Let's Talk About Bad Ideas...... :)

Hello and Greetings from Florence!

Well. One month ago, I said goodbye to my friends and family and as I got on the plane, I realized that I wouldn't be coming back to America for three and a half months. Now that one month has gone by (even though it has felt like a year or so), I think I have (FINALLY) assimilated to the culture here in Italy. AND. I. Love. It.

September Music Video Contest:
This is just a little something to keep me entertained. Tell me in the comments which video you like the best! (and you can't like both)

Video Choice #1

Video Choice #2

Thanks! Your vote will be appreciated! :)

Bad Ideas:

1. Vogue Fashion Week Night Out --> So a bunch of friends and I went out to this event in Florence (it was free) and it was like a Tuesday night. We get to the event and it is crowded with people. I would say 'packed' but there was definitely enough space to walk around. Basically, all the stores are open until the wee hours of the morning hosting fashion shows, playing loud music, and most importantly, handing out free alcohol (Now before you all get concerned, I only had one glass of champagne and one cocktail). Here's the bad part: Not only did it get several members of our group extremely intoxicated, this event also attracted the Florentine hobos who were also getting drunk. Another thing, who gives out alcohol in a high-end designer store? Like champagne in expensive glassware? Yeah. All the drunkards dropped their drinks, ergo, smashing the glass and spilling champagne EVERYWHERE. Say goodbye to that 300 Euro jacket because the value just depreciated.
2. Wheelchair Escapades --> So one of my amazing friends, Anastasia, keeps her wheelchair in our room for safekeeping and ONCE IN AWHILE, I go out in the wheelchair on little, tiny adventures. You know what's hard to do? Trying to maneuver a wheelchair through gravel. That's hard. So anyways, I would be in the wheelchair and while no one is looking, I'd go down the valley path. Here's the bad thing: there is no possible way to steer a wheelchair when it is accelerating at rates too high to comprehend, ergo, I lost control of the chair and landed in the hedge by the volleyball nets. Luckily, my impression in the hedge was covered up the next day when the gardeners noticed the blemish and fixed it up. How nice. Oh. And I also wasn't wearing a helmet. :) #YOLO
3. Keeping food in your room --> Each week, I go out to the supermarket to buy some bread and sandwich supplies along with other snacks and drinks for the week and we keep all of it in our rooms. Now that everyone knows that I can make sandwiches fairly well, I get constant requests for sandwiches. Not that I don't mind, but if I'm trying to sleep, you're not getting a sandwich. Here's the bad part: We are out of bread. (I love you Perris <3 )

So, I'm talking to a few friends from high school and they're always like: How's Italy? Well. Let me tell you.

It's amazing. If you ever have the slightest chance of coming over, DO IT and you will never ever regret it. When its not cloudy, I wake up to the most spectacular sunrises that I've ever seen. The sunsets are so gorgeous especially since our campus is on a hill and we can see everything. The food, although questionable sometimes, is still amazing. It is not your "run-of-the-mill" Olive Garden style food. It is gourmet Tuscan cooking and it is so delicious, that you'll probably gain about 3 pounds just from looking at it. But its OK because, you're in Italy and you'll walk it off when you're taking the town by foot EVERYDAY. And although the drivers are crazy, you don't have to worry about it because you're a pedestrian... unless you're in a taxi. Don't get me wrong, I miss America, my friends and family, and real Chinese food, but its wonderful here. GET OVER HERE. please.

Well, until next week, I'm going to drown my time in 'One Direction' music, fake Nutella, and Plato's Republic. And I expect EVERYONE to Gangnam Style sometime this week: at work, at school, on the bus, in your bedroom, or with your mom. That is my personal challenge to you.

Ciao Ciao!

Joel C. Yates

Broken Bones because of wheelchair accident #YOLO