Snow Day!

01 March 2018

I arrived in Europe to uncharacteristically COLD weather that lingered. My amazing host here, Dr. Monica Fedeli, and I got to work on day 2 (February 27) after I took a long walk to re-familiarize myself with Padova. Monica and I spent a couple hours reviewing the syllabus for the masters course we are co-teaching, Organizational Culture: Teaching and Learning Methods, and planning instruction for our classes on Thursday and Friday (March 1-2). We are also working on a book proposal together that will be a co-edited volume on learning and knowledge management. We worked at her flat because the office had no heat and was closed.

The next day (February 28), I went to the office (just an 11-minute walk from the flat) and got set up in the visiting professor office and on the Internet. It was still terribly cold there and after about 2 hours I returned to the flat to work in warmth. I met up with Monica in the early evening to take care of my “Residency Permit” which has turned out to be very complicated. We spent an hour with the university official processing paperwork and there are more pieces to come. All this must be done within 8 days of arrival, or I am not legal to be here or travel elsewhere in Europe! After all that bureaucracy, Monica and I needed an aperitif and found a cozy gin bar that Mark will surely like to haunt once he arrives. We then went to a wonderful dinner with Monica and Ed’s friends and that was a Day 3 wrap!

When I awoke on March 1, our first day of classes, Padova was blanketed in snow (see photos from my flat’s terrace). Class was cancelled. The snow continued to fall and classes were also cancelled for March 2. So, my first week in Padova was spent cocooning in the flat, keeping warm, and working! Of course, there was never too much snow to head out for a walk to see the rare site of Padova blanketed in snow, or to meet Ed and Monica for an aperitif!