Hot, hot, hot

While I admit that I have not spent much time recently updating this blog, you must admit that at least I fixed my banner! I gave up waiting for my service provider to fix his server and decided to simply find an alternative solution. And I did. However, I did lose all my old banners in the process, so I had to start making new ones, which I did...

So, what's been going on? We've basically kinda been melting, that's what has been going on. It's been 33°-35°ish for about 3 weeks now and occassionally, I do get a little bit sick of it. But that's what Italy is! It's not actually the day temperatures that are a problem: they're fine. But our flat doesn't cool down very well at night. And sleeping in the heat can get a bit bothersome. In the morning, the indoor temperatures may have cooled down to, say, 31°, but that is at ground level. We sleep near the ceiling, where it's a few degrees warmer. So that is kind of uncomfortable. But we'll survive, surely... For the rest, not much has been going on. The holiday season is starting, so people are leaving (temporarily and permanently) and the city is becoming more quiet. My good friend Marta has (permanently) returned to Portugal, unfortunately, but she promised to come and visit, so that's ok. A lot of other friends have left as well, but they should all be returning safely as soon as September is starting again.

In other news, those in the Netherlands can read a little about me in the most recent installment of Ajuus! Magazine, for which I was interviewed a few months ago. For those of you who are not in the Netherlands, I have recently seen the final pre-printing proof of my article in the Baltic Journal of Economics, so you can expect to read that soon...

One more thing I do want to tell you about: we have been to a Belgian Restaurant! Unbelievable, but true. There is a Belgian restaurant in Milan and it's pretty good! Of course, you may wonder (as did we): what on earth is Belgian cuisine like? We couldn't think of anything else than beer, belgian fries, mussels and chocolate.... And indeed, my first idea was pretty correct actually. I ate mussels with fries, drank kriek and finished with coffee and chocolate! And it was delicious (and not expensive either)!!!
Ciao,
OJ

In Dutch

There is an interesting video on www.vk.nl. It discusses the zanzara di tigre, aka tiger mosquito, aka tijgermug, which is epidemic here in Italy and is apparently found in the Netherlands as well, nowadays. It's interesting to see (and funny to see how exagerated the response in the Netherlands is, considering they are actually common here):CLICK HERE. Unfortunately, the video is in Dutch...
Ciao,
OJ

Bocconi :-(

Bocconi's IT department is working on some kind of modernisation process, but fcked up somewhere along the way. As a result of this, since Thursday, I have a new user account on the computer network. In principle, this would not even be such a problem, accept for the fact this means that all my data, settings and everything else is gone...

Hmmm, that is slightly inconvenient, you think. Yes, it is. In fact, it sucks. I have been sitting at Uni for two days simply waiting for the Network to return, because I have not got anything else to do. And the IT department keeps on saying that they really are working on it and that I shouldnt complain! Hmmm, maybe it is silly of me to expect you to do your job? The only lucky person because of this is a girl who has failed her previous exam and is very desperately trying to make sure she will pass for the next opportunity (tomorrow). She emails about 10 times a day with questions, and I have nothing else to do than answering her. So she is certainly happy!

This weekend, Fedor's friends Werner and José are visiting and they've brought some increased temperatures. The rest of the week it's forecast to be 34°+ every day. We got up with 29.5° this morning. Inside, that is.....

Last night we went to another concert on Piazza Duomo, this time not the La Scala Orchestra, but an individual pianist: Giovanni Allevi, who was absolutely amazing. Possibly the most amazing thing though is the behaviour of the people visiting. Piazza Duomo completely full of people, mostly young people and everyone is completely silent! In fact, whenever somebody coughed or said anything, they would get some evil stares and a lot of shhhh's. Imagine a free public piano concert in Groningen or anywhere else? I cannot believe that young adolescents would also be quiet and respectful there. And here in Milano, they are. I like it.

Ciao,
OJ

it's been 10 days!

Oh dear, I cant believe it has been this long since I have updated... I think the problem is that Fedor is now working less. This means I have much less time sitting at home thinking "hmmm, what shall I do now?". Today is an exception, because Fedor is out for dinner with some students.
So today I have time to update and I am in the mood to do so. A week ago, we had friends of Fedor coming over for the weekend. It was lovely to see Steef and Marieke, for sure. It was Steef's second visit to Milano and Marieke's first.


I had made the girls quite excited about the prospects of the summer sales starting, but unfortunately, I was actually WRONG. Sales did not start that weekend, as I had been told, but started a week later (last Saturday). However, I think the girls enjoyed themselves, despite the lack of sales... After their departure, it was another week of work et cetera. Some grading, some discussions with stupid students who dont understand why they failed, et cetera, et cetera. The normal thing.
On Friday, however, Fedor's father arrived with his Quartet. They decided to have their annual singing trip to Milan this year in order to sing in the streets and enjoy themselves.

 

What can I say? They were the big hit in the Galleria at that moment. Of course, news about this is not complete without some live video of the event:

(you know how it works right? Just press the PLAY button)
Apart from their several singing events, they also simply enjoyed the city, and we showed them all the great bits of it! (and enjoyed the lovely meals they took us to). We were pleasantly surprised at finding a concert of the Chamber Orchestra of La Scala on the Piazza Del Duomo. This was absolutely stunning: their renditions of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and some works of Astor Piazzolla were excellent. The mosquitos were absolutely killing us, but even this could not make it any less enjoyable!
Also this weekend, of course, the sales did start. I had a flying start on Saturday and bought 5 shirts in several degrees of discount. I was very, very satisfied about my little shopping trip. On Wednesday, the shops will be open all-night, as part of the series of White Nights Milano is organising: I am plannign to have another go at the shops then!!!!
Ciao,
OJ