It's easy to forget sometimes that there is a 7 hour difference between Italy and the United States (Italy is seven hours ahead of us), and I'm evidently not the only one who has this problem. I had been scheduled to take the final "oral" exam this morning sometime after 9 am. The way it was to work was that I would get an e-mail from her which would contain the exam and once I opened it, I would have an hour and a half to complete it and mail it back to her. I decided yesterday to send an e-mail to remind Dr. Burlando (the coordinator of this masters program) to clarify whether she intended to send it when it was morning here, or when it was morning there (in which case it would be the middle of the night for me). However, I sent the email around 7pm our time, which I knew was 2am their time (I figured it would be there in the morning before she sent the exam to me, then). So this morning I get up at 6:30 am and the first thing I do is check my e-mail to see if she responded. I see a message from her, so I open it. Surprise! It's the exam, and I am now being timed. She evidently forgot that morning for her was the middle of the night for me. So instead of being fully awake and prepared, I am sleepy and in pajamas doing this test. Oh well- it was easy, and now I have the whole day ahead of me. I am meeting Tiffany and Anne (another friend and coworker) for lunch at The Emperor's Wok in South City, so the day will be a good one despite the rude awakening. Next week Gianluca and I are off to Chicago (hopefully by train) to apply for a visa.
Tiffany (left) and Anne at The Emperor's Wok
Posts
