O M G

They tricksed us, dammit... Blogger tricksed me into transferring to new Blogger. And as everybody knows, it sux. Damn... (and it's impossible to return to the old blogger, unfortunately)

Anyways, onto happier news. And there is a lot of it, actually! Lots of happy happy news (although I am actually having an I-hate-Italy-Day today, but we'll ignore that). First of all, I AM GOING TO IZMIR!!! I was accepted for a conference in Izmir, Turkey in April, where I will go for 4 days. I am really, really looking forward to it!!! And my friend Idil will also be in Izmir at the same time (coincedentally), so that is really nice too!

In other happy news, my Permesso has been found! The Secret Bocconi Permesso Office (ssshhhhhh, don't tell anyone it exists...) has found out what happened to my Permesso. It is a bit too complicated to explain, but it includes the fall of the Italian government a week ago and a law implemented in april last year. Anyways, the SBPO have arranged that my Permesso will actually be ready in 3 weeks! Of course I have not actually seen it, so I dont really really believe it just yet... But there is some hope!

This weekend we had some lovely visitors from the UK, as well. Matt and Anthony came to visit us for the second time... We had a really good time, consisting of much of the regular programme (pizza@Padellacia, beer@Fontanella, dancing@Johann Sebastian Bar), but we added a lot of chilling and relaxing this time. Sunday was particularly nice, chilling out and sunbathing in the park all afternoon. A lovely visit it was, altogether...
btw, I still have not been able to get my data of my old computer (yes, I am starting to get a little worried now). But more about this some other time...

Ciao,
OJ

9th time

Today 9th time at the Questura to get my Permesso di Soggiorno... Failed again.

But finally a real reason: they lost it! No idea where it is, but they suggested I go to the Central Police Station to check out whether they might have it (which is the station where you have to arrive before 7AM and wait for 4 hours at least....)

:-((((((((((

Hungover

A week of work, with little to say about it. Except for the fact that Thursday morning, I could no longer start up my computer. Of course this was quite a shock and I quickly analysed the problem (which was quite easy, because it was written on the screen: CONFIG.SYS was missing). This is a problem that has occurred before and last time I only managed to start up half of the computer after a lot of hassle and had to reformat the harddrive in the end. Obvioulsy I was very pissed off and I decided that it was time for a new laptop. I am so fed-up with that old fcking thing and all the trouble it always causes (I have had it for nearly 4 years, though)... Luckily we received some advertising the day before and I decided to just buy the cheapest laptop they had available. So after going to Uni during the day (and to Chinatown to visit the International Foodstore), I went to this shop and bought myself a 599 euro gorgeous laptop...

1 Gb RAM, 80 Gb HD, Intel Celeron M and a wide screen. I am molto felice about this thing... (and of course very grateful that Fedor was willing to lend me the money to be able to afford it!). One little issue with this computer is the fact that Windows only speaks Italian. In a Dutch version of Windows, one can easily change the operation language, but apparently Italian Windows is constructed in such a way that one cannot actually change the language at all!!! So this is good for my attempts to learn proper Italian (as long as I am discussing operating systems, viruses or the execution of programmes, I will be fine!).
I have not yet been able to actually get the data from my old computer, but this is going to be another project some day soon...
Yesterday, I spent the entire day in the kitchen in order to prepare a lovely Japanese meal. Well, Japanese-fusion meal, I should say. Artichokes are not that Japanese, I guess. But the miso-soup and the range of different kinds of sushi etc etc were definitely Japanese. The pineapple carpaccio was not, though. So fusion-Japanese at best...
For dinner, we had two guests: my ex-flatmate Meghan and my friend Idil, who both enjoyed the dinner a lot (I think), as did we... Afterwards we were obvioulsy a little tipsy already, but we decided to go dancing at the Johann Sebastian Bar, where we had such an aweseome time when Bastiaan and Anne were visiting. And we had a great time again!!! Danced our legs off, had a lot of fun with the 60-year old barbie-like woman looking like a dragqueen past her prime, who is the resident DJ at the establishment... Et cetera, et cetera. After putting the absolutely waisted Meghan in a cab, we walked home where we supposedly arrived at approximately 4. Today we stayed in bed very very late, and we are not both hungover... But also very satisfied about this weekend...
Ciao,
OJ

presentation etc

This week has consisted of a lot of work. Of course I had to prepare my big presentation, where I was gonna have my first feedback on my paper. The presentation went quite alright, except for the fact that it was too long!
I got some reasonable feedback, although it mostly consisted of things people had not understood. Obviously, I have to increase the clarity of exposition... Oh well, I will spend some time this week on doing exactly that!
On Friday, Fedor had invited Nina to watch Dirty Dancing, so I decided that my evening was better spent elsewhere. I thus took Idil, Felix and Annaig to La Padellacia, where we enjoyed their awesome pizzas! Afterwards, some wine in a local Vineria and some others joining us.
Saturday, I finally had the opportunity to sleep really, really late... It was lovely. In the afternoon, we did our weekly groceries and bought some lovely pillows for on the sofa... (horrifically kitsch, but really cute). Today, we did a really thorough cleaning!
Now we are relaxing and thinking about the lovely Lasagna we will be having later.

Ciao,
OJ

PS: Just some more pictures from Firenze:
 
 
 
  

Firenze, there we were...

After a week of work and pleasure, we finally arrived at the moment we had been waiting for for quite a while: FIRENZE. As a birthday present, Fedor gave me a trip to Florence/Firenze and this was the weekend. The forecasts were not so great, but we thought this wouldnt matter too much as most of Firenze's treasures are inside. However, it turned out that the forecasts were wrong and we actually had awesome weather. This way, we could enjoy the city even more. And Enjoyable it certainly was. Absolutely stunning in its beauty and the beauty of its art and architecture. We were also lucky, because Firenze has a We Love Holland-Period as a result of which we could visit some museums for free (which is nice, because Firenze is not cheap). Some of the highlights we saw included the Uffizi Gallery (number 60 on the List)
 
But also the Cathedral:
 
Of course, it is also practically compulsory to climb up the hill to Piazza Michelangelo and enjoy the view on the Florence Cityscape (number 67 on the List)
 
 
On top of this hill, there was another gorgeous church, whose inside frescoes were 13th century-made (appr.)
 
In addition to all this loveliness, we were also able to enjoy some lovely time in the sun at the Palazzo Pitti, with its gorgeous gardens and some nice museums.
 
 
Finally, of course there was the city itself, which was also simply stunning. Including the Piazza Sant'Annunziata:
 
I guess the pictures tell most of the story. We had a really good time and really enjoyed it. Out hotel was also fine, and booked via this great website where one can book very cheap hotels: Go and check it out!!!.
Today has been a back-to-work day though and I worked on my presentation for Thursday when I am presenting my paper at the Reading Group. I am actually looking forward to that!!!
Ciao,
OJ

Goodbye Bastiaan and Anne

On Friday, Bastiaan and Anne arrived. Bastiaan is a friend from highschool (who, we realised is my second-oldest friend (not age, but time we have been friends)) and Anne is his new girlfriend, whom I had not met before. The weather was quite lovely all weekend, so we enjoyed a bit of a walk on Friday afternoon and a nice aperitivo in the evening. On Saturday, after sleeping rather late, we went to the Cimitero Monumentale.

At the Cimitero, we ran into my friend Idil, who was showing her sister around. Isn't it just really random to meet friends at a cemetary??? Afterwards we enjoyed lunch at Corso Como and saw more of the city. At night, our other classmate Nina, who also lives in Milano came to join us and together we went to La Padellacia (third time in a week... we're on a diet now). Some fun time at the "Johann Sebastian Bar" afterwards, with a lot of crazy stuff going on (hint: it includes 60 year old barbies and trans-sexuals) was the next stop.
Obviously, this implied we got up late on Sunday again. Not really a problem, because we only went to a museum (the Pinacoteca di Brera), where I found out later that we missed Idil and friends by about 10 minutes again... It is a small city when people have visitors!

This morning, Bastiaan and Anne left again. By taxi this time, at 4.30AM, because walking people to the station is really quite a hassle at that time of the night.
All in all, it was a really enjoyable weekend! It was great to them and we had a great time.

Something completely different, if anyone is ever consider a new career, I have an idea. Become a Quantitative Gastronomist! I recently received news about a Conference in Gastronometrica and I reckon it is an awesome science to be involved in! You get to research the quantitative aspects of such interesting topics like "How did American food get so bad?", "Are you what you eat? Experimental evidence on health habits and economic
behaviour" and "Stars War over French Gastronomy"... I am definitely in the wrong field!!!
Ciao,
OJ

In the words of Meatloaf

Nil out of three ain't bad...

Today, I simply should have stayed in bed, I think. The first look out of the window should have warned me that this was not going to be a good day: Somebody stole the church!!! (and in fact, stole the rest of the world as well....)

After realising that the rest of the world did, in fact, still exist, I went to Uni and did some work. And considered that of the 3 important things I was going to do today, a success rate of 2 out of 3 would really be quite satisfactory. In the morning, Marta and I went on our search for a shoemaker. This actually succeeded in the end, but he was not willing to repair either of our pairs. Marta's were too fucked and mine were too cheap to spend money for repairing on (his words). That really sucks, because the shoes are only 3 months old and the bottoms have all but disappeared (I admit they were really cheap). So with that first part of my daily mission failed, I was really going for it this time at the Questura.
I brought Idil with me this time, because I had udnerstood that I would not have to wait very long and I trust her Italian more than my own.
That second statement is still true, but the first is not. After waiting for 2 1/2 hours, I was told once again that my Permesso di Soggiorno was NOT FINISHED. So, after my EIGHTH visit, I still do not have my fucking permesso!!!!! And as it took longer than I had expected, I also failed to be able to fulfil the third goal of the day: go the bank to change my address. This, also, is not easy, especially because the bank is far away and opening hours of Italian banks are erratic. So, all in all, 0 out of 3. FUCK
I did manage to buy a new pair of shoes for less than 1/3 of the price that it would have cost me to have my old pair repaired!
Goddammit. fcking Italians.
Ciao,
OJ

Deadline met

A week of hard work. I had a deadline for a conference in Izmir and I really wanted to finish some draft of my paper, which I finally managed today. If I remember how to upload documents, it will soon appear in the "research downloads" section of this blog... For the rest, there is little to tell. And little time to tell things as well... Last weekend, we went to the Certosa di Pavia (the monastery of Pavia), which was absolutely stunning, even though the weather kinda sucked.


During this week, we also had a bit of winter, but since 2 days, spring is back. The weather is simply gorgeous! This is very pleasant for Maartje and Steef, who are visiting us right now... Together with Fedor they have strolled through the city yesterday and today, before leaving again tomorrow morning VERY early... Today, as it was the last weekend of the month, there was also the antiques Market again of our suburb. I LOVE antiques markets!!! Especially if the weather is lovely, like it was today... I only had time for a quick stroll , before going to Uni to finish my paper, but it was very, very good!


Now I can start focusing on some other things and try to decide which is going to be my next paper topic.
Ciao,
OJ

Not much

My Uni-friends were all quite impressed with the apple pie I baked to celebrate my birthday last Tuesday. Of course it came as quite a shock to them that there are actually things in the Dutch kitchen that taste good... And apple pie is a really traditional Dutch dish, so I improved our name in that field a little bit. I also received some lovely presents, including a trip to Florence (from Fedor, in 3 weeks), a subscription to the Economist (from my parents) and among other things an electric chocolate fondue set (we now have 3 chocolate fondue sets, but this is the first electric one).
And from my brother a book with 100 things to do on planet Earth (similar to Hillman Wonders, but with quite some differences. My tally for Hillman was 23 and for this book it's 27! And poor Fedor went down from 24 to a mere 17... We will have to work diligently to finish both lists during this lifetime!!!
The arrival of this last present, btw, also made me wonder about the Italian mail system again. On Thursday, we received 3 things from Holland. One christmas card which had been on its way for a month. One Newyears card which had been on its way for 3 weeks and this parcel, which took a mere 2 days. You really cannot trust the Italian mail...
Anyways, if the weather is good tomorrow we are going to go to the Monastery of Pavia, because we actually didnt go last time we were in Pavia and it is supposed to be superb!
Ciao,
OJ

Questura VII

Bastard Italians!!!!

I have spent another 2 1/2 hours in the cold (today being the coldest day of the week... Friday the forecast is saying 18 degrees! Today just 7 degrees though) in order to finally make it into the (side-entrance of the) police station.

NO PERMESSO

"Please return in two weeks"

This is good, because I have nothing else to do in my life. It is not as if I have some significant deadlines coming up, or just want to spend time to work on my research... No, not at all. I really prefer to spends hours at the GODDAMN police station trying to get a fcking permission I do not even want anymore!!!!

ASSHOLES.

Ciao,
OJ

Step into...

I have had some good news the past week. I have confiscated an office that was left empty by a departing visiting student, so I finally have my own office. Even better, it is (for now) even a private office: an amazing luxury in a space-starved University (they say the new building will be finished in August, but I don't believe them). Furthermore, I have finally got some results from my research! And they are very, very promising!!! In fact, they are very different from what previous authors have said, but I am able to prove they were actually wrong! So, suddenly, my PhD actually starts to make sense! My supervisor, whom I spoke to today, was also very content with the results. I am now spending a lot of hours at Uni trying to actually finish my (first draft of a) paper about this topic so I can send it to some upcoming conferences. Oh well, I guess I'll see whether or not it is going to work out. Furthermore, I have been doing some work for others as well, and proctered a few exams (why can I not say NO to people, when they ask me for that? Although I did enjoy sending 3 people out of their Macroeconomics exam...).
On Friday, we went out for aperitivo and dancing at Le Trottoir: that was definitely enjoyable. The rest of the weekend, Fedor and I relaxed, did some work and tried whether we could watch the entire Lord of the Rings in one weekend. Unfortunately, I must admit we failed and we still have another 1.5 hours to go... We only managed to finish about 10 hours or so...
Ciao,
OJ

2007

Well, well, that was quite a celebration for New Year's Eve. We flew to Holland on the 31st, together with Edith and Rob. Poor Edith had a horrific toothache and wasnt happy at all... We celebrated NY with friends of Fedor in the center of Nijmegen. Fedor was very happy to see them again and we had a good time. The next day, we were happy to find out that one of our appointments got cancelled, so we only had to see one couple with a new flat, and Fedor's father. All in all a good January 1st. The following day, we went to my parents for lunch and continued to go and see BarDs new house in Groningen, which was very lovely. After dinner at my brother's, we went out with Jorryt and others. It was quite a lot of fun, but I must admit I am starting to run out of friends in Groningen! I guess it didnt help that we were there during the holidays and about 80% of my acquaintances appeared to have gone skiing...
The next day we had another reasonably early start (considering the late finish, anyway), because we went to Utrecht to go and see Wouter's new flat. After that, we continued to Rotterdam, where we met with Joost in Café Rotterdam. We enjoyed a lovely meal (and randomly ran into another friend of mine from Groningen) and got updated on Joost's life again. We stayed the night at the house of Ellen and Kim, who were kind enough to let us stay there even though they both had to go to work really early the next day.
Thank god, we didnt have to and we took it very slowly. In the afternoon, we returned to Nijmegen and went to another appointment with Ilse, who also had a new gorgeous flat. After a lovely dinner with Margo, we ended up at Café Van Rijn, where Fedor had invited all his study friends. His friends obviously do not go skiing as much as mine, and nearly all were indeed present. Friday morning, we managed to get up in time to have a last lunch with Jolien, before returning to Milano.
I must say that I did enjoy seeing everyone again in Holland, but honestly: it is really exhausting... People should simply come to Milan to see us. That way we have more time for each other and we are able to talk much more thoroughly than having to repeat the same questions again and again.
Oh well, next time it will be the same again, I am afraid...
Ciao,
OJ
PS The sales have started and today I went for some real shopping. I finally managed to buy 2 pairs of trousers, which I have been trying for nearly a year... And I bought a new winter coat: thanks to global heating (or something), my old winter coat was actually too WARM. So I am happy to have a new one, which is a bit thinner...

post-xmas

Well, that was very enjoyable, I must say. We had 2 lovely xmas days, with a romantic nine-course dinner on the 25th and a very fun ten-course dinner on the 26th with Fedor's mother and her boyfriend. We thoroughly enjoyed their company (which explains why dinner finished at 2.00AM). Edith and Rob stayed for another 2 days and Fedor entertained them during the day by showing them all the sights of Milano. At night, we entertained them together (by playing Trivial Pursuit until 3.00AM or so), while I went to Uni to work. I did that for every post-xmas day so far actually, except today, when I worked at home. The reason for this is that I wanted to finish most of my work before going to the NETHERLANDS tomorrow! I managed for most part, but not completely unfortunately.
Tomorrow, on Bergamo Airport, we will meet with Edith and Rob again, who have spent 2 days in/around Bergamo hiking and we plan to fly back together. At least, we hope so. Apparently this isnt guaranteed quite yet. Supposedly, there is a very bad storm in the Netherlands, which might cause trouble, but additionally, due to foggy conditions in Bergamo, today's flight from Bergamo to Eindhoven was cancelled too. Oh well, I hope we will make, and as a positive person, I have faith we will indeed!!!
Anyways, I want to take the opportunity to wish everyone a very happy end of the year, and let's party like it is 2007!!!
Ciao,
OJ

Nearly xmas

I realise it has been a long time since I last posted anything, but I really have been very busy... I have been trying to get some work done, as I am trying to finish a first draft of a paper before mid-January. Sofar, the paper consists of 0 pages, so there is still some work to be done...
However, there are also other things I have indeed been busy with. Marieke and Margo, Fedors friends from Nijmegen, were here to visit last weekend. It was obviously great to see them again after such a long time and we spent some lovely evenings and days together...

Drinking beer at La Fontanella is always one of those fun things to be done with visiting friends, isn't it?
Also, obviously Xmas is coming up, which always involves a lot of time-consuming things. Shopping for presents is one of them, deciding what to eat and doing groceries is another (I have been to 3 different supermarkets for that: terrible...): We will be having 2 very nice xmas dinners on Monday and Tuesday. Monday will be a romantic dinner-for-two while Tuesday will be dinner-for-four with Fedor's Mother and her boyfriend. And of course, as part of the Xmas-thing coming up, I have been going to some xmas-celebrations recently. In fact, a total of 4 Xmas celebrations of some kind. First, there was the xmas-student-representatives dinner early last week, followed by a xmas dinner and going out with one of Fedor's jobs. On Tuesday there was a big Xmas-lunch at Uni hosted by the Institute of Political Economics. Finally, on Thursday, there were Xmas-drinks with the entire PhD in Economics to have the opportunity to wish everyone good holidays. All in all, these were some busy, but pleasant days...
I have also had some really great news! I have now got 2 jobs! One is Research Assistant to one of the new Assistant Professors, for a project on terrorism. Very interesting, actually. And I will be able to earn some cash that way! The other job, which I have just managed to get, is Tutor for an undergraduate course in Comparitive Political Economics. Basically, this can be summarised with GOOD MONEY... The wage rate for tutors is excellent, to put it mildly...
Alright, I think I can now start with starting to cook the first dishes for Xmas.
Merry XMAS everyone!!!
Ciao,
OJ

Questura, part VI

Last weekend was a lovely long one, with the celebrations for San Ambrogio and the Immaculate Collection by Madonna. I did work on the latter day, but still it felt like a relaxing weekend. Possibly this was because it was a visitor-free weekend during which we had actively planned not to do anything active. We did well...

This week, however, it was full-pull back to work of course. I managed put in quite a few hours of Labour in order to finish some things in time. Finally, today I decided to return to the Questura again for my Permesso di Soggiorno (permission to stay). The office was supposed to open at 15.00, so I made sure I was there at 14.00. Suddenly, at 14.10 the office opened early!!!!!
This was great news, because only few people had arrived yet (about 25, normally there are about 100 people there). And, even more amazing, we were allowed to wait inside, whereas normally you stand the entire afternoon outside at the side entrance (foreigners are not allowed to enter the police station through the front door).
After about an hour it was my turn and.....
...
...
...
...
...
...
I did NOT get a permesso. Another problem, to which the lady behind the desk didnt know the answer. But she was going to contact the Head Office and I should return in January.

WHAT????

The goddamned SIXTH time I went to the fucking Police Station and the sixth time that I was told to return another time. As if I do not have anything else to do!!! At least it only took about an hour this time, so that did give me a little comfort. However, I still think they seriously only do all this to piss me off (which is working rather well...).

I did, however, recently realise how grateful I should be for having a European passport. If I hear all the trouble others have to go through in order to get out of the country to visit family, or go to conferences, or get back into Italy, it makes me very grateful.
But I still HATE THE GODDAMNED QUESTURA!!!!
Ciao,
OJ

Cooker

Oh my god, what a disaster it was to get the cooker, as I have hinted before. But we finally managed! To summarise, we had been waiting since August for its arrival. The landlord had been promising to deliver it any time soon during all that time as well, but to no avail.
Last week, we finally made it: the cooker was at the smith and I only had to go and see him. After going there twice, we realised it was not actually that easy. However, thanks to the landlord, the smith arrived Friday (2 hours late, but still). He then realised something was wrong and returned to his shop and came back again later. Quite a hassle it was. Especially because there was still something wrong... On Monday, he was due to come again, but did not show up. The next day, I received an accusing message from the landlord that we had not been at home. Strange... At night we checked whether the doorbell was actually working properly, to make sure we would not miss him again. But even though it did work, there was no smith. Another accusing message from the landlord incited me to go to the smith directly... (it was 21.30 by this time).
Once again, he was not there. However, when I was about to enter our building, I saw the smith cycling past. So I ran after him like a little girl and caught him. He then came into the house to make the final installation. Or so we thought...
This time he managed to make it work. But not completely well, so he had to return the next evening again. All this was starting to piss me off by now, because I had to come home early from Uni every day... Yesterday he arrived again and went on to install everything properly. Unfortunately, he did this so rigorously that he actually broke the tubes... His suggestion was to return the next day and finish the work, but I did not think that would be such a good idea, so he returned the same nite and used a lot of aggresive equipment to repair the entire system. And finally, after 4 months of waiting and after 6 visits of the smith (thank god, I am not paying him), we finally have a GAS COOKER!!!! No more cooking on electricity!!!!

Anyways, I was very happy about this and I wanted to wish everybody a happy San Ambrogio (the Saint who protects Milano)... Down here are some more photos of last weekend. Mostly made by Jorryt...
 
 
 
 

Ciao,
OJ 

Goodbye Jorryt & Lilian

Thursday afternoon, Jorryt and Lilian arrived. They were lucky to finally make it to Italy because a dense fog around the Netherlands had diverted many planes. But finally, with a little bit of a delay, they did make it to Milan.
After showing the house and a little walk, we went for an Aperitivo in a bar nearby.

The next morning, I made another attempt at getting a real cooker. We have been using a bloody electric cooker for 4 months now and the landlord continually promises that the gas-cooker will be installed "next week". Yet anoter attempt, this time at the local smith was unsuccessful. After this little struggle, I took Jorryt and Lilian to University where we had lunch. Afterwards, they went to visit the Duomo and the city center, where Jorryt shot some gorgeous photos (which I might post some other day...). At night, while waiting for the smith to arrive, as he finally did promise to come, we had some little drinks and considered whether to go out or not. There were a few party offers, but the public transport strike made it impossible to go anywhere. Additionally, the smith didnt arrive until 21.30 (approximately 18.00, right?). Of course, there was a piece missing, so we still do NOT have a normal cooker...
Finally a nice pizza was all we had that night. Probably that was a good idea, as we were going on a trip for the weekend. We got up early and went to Central Station to pick up our rental car. A lovely Fiat Punto that served us very well for the weekend... Thank god Jorryt didnt mind driving, because I really dont like doing it! I am much better at navigating, anyway. I managed to get us to Pisa, where we visited another thing on The List: the Leaning Tower!
 
 

After a lovely stroll through Pisa, which is actually an enjoyable town, we drove to Lucca, a famous and gorgeous old city. Unfortunately, it was already dark before we got there, so there are little photos available of the lovely old town centre.
 

That night, we made a bit of a night of it. Drank quite a few drinks and had some reasonable food. It was a very enjoyable affair, all in all. We were staying in a very nice guesthouse, just outside the old city centre, where we had a gorgeous veranda to sit on at night, enjoying our nightcap before going to bed...
Sunday, we were going to go to Cinque Terre. Unfortunately the weather looked quite horrific. A drizzly rain, very grey and miserable. However, we did not let that stop us and drove to Cinque Terre anyway.
Driving through the last tunnel was quite amazing, as it suddenly cleared up completely when arriving at the coastal side of the mountains. So we actually had a beautiful day in the Cinque Terre, with 20-something degrees and nicely sunny most of the time... We managed to do 3 of the 5 Terre during this day and Jorryt did a very good job in navigating us down the slopes of the Ligurian coast (once again, I was very happy not to be the one driving!!!)
 
 
 
After enjoying these stunning villages (probably I will post more photos in the future. I just cannot really be bothered right now), we drove back to Milan, where we arrived at about 19.30. 650 kilometers and a lot of fun!!!

This morning, it was an early wake-up call, because I joined Jorryt and Lilian to drive to Central Station, where I returned the car to the rental company. Honestly, I was quite relieved to be rid of it, because it is quite a responsibility...
After saying goodbye to Jorryt and Lilian, I returned to University to be busy there with many things (I have a temporary job as a Research Assistant!!! Just a few hours of preparatory work for a project to see if it is feasible. But it means income, so that is always great!). Unfortunately, I could not stay late because the darn smith was supposed to return tonite (somewhere around 18.00), but he has not. So still no cooker......... :-((((

Ciao,
OJ

Just a quicky

Just to let you know I am working hard, starting to make some real hours today (10.00-21.00 today) in order to finish writing a draft version of my paper before halfway January. This is when I have some deadlines for conferences (I enjoyed Cordoba so much, I want to go to more conferences... I have sought out 3 for this academic year).
I will not bore you with any explanation of what I am actually doing, but I will show you this picture of the Naviglio Grande in Xmas style.

Xmas is really starting to break loose now in Milano: I cannot wait to put up my decorations, but I have to wait until December 1. Maybe I will get Lilian to assist me in doing this, because she and Jorryt will be arriving tomorrow. As they have been to Milano before (xmas last year), we probably will skip many of the standard things-to-do. Instead, we will rent a car and visit Pisa, Lucca and Cinque Terre this weekend... I can hardly wait!!!
Ciao,
OJ

Cordoba Conference

Tuesday last week, I got up at 3.15AM in order to make my journey to Cordoba. The journey was not easy, as Cordoba does not actually have an airport. So therefore, I had to go Milano-Malpensa-Malaga-Cordoba and after nearly 12 hours on the road, I arrived at the hotel. I arrived mid-afternoon, so I could take in the sights of Cordoba that same day. Unfortunately, I was not very lucky weather-wise, and for all the days I was there it was kinda cloudy, with the occasional shower in between. However, this obviously didnt stop me from visiting the Mezquita (on The List, number 57), which was an absolutely amazing sight! A cathedral built in the middle of a church, does that sound odd to anyone? Well, it was rather peculiar, but an absolutely amazing sight! Unfortunately, the photos do not do it all the justice it deserves:




At night, I went out for dinner, which was of truly miserable quality. On the way home to the hotel I ran into two of my fellow PhDs from Milano.

The next morning, we walked to the venue where the Winter School was taking place together. It turned out there were about 15 PhDs from all over Europe and the Winter School was quite interesting. Quite a few of the things that were treated I already knew, but it was still interesting. Of course a large beer- and wine-filled lunch was also included in the middle of this long day (9-19). At night, we went out for dinner and drinking with a group of people, which ended up in a rather late night out... The next morning was an early start again, but there were so many interesting people and presentations that I had suprisingly little trouble to stay awake. Another great lunch and at night, an official reception by the City of Cordoba in the Castle of Cordoba. Lots of tasty nibbles and lovely wines, made this a thoroughly enjoyable night. At the end of it, we found another local bar where we enjoyed some more drinks until we got kicked out again.
The next morning was even tougher, as you can understand, but once again, the fascinating presentations were absolutely worth it.
After a luxurious dinner (in addition to the copious lunch), we ended up for a real night of going out which ended at about 4.30AM.
Unfortunately, this did mean I missed a little part of the Conference on Saturday morning, but those presentations were not the most interesting ones anyway. When the Conference officially ended, we decided to have a last lunch with our group of people. There was a really fun group of people I spent a lot of time with and I hope to be seeing more of them in the future. Halfway the afternoon, I returned to Malaga where I managed to see a little bit more of the city. Not enough, I guess, because Malaga seemed like a very nice and beautiful city that deserves a few days on its own...
I went back to Milano, however, the following day. I was happpy to go home and see Fedor again, who had missed me badly... (isnt he a darling?). Fedors father was also visiting that weekend so I had a chance to have talk to him before he left this morning.
Well, that was my quick update on the conference. Conclusions: a lot of fun, a lot of new people and, most importantly, a LOT OF new ideas!!!

Ciao,
OJ

Goodbye Niels & Marielle

On Friday, my brother Niels and his wife Marielle arrived. Marielle had not been to Milano before and also for Niels, our house was still new. It was great to see them both, although they unfortunately brought some bad weather along....
Friday afternoon, after a bit of a rest and a cup-of-tea, we went for a bit of a walk through town. In the evening, we were doubting between our 2 favourite pizzerias. One is hip and funky, while the other is traditional and has huge pizzas. Thankfully, the decision was made for us when it turned out to be raining badly. We simply went to the closest! We enjoyed a lovely meal there and came home afterwards. The next morning started out with (as always) the Cimitero Monumentale. By now, the weather had not actually improved, but for the Cimitero this is not such a big problem. After all, it is a cemetary and a bit of fog only adds to the atmosphere there...


After lunch at Corso Como, we went on to Hightech, Brera, the Castello and the Via Dante Photo Exhibition. A nice little tour that has been perfected by a lot of practice. It is amazing that I actually still enjoy making the same tour. I simply love showing people around! (maybe I should have become a tour guide after all). After the Duomo and enjoying some anti-war hardrock music on Piazza Duomo, we went home again to rest before dinner. Dinner consisted of Aperitivo at Le Trottoir, which was enjoyable as always. This morning, Niels and Marielle left again...
Fedor is obviously very happy, because his laptop has now returned from being repaired and it works again! So we have spent our sunday the way it is supposed to be spent: doing nothing important. Filing photos, updating our blogs, laundry, sewing (damn, do I hate sewing on buttons... seriously!). And tonight we will go for aperitivo to celebrate Idil's 30th birthday!!!
Tomorrow will be my first official Italian class (as I missed the real first one, being stuck in the Police station) and my last day before going to Cordoba on Tuesday. I will actually fly into Malaga Tuesday Morning, from where I will take a train to Cordoba. On Saturday, when the conference has finished I will return to Malaga and on Sunday I come back to Milano. I am looking forward to it, although it would have obviously been nicer if Fedor could have come along.... Oh well, nothing I can do about it now! And besides, I expect to be very busy there anyway, so it would not have been much fun for him...
Ciao,
OJ

Not Lazy, just busy

Ciao Dudi,
finally I have time to update my life again... As I wrote last time, I was about to go to the Police Office to renew my Residence Permit. Obviously, this was, once again, unsuccesful. After waiting for 2.5 hours, it turned out I had arrived 5 minutes too late and didnt realise (I thought everyone was simply waiting for the office to open, but apparently the office had already opened and closed again). This was rather unfortunate and I wasnt happy.
The rest of the week consisted of working, visiting seminars, et cetera. Many many things. Thankfully, we did have time to enjoy a little Aperitivo every now and then, as well as a beautiful sunset (from our apartment window):

Friday afternoon, we went to the Airport in Bergamo to catch an airplane to London. The roads to the airport were incredibly busy and at one point I gave up hope that we would be in time. However, as I had decided to take an extra hour in case of security issues (and surprisingly: there were none), we did make it to the flight and arrived at Stansted in the rain at about 20.45. For an unclear reason, no buses were departing from Stansted until 21.45, so we stood in the rain for about one hour. We then paid our 21euro return tickets (21 euros each) and made it to London to meat Fedor's ex-flatmate Marike, who lives in London (and whose weblog can be found here). By this time, it was already extremely late in London (23.00: everything was closed), so we did not get a chance to meet Marike's friends. We did however spend a lot of time catching up with her, which was obviously enjoyable.
The next morning, we went to the British Museum, which I must say is one of the most impressive museums I have ever seen! It is absolutely stunning (and also important, it is free and it is on The List). After a few hours of strolling through the Egyptian, Greek and Japanese sections, it was time for lunch and shopping. In the evening, Fedor and I took a train to Coventry, to see our friends Matt and Anthony. It was great to see them and we thoroughly enjoyed a lovely Libanese meal had that night.
As always when we visit them, Matt had arranged something to do the next day. We took a train to Oxford, where neither Fedor nor I had ever been before. This was an excellent idea, despite the very English rain that came down occasionally.


A lovely lunch, some shopping and then it was time to go back to Coventry again. Here we rested for a short while, before taking the train back to London, where we were met by Marike again. She stayed up with us for another few bottles of wine, until we went to catch our 3AM bus back to Stansted. By the time we arrived home, at 11.00, Fedor and I were both "a little tired", and Fedor went to bed straight away. I did not however, because I wanted to use the opportunity to return to the Police Office. After waiting in the cold outside for 3 hours, it was finally my turn. REQUEST DENIED: FILE INCOMPLETE.

Excuse me?

What?

The

FUCK!

Yes, apparently between now and the time I filed my request a month ago, something has changed, because I can "obviously" not get my Residence Permit extension if I do not hand over a copy of a bank statement. What?!?!?! When did they make that up? But I was too tired to go into a discussion and disillusionedly left the police station again. What to do, what to do...
First, there was meeting Maartje and Eden: Fedors Nijmegen friends. Fedor was at work by this time, so I went for Aperitivo with these new arrivals who had already spent a week in Italy elsewhere. On Tuesday, after a good night's rest, I was able to work again and enjoy anther aperitivo, with Fedor and his friends. Unfortunately, their visit was a short one, because they left again this morning...
Ciao,
OJ

PS VOTE D66: KAJSA OLLONGREN (5) or MARK SANDERS (7)

photos etc

Well, I finally managed to post photos. These are just a few of them, of course. The first picture is a picture of us on the Cimitero Monumentale. Don't we look like a boyband?
The second picture is from La Trottoir, the place where we went dancing on Fedor's birthday. It was very cool, as you can see. Finally, there are two pictures from the top of Duomo. An absolute tip for any Milanese visitor: climb Duomo during the sunset: it is absolutely gorgeous at that time...
Finally, just a quick picture Henning took on the Antiques Market. The weather was gorgeous, as you can see...
 
 
 
 
  

This week, the weather significantly worsened. Well, at least the temperature plummeted. By now the daytime temperature is around 12-13 degrees, but as long as it remains brightly sunny, we cannot complain I guess!
I also finished (actually started and finished) an abstract for another conference. It was accepted straight away, about which I am obviously excited. Now I have to actually write the paper that belongs to the abstract and send it in before february 1. The conference organisers will then decide whether they would like me to come to the conference and if they do, I will have an all-paid-for conference in Izmir in April!!! It would be really awesome if that would be succesful, but we will simply have to wait... For the rest, Fedor and I are enjoying our free visitor-less weekend. It is a nice to be able to be at home cleaning, reading a book and not having to do anyting else for a while. On Friday we went to see our friends Nina and Antonio. Poor Antonio has just returned from hospital after breaking his leg a while ago, so we went to see how he was doing...
Tomorrow, I hope to receive my Permesso di Soggiorno!
Ciao,
OJ