Ciao tutti,
This is going to be a very short post because I don't really have that much to say. This week has pretty much been work, work, work. Fortunately, all my classes were cancelled today so I had some time to rest, do some administrative duties and clean the house - preparation much needed for the arrival of Margo and Marieke, two of my friends from Nijmegen. Olaf was also working a lot this week, but has unfortunately still not been able to renew his permesso di soggiorno which is pretty frustrating for him (for his experiences and reactions, see his blog).
But there are also a lot of positive things going on. The weather is very nice, it's dry, not that cold (at least not as cold as I expected - I'm still wearing my autumn coat without a scarf!) and the skies are mainly blue. I love the December sun, it gives you that wonderful, completely unexpected warmth as it suddenly starts shining on you when you pass a corner or a tram moves out of the way. It makes me very happy... And, of course, the holiday season is approaching! Olaf's been working on Christmas dinner for weeks now and he has almost finalised the menu. We've both been enjoying the sights - the lights hanging over the naviglio elicit a magic reflection in the water and the balconies with plants completely covered in multi-coloured Christmas lights are a sight to be seen. Needless to say, we've been listening to Christmas music for about half a month now and it still doesn't bore me! Don't you all love Christmas?
The whole city is preparing for the holidays. There's a big tree in the middle of the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II, Milan's monumental shopping area next to the Duomo, which glitters with Swarovski glass, dominates the view and takes one's breath away. Every shop is selling Christmas trees, decorations, songs, candy, panettone (Christmas cake), Santa suits and whatever you can think of that belongs to Christmas. And the people are a lot happier too. All the grim faces are starting to smile again, everyone's filled with anticipation for the holidays. Only one more week...
The advent calendar is already half finished, there's a tree proudly standing in the middle of our living room, there are Christmas lights singing songs off-key everywhere, there's an ugly decoration on the front door and there are already some presents underneath the tree. I can't wait to unwrap them... I hope you're all looking forward to it as much as I am!
Good luck with whatever you're doing this last week, I know the time before Christmas can be a bitch! See you soon,
Ciao, Fe
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