Pre-Preparation

I'm getting ready to go to Italy and take a basic class in Italian. To get prepared I am:
1. Reviewing an Italian phrase book;
2. Listening over and over to the first CD out of 5 on how to speak Italian;
3. Reviewing an Italian Immersion training; and
4. Taking a course in "Italian for Travelers".

And I still can only say about 4 words in Italian (which I would not recognize if I saw them in writing) - "where", "excuse me", "good", and "bathroom". I'm not saying that those aren't very useful words, but I find myself with performance anxiety when I actually have to use them in a real situation. That is why I need lots of pre-practice before I talk my class in Italy. I also don't want my teacher to know I had all of this training before my class because that would mean they would expect me to know something. I really think that my brain is full and I have to unlearn something before I can shove more information in.

I need to dispose of all of the tidbits of gossip I know about starlettes and hunks - except for Johnnie Depp. My brain needs to declutter from addresses and phone numbers I had when I was a kid. And there is no reason my brain should continue to hold on to names of people I dislike.

Wouldn't it be nice to just click a button on the side of your head to defrag abd clean up the brain cells to make them more efficient? I know that Italian would come easier if I could do that.