If Germans love David Hasselhoff, do Italians love Steven Seagal? and thoughts on apertifs

Everyone says that Germans love David Hasselhoff. I propose an equivalent for Italy. None other than Steven Seagal. Just channel surfing I'm under the impression that at least three times a week on one of the normal tv channels there is a Seagal movie. It is crazy (in the sense that he's made so many terrible movies and that all of them make their way here).

I feel like I had to get that off my chest. Now, something regarding Milan. I've read that it is the home of the 'happy hour'. This isn't the happy hour that we think of where drink prices are lowered or food prices slightly less w/a drink. Here happy hour means buy a cocktail for around 8 euros and you get an all you can eat buffet. They are all over the place, some of which are good and have a nice spread, others which don't. The hours run from 7-9 or later, so it's the perfect way to start a night.

In other news, in an effort to meet some new people I am currently trying to make contact with a group called a Hare Club. They are a running group of Italians and expats which run around the city and then eat at nearby restaurant once a week or so. Now, I'm not big on running, as most of you probably know. But to meet some new people I'll give it a go. Oh yeah, by the way, their slogan is 'A drinking club with a running problem'. If it's like that, I think I can manage.

I'm also trying to find information on some dance classes, although I haven't had much luck. Most classes are already going and I would have to wait til January to sign up.

My thoughts on Milan

Well, it came to me that I haven't really shared my thoughts on Milan as a city this far in and it's been nearly a month! Let me first say this: almost everyone that I have talked to so far that were not born in Milan (and even a lot of those that were born here) do not enjoy Milan. At all. At least at first. One teacher at the school moved here from a smaller town and said it took him about 2 years to get used to living here. It's noisy and there's smog. there's traffic. It's a big city. It's not only just a big city, like rome let's say, but it lacks the charm of a city like Rome. It seems more like a city that doesn't have the roots that a lot of other cities in Italy have. Of course, the city's history goes back some time. there's also the duomo, which is pretty old and very impressive (the third biggest church in the world).

I wouldn't say that I dislike Milan, it's just that it hasn't captured my heart or anything. One thing that I've noticed is the difference between Portland bums and Milan bums. So far I haven't been accosted by any bums. They seem more reserved here or something, I'm not sure how to explain. The public transport is fairly clean. It was a little while before I saw beggars in the tube.

I've nicknamed Milan 'The Gray City', I don't think I have to explain why. All in all, it's not bad. The weather has been so-so but today is pretty nice. You have to take advantage of the nicer days and go for a walk or something. Which is why this post is going to end here. I promise more posts with some more frequency soon! My roomates computer is being worked on right now so it's either wait til I'm at work and hog the computer for non-work reasons (there are really only two available in the teachers lounge and one is always on the fritz) or go to the internet point and pay. Thanks to all of you that have left comments or sent emails, I really appreciate it!

Go watch this video now!

Here is a link to a video by a man named Bruno Bozzetto. It is funny, but a large part of it is not exaggerated (or at least not exaggerated a whole lot). Watching along I can defintely say that all of the driving one are mostly true, along with road signs. The smoking one used to be true until the EU put its foot down and Italy had to play along (they were just making the transition when I first studied here in 2004). Probably the most true of all is the bureacrocy. It is seriously just like that. Anyways, I'll let you explore and watch for yourself. It may take a little while to load, but it's worth it.

http://www.lifeinitaly.com/flash/

Quick travel quips from Matteo

So, in light of my fairly negative sounded post prior to this one I wanted to leave on a positive note. I've been thinking a lot about traveling and how much I would love to write for a travel book. Here are some things I've noticed/travel tips for Italy, a few of which can probably be applied to other places too:

1) Italians don't like spicy food. If you do (and Lord knows I do) your best bet is heading for an ethnic place. For me, I've been loving these "Doner/Kebap" joints. They don't serve actual kebabs in the american sense but Gyro-like sandwiches. Delicious. Cheap. Spicy, too. All a Matt could ask for. Yummy roasted meat like veal thrown in some fresh pita bread with tomatoes, onions, hot sauce and sometimes a creamy taziki sauce. They usually set ya back only 3.5 euros and are a great on the go food. To my surprise none of my travel books have even mentioned them! How can you write about a low cost trip and exclude this gem? They are in all the big cities, even most of the smaller ones.

2) When traveling to a town, always, always stop by the tourist info booth. They have free maps and can give good info on the city. Most of the big cities have people that speak at least a little bit of English, too. Otherwise you'll probably end up either a) wondering the city aimlessly, b)trying to use the poorly made map in your travel book, or c) buying a map at some little shop near the train station that will set you back a couple euro. Make sure there is a street index, too.

3) Which travel book is the best? I've had experience with Let's Go and Lonely Planet. Let's Go is written mostly by students I believe, all of which are attending Harvard University, which I found interesting. Lonely Planet is written by an older crowd (i.e.not current students). For Let's Go, besides the standard "eat here, sleep there" suggestions there are occassionaly a quick story of one students experience, like a real short interview with someone who lives on Mt Etna or an expat that lives in Sicily, which are fun to read. Sometimes there are different top 10 lists, too. All in all, compared to Lonely Planets guide book, I think Let's Go lacks a bit. Maybe the information is better organized in a lay-out sense, but Lonely Planet packs more info and talks about some of the smaller towns the others don't. Let's Go does seem to give good suggestions for cheap hotels and hostels. All in all, it is certainly not a bad choice and it is always best to combine a couple of sources when planning trips (books and internet) anyways. One plus for Lonely Planet is that it's spine is double stitched so the book won't fall apart as easily when traveling. In the end, when planning a trip and you can only buy one book, I'd go Lonely Planet.

4) Low cost airlines. All hail the (almost) free flights! Competition is steep and interEurope flights are cheap, as long you book a little in advance. Some companies even have deals where all you pay are the taxes and a baggage fee. I found one flight to London from Milan, taxes included, on December 23rd for something like 45 Euros one way. During other times of the year you can fly to Dublin from Milan one way for something like 30 euros one way. Hopefully I'll get a chance to use this a lot! Faster, and for faraway places, cheaper than the train.

5) Pack light! I did my best to pack light and think I did a pretty good job. Still, I wish I brought less stuff. In reality you don't need much as far as clothing goes. Sure, we fret about having enough clean t-shirts and jeans before we leave but in the end having a smaller bag/luggage to haul around is great. It doesn't matter too much for me because I'm situated in Milan and can make my trips from there but when my program ends and I start actually traveling without a home base it might become a problem. I might even try to mail my luggage home before I leave and just take my normal sized backpack and messenger bag to make things easier.

Well, I guess that's all that comes to mind at the moment. Although most of you probably aren't getting ready for any big trans-oceanic trips I hope this hasn't bored you. All in all traveling just really makes me want to make a career out of it, like writing a travel book!

The Buerocracy battle

Everyone says that living in another country makes you appreciate your own. Well, the reason everyone says that is because it is true. Case in point: italian buerocracy.

I had to do some paperwork at the local police station to get a piece of paper called 'permesso di soggiorno' (permit to stay). Let me set the scene of this police station. First off, the section where you apply is the foreigners office. It is always full of people trying to get different paperwork to live, work, be a refuge, etc in Italy. The people that work there are never happy. Smiling seems to be outlawed. The waiting room is not heated. Now, the process:

What I had to do was wake up early in the morning and go stand in line around 7 in the morning to get a ticket with a number. Then, after getting this number I was told to come back at 2 in the afternoon. Well done Italy. This makes no sense, and no one can explain it. Then, when you come back at 2 with all of the documents needed (or at least the documents you think you need, which includes various photocopies, bank statements, proof of insurance, photos, a special sticker you have to buy that costs around $20 and whatever lse they feel like throwing at you) you wait again. Once they finally start (which is at least 2:15 or later) you wait for your number to be called. The first time I applied I had to wait about an hour and a half. Then I presented my documents and application to the employee. Of course, not everything was in order and how could it be? I checked the checklist online, thought I had everything. First of all, I'm told i have to have some document that declares I am living at a certain address so they tell me go to the station nearest the house. Also, my insurance card doesnt cut it because it does not have an expiration date (which I explained was because as long as my mother works we hvae insurance, but they didnt care). So I am told to go to the nearest police station where I live and find other insurance means. Long story short, I go to the police station and they pretend they don't know what I am talking about and tell me to go to a different station. I go back to the first station where I applied and this time they tell me I have to go with my landlady and I cant do it myself. Thanks for the help the first time, I think. When she finally has free time we go together, fill out some forms, wait in line and get a stamp on a piece of paper. Etc, etc, etc. I don't want you to live through my buerocratic experience so I will just tell you that in the end I got the stupid piece of paper, alhtough I will have to reapply to try to stay for the full 6 months of the program.

There is a video online, I think by bruno Borzetto or something, that shows the differences between Italy and the rest of the european union. I'll post a link later because it is exaclt how it is. Anyways, I feel I have only one a small battle and that the bigger war will undoubtedly continue...

Over a week later...

Well, it is almost the 9th of November here in Italy, which got me to thinking "Wow, it's already been a bit over a week". Sure, a week may not really be that long but it was one of the first times I recognised a true passage of time. Things are fine here. I have started work at the school. They are defintely teenagers, and definetly Italian. The response so far has been fair. The first day was kind of hard to get interaction, but I made them introduce themselves in English. I had to make sure I spoke very slowly and used simple language, which I had certainly thought of earlier but in practice you just start talking like you normally would if you're not used to teaching to people of a different mother tongue.

So far I have explored Milan but there really isn't a whole lot to do. It lacks the charm of other more medieval villages because it is certainly one of the most modern italian cities. I'm not really used to living right in a city like Milan. The air isn't as clean as back home I've noticed. I use public transportation to get around and it works out pretty nice. This may be one of the only towns where the buses and trams seem to run on time! The metro (subway) is pretty well developed too. It is also fairly clean. You don't see too many bums or beggars on the cars, but they will hang out near the entrances sometimes. All in all though, I would say it is a pretty good transportation venue, no real bad experiences.

After seeing what Milan had to offer (although I still have to book in advance a trip to the Last Supper and hope to catch some opera or at least a concert at the famous La Scala theater) I decided it was time to explore a little bit. I've gone so far to Lake Como and Turin (or Torino). Lake Como was very nice although extremely windy when I was there. I liked Torino quite a bit. It was just a day trip but I hung around the city until it got dark. Along a lot of the streets there were lights strung up indifferent patterns (think Christmas lights). It was very pretty and made for good pictures. I also visited the home of the Shroud of Turin, which some believe to be the cloth Jesus was wrapped in after cruxifiction. I learned that whoever it was that was wrapped in there (the guide told me that it is not officially recognised by the church) had type B blood, which I found very interesting. The guide also told me something that I found very interesting regarding the identity of the person. He said "Science can give us an examination of the cloth itself and it cannot say anything about the person that was contained in it".

Well, it is midnight here and I have to do some teaching tomorrow. Leave comments if you feel the urge! It let's me know people are reading!

Settling in...

Well, I have officially started to settle in. Right now I am living with a family of two boys, mom, three cats, a busy street, a romanian student and some guy from france. it sounds crowded but I think it is working out for the best. sure, it would be nice to be in an apartment and have a little more freedom but the company is really nice right now. plus they can help me find my way around town and figure out things to do. i might move out a little later, but for now its working out just fine. i start teaching on tuesday. i went to the school last wednesday or something to check it out. its pretty similar to a smaller highschool. ill be doing all my teaching inenglish and prtty much just talking about different subjects like history, authors, reading passages, etc. it should be fun but could prove to be a little difficult im sure, like all teaching jobs. im trynig to decide what to do tomorrow, probably catch a train to a smaller town nearby. today im going to the castel in the town and then climbing the duomo. but first, some pasta! a presto (til next time)

matteo