Interview Marathon

Okay first of all I apologize for not blogging in three days....

Monday was a very slow paced, just like I like it. I spent most of the morning pretending to be a travel agent and booked some places for me to visit after the family leaves for USA. Attenzione!! This weekend I am stoked to say that I am taking the train to Verona (the home of Romeo and Juliet and Patrick in Taming of the Shrew). It is a very small town (4000 people) and only a few sites to see. I am planning on leaving at 2 in the afternoon and should arrive at fivish. That night I am going to the Italian Opera in Italy's oldest theatre!! I am going to see La Boheme by Puccini. I am really looking forward to this trip and ready to experience my first live Opera (the Magic Flute does not count because it was a film). I picked the boys up from camp and made our commute back to the house. I don't want to jinx myself but the boys were amazing today. They didn't really fight with each other or me and we played cards for two hours when we got home....oh if everyday was like this

On Tuesday I started the Marathon of Interviews. Okay really the race began last Wednesday but this week is jammed packed with them. On Tuesday morning I had one at 10 just about 7 minutes walk from my door. The woman works from home (the coolest apartment I've been in thus far) Her office is up this hidden winding stair case in a room that is full of floor cushions and drapes hanging from the ceiling. It was very Indian feeling. Her office is a large room with a dome ceiling with a wall of windows on the East side. Each window is supported by antique looking columns. The room was your typical office with computers, printers, and product catalogs all over a drafting table. She was extremely nice and we talked for almost 2 hours. She told me I had the job if I wanted it but to let her know by Monday after I have talked it over with my family and my Italian family. Her work was great and I was suprised to see that I learned just about everything she does at Tech so I was a little more confident in myself when I left. I went almost directly downtown to another interview when I left her amazing apartment. This studio specializes in Hotel and Commercial design but they do do some residential. The studio consisted of three designers and a parrot named Oscar. He sat on a desk tapping his foot while the architects drew plans on their computers (No I am not making this up). The office was full of graphic art (like Warhol type art) and they have an outdoor bamboo garden and terrace to eat lunch on. Their work is stunning but I was a little intimidated and the guy I interviewed with had a very thick accent so it was hard for me to understand him at times. He said that I could have the job if I wanted it but right now I think I will pass just because the language barrier is a big concern. When I got home I had just enough time to change and then get the boys. We played another game of cards and I showed Filippo how to play solitare.

Today (Wednesday) I had another interview at 10 (for you at home not keeping score that's 3 in 24 hours). This studio was bigger than all the other ones I met with this week. They had 10-15 people working and several international people. The principle was a little late meeting me but when the interview started he was very professional and interested in me. He asked a lot of questions and then showed me a brochure of their work. They have done a ton of work for the city of Torino and were very active in the design for the Olympic games. It was really incredible just to meet with all these different firms and see the amazing work that is going on throughout the world. Paolo's English was really good and I felt at ease in the studio (again another amazing looking office that is graphically pleasing and interesting). He told me that I could have the internship if I wanted it and just needed to let him know by Monday. I spent the rest of my afternoon walking downtown and going down streets I had never seen before. I absolutely love downtown and Torino in general. People are so friendly and it is the cleanest city I've seen in Europe.

The final leg of the marathon will start at 2 pm tomorrow and will end around 6:30 (I have an interview at 5:30). Then on to the hardest part, the cool down, or making up my mind what to do-Should I stay or should I go....That is the question!