All together, I'm very excited to go to Italy. Everything is starting to be ready for going. Appartment is ready for me and waiting. The whole finding it was a process in itself. There was many complications and such during the search but in the end, all thanks going to Anna, I found a great place 3-4 minutes bike ride away from the center of Padova. Or at least based on what I know now, it seems like a great place. The only thing I don't understand in it is that why would someone want a mottled floor anywhere. I mean seriously mottled. All around the house there is a floor made of stone I think. It looks like black-white-dark green marble but isn't. And making it even more mottled is that the stones is in pieces, so that the already mottled material looks even more mottled when it is in little pieces around the house. Mottled or not - I'm happy with the result I got.
In the building, I'm living with Anna in one double room. In the other double room, there is going to be living two other unknown girls. At the moment, two italian girls are interested, who have been to exchange somewhere. There is also a little kitchen. It is surprisingly small to be in an italian house. The first one I saw pictures had a huge kitchen. Bigger than the bedrooms together. But I think there is all the space we need for cooking and baking. Outside the kitchen, there is a living room with sofa and tv-corner, dining-table and some cupboard room. In the end of the hallway, which starts from the door, is the bathroom. If I saw right and understood what I saw, there is two toiletseats in the bathroom... that's interesting I think. Or maybe it was a sink? But it was in the same level and looking the same as the toilet. On the sides, from the bathroom doorway, there is entrances to both of the double rooms. There's desks, chairs and shelves for everyone.
All together the house looked a bit dirty in the pictures, but there is or was living 4 boys, so that might explain something. I think we can do a lot to make the appartment look good with the help of a near-by IKEA!
The nicest part is that there is a nice guestroom for visitors. Unfortunately with only one bed, but there is lots of room for more than one person. That means that you can come visit me!
The house is a villa so there is a garden in front of it. The most interesting part of the arrangement is this. The owner, Franca's, mother lives in the same building. So as we entry the house from the side, she entries it in the front. So she lives in the same building but the appartments are clearly seperated. The garden is basicly on her side of the house, but I'm still hoping we can use it too! There is also a place for bicycles and a car.
ground plan of the house (made by Anna)
Now it's time for a thank you and an introduction. Anna, who made all this possible, is 23 years old and studies art history in the Uni of Padova. She's originally from Brescia, which is quite near to lake Garda. I got to know her when I found her ad for an Erasmus student to share a room with her in another appartment. After I replied her many things have happened.
The owner of the place where I applied first had some problems of getting me a lease contract, so as Anna got another interested SMS from a Norwegian girl, Silje, she started to look for other options. First option was a place near the river, but as she went to see her, the place was very small and some stairs where even a bit dangerous. The location would've been ideal, but the condition wasn't. So the owner, Franca, had another house for her to see. The villa in via Montà which we decided to take :)
And now, in the weekend, when I pay for a deposit, the place is reserved for me. Anna and I will share a room facing the garden<3
As scared as I'm for sharing a room with an italian girl, I'm also very excited to see how it works. So far, I haven't had a flatmate who has really been on the same level as I'm. Now I'm going to share a room, not just the appartment, with someone. Finns have the tend to need space around themselves, so I'm also worried for that. But that's a challenge too.
Another problem at first was that Franca wanted the rents paid every 6 months. As the rent is now 180 euros, the 6 month price is 1080 euros. That is not a problem as that is how it goes still, but the way she wanted it to paid was. She wanted a check for the first 6 months as I arrived and check for the last 6 months dated for 1st of January 2008. In Finland, checks are used very very very seldom, if ever. I've only got checks for a present in my graduation party. So the problem would've been that the checks need to be paid in advance and here there is no dating system as to not getting the checks dated for an exact date. When you get them, they can be cashed straight away. The problem was solved as Franca agreed to get the payment straight to her account. This way I don't have to pay the whole years rent at once. And yes, I'm there only 10 months and I can only get appartments for 12 months. It's funny. Italians *sneers*
So now there is only signing up for the courses, moving out from Vantaa and packing left to do. I still need a suitcase and some boxes for packing my things but everything else is about ready. Yeah, I have some school things still undone. 3 exams and 3+1 essays to write and one excercise to do. Most of the exams are very hard to do but.. let's see. I'll manage everything. I also got 3 more shifts to do at work. (Someone had just quit there last week and they were calling me 2 times a day asking if I could go that evening!)
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