A quick message from Odessa. Bucharest was pretty nice and the train journey from there to Chisinau was very relaxing. Chisinau itself was suprisingly lovely. Very green, very calm, lovely people (lots of Italian speakers, that was convenient). But today we went to Odessa and it wasnt fun... Our bus got cancelled, so we had to transfer to a different bus. Not only was this bus 2 hours later, but it also went through Transdnistria, which I really would have preferred to avoid. So, as expected, we were searched completely and they found some of our money at the "border". After taking 50, we could go on (euros that is). However, at the other end of transdnistria, we werent allowed to leave. At least, not until we gave them another 50 euros for all their troubles. Then the Ukrainian border officials also had a bad day and decided to put us in an unnecessary queue for another hour (all of this in the scorching heat. Its BLOODY HOT HERE).
Finally, we did make it out but by the time we got to Odessa, we werent happy (Also, Fedor has stomach problems.....). And here of course, all hotels are full... It never ends, does it?
Finally, we found something (not cheap, but comfy) and now we are finally ready to enjoy a little bit of Odessa...
Ciao,
OJ
Friday, August 24, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
holidaaaaaaaaaaaaay
After last weekend's visit to La Bella Toscana, this week consisted of more work. Not very intensively, I admit, but work nonetheless. By now, I was actually the only person still left in the office, with the exception of Lin Lin who comes in occassionally, so it was very quiet. Like the rest of Milan. Because everything is currently closed. Thankfully, there are some supermarkets still opened, but it is generally very quiet. You can safely cross the road without paying attention, because cars are very few as well.
On Thursday, I locked up my office and went home: My Holiday Has Commenced! On Friday, we took the train to go to Monate (near Lago Maggiore), to stay with our friends Enrico and Belinda. They showed us their house and after a bit of lunch, we spent the rest of the day at Lago Monate, a small chrystal-clear lake about 60kms away from Milano. It was incredibly enjoyable
In the evening, we had pizza and then met up with Enrico's cousin and her husband (who were also staying in the same town, of course: they're Italians after all!) to go to a local Festival. It was interesting, to say the least.....
Imagine the following: A stage where a blond girl (Valentina) stands mumbling, with the rest of her band (Orchestra Valentina) around her. The music they are playing is mostly Bavarian-sounding Humpapa music, in Italian. In fron of the stage, there is a large dancefloor where the entire village is swirling round-and-round. Around the dancefloor, there are long tables where people drink beer and wine (very cheap, I must say). If you are now thinking of the Oktoberfesten in Munich: that is pretty much the picture I was indeed trying to paint. Quite a shock, I must say. Of course, this did not stop me and Belinda from participating and dancing our little legs off! The moment where the entire village started line dancing, however, was our cue to get off the dancefloor. But much fun was had, nonetheless!!!
Yesterday, we came back to Milano and went our for dinner with my ex-flatmate Meghan and her most recent (Dutch) conquest: An interesting guy, whose mother was born in the same village where I grew up.... It's a small world, after all, don't you think?
Today we cleaned the house and prepared for leaving. Because tomorrow morning (REALLY early), we will fly to Bucharest, from where we are going to be enjoying our holidays (general itinerary: Bucharest-Chisinau-Odessa-Kiev-KamianetsPodilsky-Lviv-Cracow-Holland (where we want to see people: let me know whether we will see you and where.....)
Ciao,
OJ
On Thursday, I locked up my office and went home: My Holiday Has Commenced! On Friday, we took the train to go to Monate (near Lago Maggiore), to stay with our friends Enrico and Belinda. They showed us their house and after a bit of lunch, we spent the rest of the day at Lago Monate, a small chrystal-clear lake about 60kms away from Milano. It was incredibly enjoyable
In the evening, we had pizza and then met up with Enrico's cousin and her husband (who were also staying in the same town, of course: they're Italians after all!) to go to a local Festival. It was interesting, to say the least.....
Imagine the following: A stage where a blond girl (Valentina) stands mumbling, with the rest of her band (Orchestra Valentina) around her. The music they are playing is mostly Bavarian-sounding Humpapa music, in Italian. In fron of the stage, there is a large dancefloor where the entire village is swirling round-and-round. Around the dancefloor, there are long tables where people drink beer and wine (very cheap, I must say). If you are now thinking of the Oktoberfesten in Munich: that is pretty much the picture I was indeed trying to paint. Quite a shock, I must say. Of course, this did not stop me and Belinda from participating and dancing our little legs off! The moment where the entire village started line dancing, however, was our cue to get off the dancefloor. But much fun was had, nonetheless!!!
Yesterday, we came back to Milano and went our for dinner with my ex-flatmate Meghan and her most recent (Dutch) conquest: An interesting guy, whose mother was born in the same village where I grew up.... It's a small world, after all, don't you think?
Today we cleaned the house and prepared for leaving. Because tomorrow morning (REALLY early), we will fly to Bucharest, from where we are going to be enjoying our holidays (general itinerary: Bucharest-Chisinau-Odessa-Kiev-KamianetsPodilsky-Lviv-Cracow-Holland (where we want to see people: let me know whether we will see you and where.....)
Ciao,
OJ
Sunday, August 12, 2007
La Bella Toscana
While Marike and Rosie were still here, I received an email from my friend Bart, whom I hadn't seen for ages. It turned out that he had fallen ill and he and his girlfriend had to cancel their intended trip to Morocco. Instead: Italy.
They emailed on Sunday to inform me that they were arriving on Tuesday. Well, isn't that a surprise? A pleasant surprise, of course! For Tineke, it was her first time in Italy and she was excited about the prospect of spending two weeks in Tuscany. But, obviously, they started in Milano. So I did a bit of a tour with them (the weather wasn't so great, so it became a small tour. Also because Bart wasn't up for walking for long times, anyway). Of course the Cimitero Monumentale was part of the tour, and I spent quite some time with Tineke in the Pinacoteca di Brera, trying to repeat all the things Fedor had told me on a previous visit...
Of course, we also ate well... But I guess that is a given!
They stayed until Thursday morning, when they were going to continue their journey to Toscana (well actually, at our advice, they were going to go to Liguria first). And coincendentally, so were we! We caught the 8 AM train to Castagneto-Carducci (just south of Livorno), where friends of us are staying for the Summer. It's a fairly long train journey, and I enjoyed having the time to read the final Harry Potter (seriously: who'd have expected?). With Stefano and Elke, we had a great time. Our first beach sample was on the first day, but unfortunately we were not allowed to swim because of the size of the waves.
After a visit to Bolgheri, we had dinner at home.
The following day, we drove all the way to Follonica, to see Beach Nr. 2 ! This was a nice beach in a secluded area, but unfortunately the weather turned really nasty, really quickly and we got huddled up with a lot of people under the cover of a small cafe...
After it seemed dry, we decided to go back to the car and try another the beach. The horribly black clouds followed us up the coast though, but we managed to have a swim at the next beach before all hell broke loose (again).
(and yes, you can indeed see the lightning in the photo: how cool is that?)
After we got drenched there, we made another runner for it to the next beach, close to Castagneto-Carducci. This was pleasant, although the wind was strong and the menacing clouds didn't make us feel much better! But at least we got out dry from that beach.
At night, we were supposed to go to a local wine festival under the stars in the streets of Castaneto-Carducci, but when we got to this charming village, it turned out that it had been cancelled due to the bad weather. But in fact, the weather was completely fine during the night, so that was unfortunate. On Saturday, we returned to the first beach we went to to relax and get some more sun (ouch, sunburn: not cool), before taking the train to Pisa, from where we went back to Milano. All in all, it was a relaxing little piccolo holiday. A good preparation for our Real Holiday to start next week!
Today, despite the fact that we were both really exhausted, we had to go to a BBQ with a student of Fedor's. A lunch-BBQ that is, which meant getting up kinda early again, but at least we got home at about 17.00, so we have some time to relax...
Tomorrow: back to work for a few more days, before visiting friends in the mountains and then: on holiday for real!!!
Which reminds me: We will be in Groningen on September 5, if you want to meet up, let me know. And we will be in Utrecht (in a sofar unspecified bar) during the Afternoon of Sunday September 9. I would like to see those people who live in the Randstad, but we really won't be able to plan it all in. So this way: we'll come to Utrecht and we'd like to see YOU. Let me know....
Ciao,
OJ
They emailed on Sunday to inform me that they were arriving on Tuesday. Well, isn't that a surprise? A pleasant surprise, of course! For Tineke, it was her first time in Italy and she was excited about the prospect of spending two weeks in Tuscany. But, obviously, they started in Milano. So I did a bit of a tour with them (the weather wasn't so great, so it became a small tour. Also because Bart wasn't up for walking for long times, anyway). Of course the Cimitero Monumentale was part of the tour, and I spent quite some time with Tineke in the Pinacoteca di Brera, trying to repeat all the things Fedor had told me on a previous visit...
Of course, we also ate well... But I guess that is a given!
They stayed until Thursday morning, when they were going to continue their journey to Toscana (well actually, at our advice, they were going to go to Liguria first). And coincendentally, so were we! We caught the 8 AM train to Castagneto-Carducci (just south of Livorno), where friends of us are staying for the Summer. It's a fairly long train journey, and I enjoyed having the time to read the final Harry Potter (seriously: who'd have expected?). With Stefano and Elke, we had a great time. Our first beach sample was on the first day, but unfortunately we were not allowed to swim because of the size of the waves.
After a visit to Bolgheri, we had dinner at home.
The following day, we drove all the way to Follonica, to see Beach Nr. 2 ! This was a nice beach in a secluded area, but unfortunately the weather turned really nasty, really quickly and we got huddled up with a lot of people under the cover of a small cafe...
After it seemed dry, we decided to go back to the car and try another the beach. The horribly black clouds followed us up the coast though, but we managed to have a swim at the next beach before all hell broke loose (again).
(and yes, you can indeed see the lightning in the photo: how cool is that?)
After we got drenched there, we made another runner for it to the next beach, close to Castagneto-Carducci. This was pleasant, although the wind was strong and the menacing clouds didn't make us feel much better! But at least we got out dry from that beach.
At night, we were supposed to go to a local wine festival under the stars in the streets of Castaneto-Carducci, but when we got to this charming village, it turned out that it had been cancelled due to the bad weather. But in fact, the weather was completely fine during the night, so that was unfortunate. On Saturday, we returned to the first beach we went to to relax and get some more sun (ouch, sunburn: not cool), before taking the train to Pisa, from where we went back to Milano. All in all, it was a relaxing little piccolo holiday. A good preparation for our Real Holiday to start next week!
Today, despite the fact that we were both really exhausted, we had to go to a BBQ with a student of Fedor's. A lunch-BBQ that is, which meant getting up kinda early again, but at least we got home at about 17.00, so we have some time to relax...
Tomorrow: back to work for a few more days, before visiting friends in the mountains and then: on holiday for real!!!
Which reminds me: We will be in Groningen on September 5, if you want to meet up, let me know. And we will be in Utrecht (in a sofar unspecified bar) during the Afternoon of Sunday September 9. I would like to see those people who live in the Randstad, but we really won't be able to plan it all in. So this way: we'll come to Utrecht and we'd like to see YOU. Let me know....
Ciao,
OJ
Sunday, August 05, 2007
All's well, and Banca Intesa is crazy as ever
The temperature has gone down!!! It's really been lovely in Milan the past week or so: only about 30° and an actual cooldown at night: simply perfect! It probably also helps that the city is becoming like a ghost town (it's August: everyone's leaving), which I find very calming. It's a bit of a hassle that all shops et cetera are also closing up for the rest of the month, but I guess we'll be able to get over that. So, what has been happening here? Not much actually, to be honest. We are currently having two friends over. Fedor's friend Marike, who lives in London and her friend Rosie. It is quite enjoyable having them here: they are lovely.
Last week, I had a little funny spat with my Banca Intesa: they really are idiots. I received an e-mail on Tuesday, with the following message (summarised) "dear sir, we have decided that we will close your account, so please take note you will no longer be able to use it. Best, Banca Intesa". Well, you can imagine that I certainly did freak out and I went to the other side of the city the following morning (I can only go to one specific branch office, which is on the other side of town). After waiting for half an hour it was finally my turn, so I asked the sweet lady what the fck was going on. She carefully reads my email and says "oh well, just ignore. It's not true. We did send that email, but you should just throw it out. And you really are stupid for believing this message, aren't you?". I was stupified. Happy of course, but stupified nonetheless. But my repeated asking for confirmation that this really was ignorable only resulted in more confirmations. So I did indeed decide to ignore the message and pass it off as a "Banca Intesa people are insane"-thing.
Ciao,
OJ
Last week, I had a little funny spat with my Banca Intesa: they really are idiots. I received an e-mail on Tuesday, with the following message (summarised) "dear sir, we have decided that we will close your account, so please take note you will no longer be able to use it. Best, Banca Intesa". Well, you can imagine that I certainly did freak out and I went to the other side of the city the following morning (I can only go to one specific branch office, which is on the other side of town). After waiting for half an hour it was finally my turn, so I asked the sweet lady what the fck was going on. She carefully reads my email and says "oh well, just ignore. It's not true. We did send that email, but you should just throw it out. And you really are stupid for believing this message, aren't you?". I was stupified. Happy of course, but stupified nonetheless. But my repeated asking for confirmation that this really was ignorable only resulted in more confirmations. So I did indeed decide to ignore the message and pass it off as a "Banca Intesa people are insane"-thing.
Ciao,
OJ
Friday, July 27, 2007
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
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
Monday, July 16, 2007
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
Ciao,
OJ
Sunday, July 15, 2007
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
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
Monday, July 09, 2007
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
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
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Party etc
So we finally had our Housewarming Party on Saturday. Better Late than Never, as they say! We unfortunately did not quite have as many guests as we would have liked to see, but it was a lot of fun, nonetheless. In fact, it was a whole lot of fun and it was nice to have the opportunity to show our house to everyone.
Of course, having the front door open from 14.00 until 23.00 did lead to a little "Mosquito Issue". Some of us being a little drunk, this then led to it seeming a good idea to have a Blood Fest in the house and we killed many a mosquito. The next morning, I certainly did regret our action from the night before, as can be seen by this little example from the wall:
Oh well, we had to clean anyway, so we just cleaned the walls and the ceiling as well!
After that cleaning action, the rest of Monday was not overly easy. At night there was a Student Representatives Dinner, though, where Junye and I enjoyed the pleasures of being PhD Representatives... Unfortunately, we got stuck with a table full of boring people, so we did not manage to get as drunk as planned. I hope we'll do better for Xmas! The rest of the week consisted of 2 things: 1) working on my paper, for which the Saturday Deadline is approaching steadily (and which I am getting more and more sure that I will not make) and 2) working on the exam. Oh yes, my Comparative Political Economics students had a resit today and I thus had to do some more office hours and help some students. It is amazing to see how many opportunities students get to pass their exams: the next opportunity is in 2 1/2 weeks already!!! (which is going to be the fourth time in 3 months...).
Some of the students also managed to amaze me with their stupidity and rudeness. What about this "Oh, professor, I don't have time for the resit on July 16th because I am going to beach with friends the weekend before. Can't I do the exam 2 days later?", or "Oh professor, I will leave the country on Sunday, so can you make sure we have the grades before then?", or during the exam itself "Professor, this is my answer: is it correct?"... I mean, seriously, who the fck do these students think they are???? I am still amazed when I am thinking about it. Now let's hope I remember their names so I can subtract points for stupidity when I grade their exams...
Ciao,
OJ
Of course, having the front door open from 14.00 until 23.00 did lead to a little "Mosquito Issue". Some of us being a little drunk, this then led to it seeming a good idea to have a Blood Fest in the house and we killed many a mosquito. The next morning, I certainly did regret our action from the night before, as can be seen by this little example from the wall:
Oh well, we had to clean anyway, so we just cleaned the walls and the ceiling as well!
After that cleaning action, the rest of Monday was not overly easy. At night there was a Student Representatives Dinner, though, where Junye and I enjoyed the pleasures of being PhD Representatives... Unfortunately, we got stuck with a table full of boring people, so we did not manage to get as drunk as planned. I hope we'll do better for Xmas! The rest of the week consisted of 2 things: 1) working on my paper, for which the Saturday Deadline is approaching steadily (and which I am getting more and more sure that I will not make) and 2) working on the exam. Oh yes, my Comparative Political Economics students had a resit today and I thus had to do some more office hours and help some students. It is amazing to see how many opportunities students get to pass their exams: the next opportunity is in 2 1/2 weeks already!!! (which is going to be the fourth time in 3 months...).
Some of the students also managed to amaze me with their stupidity and rudeness. What about this "Oh, professor, I don't have time for the resit on July 16th because I am going to beach with friends the weekend before. Can't I do the exam 2 days later?", or "Oh professor, I will leave the country on Sunday, so can you make sure we have the grades before then?", or during the exam itself "Professor, this is my answer: is it correct?"... I mean, seriously, who the fck do these students think they are???? I am still amazed when I am thinking about it. Now let's hope I remember their names so I can subtract points for stupidity when I grade their exams...
Ciao,
OJ
Friday, June 22, 2007
It's been some time...
Mucho busy, is all I can say. From Friday until Tuesday, BarD and Marlous were visiting. Friday night we had a little food and a little drinky, but didnt go out too late. The day after, we went to Monza, a nearby city, to which Fedor and I had been wanting to go for quite some time, but never had a chance. This is a little, odd, because it is only about 15 minutes away by train! Now we finally did go there and enjoyed the town centre and its gorgeous park!
No pictures from the gorgeous park, unfortunately: we were to busy relaxing... We spent the Sunday shopping, which BarD and Marlous did very successfully. I left them alone at the end of the afternoon, in order to meet with Jakob, my former Master Supervisor and Groningen Professor. We drank some wine and I enjoyed all the gossip. At night, I met up with BarD and Marlous again (and Fedor, of course) in order to enjoy some more eating!
On Monday, I really had to get back to work (grading exams, et cetera), so the kids were left to themselves. They apprently rather enjoyed a visit to good ol' Como and we went for a lovely sushi aperitivo at nite.
All in all, it was an intensive, but enjoyable weekend!
However, there is obviously a lot of work to do as well. Apart from the exam time, which means a considerable amount of extra work, I also had a meeting with one of my supervisors in which I had to convince her that my second paper-idea is good (I think I managed). The biggest problem, however, is the fact that next week there is a deadline to hand in the first paper. I am nearly there, except that the results aren't quite as good as they should be... So this is causing a little teeny-wheeny bit of stress! Oh well, I guess I'll be fine!
This weekend, no visitors. But instead, we are going to have our Housewarming party! Oh yes, finally, after 11 months, we are going to have a house-warming party!!! Sunday afternoon, in a sort of Sunday Lunch/Housewarming/Summer Party kind of celebration, we have invited all our friends and colleagues and we hope to have a nice fiesta. This does mean there is a lot of preparing (and cooking) to be done, of course....
Ciao,
OJ
PS What the fuck is wrong with the Vatican? How do they get it into their fcking minds to say that "good catholics" do not support Amnesty International, because the organisation does not oppose abortion in all situations???? I mean, does the Vatican have nothing else to fight? Maybe, say, all the fcked up morons that do populate the planet and all the organisations that actually harm anybody? Fighting against Amnesty International is like trying to kill fluffy baby bunnies: JUST NOT COOL! (yes, that was a rant)
No pictures from the gorgeous park, unfortunately: we were to busy relaxing... We spent the Sunday shopping, which BarD and Marlous did very successfully. I left them alone at the end of the afternoon, in order to meet with Jakob, my former Master Supervisor and Groningen Professor. We drank some wine and I enjoyed all the gossip. At night, I met up with BarD and Marlous again (and Fedor, of course) in order to enjoy some more eating!
On Monday, I really had to get back to work (grading exams, et cetera), so the kids were left to themselves. They apprently rather enjoyed a visit to good ol' Como and we went for a lovely sushi aperitivo at nite.
All in all, it was an intensive, but enjoyable weekend!
However, there is obviously a lot of work to do as well. Apart from the exam time, which means a considerable amount of extra work, I also had a meeting with one of my supervisors in which I had to convince her that my second paper-idea is good (I think I managed). The biggest problem, however, is the fact that next week there is a deadline to hand in the first paper. I am nearly there, except that the results aren't quite as good as they should be... So this is causing a little teeny-wheeny bit of stress! Oh well, I guess I'll be fine!
This weekend, no visitors. But instead, we are going to have our Housewarming party! Oh yes, finally, after 11 months, we are going to have a house-warming party!!! Sunday afternoon, in a sort of Sunday Lunch/Housewarming/Summer Party kind of celebration, we have invited all our friends and colleagues and we hope to have a nice fiesta. This does mean there is a lot of preparing (and cooking) to be done, of course....
Ciao,
OJ
PS What the fuck is wrong with the Vatican? How do they get it into their fcking minds to say that "good catholics" do not support Amnesty International, because the organisation does not oppose abortion in all situations???? I mean, does the Vatican have nothing else to fight? Maybe, say, all the fcked up morons that do populate the planet and all the organisations that actually harm anybody? Fighting against Amnesty International is like trying to kill fluffy baby bunnies: JUST NOT COOL! (yes, that was a rant)
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Quicky
Hey y'all (I hate that expression), this will be a quicky update, because we're planning to have an early dinner tonite and watch a movie (early is relative thing of course, as Fedor isnt even home yet). Last week consisted mostly of working and bitching about the weather (I don't actually remember what was wrong, but it was either too hot, too cold or too wet...). During the weekend my friend Andrea (a female, that is) came to see us. Due to Dutch weather conditions she was delayed quite a bit and we ended up at Central Station at 2.00AM, where we missed the last opportunity to take a tram. Instead, we ended up taking a taxi. Oh well... Of course, we stayed up way too late, just talking, but it was a lot of fun. The rest of the weekend consisted of a lot of walking and seeing the regular sights
It was a very enjoyable visit. After she left on Monday, I spent 4 hours sitting through seminars and third-years' presentations. Normally, this would be quite interesting, except for the fact that Bocconi is having some Aircon-issues. The A/C is completely out-of-control and tends to make the University uncomfortable during any season. But particularly now. Temperatures are around 14-15 degrees inside (while it is around 30° outside) and then 4 hours of sitting still is very, very long.... Of course I forgot to bring a warm coat, so it was quite heavy.
Today, however, was a GREAT day. I spent a lot of time giving office hours for students who didnt show up at all (they never do, so that is unsurprising), but received a lot of good news as well. Another paper has been accepted for publication!!!! The paper I co-authored with my former supervisor was accepted today as a chapter in a book that will soon be published by MIT Press. I am totally excited about this, particularly because it has been under revision for AGES... In addition to this, I also managed to find a Teaching Assistant position for the first semester next year. This was slightly doubtful and I had practically given up on it, but today managed to arrange something anyway. So: Many good things!
Me Happy
Ciao,
OJ
It was a very enjoyable visit. After she left on Monday, I spent 4 hours sitting through seminars and third-years' presentations. Normally, this would be quite interesting, except for the fact that Bocconi is having some Aircon-issues. The A/C is completely out-of-control and tends to make the University uncomfortable during any season. But particularly now. Temperatures are around 14-15 degrees inside (while it is around 30° outside) and then 4 hours of sitting still is very, very long.... Of course I forgot to bring a warm coat, so it was quite heavy.
Today, however, was a GREAT day. I spent a lot of time giving office hours for students who didnt show up at all (they never do, so that is unsurprising), but received a lot of good news as well. Another paper has been accepted for publication!!!! The paper I co-authored with my former supervisor was accepted today as a chapter in a book that will soon be published by MIT Press. I am totally excited about this, particularly because it has been under revision for AGES... In addition to this, I also managed to find a Teaching Assistant position for the first semester next year. This was slightly doubtful and I had practically given up on it, but today managed to arrange something anyway. So: Many good things!
Me Happy
Ciao,
OJ
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Cemetery Festival :-S
After skipping the Notte Bianca last night, we were happily surprised about the great weather today. It was warm, sunny: a great Sunday Afternoon... To go to the Cemetery. At first, we went to see a Jazz Concert by a group of musicians:
The concert was really beautiful, we then saw some Theatrical Dance Company, who played a number of characters dancing in between the graves. It was a little morbid, but also rather beautiful.
Finally, the best part of the afternoon came when we went to see a group of people Waltzing on Stelts... Uhm, what? Waltzing on Stelts on a Cemetery? Yes, exactly!!!
All in all, it was fantastic!!!
Ciao,
OJ
The concert was really beautiful, we then saw some Theatrical Dance Company, who played a number of characters dancing in between the graves. It was a little morbid, but also rather beautiful.
Finally, the best part of the afternoon came when we went to see a group of people Waltzing on Stelts... Uhm, what? Waltzing on Stelts on a Cemetery? Yes, exactly!!!
All in all, it was fantastic!!!
Ciao,
OJ
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Booked!
Last Night, there was the Goodbye Party of my friend Dominik, who has been at Bocconi for one-and-a-half year. It was a nice party, but everybody was sad to see him go. Thanks to Facebook, we will obviously be able to stay in touch with him, but it is still a pity!
What was not a pity, was the fact that we had a nice and quiet day together today. We slept during most of it, but also took some time to book our Summer Holiday!
Woohoo, finally! Our plans changed last minute and we will not, as I mentioned to people before be going to Russia, after all. Instead, we are going to fly into Bucharest, then take a train or something to Odessa, then Kiev and Lviv. Afterwards, we will fly out of Katowice, Poland into the Netherlands on the 4th of September, where we will be for nearly a week (including the Wedding of Fedor's friends Maartje and Edin). Anybody wanting to meet up with us, please let me know before then. We will obviously be travelling all around the Netherlands, but if you book early, you will try to make you part of the programme!
Anyways, I am totally excited about going to Romania and Ukraine, so that will be great. Before then, we will be celebrating Notte Bianca tonite (although the weather sucks and I really dont feel like going out at all) and tomorrow a music and theatre Festival at the Cemetery... I cant wait!
Ciao,
OJ
PS this post was completely not thought out and written quickly, while I am waiting for the oven to go BLEEP and say that our fish is ready to be eaten... sorry if I made any stupid mistakes...
What was not a pity, was the fact that we had a nice and quiet day together today. We slept during most of it, but also took some time to book our Summer Holiday!
Woohoo, finally! Our plans changed last minute and we will not, as I mentioned to people before be going to Russia, after all. Instead, we are going to fly into Bucharest, then take a train or something to Odessa, then Kiev and Lviv. Afterwards, we will fly out of Katowice, Poland into the Netherlands on the 4th of September, where we will be for nearly a week (including the Wedding of Fedor's friends Maartje and Edin). Anybody wanting to meet up with us, please let me know before then. We will obviously be travelling all around the Netherlands, but if you book early, you will try to make you part of the programme!
Anyways, I am totally excited about going to Romania and Ukraine, so that will be great. Before then, we will be celebrating Notte Bianca tonite (although the weather sucks and I really dont feel like going out at all) and tomorrow a music and theatre Festival at the Cemetery... I cant wait!
Ciao,
OJ
PS this post was completely not thought out and written quickly, while I am waiting for the oven to go BLEEP and say that our fish is ready to be eaten... sorry if I made any stupid mistakes...
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Bloody Freezing
Obviously, last post's title (Bloody hot) cursed the weather, because the temperature dropped by about 10 degrees immediately after. And the burning sun disappeared behind lots of depressing clouds... And of course, this happened exactly at the moment my Mother and her friend Hennie, came to visit!!! They arrived on Saturday, when we went for a little walk and enjoyed some of the city centre. The weather already wasnt what it was supposed to be, but at least it was still dry.
On Sunday Morning, it was actually rather sunny and we had some hopes for a nice day. Well, at least we had a lovely trip to the antiques market
After our Antiques Trip, we picked up Fedor and went to the Cimitero Monumentale. I had not been there with my new camera, so I took lots and lots of photos (as did my Mother, btw). The weather got a little bit worse and it rained quite a lot when we arrived (oddly enough, the sun was shining as well, which was quite a surreal experience, because it lasted very long), but there were some lovely photo opportunites:
It was a nice visit, but when it was time to leave, the rain finally won over the Sunshine and it started pissing it down. We decided we had had enough and simply retired from sightseeing for the rest of the day. The next day was simply horrible, weather-wise. It rained pretty much all day and it was not very warm either. To make matters even worse, on Mondays, nearly all museums are closed, so there were not many indoor activities to be done, either.... We ended up spending some time in the only Museum not-closed, the Scala Theatrical Museum:
And we spend some time in shops and the Duomo, but we decided to retire quite early again. Post-aperitivo, however, the weather had cleared up a little and we managed to see some more sights. All in all, we saw a lot, despite the weather, and had a really good time!
On Tuesday, they left again and Fedor and I both went back to work and life etc. I have been doing a fair bit of work, in preparation for a meeting I am having on Monday to discuss my second paper and its prospects. I feel reasonably well-prepared to face my professor now, so that should be fine...
Ciao,
OJ
On Sunday Morning, it was actually rather sunny and we had some hopes for a nice day. Well, at least we had a lovely trip to the antiques market
After our Antiques Trip, we picked up Fedor and went to the Cimitero Monumentale. I had not been there with my new camera, so I took lots and lots of photos (as did my Mother, btw). The weather got a little bit worse and it rained quite a lot when we arrived (oddly enough, the sun was shining as well, which was quite a surreal experience, because it lasted very long), but there were some lovely photo opportunites:
It was a nice visit, but when it was time to leave, the rain finally won over the Sunshine and it started pissing it down. We decided we had had enough and simply retired from sightseeing for the rest of the day. The next day was simply horrible, weather-wise. It rained pretty much all day and it was not very warm either. To make matters even worse, on Mondays, nearly all museums are closed, so there were not many indoor activities to be done, either.... We ended up spending some time in the only Museum not-closed, the Scala Theatrical Museum:
And we spend some time in shops and the Duomo, but we decided to retire quite early again. Post-aperitivo, however, the weather had cleared up a little and we managed to see some more sights. All in all, we saw a lot, despite the weather, and had a really good time!
On Tuesday, they left again and Fedor and I both went back to work and life etc. I have been doing a fair bit of work, in preparation for a meeting I am having on Monday to discuss my second paper and its prospects. I feel reasonably well-prepared to face my professor now, so that should be fine...
Ciao,
OJ
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Bloody hot
Well, this week has been the first preparation for a Hot Summer to come. Temperatures rose up to 35° Celsius and it's only May, now!!!
Thankfully, we have air-conditioning at University, so this is simply an extra incentive to do a lot of work. Well, work... After many, many, many requests to join Facebook, I finally did this week. And it is FANTASTIC. I have been able to contact people I havent spoken to for YEARS. For example, when I was in Caliornia, in 2000, I travelled for some time with 3 English people. I have now re-encountered all of them and I will meet up with them next time I am in London. It is such a blast!!!
Also, tonite I met up with my friend Nina, who also lives in Milan. While Fedor went to see Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, we went to Officina 18 and enjoyed the lovely atmosphere there. It was great, and we did a whole lot of catching up, which is always good... However, right now I am a little bit drunk and I don't really have anything else to say (ok, I wrote half of this post before she arrived, and half of it afterwards: see if you can find the split).
Ciao,
OJ
PS Wooohoo ac milan, Champion's League 2007 (in other words, I dont give a fuck, and as it seemed: neither did most of the other people in Milan....)
Thankfully, we have air-conditioning at University, so this is simply an extra incentive to do a lot of work. Well, work... After many, many, many requests to join Facebook, I finally did this week. And it is FANTASTIC. I have been able to contact people I havent spoken to for YEARS. For example, when I was in Caliornia, in 2000, I travelled for some time with 3 English people. I have now re-encountered all of them and I will meet up with them next time I am in London. It is such a blast!!!
Also, tonite I met up with my friend Nina, who also lives in Milan. While Fedor went to see Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, we went to Officina 18 and enjoyed the lovely atmosphere there. It was great, and we did a whole lot of catching up, which is always good... However, right now I am a little bit drunk and I don't really have anything else to say (ok, I wrote half of this post before she arrived, and half of it afterwards: see if you can find the split).
Ciao,
OJ
PS Wooohoo ac milan, Champion's League 2007 (in other words, I dont give a fuck, and as it seemed: neither did most of the other people in Milan....)
Sunday, May 20, 2007
My camera Rocks
Last week, I finally decided that it was time for me to focus my research on something else for a while. I had been working on the same bloody thing for such a long time: I was completely sick of it. So I have started working on the second topic now. It is (obviously) still in a very early stage, but it basically will be a theoretic analysis of the incentives of individuals to actively participate in civil conflict. Now, does that not sound interesting?
Right, anyway, I think it does and the good thing is that it will be purely theoretical, no data involved, possibly some simulated data, but that is fine... Anyway, I was quite excited about the entire idea of this and I spent a lot of time working on it. The weather was very nice, so I used a few opportunities I had to have some reading in the park, enjoying the sun. And of course, hot weather also leads to bad storms. Like this one:
But of course, most of the time the weather was lovely, so we could enjoy our lunches at ARCI, near University
On Wednesday, Fedor's uhm, sister (sort of: long story) and her boyfriend came to Milan. As we were obviously working, they stayed in a hotel and we didnt get to see them until Friday. When we did, it was obviously a happy reunion for Fedor and they spent all Friday watching Milan. At night, we did our regular trip to La Padellacia and played some silly games at home.
On Saturday, as they had already spent so much time in Milan, we decided that it would be fun to actually leave Milan and go to Como. Also, because it was very warm, and Como is always nice and cool.
After some nice food and ice cream, we also decided taht it would be a good idea to take a pedalo out to the lake (a waterfiets). And so we did. Possibly surprising, but we had absolutely loads of fun!!! Didn't realise how much fun it could actually be to go on a pedalo (and how exhausting it is, actually)
And, in the famous words of a Dutch comedian, it is now time for a FILMPJE!!!! (we made our own little disaster movie of some sort, but unfortunately it is in Dutch. May I please add that we were actually sober when we recorded this....)
At night, another dinner and another night of playing games ensued. It was very enjoyable and we were quite sad to see them go this morning. On the other hand, it was nice to have most of the Sunday to ourselves...
Tomorrow, another day of work will follow.
Ciao,
OJ
PS My top banner system is broken, but my Local Provide (aka Jorryt) has informed me that this will be repaired within approximately 20 days (and counting)
Right, anyway, I think it does and the good thing is that it will be purely theoretical, no data involved, possibly some simulated data, but that is fine... Anyway, I was quite excited about the entire idea of this and I spent a lot of time working on it. The weather was very nice, so I used a few opportunities I had to have some reading in the park, enjoying the sun. And of course, hot weather also leads to bad storms. Like this one:
But of course, most of the time the weather was lovely, so we could enjoy our lunches at ARCI, near University
On Wednesday, Fedor's uhm, sister (sort of: long story) and her boyfriend came to Milan. As we were obviously working, they stayed in a hotel and we didnt get to see them until Friday. When we did, it was obviously a happy reunion for Fedor and they spent all Friday watching Milan. At night, we did our regular trip to La Padellacia and played some silly games at home.
On Saturday, as they had already spent so much time in Milan, we decided that it would be fun to actually leave Milan and go to Como. Also, because it was very warm, and Como is always nice and cool.
After some nice food and ice cream, we also decided taht it would be a good idea to take a pedalo out to the lake (a waterfiets). And so we did. Possibly surprising, but we had absolutely loads of fun!!! Didn't realise how much fun it could actually be to go on a pedalo (and how exhausting it is, actually)
And, in the famous words of a Dutch comedian, it is now time for a FILMPJE!!!! (we made our own little disaster movie of some sort, but unfortunately it is in Dutch. May I please add that we were actually sober when we recorded this....)
At night, another dinner and another night of playing games ensued. It was very enjoyable and we were quite sad to see them go this morning. On the other hand, it was nice to have most of the Sunday to ourselves...
Tomorrow, another day of work will follow.
Ciao,
OJ
PS My top banner system is broken, but my Local Provide (aka Jorryt) has informed me that this will be repaired within approximately 20 days (and counting)
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Il Duomo
Something else entirely, I went for a walk today and ende up at Duomo. They have unwrapped it a little bit further, finally!!! I took a photo (as I do a lot nowadays, as you can see in my Photo Album, thanks to my new awesome camera. But to the point, when I was putting some of the pictures on my computer, I realised that the Duomo, since the first time I saw it has gone thru quite the undressing.
April 2005:
December 2005:
November 2006:
March 2007:
Now (May 2007):
Oh well, I thought it was kinda cool.... :-D
Ciao,
OJ
April 2005:
December 2005:
November 2006:
March 2007:
Now (May 2007):
Oh well, I thought it was kinda cool.... :-D
Ciao,
OJ
Home Alone
Drama, drama... Months ago, Fedor had booked a flight to the Netherlands for this weekend. He really was looking forward to seeing family and friends and managed to get a day off, so he booked a flight for Saturday-Monday.
However, a few weeks ago, we discovered a large strike had been planned by airline controllers. Of course we were still hoping it may be cancelled, but to no avail it seemed. Friday afternoon, after calling with Ryanair (well, if the flight is cancelled, you may be able to take a flight on Thursday instead) and Bergamo Airport (well, we dont really know anything at all), Fedor actually decided not to go, but to postpone the visit by 3 weeks, when we have a visitor-free weekend. Unfortunately, that Monday, another strike has been announced. 2 weeks later there would be another possibility for Fedor..... and another strike.... Seriously, what are they trying to do????
However, Friday evening, finally, part of the strike was postponed to Thursday (not the Milan part, unfortunately, but still) and we had found some alternative way to travel back to Italy on Monday (by train: now THAT is NOT cheap). He will have to return on Monday for sure, because work is calling (and there are a lot of hours to be missed), so we'll see what happens... At least I hope he enjoys his visit. I quite enjoy the weekend alone: the weather is lovely (28-29 degrees, sunny) and I have done a lot of meandering thru town. Also, there is the Arte Sul Naviglio (a big art fair around the canal behind our house), so that is also very enjoyable.
And of course, there was the Eurovision Song Contest... Some of my forecasts that I made during the show were surprisingly correct (like Ukraine 2nd, Georgia 21th, UK 23rd and Ireland 24th, but I had absolutely not seen Serbia coming... Also, I had expected Spain to do much better and had actually expected Belarus to win. My personal favourite, Slovenia, didnt do too well either, which is really too bad, but I guess I'll survive. Next year another Eastovision Song Contest!!!!
Ciao,
OJ
However, a few weeks ago, we discovered a large strike had been planned by airline controllers. Of course we were still hoping it may be cancelled, but to no avail it seemed. Friday afternoon, after calling with Ryanair (well, if the flight is cancelled, you may be able to take a flight on Thursday instead) and Bergamo Airport (well, we dont really know anything at all), Fedor actually decided not to go, but to postpone the visit by 3 weeks, when we have a visitor-free weekend. Unfortunately, that Monday, another strike has been announced. 2 weeks later there would be another possibility for Fedor..... and another strike.... Seriously, what are they trying to do????
However, Friday evening, finally, part of the strike was postponed to Thursday (not the Milan part, unfortunately, but still) and we had found some alternative way to travel back to Italy on Monday (by train: now THAT is NOT cheap). He will have to return on Monday for sure, because work is calling (and there are a lot of hours to be missed), so we'll see what happens... At least I hope he enjoys his visit. I quite enjoy the weekend alone: the weather is lovely (28-29 degrees, sunny) and I have done a lot of meandering thru town. Also, there is the Arte Sul Naviglio (a big art fair around the canal behind our house), so that is also very enjoyable.
And of course, there was the Eurovision Song Contest... Some of my forecasts that I made during the show were surprisingly correct (like Ukraine 2nd, Georgia 21th, UK 23rd and Ireland 24th, but I had absolutely not seen Serbia coming... Also, I had expected Spain to do much better and had actually expected Belarus to win. My personal favourite, Slovenia, didnt do too well either, which is really too bad, but I guess I'll survive. Next year another Eastovision Song Contest!!!!
Ciao,
OJ
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Wedding...
This week, the Italian government finally issued a State of Emergency due to the lack of water. As we dont have a car, the 500€ fine on washing your car wont be much of a problem for us, but we will see what is going to come of it in the end. Ironically enough, the government's decision came on the same day that it started raining for the first time in ages. And in Milano, when it rains, it pours.... So we have had 5 days of (occasionally) torrential rain, and all-day thunderstorms. But apparently this wasnt nearly enough to recover the lack of rain in the past year or so. And the rainy period has in fact ended again, anyway. Today blue skies, tomorrow back towards 25-30 degrees. I cant say I am too worried about the lack of rain, to be honest: I am just enjoying the ride!
Elsa, whom I work for as a Research Assistant, has given me a huge job to do and very little time to do it in, so I have made a lot of hours on Thursday and Friday (it concerns a repeat exercise in a database, which I will have to do about 3500 times: not quite exciting).
Yesterday, Fedor and I went to a wedding together for the first time! His good friend Belinda was marrying the love of her life Enrico and obviously we were invited. Fedor was the bridesmaid, uhm, I mean, Matron of Honour, so we were quite excited. Not nearly as excited as Belinda herself, obviously...
After the official part (or as Belinda would say: the boring part), and the good old rice-throwing,
,
the party continued on the country side, near Crema, where there was a lovely 120-person lunch, with a whole big bunch of children present.
A whole lot of merry-making ensued and we had a very good time.
It really was a very pleasant wedding-day. Tonite we might be meeting up with them and some of their visitors from South Africa again for an aperitivo, but we are not quite sure yet. Oh well, I am sure we will have a good time. Unfortunately the newly weds are moving to Belgium soon (in fact, Enrico has already departed, Belinda needs to get permission to be in Europe first, before moving to Belgium), so we wont be seeing much of them around. This really is too bad, because they can be lovely when they want to...
Ciao,
OJ
Elsa, whom I work for as a Research Assistant, has given me a huge job to do and very little time to do it in, so I have made a lot of hours on Thursday and Friday (it concerns a repeat exercise in a database, which I will have to do about 3500 times: not quite exciting).
Yesterday, Fedor and I went to a wedding together for the first time! His good friend Belinda was marrying the love of her life Enrico and obviously we were invited. Fedor was the bridesmaid, uhm, I mean, Matron of Honour, so we were quite excited. Not nearly as excited as Belinda herself, obviously...
After the official part (or as Belinda would say: the boring part), and the good old rice-throwing,
,the party continued on the country side, near Crema, where there was a lovely 120-person lunch, with a whole big bunch of children present.
A whole lot of merry-making ensued and we had a very good time.
It really was a very pleasant wedding-day. Tonite we might be meeting up with them and some of their visitors from South Africa again for an aperitivo, but we are not quite sure yet. Oh well, I am sure we will have a good time. Unfortunately the newly weds are moving to Belgium soon (in fact, Enrico has already departed, Belinda needs to get permission to be in Europe first, before moving to Belgium), so we wont be seeing much of them around. This really is too bad, because they can be lovely when they want to...
Ciao,
OJ
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