I must admit I'm a bit nervous for the "big reunion" in London. I'll meet ALL my colleagues and I haven't seen some of them for a long time. Colleagues from the US, Canada, UK, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Greece etc. It makes me nervous because I've changed a lot lately. It's not only my hair (I look completely different from -say- one year ago), it's all the pressure and excitement that usually go along with these meetings. Moreover, most of them met a different Lola and they proabably have in mind a picture of me which I feel diverges from the person I've become. I've just got an email from a friend of mine who is so looking forward to catch up in London. I'm looking forward to see him too but I'm wondering if he'd notice that I'm a different.
Besides, the scheduled event is huge and I'll have to deal with many people for 3-4 days in a row which is good and "bad" at the same time. It's good because, as I mentioned, I can't wait to work with such an amazing network of professionals and because I do know (and like) most of them. It's "bad" because it's actually stressful as I'll be speaking all the time in another language and at a very high level. I can tell you that at the end of the day it could be tiring. Perhaps it's just me... I'm constantly concerned -especially when surrounded by native English speakers- that my English is not perfect and I should have said "this" instead of "that" and so forth. I'm pretty confident but I'm aware that I will always be an "Italian who speaks English" with an accent and a vocabulary that is limited. And I work very hard to improve it... on a daily basis to be honest (i.e. I mainly read books, essays and articles in English, I listen to podcasts and even write my own personal blog in English!).
Anyway, I'm sure I will enjoy the London reunion.
