2010-02-04:
Skidköp
Jag har tagit tag i mitt sug efter egna skidor, och åkte till Decathlon och köpte mig ett par Rossignolskidor och ett par pjäxor. Det är alltid ett sant nöje att handla på ett språk man inte riktigt behärskar. Det är åtminstone tur att jag hade Sarah med mig, hennes italienskakunskaper är bra mycket bättre än mina. Problemet är bara att hon talar om för mig vad säljaren säger, sedan får jag svara själv, och efter det berättar hon för mig vad jag skulle sagt istället för att bli förstådd.
Men skidor blev det!
Sarah har också gjort ett återbesök i andra världskrigsbunkern, som hon kallar den, och slutligen fått sitt uppehållstillstånd. Efter halva tiden här.
2010-02-03:
Fun Fact About Italy
63% of Italian men under age 65 live within 1 km of their mother or call her every day.
2010-01-26:
A film
This is a little movie I watched in culture class today that basically sums up Italy and Italians better than we ever could in 100 blog entries. It is a simple comparison between Italians and other Europeans but oh, it says so much.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
2010-01-23:
Sestriere
Sestriere, byn i vilken de alpina tävlingarna i OS 2006 hölls. I torsdags åkte jag dit med två andra svenska utbytesstudenter, Eric och Joachim. En dag med uppstigning klockan 05.50, men en fullkomligt fantastiskt sådan. På tunnelbanan till centralstationen blev jag för första gången biljettkontrollerad. Sarah har blivit det typ 5-6 gånger, men detta var första gången för mig.
En tågresa på cirka en timme rakt in i, och upp på, bergen inleddes, och efter en stund så började det ligga snö på marken. Här i Turin finns det ingen snö, men åker man tåg i en timme, så finns det en hejdundrandes massa snö.
Soluppgångens röda strålar når en alptopp i fjärran.
Det tog ungefär två timmar att ta sig från Turin till Sestriere sammalagt, eftersom tåget stannar i en by vid namn Oulx, och därifrån tar man bussen på serpentinvägarna till Sestriere.
Det olympiska tillkännagivandet
Vi hyrde skidor och snowboard på första stället vi såg, förutom Eric som med sina storlek 48-fötter fick anstränga sig lite mer för att hitta passande snowboardskor. Jag fick köpa väntar och solglasögon med, eftersom jag inte ägde någotdera. Sestriere ingår i Via Latte (Mjölkgatan - eller bättre översatt Vintergatan), vilket är ett liftsystem bestående av ett större antal byar, varav en i Frankrike. Vi köpte bara liftkort för Sestriere eftersom det är 3-4 dagars åkning i hela liftsystemet. Men vilken åkning det var! Klarblå himmel, solsken, svaga vindar. Det var kanon, från början till slut.
Jag, berg, jag, Eric och Jocke.
Vi passade även på att prova på ett "solarium" beläget på 2500 meters höjd (cirka, jag minns inte riktigt). Det var riktigt najs!
"Solarium"
Vi provade på att äta Polenta, majsmjöl med vatten. Det smakar precis lika glamoröst som det låter. Men det var åtminstone mättande. Vid fem på eftermiddagen tog vi bussen tillbaka till Oulx, för att vänta på tåget till Turin igen.
Det här blir det repris på!
2010-01-22:
my horrible day
The date was January 20th. Original plan: take my first Italian exam of the semester. The Italian government's plan for me: completely different.
So this horrific tragedy of events that I'm about to tell you about only proves my theory about Italy and its lack of any sort of modern organization at all, but I'm sure you'll come to realize that yourself soon enough. Perhaps some find it charming, others completely normal, still others completely frustrating. I won't say which category I fall under...
So really it all started a few months back when I arrived in Italy and was informed that it was just not enough that I had received a visa allowing me to live and study in this lovely country, I needed to pay another 80 euro or so to receive what they call a "Permit of Stay." They informed me that I, lucky as I am, may actually have a chance to see this permit of stay that I was about to spend so much money on. The poor kids who only stayed for a semester only ever saw their receipt...
So that's fine, I paid a bunch of money, I signed a few forms, I met a police officer, my program did most of the paperwork. Finally in December we yearlong students were taken to the Immigration Office, which looks - no joke - like a WW2 bunker. There we were fingerprinted, every single finger at least twice plus our entire hand, palm and fingers. We were lucky since we had an Italian with us who "knew a guy" and got to skip the line and walked right in the exit. Heya corruption! I did hear, however, horror stories of people waiting 7 hours to be fingerprinted... Oh, if I'd only known how lucky I was...
So at the beginning of this semester I got a receipt saying I had to to a certain place to pick up a letter, which everyone assumed would be my permit of stay. WRONG! It was a letter tell me I had to go back to the WW2 bunker to pick it up in person and gave me a time to be there, 9:53 - Wednesday Jan 20th. That's it. No further directions.
This would have been just about exactly halfway through my Italian exam, so I called my director and got excused from the exam. Long story short I arrive at the bunker a few minutes to ten to a room, about 400 square meters, FULL of people. Absolutely packed. Up on the wall were 3 number counters all up in the 100s. So I went to get my number and got 506. We were on 374... FOUR HOURS LATER..... I finally get to go through the gate to the room with the actual windows in it and stand in another line for about 20 mins with people who had apparently just been going through when they decided they were ready - thanks a lot #517... So I finally get up there and everyone else has an original copy of their receipt they had received. This was not in the letter... I had brought my passport but, since I was never informed of anything else - that was it. So the man starts blabbering at me in Italian which I don't understand, through a plastic wall with a tiny slit at the bottom so I just answered in English deciding not to bother trying to struggle with Italian. I mean, this man - and all the others around him - work at an immigration office. They NEVER encounter a single Italian - they have to know English, right? OH NO. Of course not... So I got to wait to the side for I don't know, 15 minutes, for them to find somebody who spoke English who could tell me I needed the original copy of the receipt... I tried to get her to just give me my stupid card since I even had happened to have a photocopy of the receipt with me but oh no... she started to say something about if I could write something in Italian but I guess just gave up so I gave her a "piece of my mind" so to speak - which I'm sure she didn't understand/couldn't hear through the plastic wall dividing us but in the end, after being at the immigration office from 10 - 3 I gave up and left.
After that I got to rush back to school to take the exam I missed, so by this time it's 3:30 and I was supposed to be an hour and a half away by 5 PM to teach English. So I did the exam as quickly as I could, called the mom and told her I was going to be late, went straight there and finally got home at 7 PM where I finally got to pee for the first time since breakfast that day.
AAAAAHHH - What a day!!!!
My overall frustration and hate for all things Italian has gone over now but I don't think I'll be going back to the WW2 bunker anytime soon - they can keep my stupid permit of stay... even if the police stops me for some reason and asks me for it but the time they file the paperwork saying I don't have it, I'll be home.
So this horrific tragedy of events that I'm about to tell you about only proves my theory about Italy and its lack of any sort of modern organization at all, but I'm sure you'll come to realize that yourself soon enough. Perhaps some find it charming, others completely normal, still others completely frustrating. I won't say which category I fall under...
So really it all started a few months back when I arrived in Italy and was informed that it was just not enough that I had received a visa allowing me to live and study in this lovely country, I needed to pay another 80 euro or so to receive what they call a "Permit of Stay." They informed me that I, lucky as I am, may actually have a chance to see this permit of stay that I was about to spend so much money on. The poor kids who only stayed for a semester only ever saw their receipt...
So that's fine, I paid a bunch of money, I signed a few forms, I met a police officer, my program did most of the paperwork. Finally in December we yearlong students were taken to the Immigration Office, which looks - no joke - like a WW2 bunker. There we were fingerprinted, every single finger at least twice plus our entire hand, palm and fingers. We were lucky since we had an Italian with us who "knew a guy" and got to skip the line and walked right in the exit. Heya corruption! I did hear, however, horror stories of people waiting 7 hours to be fingerprinted... Oh, if I'd only known how lucky I was...
So at the beginning of this semester I got a receipt saying I had to to a certain place to pick up a letter, which everyone assumed would be my permit of stay. WRONG! It was a letter tell me I had to go back to the WW2 bunker to pick it up in person and gave me a time to be there, 9:53 - Wednesday Jan 20th. That's it. No further directions.
This would have been just about exactly halfway through my Italian exam, so I called my director and got excused from the exam. Long story short I arrive at the bunker a few minutes to ten to a room, about 400 square meters, FULL of people. Absolutely packed. Up on the wall were 3 number counters all up in the 100s. So I went to get my number and got 506. We were on 374... FOUR HOURS LATER..... I finally get to go through the gate to the room with the actual windows in it and stand in another line for about 20 mins with people who had apparently just been going through when they decided they were ready - thanks a lot #517... So I finally get up there and everyone else has an original copy of their receipt they had received. This was not in the letter... I had brought my passport but, since I was never informed of anything else - that was it. So the man starts blabbering at me in Italian which I don't understand, through a plastic wall with a tiny slit at the bottom so I just answered in English deciding not to bother trying to struggle with Italian. I mean, this man - and all the others around him - work at an immigration office. They NEVER encounter a single Italian - they have to know English, right? OH NO. Of course not... So I got to wait to the side for I don't know, 15 minutes, for them to find somebody who spoke English who could tell me I needed the original copy of the receipt... I tried to get her to just give me my stupid card since I even had happened to have a photocopy of the receipt with me but oh no... she started to say something about if I could write something in Italian but I guess just gave up so I gave her a "piece of my mind" so to speak - which I'm sure she didn't understand/couldn't hear through the plastic wall dividing us but in the end, after being at the immigration office from 10 - 3 I gave up and left.
After that I got to rush back to school to take the exam I missed, so by this time it's 3:30 and I was supposed to be an hour and a half away by 5 PM to teach English. So I did the exam as quickly as I could, called the mom and told her I was going to be late, went straight there and finally got home at 7 PM where I finally got to pee for the first time since breakfast that day.
AAAAAHHH - What a day!!!!
My overall frustration and hate for all things Italian has gone over now but I don't think I'll be going back to the WW2 bunker anytime soon - they can keep my stupid permit of stay... even if the police stops me for some reason and asks me for it but the time they file the paperwork saying I don't have it, I'll be home.
2010-01-19:
Tentaperiod
Hej alla (5 st)!
Just nu finns det inte mycket att rapportera från där pepparn växer. Jag är mitt uppe i en tentaperiod (en tenta kvar, plus en omtenta). Jag har fått tillbaka resultatet från tentan i tisdags, Project Management där jag lyckades ta med mig 20/30 poäng. Idag har jag skrivit ytterligare två tentor, en som gick bra och en som gick dåligt. Således nämnda omtenta.
Idag har jag också haft smärre otur med kollektivtrafiken. Jag missade precis den anslutande spårvagnen när jag kom upp från tunnelbanan när jag skulle till centrala campus för min första tenta för dagen i morse, vilket inte är så farligt i sig, för det är bara en 5-10 minuters promenad, men jag tog med händelsen ändå för mer emfas, och händelseackumulering. När jag skulle ta en annan spårvagn efter tentan för att komma till Campus Lingotto, missade jag precis en så jag fick vänta i över 20 minuter. När vagnen sedan kom, visade det sig att detta skulle vara en resa utöver det vanliga. Halvvägs till min destination, fick vi stanna för att någon hade parkerat på spåret. Detta är inte ovanligt i sig, men det tog ganska lång tid (10 min) innan imbecillen till förare tog sig tid att flytta sin bil. Men som dill på laxen hade spårvagnsföraren gått ut ur sin lilla kabyss där framme för att gå ut och skälla lite på imbecillen som parkerat på spåret. Konsekvensen blev att han glömde ta med nyckeln till dörren in till förarkabinen så han blev utelåst. Det tedde sig inte bättre än att han fick stoppa en mötande spårvagn och låna den förarens nyckel till dörren så att vi kunde åka vidare. Givetvis missade jag då precis min buss så att jag fick vänta i ytterligare 15 minuter. En resa som vanligen tar 30 minuter, dörr till dörr, tog idag en timme. Kul. Som te till kaffet gick ju tentan i Lingotto inte så bra...
Annars finns det inte mycket mer att berätta. Sarah ska hämta sitt uppehållstillstånd i morgon, vilket troligtvis kommer ta hela dagen. Italienska myndigheter är inte särskilt serviceinriktade.
För de som är intresserade så åt vi kyckling i vitvinssås med potatismos och ångkokt broccoli idag. Det var gott. Jag ger det en 7:a.
Haj dau!
2010-01-11:
SWEDEN: Snow, Christmas, New Years, more snow
Our adventure to Sweden began on the 18th of December, 2009. We decided that the first thing we encountered that was worth taking a picture of is the apartment building we walk by every day to the subway. The building itself is nothing remarkable, but instead the creativity and originality of the tenants and their choice of Christmas decorations...
Other than that our trip was uneventful, upon our arrival to Copenhagen, and eventually Sweden, we realized just how warm it had been back in Turin with the few measly snowflakes we happened to see as we waited 45 minutes for the bus that was late.
This is the site we were greeted with:
New Years Eve was fun. I, unfortunately, don't have any pictures of my own since the camera I brought was not working that night for some reason. But here's one from facebook. We were just a couple people who got together and made dinner and played a board game and some Singstar. At midnight we went outside to watch everyone else shoot off fireworks and drank champagne, or to be more correct, sparkling wine. It was a very nice evening and a wonderful way to start the new year. From what I've gathered Daniel spent part of his evening trekking through snow because the taxi driver wasn't the brightest. Haha. Oh well...
After New Years things calmed down a bit and we spent quite a bit of time doing quite a bit of nothing, which was incredibly nice. This past Thursday Daniel and I went with Jacob and Isabelle to Bodaborg in Karlskrona. You go around to different rooms trying to complete different challenges - some physical some mental, some both. Out of 23 rooms I think we completed like 6. We were there for 3 1/2 hours. Only one of the rooms we completed was a mental challenge. Fail. haha. We had a good time though, even if we were one of the worst teams to ever exist.
Jacob went all out and rented knee pads, Isabelle and Jacob on "the toilet,"
Isabelle swinging, And us finally getting the stamp at the end of a challenge
So those are the highlights. Now we're back in Italy and let me tell you - it feels like spring here! We went on a walk this morning and the sun was shining and it was probably almost 40 degrees - lovely!
We got home late Saturday night and had only pasta at home since we'd unplugged our fridge before we left. We were dreading a long Sunday of closed grocery stores and pasta for 3 meals in one day but no! The grocery store we usually go to was open one Sunday this month and it just happened to be yesterday. It was the most crowded I had ever seen that store. If it's so popular to go shopping on Sundays when the store is open why not keep it open EVERY Sunday?? I don't understand... but we have food now and only had to eat pasta once yesterday (breakfast).
Daniel has been studying constantly since we got back - his exam is tomorrow, and two next week - and I haven't had anything to do. I don't start school until Thursday and I'm already bored, yet still not wanting school to start. Interesting how that works out....
Ciao, cow!
Other than that our trip was uneventful, upon our arrival to Copenhagen, and eventually Sweden, we realized just how warm it had been back in Turin with the few measly snowflakes we happened to see as we waited 45 minutes for the bus that was late.
This is the site we were greeted with:
The snow continued until just a few days before Christmas where it of course warmed up to about 34°F and the snow started to melt and it started to rain... The two snowmen Isabelle and I had built (with a bit of help from Jacob and Lucas) fell over, but there was a enough snow leftover to call it a white Christmas.
Stefan's Christmas Tie, Lucas waving to Santa, Santa Claus
Christmas Eve was celebrated the usual way - Julbord (...yay.....), a visit from Tomten who told us a story about Klas Hans who eats for breakfast more ketchup than oatmeal, and of course Kalle Anka. So in English: Swedish Christmas food, Santa, and Donald Duck.
New Years Eve was fun. I, unfortunately, don't have any pictures of my own since the camera I brought was not working that night for some reason. But here's one from facebook. We were just a couple people who got together and made dinner and played a board game and some Singstar. At midnight we went outside to watch everyone else shoot off fireworks and drank champagne, or to be more correct, sparkling wine. It was a very nice evening and a wonderful way to start the new year. From what I've gathered Daniel spent part of his evening trekking through snow because the taxi driver wasn't the brightest. Haha. Oh well...
After New Years things calmed down a bit and we spent quite a bit of time doing quite a bit of nothing, which was incredibly nice. This past Thursday Daniel and I went with Jacob and Isabelle to Bodaborg in Karlskrona. You go around to different rooms trying to complete different challenges - some physical some mental, some both. Out of 23 rooms I think we completed like 6. We were there for 3 1/2 hours. Only one of the rooms we completed was a mental challenge. Fail. haha. We had a good time though, even if we were one of the worst teams to ever exist.
Jacob went all out and rented knee pads, Isabelle and Jacob on "the toilet,"
Isabelle swinging, And us finally getting the stamp at the end of a challenge
So those are the highlights. Now we're back in Italy and let me tell you - it feels like spring here! We went on a walk this morning and the sun was shining and it was probably almost 40 degrees - lovely!
We got home late Saturday night and had only pasta at home since we'd unplugged our fridge before we left. We were dreading a long Sunday of closed grocery stores and pasta for 3 meals in one day but no! The grocery store we usually go to was open one Sunday this month and it just happened to be yesterday. It was the most crowded I had ever seen that store. If it's so popular to go shopping on Sundays when the store is open why not keep it open EVERY Sunday?? I don't understand... but we have food now and only had to eat pasta once yesterday (breakfast).
Daniel has been studying constantly since we got back - his exam is tomorrow, and two next week - and I haven't had anything to do. I don't start school until Thursday and I'm already bored, yet still not wanting school to start. Interesting how that works out....
Ciao, cow!
2010-01-10:
Amsterdam!
I guess if I don't do this now it will never happen - which actually seems very tempting at this moment. When you have less to do, you get much less done. So here is a brief account of my trip to Amsterdam for thanksgiving break... yes, it was that long ago.
We got there and went on a free tour of the city - 3 1/2 hours later we could find our way around a bit better and had heard a few good stories and some history. We also saw this... yes, it is what you think it is.
We got there and went on a free tour of the city - 3 1/2 hours later we could find our way around a bit better and had heard a few good stories and some history. We also saw this... yes, it is what you think it is.
The weather while we were there was what some might call atrocious. It was freezing, rainy and windy. Not to mention the fact that Amsterdam is a canal city so it wasn't normal cold, it was chilling to the bone, wet-cold. I bought mittens and a hat just to survive.
The city itself was gorgeous. The narrow houses were so cute. And BIKES - oh my god - bikes everywhere. On our free tour we learned that Amsterdamers have a 1/16 chance of owning the same bike twice. There are so many bikes that the city will designate areas of the street to be cleaned and any bikes that are left there on "cleaning day" get taken away, cleaned and fixed, and resold. So this accounts for a small percentage of the recycled bikes - but what about the rest? Well, I guess it is a favorite pastime of dutch delinquents to run around at night, cut bike locks, and then throw the bikes into the canals. Because this activity is so popular they say that about 1/3 of the canals are filled with bikes. So, a layer of sludge and grime etc, a layer of bikes, and a then a thin layer of water above that... So every couple months or so they send some bike-picking-up boat contraption around the canals and fish out all the bikes where they are taken to be cleaned and fixed and resold. So: 1/16 chance to own the same bike twice.
While in Amsterdam we also went to the Anne Frank House, which was cool. The line was long and we stood there freezing in the rain for a while but once we got inside it was worth it. The staircases, holy guacamole, so narrow and so steep. Which actually is common all over the Netherlands (Holland - WHY? Why two names?) and is the reason for phenomenon like this one...
What's wrong with this picture?? Besides of course the fact that that house is leaning at like a 45° angle... You see the staircases are so narrow and steep that it was hard to get goods up and down the steps. So instead they attached a hook to the front of each house and used a pulley system to hoist things up through the windows. Unfortunately the swinging goods were a problem so they decided to build the houses at an angle to get rid of that problem. Smart? Probably not. 200 years later they discovered they could probably just put the hook on a pole that stuck out from the house a bit to avoid this problem (as seen above). And that's why houses in Amsterdam tilt forward.... brilliant. Haha.
I also went to the Van Gogh museum, the sex museum and wandered through the red light district - the prostitutes who work the night shift are much prettier than those who work the day shift - let me tell you. They say that Amsterdam and the EU are trying to clean up the red light district so in ten years or so it probably won't be the same as it is today... shame (?).
So that was the abbreviated version but it was a long time ago...
Squish, fish!
I also went to the Van Gogh museum, the sex museum and wandered through the red light district - the prostitutes who work the night shift are much prettier than those who work the day shift - let me tell you. They say that Amsterdam and the EU are trying to clean up the red light district so in ten years or so it probably won't be the same as it is today... shame (?).
So that was the abbreviated version but it was a long time ago...
Squish, fish!
2010-01-08:
Sista kvällen i Sverige för den här gången
Under morgondagen återvänder jag och min kära sambo till parmesanens land för att återgå till vardagen. Eftersom att de flesta utav mina läsare har träffat mig under min semester, så får Sarah skriva om vår tid i Sölvesborg för den här gången.
Min ansökan att få sommarjobba i konverteringen på Nymölla i sommar också är inlämnad! Inte illa.
Ha ett par fortsatt trevliga minusgrader!
2009-12-09:
Julhelg!
I den katolska världen firas den 8 december Den obefläckade avelsen, vilket för oss innebär helgdag. Italien delar också Sveriges passion för klämdagar, så vi hade helg från lördag till tisdag. Konceptet uppskattades mycket utav mig och Sarah.
När jag kom hem på fredagen efter mina föreläsningar så hade Sarah dekorerat lägenheten med diverse saker, och julmusik spelades, så det var en väldigt julig lägenhet att komma hem till.
Vi började lördagen med att inte göra någonting. Vilket inte är helt ovanligt. Vi hade laddat upp med 6-7 julfilmer, lussekattsrecept, "skära-ut-kakor", ikea-glögg och pepparkakor. Efter lite filmatiserad underhållning och bakande av "skära-ut-kakor", vilket är en simpel smörig deg som man skär ut med pepparkaksformar, åkte vi till en julmarknad strax norr om stan.
Vi köpte inget, men väl var det en trevlig marknad. Efter julmarknaden gick vi genom kvarteret famöst för fabricerade antikviteter. För ett otränat öga ser det verkligen antikt ut, men antagligen är det inte så.
Söndagen innebar ett äventyr till ett köpcenter vi aldrig hört talas om eller sett. Först så tog vi den vanliga bussen söderut, fast längre söderut än någonsin, sedan bytte vi till en buss som tog oss mot helt okända, relativt obebyggda trakter. Kolonitomter, industrier och slitna hus dominerade vår omgivning och vi började undra om detta verkligen var vägen till ett köpcenter. Vi gick av på en busshållplats för tidigt, den hade samma namn som köpcentret, men det var alltså inte rätt hållplats. Vi började gå i den riktning som vår kära följeslagare iPhonen pekade. Efter tio minuters gång hade vi kommit fram, och julklappshandeln kunde börja. Dessvärre köpte vi bara mjölk, grädde, smör och juice. Så uppdraget kan väl knappast kallas lyckat.
De två bilderna till vänster är från köpcentret och den högra och nedre är från vår trappuppgång. Paraplyet är lite märkligt.
På måndagen bakade vi äntligen lussekatter. I vår lilla ugn är det inte helt enkelt att få saker att bli jämnvarmt, så de lussekatter som var i mitten blev gyllenbruna, och de som var i kanterna blev bara gulaktiga. Men goda var de! Något annat gjorde vi inte varken måndag eller tisdag.
Lussekatter!
Nu håller jag på med projektet jag har med min grupp i en kurs som heter Project Management där vi planerar, schemalägger, köper in material och arbetskraft och egentligen allt som behövs för att kunna bygga ett gas/ångkrafverk. Sista inlämningsdagen är torsdag nästa vecka, och man kommer att få bonuspoäng på tentan ju bättre gruppens förslag är. Man blir bedömd på tid och kostnad, så det är en tävling i klassen egentligen.
Taco hej, som mexikanen säger.
2009-12-04:
the everyday, the in between, and the odd.
Okay, so since I don't have school again until Wednesday... (Italian national holiday: Feast of the Immaculate Conception on Tuesday - score! (Also, that must have been an immaculate pregnancy as well since it only lasted 17 days...)....I decided I would give you an update, not on Amsterdam, but on everything else...
First of all, today is Friday and I have "work." I put it in quotation marks because you could, I guess, qualify it as work because I get paid for it but at the same time it's not really work since I only do it twice a week for an hour or so at a time... I've started to tutor/teach English to two small Italian children. One of them, who I tutor on Friday evenings is 8-years-old and I help her with her English homework from school and then, with whatever time is left over, we come up with other ways to practice English. The first day I tutored her we were learning adjectives (big, small, etc) if that gives you an understanding of the extent of her English skills... The other is a 5-year-old boy whose English goes about as far as the word "dog" and "cookies" after I've reminded him... needless to say, this is more practice for my Italian than it will ever be for their English, but it's fun and an easy way to pick up an extra 20 euros a week...
The weather here has been fairly mild. It averages about mid 40s (5-8°C) but there's hardly ever any wind. it rains every now and then but it's not too bad. They say it'll get colder in January/February but we'll see... I'm not too worried about it.
We went to Ikea the other day to get glögg and gingerbread and a few Christmas candles and things. We also had Swedish meatballs, which Daniel was very excited about since apparently they don't have meatballs at Ikeas in Sweden... After that we bought some lingonsylt (lingonberry jam)... So we've been lighting our Christmas candles and listening to Christmas music nonstop since then. We even watched It's a Wonderful Life last night. Best Christmas movie ever.
We only have two weeks left of school and then we'll be going to Sweden for Christmas and New Years. I can't believe time has gone so quickly. I have finals the week after next but Daniel is on the weird Italian school system which doesn't have exams until after the holidays. And then from January - February they have a month-long break, and then have school until June, when they have another break before the exam period, which is in July.... Strange.
Which brings me to some other strange things about Italy...
First of all, today is Friday and I have "work." I put it in quotation marks because you could, I guess, qualify it as work because I get paid for it but at the same time it's not really work since I only do it twice a week for an hour or so at a time... I've started to tutor/teach English to two small Italian children. One of them, who I tutor on Friday evenings is 8-years-old and I help her with her English homework from school and then, with whatever time is left over, we come up with other ways to practice English. The first day I tutored her we were learning adjectives (big, small, etc) if that gives you an understanding of the extent of her English skills... The other is a 5-year-old boy whose English goes about as far as the word "dog" and "cookies" after I've reminded him... needless to say, this is more practice for my Italian than it will ever be for their English, but it's fun and an easy way to pick up an extra 20 euros a week...
The weather here has been fairly mild. It averages about mid 40s (5-8°C) but there's hardly ever any wind. it rains every now and then but it's not too bad. They say it'll get colder in January/February but we'll see... I'm not too worried about it.
We went to Ikea the other day to get glögg and gingerbread and a few Christmas candles and things. We also had Swedish meatballs, which Daniel was very excited about since apparently they don't have meatballs at Ikeas in Sweden... After that we bought some lingonsylt (lingonberry jam)... So we've been lighting our Christmas candles and listening to Christmas music nonstop since then. We even watched It's a Wonderful Life last night. Best Christmas movie ever.
We only have two weeks left of school and then we'll be going to Sweden for Christmas and New Years. I can't believe time has gone so quickly. I have finals the week after next but Daniel is on the weird Italian school system which doesn't have exams until after the holidays. And then from January - February they have a month-long break, and then have school until June, when they have another break before the exam period, which is in July.... Strange.
Which brings me to some other strange things about Italy...
The first and most obvious if something we've mentioned before, traffic and parking. Italians will park anywhere, anytime, no matter what. Even if that means in the middle of the street. Literally on the middle line, with tram lines on either side. Crosswalks without lights typically mean "run out in traffic and hope people stop," something I'm not always so thrilled about. Especially not on the busy road we have to cross everyday to get to the subway. The worst is when you're standing on the said of the road waiting for a break in traffic when a car actually stops for you (without you standing right in front of it, that is) and that's when you really are forced to run out into the rest of the un-stopping traffic since that one car is now waiting for you. Terrifying.
Second is the luxury you may know as toilet seats... finding a public restroom in Italy with a toilet seat is a miracle. Actually, a toilet, even without a toilet seat, is sort of a great thing to find. A lot of times, even in women's restrooms, you'll only find a ceramic urinal looking thing on the ground... lovely. The urinals are great though compared to the little tiny bowls on the ground sometimes available. Strange, very strange.
Third, the fact that hardly any shops in Italy accept credit cards is sort of mystifying to me... Sure, big stores and supermarkets, but tabaccherias (where you buy bus tickets) NEVER accept them, including lots of cafes. Plus, with so much of Italian shopping being done in open-markets the Italians must carry around huge wads of cash everywhere. For people like me, however, who don't do that, I often find myself SOL, if you know what I mean...
Fourth, I know we've all heard this, but literally - Italian boys do not move out of their parent's house until they're like 35... On the other hand, women also stay at home much longer than most cultures but once they get to a certain age if they're still unmarried and living at home they're considered "sour spinsters" (literal translation there). It's also true what they say about most Italian boys not being able to wash a dish - literally, they can't. Mamma always did it for them so why should they learn? And the worst part is that you would think that the sisters having been so unfairly treated by their mothers would stop this cycle, but no... it's tradition that the mother completely spoils the sons while the daughters are expected to also tend to their brothers. Give me a break... what century are we in?
Fifth, Italians have their own time schedule... which basically equals slow. Nobody is ever in a hurry here. Which seems nice, except for when you need to get something done... haha. For most of my classes if I get there by about 15 after I'm right around on time (except of course for my earliest morning class where my professor is always punctual :-p). Anytime you need some sort of bureaucratic paperwork to be taken care of expect at least a two hour wait, if you're lucky.
That's about all of the main things I can think of right now... I know that Italy is what we call a "developing country" but I think I'd like it to develop a bit more before I lived here permanently. And because of this I've come up with this little slogan: "Italy: nice to visit, not to live." haha.
Now don't get me wrong I'm having a good time - I've just discovered that a more modernized country is more my style for a residence of over a years-time. It's a beautiful country and there's tons more I want to see here, but like I said... it's nice to visit....
And next time I will hopefully update you on Amsterdam... I realize that Daniel has not updated this blog in months but he's been working on a project that's due in two weeks a lot lately and plus, his life isn't quite as interesting as mine :) just kidding. Hopefully he'll do it soon, we'll see.
To the boats, goats! (these are getting ridiculous)
Second is the luxury you may know as toilet seats... finding a public restroom in Italy with a toilet seat is a miracle. Actually, a toilet, even without a toilet seat, is sort of a great thing to find. A lot of times, even in women's restrooms, you'll only find a ceramic urinal looking thing on the ground... lovely. The urinals are great though compared to the little tiny bowls on the ground sometimes available. Strange, very strange.
Third, the fact that hardly any shops in Italy accept credit cards is sort of mystifying to me... Sure, big stores and supermarkets, but tabaccherias (where you buy bus tickets) NEVER accept them, including lots of cafes. Plus, with so much of Italian shopping being done in open-markets the Italians must carry around huge wads of cash everywhere. For people like me, however, who don't do that, I often find myself SOL, if you know what I mean...
Fourth, I know we've all heard this, but literally - Italian boys do not move out of their parent's house until they're like 35... On the other hand, women also stay at home much longer than most cultures but once they get to a certain age if they're still unmarried and living at home they're considered "sour spinsters" (literal translation there). It's also true what they say about most Italian boys not being able to wash a dish - literally, they can't. Mamma always did it for them so why should they learn? And the worst part is that you would think that the sisters having been so unfairly treated by their mothers would stop this cycle, but no... it's tradition that the mother completely spoils the sons while the daughters are expected to also tend to their brothers. Give me a break... what century are we in?
Fifth, Italians have their own time schedule... which basically equals slow. Nobody is ever in a hurry here. Which seems nice, except for when you need to get something done... haha. For most of my classes if I get there by about 15 after I'm right around on time (except of course for my earliest morning class where my professor is always punctual :-p). Anytime you need some sort of bureaucratic paperwork to be taken care of expect at least a two hour wait, if you're lucky.
That's about all of the main things I can think of right now... I know that Italy is what we call a "developing country" but I think I'd like it to develop a bit more before I lived here permanently. And because of this I've come up with this little slogan: "Italy: nice to visit, not to live." haha.
Now don't get me wrong I'm having a good time - I've just discovered that a more modernized country is more my style for a residence of over a years-time. It's a beautiful country and there's tons more I want to see here, but like I said... it's nice to visit....
And next time I will hopefully update you on Amsterdam... I realize that Daniel has not updated this blog in months but he's been working on a project that's due in two weeks a lot lately and plus, his life isn't quite as interesting as mine :) just kidding. Hopefully he'll do it soon, we'll see.
To the boats, goats! (these are getting ridiculous)
2009-12-03:
My Birthday
So it's been about two/three weeks now and I finally have a second to write a little about my birthday. I think I'll do Amsterdam another time so this doesn't get overwhelming.
So the day started very early since we both had school, and since that's just the Swedish way... so I was sang to, and got some of the prettiest-wrapped gifts I had ever seen...
We had a large breakfast and probably didn't eat again until dinner, when Daniel made me medelhavskyckling.
So the day started very early since we both had school, and since that's just the Swedish way... so I was sang to, and got some of the prettiest-wrapped gifts I had ever seen...
We had a large breakfast and probably didn't eat again until dinner, when Daniel made me medelhavskyckling.
Now, I'm putting these pictures up, not because I think I look gorgeous (I look tired and awkward, respectively) and believe that everyone else wants to see my pretty face this many times but because I'd like to draw your attention to the bowl of clementines sitting on the table... breakfast: an overflowing bowl, early dinner: three measly clementines... That week, and a few weeks after, we would average about a kilo of clementines A DAY. They're so small and delicious and easy to eat, plus they cost like a euro a kilo at the markets so basically they're perfect... One Sunday we literally bought two kilos of clementines and it was gone by that night - ask how well we felt after that...
So after dinner, and probably the rest of the clementines, I got to stay in the bedroom while Daniel baked dessert...
KLADDKAKA!
So after dinner, and probably the rest of the clementines, I got to stay in the bedroom while Daniel baked dessert...
KLADDKAKA!
And that about rounds it up... except for this little example of just how thoroughly, and brilliantly, Daniel can think sometimes...
Me blowing out the candles, with no flash... FAIL.
And now I really must get ready for school... Amsterdam will have to wait until another day...
Can’t stay, blue jay!
Can’t stay, blue jay!
2009-11-24:
school, school, school
I feel like it's my turn to update this since I had a birthday and what not but I have lots going on in school lately and just haven't had the chance. I leave on Thursday morning for Amsterdam and I have two papers and an exam to be done before then... stress.
So consider this an "until next time" post.
Other upcoming plans include an "all christmas, all the time" weekend... but we'll discuss that later :)
So consider this an "until next time" post.
Other upcoming plans include an "all christmas, all the time" weekend... but we'll discuss that later :)
2009-11-15:
Not everyone...blah blah...Milan pt. 2
Another update the NEXT day?? Do I deliver or do I deliver? Wow.
So after the Castle, you remember, FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS! ... we wandered a bit through the streets of Milan in search of a basilica or two...
Street in Milan
On our way there we encountered...
Pink Smart Car! Cool!
A "statue" of a needle and thread that is threaded through the fountain!
Italian rugby fans*
So after the Castle, you remember, FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS! ... we wandered a bit through the streets of Milan in search of a basilica or two...
Street in Milan
Pink Smart Car! Cool!
A "statue" of a needle and thread that is threaded through the fountain!
Italian rugby fans*
*We actually encountered crowds of these all throughout the day. Starting with the group of enthusiastic (read: intoxicated) fans on the nine o'clock train that morning. The Italian national team was playing New Zealand, and they actually broadcast the game live on the huge screen right outside the Duomo.
Fans in the train station, big screen, crowds watching
So in the end we found the basilicas...
Assorted basilicas...of all sorts. Ha.
Fans in the train station, big screen, crowds watching
End side note.
So in the end we found the basilicas...
Assorted basilicas...of all sorts. Ha.
After that we were hungry again (go figure) and also just ready to go inside and sit down and warm up. Well we had passed by an Argentinian restaurant that looked inviting so we ended up there. Their "menu" of the day (which is basically a multiple course meal of their choosing at a special price) was meat (obviously), potatoes and some very un-fresh looking vegetables, which came with a glass of red wine, a "mini dessert" which turned out to be some cream thing that was very rich, and coffee. We were tired and whatever the red wine did to help with this feeling was reversed by the espresso afterwards... The food was good and with our newly found warmth and energy we decided to follow the crowd of shoppers that I had noticed moving by the window...
Good choice.
There were all kinds of stores and it seemed like no matter which street you turned down there were more people and more shops. So basically just fantastic.
Via Torino
We walked around and around and never really back-tracked but ended up again at the piazza of the Duomo and this time, since the line had subsided, we decided to go inside...
Good choice.
There were all kinds of stores and it seemed like no matter which street you turned down there were more people and more shops. So basically just fantastic.
Via Torino
We walked around and around and never really back-tracked but ended up again at the piazza of the Duomo and this time, since the line had subsided, we decided to go inside...
There was some concert going on but they let us in anyway. We couldn't figure out how to go up and go outside (something we'd seen other people do) so we just left and continued walking around.
During our wanderings we came across a very expensive-seeming street, Via Della Spiga.
Our assumptions were confirmed when we came across this store... and the line outside of it...
Looks a bit like a nightclub, doesn't it?
Our assumptions were confirmed when we came across this store... and the line outside of it...
Looks a bit like a nightclub, doesn't it?
They would only let a few people in at a time... and probably only if you looked important enough or something. We decided not to try it.
After quite a bit of walking through stores and looking for something in particular we eventually found it, but I'm not allowed to act like I know anything about it until Wednesday so I'll have to wait until then to reveal what it is... But WOO!
After that we came across an area of town, one department store in particular, that really made my day...
It's Christmas season in Italy!!
After quite a bit of walking through stores and looking for something in particular we eventually found it, but I'm not allowed to act like I know anything about it until Wednesday so I'll have to wait until then to reveal what it is... But WOO!
After that we came across an area of town, one department store in particular, that really made my day...
It's Christmas season in Italy!!
With no Thanksgiving to get in the way, this extremely Catholic country starts Christmas in November! YEAH!!
Christmas!!
So basically since we got home yesterday we've been listening to Christmas music... despite the weak protests by Daniel about Christmas not starting until December 1st or something like that...
To sum it all up, I really enjoyed Milan and I really enjoyed my surprise birthday trip. I want to go back when Christmas season is in full swing... Now I have to study for the exam I have Monday and try to write some papers so I don't have to do it on my birthday. We'll see how that goes...
Ciao pal! (Pronounce pal as pow.)
2009-11-14:
not everyone gets a surprise trip to milan for their birthday... pt. 1
but I did!!
I was told sometime during this week that there would be a surprise on Saturday. Believe me, I was surprised when the alarm went off at 7 AM this SATURDAY morning. After a difficult time deciding what to wear (how do you dress for something you have no idea about??) we got onto the subway...
After a little "trick" about which subway stop we would get off at, we ended up at the train station.
Daniel at Porta Susa, the nice underground station!
After some intense investigative skills on my part (I looked at the departure screen while we were sitting at the platform...) I figured at that we were going to MILAN! A place I've wanted to go since being here but never have because it's so close it's easy to just think that you'll get around to it eventually (yet sometimes never do). Well, I definitely want to go back.
We spent the two hour train ride reading, Daniel The Lost Symbol and me Luftslottet som sprängdes. Though we probably should have slept...
After a confusing little adventure in the Milan train station (the signs to the subway lead to nowhere) we walked outside only to discover an entrance to the subway. Perfect.
I was told sometime during this week that there would be a surprise on Saturday. Believe me, I was surprised when the alarm went off at 7 AM this SATURDAY morning. After a difficult time deciding what to wear (how do you dress for something you have no idea about??) we got onto the subway...
After a little "trick" about which subway stop we would get off at, we ended up at the train station.
Daniel at Porta Susa, the nice underground station!
After some intense investigative skills on my part (I looked at the departure screen while we were sitting at the platform...) I figured at that we were going to MILAN! A place I've wanted to go since being here but never have because it's so close it's easy to just think that you'll get around to it eventually (yet sometimes never do). Well, I definitely want to go back.
We spent the two hour train ride reading, Daniel The Lost Symbol and me Luftslottet som sprängdes. Though we probably should have slept...
After a confusing little adventure in the Milan train station (the signs to the subway lead to nowhere) we walked outside only to discover an entrance to the subway. Perfect.
Milan's central station: a majestic building, inside and out.
Daniel, having been advised by someone actually from Milan, led us to the subway stop DUOMO (Cathedral) and this is the sight we saw immediately upon ascending the steps from the subway:
Duomo di Milano
WOW.
Not only was the duomo fantastic but the square was huge and full of people and slightly to the right was the famous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele.
La Galleria - don't worry, you should recognize the inside.
Inside the galleria was every expensive store you can imagine and tons of people. But wow, it was pretty.
Ceiling, inside, floor.
At this time in our adventure it was about noon and we were hungry. So, following the advice of Daniel's milanese friend we ate paninis at "Luini." These were not your average panini, it was like an unsweetened doughnut with cheese and meat inside! Maybe that was a bad description but you get it. They were delicious. And the line was proof enough of that. The shop was located in this little back alley and the line was just huge.
Luini and Daniel with his fried panino
After our little fried snack we decided to start to explore... we walked back through the gallery and I tried to take a picture of one of the menus for you to show the outrageousness of the milanese prices (15 euro for a pizza!) but I'm much too awkward. First of all, I don't want to be "that" tourist who takes pictures of everything (I so am - 130 pictures, just from today) so I try to be discreet about it and it just results in a blurry picture because I've already started to walk away before the camera has a chance to take the picture. I usually end up walking into something or someone in the process as well. So much for discreet I guess...
So on our way to wherever we were going (nowhere in particular) we passed a (couple) Prada stores and when I am a millionaire I will buy these shoes... (and maybe the bag, too - just for kicks.)
Ah, shoes.
Anyway, this is where we ended up...
Castello Sforzesco - which we know nothing about.
We do know, now - it took Daniel a bit of time to learn - that even when you hear the word "free" you should still not stop and acknowledge the African men outside of tourist sites. Well anyway, we ended up with free bracelets and the tried to guilt us into giving them money - and if Daniel had had any change on him it would've worked, too. He still feels like he stole his bracelet... I don't! FREE! They said they're for "long love" or maybe long life... but I think that changes, depending on the demographic.
FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS! YEAH!
Inside the castle we found...
Well, among other things, a sad Asian statue.
Okay, it's 11:30 at night and, like I said before, we were up at 7 today; so I'm going to have to pause here for tonight. This entry is already unbearable long anyway so the second half will have to come later.
Until then... give a hug, lady bug.
