock yellow, can't I?

On another note...I received some bad news last Friday.

We all know I intend to go to school for Graphic Design while I'm in Florence. That's the whole point.

Unfortunately, school costs money, and I need to work to pay for a place to live, food to eat, and for tuition fees.  And that doesn't include visa or travel costs.  =(

The hope was that I could work here in the states for a few years after graduation in June (ideally, only 2 years), and then ship myself off to Italy for a year of school, see the sights for a while, then snag a job over there to help me pay for the second year's tuition/housing.

Well, my ONLY reliable resource for visa information is from the Italian Embassy, and that's where all my study abroad/career counselors/travel buddies directed me for info. that they couldn't answer.

So I sent the Honorary Vice Consulate of the Italian Embassy in Seattle a short email with a single question (I didn't want to overwhelm him, you see, so he could get back to me sooner).

"I'd like to attend school at the Florence Design Academy, I understand I'll need to get a student visa to attend, so I'm wondering if I can work over there while I have a student visa?"

...or something like that.  I'm pretty sure the email was longer.

yep, definitely longer.

It took him TWO WEEKS to answer me.  Okay, that's an exaggeration.  It took him 8 days.  But I like to think it was longer because

1. I was displeased with his answer.
2. I missed the "last day to add/drop a class" deadline here at WWU
3. his email was short.  SO short.
4. his name is Franco.

This was his email:

"Hello Ashley, you cannot work while in Italy with a student visa. At most you can work a few hours occasionally.  Regards, Franco"

So wait...what?
Can I work, or not?
Can I get both a student visa AND a work visa?
How can I work only a few hours occasionally?
What constitutes "a few hours" anyway?

Confuzed kitty

Mr. Franco, sir, I mean no disrespect, because you're probably a busy man, but could you have elaborated a little more? I mean, your job is to supply information, is it not? Does this mean that every time I have one question, I have to wait one week for a reply?  or is it determined by how many emails you get? I had a specific circumstance that I outlined for you---you might have put your reply in context for me, so I don't have to wait another week just for a clarification email to come back to me.


Obviously I'm a little miffed at Mr. Franco.
That's probably the reason I haven't emailed for clarification.
...or at least part of it.
Completing the TESOL certification program would require me to spend an extra summer up here. And I was really looking forward to spending the summer up here in Bellingham, since I don't know when I'll get to come back after graduation.


But summer tuition is so expensive.  A TESOL certification isn't worth $3000+ if I'm not going to be able to use it in Italy.  =(  That's money I could use for my plane ticket instead!
It would have been nice to know that I could have dropped the TESOL class I'm taking this quarter...but of course, he waited a whole week!

On the other hand, I'm ranting because I'm frustrated. I should have emailed him for information on the visas sooner (like over winter break).  Then I wouldn't have paid the $40 for the TESOL background check.  I wouldn't have had to pay for an extra 3 credits this quarter.  I could have had more free time!  But Mr. Franco probably is a busy man, and it's not his fault that I waited until the *almost* last minute to ask for his help.

I apologize, Mr. Franco.


But I'm not sure when I'll get over it enough to email him back with more questions.


Probably not very long. Now that something has gone wrong, I'm even more determined to get to Italy in spite of it. I already have a plan in my head of all the places I'm going to attempt to ask for clarification first, even if I have to email the main Italian Embassy in D.C and wait a month to get my answer.


I think, according to my TEDtalk Tuesday Part 2, that sort of mind-set means I'm attacking this trip from a "get better" mindset.  It started out as a promotion goal (reaching Italy is certainly an achievement), but in order to keep it up, I need to switch it to a prevention goal so I stop procrastinating on my research, and actually get things going before I give up because I took too damn long planning it.

I wanna go so bad!

Ciao!