Happy Cuddle Day everyone! Cuddles from me to you all....
Yesternight was a good night! After having worked all week and having gotten a rest on Saturday morning it was definitely party time yesterday. Olaf had gotten it into his head that he was going to try to make sushi himself for the first time, so we invited Idil and Meghan for dinner at our place.
Olaf had been in the kitchen all day - and I had been enjoying myself reading and watching movies on the couch as I wasn't allowed in the kitchen - and he succeeded admirably, of course (I hadn't expected otherwise). And he didn't just make sushi, but he prepared a four course 'fusion' meal. We started off with artichokes with three different dips, which I think he did for me because I absolutely love artichokes prepared this way! Then we had Japanese miso soup in the very cute new little bowls we had bought at the international food store on Thursday. The sushi itself was wonderful! Olaf had prepared some pieces with salmon, some with tuna, some with shrimps and some vegetarian ones with spring onions and they were gorgeous and tasted divine. The last course was a lovely home-made pineapple carpaccio which was the perfect end to a perfect dinner. However, we didn't stop drinking when the meal was finished, obviously.
Of course Olaf had prepared way too much, so he's having some pieces of sushi a snack while I'm typing this. So would I, if I wasn't so f*cking hung over. At the moment I'm experiencing my first official hangover since I have been in Italy. And it was about time. I have never gone that long without a hangover! Well, not since I was eighteen or so anyway. So I'm hurting but really proud of myself right now. We went out to the Johann Sebastian Bar (Don't you love the name? Yes, it's as 'fout' as it sounds!) again and it was as crazy as the time we went there before when Bastiaan and Anne were visiting. The fifty year-old eastern European botoxed barbie doll DJ singing in her incomprehensible accent to famous songs was livening up the place and the transsexual/transvestite was entertaining all the dirty old men who were obviously there to get laid by one of the not-so-pretty and not-so-young women. It was a blast, of course! We drank way too much, I smoked way too much and Meghan kept falling over because she was really drunk. The transsexual/transvestite (I didn't have the heart or the linguistic capability to ask him/her what he/she really was) and I actually sandwiched Meghan on the dance floor. On the way back I had to walk behind Olaf and follow him closely in order not to fall over or lose my way. It was lovely. I enjoyed that immensely.
So, today, my head hurts and doing all the dishes was horrific but that's all finished now. I'm happily settled on the couch thinking back on a great weekend. We're just going to stay in tonight, get some kebabs and watch a movie. That's the only thing I'm capable of right now. What a night...
Have a good week, everybody!
xxx, Fe
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Saturday, February 17, 2007
"My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint." Erma Bombeck
Please, could someone get this woman a maid? It's a very recognisable quote for housewives though... Thank God I'm not one of them!
Ciao tutti,
Today, I had a little shocking experience. When I arrived at the Corriere della Sera this afternoon to teach a lesson, everyone in the office was crying when I walked in. My student was a bit late and didn't know what was going on. When he asked his colleagues, it turned out one of their dear colleagues had suddenly died and that they had heard just a couple of minutes ago. As my student started to cry as well, I told him I was sorry for his loss and that I wouldn't bother him with a lesson today. But as I left a strange shiver started crawling up my spine. Just a couple of hours before this lesson I had had a lesson with one of his colleagues who was home sick. She didn't seem that ill this morning but she wasn't completely healthy either and seemed to be hurting. It has made me wonder what if... It's probably not the same person but I just don't trust the situation. I hope to find out soon.
On to happier topics. Last weekend was lovely. We didn't have any visitors and therefore had some time to catch up with some local friends. On Friday night I met up with Nina for our long-postponed Dirty Dancing night. The plan was to watch Dirty Dancing and to catch up while listening to the movie soundtrack. As we have both been enormous fans of this movie since our respective childhoods, we decided a long time ago to organise an evening like this. And then we postponed it, and postponed it again, and postponed it some more until we almost forgot we were going to do this. Fortunately Bastiaan and Anne's visit two weeks ago reminded us of our design and we decided to 'grab the cow by the horns', as the Dutch would say, and plan it for last Friday. The evening was everything it promised to be and we enjoyed ourselves immensely watching the movie, commenting on it, laughing about its stupidity, making silly romantic sounds to the appropriate scenes and listening to the music and catching up of course. When I had just finished taking Nina to her tram, Olaf called me and we had some lovely vini with some of his study mates.
On the Thursday before that it had been time for another teacher meeting - the wonderful euphemism Corporate English uses for a short - though effective and useful - meeting of all teachers in order to give us some relevant management information and exchange some teaching tips followed by a bacchanal of voracious feeding and drinking at the expense of the school. As I had to work for CTL until 8 o'clock, I obviously couldn't go to the meeting but that didn't stop them from inviting me to the feeding and drinking part anyway. The food was good, the wine was even better and the cocktails to top it off were just a bit too alcoholic. Fortunately, my morning lessons on Friday had been cancelled so I didn't look as weary and sleep-depraved as some other people I met at school Friday afternoon. It was a good chance for me to meet our new teachers (as the school is doing really well, we have recently hired a lot of new teachers who I hadn't or had only briefly met before) and fortunately they invited Belinda as well, even though she is leaving the school.
After doing the necessary groceries on Saturday we met Belinda and Enrico for aperitivo at Más, a gorgeous Spanish restaurant nearby. This is a really popular restaurant so we wanted to get there early to be able to get a table. Unfortunately, Belinda and Enrico were not only half an hour late but they also brought more people than they had told us they would - so we were ready to leave again as we were sure we would never get a table now. But then, by a sudden stroke of luck, the staff informed us they had a table for us and we ended up spending a lovely evening after all. After three Más Specials *hips* which are *hips* mega-sized cocktails when two regular cocktails *hipships* are usually enough to *hipshipships* send me flying, it was really time for bed and I *hips* went home a little *hips* tipsy. It was a great night...
To finish this post, this is one things I just can't pass on the opportunity of showing you. It's hilarious. You've got to sing it to the tune of "I will survive". Who knew this gay classic could be revived in this original way?!?!
At first I was afraid, I was petrified.
When you said you had 10 inches, Lord I almost died!
But I'd spent so many years just waiting for a man that long, That I
grew strong, And I knew that I could take you on...
But there you are, another lie,
I was ready for a Big Mac and you've brought me a French Fry!
I should have known that it was bulls***t, just a sad pathetic dream
Should have known there was no Anaconda lurking in those jeans!
Go on now - go,! Walk out the door,
Don't you promise me 10 inches, then turn up with only 4!
Weren't you a brat to think I wouldn't find you out!?
Don't you know we're only joking when we say size don't count??!!
[Chorus]
I will survive! I will survive!
Cuz as long as I have batteries,
My sex life's gonna thrive!
I will always have good sex,
with a handful of latex!
I will survive! I will survive! Hey! Hey!
It took all my self control not to laugh out loud, When I saw your
little weiner standing tall and proud!
But to hell with your ego and to hell with all your needs, Now I'm
saving all my lovin' for a cordless multispeed!
[Chorus]
I will survive! I will survive!
Cuz as long as I have batteries,
My sex life's gonna thrive!
I will always have good sex,
With a handful of latex!
I will survive! I will survive! Hey! Hey!
;-) Ciao, Fe
Ciao tutti,
Today, I had a little shocking experience. When I arrived at the Corriere della Sera this afternoon to teach a lesson, everyone in the office was crying when I walked in. My student was a bit late and didn't know what was going on. When he asked his colleagues, it turned out one of their dear colleagues had suddenly died and that they had heard just a couple of minutes ago. As my student started to cry as well, I told him I was sorry for his loss and that I wouldn't bother him with a lesson today. But as I left a strange shiver started crawling up my spine. Just a couple of hours before this lesson I had had a lesson with one of his colleagues who was home sick. She didn't seem that ill this morning but she wasn't completely healthy either and seemed to be hurting. It has made me wonder what if... It's probably not the same person but I just don't trust the situation. I hope to find out soon.
On to happier topics. Last weekend was lovely. We didn't have any visitors and therefore had some time to catch up with some local friends. On Friday night I met up with Nina for our long-postponed Dirty Dancing night. The plan was to watch Dirty Dancing and to catch up while listening to the movie soundtrack. As we have both been enormous fans of this movie since our respective childhoods, we decided a long time ago to organise an evening like this. And then we postponed it, and postponed it again, and postponed it some more until we almost forgot we were going to do this. Fortunately Bastiaan and Anne's visit two weeks ago reminded us of our design and we decided to 'grab the cow by the horns', as the Dutch would say, and plan it for last Friday. The evening was everything it promised to be and we enjoyed ourselves immensely watching the movie, commenting on it, laughing about its stupidity, making silly romantic sounds to the appropriate scenes and listening to the music and catching up of course. When I had just finished taking Nina to her tram, Olaf called me and we had some lovely vini with some of his study mates.
On the Thursday before that it had been time for another teacher meeting - the wonderful euphemism Corporate English uses for a short - though effective and useful - meeting of all teachers in order to give us some relevant management information and exchange some teaching tips followed by a bacchanal of voracious feeding and drinking at the expense of the school. As I had to work for CTL until 8 o'clock, I obviously couldn't go to the meeting but that didn't stop them from inviting me to the feeding and drinking part anyway. The food was good, the wine was even better and the cocktails to top it off were just a bit too alcoholic. Fortunately, my morning lessons on Friday had been cancelled so I didn't look as weary and sleep-depraved as some other people I met at school Friday afternoon. It was a good chance for me to meet our new teachers (as the school is doing really well, we have recently hired a lot of new teachers who I hadn't or had only briefly met before) and fortunately they invited Belinda as well, even though she is leaving the school.
After doing the necessary groceries on Saturday we met Belinda and Enrico for aperitivo at Más, a gorgeous Spanish restaurant nearby. This is a really popular restaurant so we wanted to get there early to be able to get a table. Unfortunately, Belinda and Enrico were not only half an hour late but they also brought more people than they had told us they would - so we were ready to leave again as we were sure we would never get a table now. But then, by a sudden stroke of luck, the staff informed us they had a table for us and we ended up spending a lovely evening after all. After three Más Specials *hips* which are *hips* mega-sized cocktails when two regular cocktails *hipships* are usually enough to *hipshipships* send me flying, it was really time for bed and I *hips* went home a little *hips* tipsy. It was a great night...
To finish this post, this is one things I just can't pass on the opportunity of showing you. It's hilarious. You've got to sing it to the tune of "I will survive". Who knew this gay classic could be revived in this original way?!?!
At first I was afraid, I was petrified.
When you said you had 10 inches, Lord I almost died!
But I'd spent so many years just waiting for a man that long, That I
grew strong, And I knew that I could take you on...
But there you are, another lie,
I was ready for a Big Mac and you've brought me a French Fry!
I should have known that it was bulls***t, just a sad pathetic dream
Should have known there was no Anaconda lurking in those jeans!
Go on now - go,! Walk out the door,
Don't you promise me 10 inches, then turn up with only 4!
Weren't you a brat to think I wouldn't find you out!?
Don't you know we're only joking when we say size don't count??!!
[Chorus]
I will survive! I will survive!
Cuz as long as I have batteries,
My sex life's gonna thrive!
I will always have good sex,
with a handful of latex!
I will survive! I will survive! Hey! Hey!
It took all my self control not to laugh out loud, When I saw your
little weiner standing tall and proud!
But to hell with your ego and to hell with all your needs, Now I'm
saving all my lovin' for a cordless multispeed!
[Chorus]
I will survive! I will survive!
Cuz as long as I have batteries,
My sex life's gonna thrive!
I will always have good sex,
With a handful of latex!
I will survive! I will survive! Hey! Hey!
;-) Ciao, Fe
Monday, February 12, 2007
The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful
Ciao tutti,
I haven't posted much lately and this is one of my many flaws. I also have to apologise in advance that this isn't going to be a very long post. Hopefully the pictures will make up for the lack of the useless kind of blabber I usually write down here. Let me start by telling you all that I am well and am enjoying myself immensely. Let me then add to that that I have been extremely busy with all the things I'm enjoying and that this is the reason I haven't updated my blog much. I'm just loving my work, my time in Milan and my weekends!
To start at the end of last post, Maartje and Steef's visit was marvellous! We shopped till we dropped as it was the last weekend of sale and I am proud to tell you all that I bought most of the three of us. I ended up with a lovely new sweater, a gorgeous new black bag with the golden imprint of an Afro-American and the phrase 'Funky drummer, funky good time'- which has unfortunately broken last weekend - and the shirt I'd been dying to buy for months and which was now 70% off! We also had a lot of time to see some sights, drink some wines, eat some pizzas and other lovely dishes and catch up on all the more and less serious things that have been going on in our lives lately. Thank you girls, it was a great weekend! Even though we had to wake up in the middle of the night to get you to your airport shuttle...
The weekend after that Bastiaan and Anne visited us. Bastiaan is an old schoolmate of Olaf's and Anne is his girlfriend who we hadn't met before. As Bastiaan is Olaf's friend and I don't know him very well, I was glad to give them some time to catch up on Saturday so I could reply to some emails and get some work done. I joined them for the evening programme, obviously, as we went to La Padellaccia with Nina on Saturday evening (Olaf, Nina and Bastiaan used to go to school together). As Anne had expressed a wish to visit a museum, we went to the Pinacoteca di Brera on Sunday, which is a place I'm always willing to go to. This was Olaf's first time there and I think he quite enjoyed it, although he's definitely fed up with paintings showing a 'Madonna col bambino' for the next few months - a feeling which has been significantly enhanced since our recent trip to Florence (see further down). They went back with the same excruciatingly early EasyJet morning flight Steef and Maartje had taken the week before, but fortunately they were willing to take a taxi to get there so we could go back to bed after a short farewell ceremony.
To give you a little update on what work-related issues have been happening over the past few weeks, Olaf finished the first draft of his first paper (well done, my love!!!) which has surprised all of his professors as people doing his Ph D rarely finish their first paper before the third year. I have been doing quite well in the achieving (well, achieving...) nice things department as well, as I have gotten pay rises from both my employers. When I came into CTL one morning to pick up some tests which I had forgotten the night before, my boss approached me with a serious look on his face. He said they had been doing an internal and external audit and that he really wanted to talk to me. I was a bit scared and I obviously told him with a slightly trembling voice: 'of course I've got a few minutes'. As it turned out he, the students, the didactic coordinator and the course manager were very happy with my work and he told me that 'my courses are among the best they have'. So they decided to give me a pay rise and also hinted at the probability of me getting a contract guaranteeing a certain amount of hours as of September. This is really cool because as a freelancer I don't have any job security right now. I had seriously been considering leaving them to become a full timer at my other school after the summer, but perhaps this changes things... And then I got my January paycheck from Corporate English. I calculated and re-calculated but this always resulted in the same things. Someone had made a mistake, because I was getting more money than I should have. After deliberating whether or not to talk to my boss about this I casually asked her whether she had given me a pay rise without telling me or if she had made a mistake. She valued my honesty and after a little admin-digging we found out that she had actually given me a pay rise without telling me! I'm really happy because they had said they would only do that if I had completed 300 hours of work or them, but apparently they decided three months was enough experience to give me this pay rise. You don't hear me complaining!
But these last few weeks have not merely been filled with joy and positive surprises. A sad thing happened as well. The disagreement between my employers at Corporate English and our intern Silvia resulted in them letting her go. Last Friday was her last day and a new girl started today. I'm really going to miss her in the office because we got on really well and because she was always a very positive influence on the atmosphere in general, even though she was a bit too chatty sometimes. I value her as more than just a colleague and hope we'll stay in contact. Working a lot of hours has also made me realise how exhausting teaching really is. Not physically or mentally exhausting, but socially. I spend the greater part of my day being very nice to people and interested in them in order to stimulate them to talk and practise their English. I also laugh their mistakes away as unimportant and encourage them to try again. I ask them questions about the most nonsensical things they tell me just to get them to practise and praise them and appear very proud when they do things very well - even if these little things seem trivial and extremely simple to me. This is all part of being a teacher, of course, but it makes sure I don't feel like being nice and social anymore when I finish work. Therefore, I tend not to go out that much during the week but generally just go home and spend some time alone or with Olaf. Does this make me sound dull? I sometimes think I'm becoming extremely dull.
Fortunately, I found out this morning that I had already prepared all my classes for this week last week. Several of my classes were cancelled last week and I have used that time wisely. This means I had a very relaxing day today and had a lot of time to answer and write some emails, do some housework (oh yes, I was the regular housewife today!), watch a movie and update my blog. This day was much needed, because we went to Florence last weekend and didn't come back until last night. Florence?
Yes, Florence, Firenze, the birthplace of the Renaissance! This was my present to Olaf for his birthday. I could describe you how much we saw and how beautiful it all was but - once again - pictures speak louder than words...
The Duomo surrounded by a large part of the old city centre, seen from Piazzale Michelangelo
Aren't we cute? We're on Piazza della Signoria
I haven't posted much lately and this is one of my many flaws. I also have to apologise in advance that this isn't going to be a very long post. Hopefully the pictures will make up for the lack of the useless kind of blabber I usually write down here. Let me start by telling you all that I am well and am enjoying myself immensely. Let me then add to that that I have been extremely busy with all the things I'm enjoying and that this is the reason I haven't updated my blog much. I'm just loving my work, my time in Milan and my weekends!
To start at the end of last post, Maartje and Steef's visit was marvellous! We shopped till we dropped as it was the last weekend of sale and I am proud to tell you all that I bought most of the three of us. I ended up with a lovely new sweater, a gorgeous new black bag with the golden imprint of an Afro-American and the phrase 'Funky drummer, funky good time'- which has unfortunately broken last weekend - and the shirt I'd been dying to buy for months and which was now 70% off! We also had a lot of time to see some sights, drink some wines, eat some pizzas and other lovely dishes and catch up on all the more and less serious things that have been going on in our lives lately. Thank you girls, it was a great weekend! Even though we had to wake up in the middle of the night to get you to your airport shuttle...
The weekend after that Bastiaan and Anne visited us. Bastiaan is an old schoolmate of Olaf's and Anne is his girlfriend who we hadn't met before. As Bastiaan is Olaf's friend and I don't know him very well, I was glad to give them some time to catch up on Saturday so I could reply to some emails and get some work done. I joined them for the evening programme, obviously, as we went to La Padellaccia with Nina on Saturday evening (Olaf, Nina and Bastiaan used to go to school together). As Anne had expressed a wish to visit a museum, we went to the Pinacoteca di Brera on Sunday, which is a place I'm always willing to go to. This was Olaf's first time there and I think he quite enjoyed it, although he's definitely fed up with paintings showing a 'Madonna col bambino' for the next few months - a feeling which has been significantly enhanced since our recent trip to Florence (see further down). They went back with the same excruciatingly early EasyJet morning flight Steef and Maartje had taken the week before, but fortunately they were willing to take a taxi to get there so we could go back to bed after a short farewell ceremony.
To give you a little update on what work-related issues have been happening over the past few weeks, Olaf finished the first draft of his first paper (well done, my love!!!) which has surprised all of his professors as people doing his Ph D rarely finish their first paper before the third year. I have been doing quite well in the achieving (well, achieving...) nice things department as well, as I have gotten pay rises from both my employers. When I came into CTL one morning to pick up some tests which I had forgotten the night before, my boss approached me with a serious look on his face. He said they had been doing an internal and external audit and that he really wanted to talk to me. I was a bit scared and I obviously told him with a slightly trembling voice: 'of course I've got a few minutes'. As it turned out he, the students, the didactic coordinator and the course manager were very happy with my work and he told me that 'my courses are among the best they have'. So they decided to give me a pay rise and also hinted at the probability of me getting a contract guaranteeing a certain amount of hours as of September. This is really cool because as a freelancer I don't have any job security right now. I had seriously been considering leaving them to become a full timer at my other school after the summer, but perhaps this changes things... And then I got my January paycheck from Corporate English. I calculated and re-calculated but this always resulted in the same things. Someone had made a mistake, because I was getting more money than I should have. After deliberating whether or not to talk to my boss about this I casually asked her whether she had given me a pay rise without telling me or if she had made a mistake. She valued my honesty and after a little admin-digging we found out that she had actually given me a pay rise without telling me! I'm really happy because they had said they would only do that if I had completed 300 hours of work or them, but apparently they decided three months was enough experience to give me this pay rise. You don't hear me complaining!
But these last few weeks have not merely been filled with joy and positive surprises. A sad thing happened as well. The disagreement between my employers at Corporate English and our intern Silvia resulted in them letting her go. Last Friday was her last day and a new girl started today. I'm really going to miss her in the office because we got on really well and because she was always a very positive influence on the atmosphere in general, even though she was a bit too chatty sometimes. I value her as more than just a colleague and hope we'll stay in contact. Working a lot of hours has also made me realise how exhausting teaching really is. Not physically or mentally exhausting, but socially. I spend the greater part of my day being very nice to people and interested in them in order to stimulate them to talk and practise their English. I also laugh their mistakes away as unimportant and encourage them to try again. I ask them questions about the most nonsensical things they tell me just to get them to practise and praise them and appear very proud when they do things very well - even if these little things seem trivial and extremely simple to me. This is all part of being a teacher, of course, but it makes sure I don't feel like being nice and social anymore when I finish work. Therefore, I tend not to go out that much during the week but generally just go home and spend some time alone or with Olaf. Does this make me sound dull? I sometimes think I'm becoming extremely dull.
Fortunately, I found out this morning that I had already prepared all my classes for this week last week. Several of my classes were cancelled last week and I have used that time wisely. This means I had a very relaxing day today and had a lot of time to answer and write some emails, do some housework (oh yes, I was the regular housewife today!), watch a movie and update my blog. This day was much needed, because we went to Florence last weekend and didn't come back until last night. Florence?
Yes, Florence, Firenze, the birthplace of the Renaissance! This was my present to Olaf for his birthday. I could describe you how much we saw and how beautiful it all was but - once again - pictures speak louder than words...
The Duomo surrounded by a large part of the old city centre, seen from Piazzale Michelangelo
The Loggia on Piazza della Signoria with its many Roman and Renaissance statues
Does this look like the lower part of some vile animal taking a dump to you? No...? Well, then it must be my imagination gone crazy...
The famous Ponte Vecchio
One of the fountains in the wonderful Giardini di Boboli (the garden of Palazzo Pitti, the former residence of the rulers of Florence)
A view of the surroundings from the highest part of the Giardini di Boboli
Aren't we cute? We're on Piazza della SignoriaOkay, so that's it for today. This post turned out to be a lot longer than I'd expected. Oh well... As we're not having any visitors over for the next two weeks, the next update shouldn't take that long. Have a nice week, everybody!
xxx, Fe
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