Archive for January, 2009

Journal 11 – 31 Jan 2009

Whew, Fun. Just got in from basketball. Damn its cold outside! Tomorrow it is supposed to snow I think. Cold man. Waiting for Nico to take a shower, doing laundry, writing and soon online to chat with mom and get my homework for the week. Should be able to do it. Hope so. We will see. Basketball was good, 2 v 2, did well. Scored 2 points out of three games haha, but not bad, was fun… got some exercise, gotta do some body weight exercises. O well, tonight Nico will make pasta with Mexican beans and pesce (starts with a C but I know it’s a type of fish haha). Then after I think I’ll go over to the club down the street.

Keepin this short because its cold and I need to talk to mum.

Ciao!

Ciao!

Oggi, Io ho svegliato alla nove in la mattina. Dopo Io ho fatto un passegiata e ho visto la citta di Milano. Milano è un bella città. Perche Milano è un citta vecchia ma nuova. Oggi la citta è coperta di nebbia. Bianca e grigia. In la citta la temperatura è fredda. Ogni giorno quando io faccio una passegiata alle citta, io vedo il mio respiro. Mi dispiace per non scrivere ma senza internet è un po dificile. Io ho pensato alle settimana scorso e scritto per Lei.

Its about time to catch up, so lets see what I’ve done these past few days. On Tuesday I woke up and went to work, got dressed, wore my tan suit just as I had planned and had a very productive day. I finished my check in and got settled. After work I went around searching for some information on internet access. I did find some more useful information about the Chiave (key) for internet and kept trying to get some more. After that I returned home to await my roommates. On Wednesday I took my dinner break and ran to Porta Venezia. Went down Viale Buenos Aires and found a little store called TRE. I went in and bought a little internet key and took it home only to find that it didn’t work! What a pain in the arse. When I got home I had to wait outside the apartment because until Friday morning I did not have a key for the apartment but rather only for the outer door, which meant that I needed to wait for my roommates to arrive before I could get inside… Let me tell you, it’s really cold when its 1-4 degrees Celsius and you have to wait outside 20-30 minutes for a way into the warmth.

The apartment is great. I shared a room with a young Italian with his doctorate in Economia. On Thursday we threw him a party that lasted until 2 am to see him off. The room is big, but everything is tile. The apartment is heated by water/radiators so it’s expensive for utilities. Plus with the Russian/Ukraine issue gas prices here are high. This means that since my roommates are all students we don’t turn on the house’s heating. Still its not bad. Its almost like home with mom and dad, wake up put on pants and a long sleeve shirt and if its early morning my coats…if later afternoon I’m fine with just what I wear. My roommates are warm and energetic. Additionally I’m about to get a new roommate who will arrive in the next two or three days.

At least the controls are separate on the heater for radiators and water so that makes showering pretty darn nice. Every Saturday and Friday Nico, the young man from Napoli, cooks dinner for the apartment and we all throw down 5-10 euro for the weekend’s food. I have been asked to think about a typical American breakfast and a typical American dinner to cook for the casa. I’m not sure what I’ll make. Maybe pork chops and eggs, or maybe eggs and bacon, something along those lines. Any ideas and recipes should be E-mailed to me at Joakhan_Peacebringer@yahoo.com. Talking about food is making me hungry! I’m going to need to cook soon. Its 6:16 your time and 2:16 in the afternoon here. I imagine mom and dad are waking up and Alex is snoring to his heart’s content. I miss you guys but am really working hard to keep focused on the fun of a new city to explore. Today or tomorrow I will wander Milan with my camera for pictures… It is so damn cold today because of the fog, that wet, bone cold…. Arizona dry cold/heat is so nice.

Today if the weather starts to get better I will go to the park and play basketball with Nico and some of his Italian friends. He just walked in and we talked about it. He says it is too cold right now but that he wants to play. We will make a decision in an hour. Tomorrow I think I will go to a Superbowl party hosted by an American living here who owns a couple of bars. I’m not sure about it yet because the game starts around 1AM and will go until 4-5. Since I wake up for work at 7 and arrive at work around 8 it makes it a tough decision. It is a good chance to talk with and mingle with the Marines and other Americans working/living here in Milan.

One great thing about work is that I’m reading so many different news sources and newspapers that I’m much more abreast of world affairs than I was in the U.S. I’ve got a much clearer global view. That is definitely something I’d like to continue after this job. Its about 2-3 hours each morning, but its time well spent and the variety of views I’m finding from international news sources is really startling.

I must finish off now. We’re going to go play basketball around a quarter to 3 so I’ve gotta get dressed and ready myself to freeze to death… until we start running.

Journal 8 – Milano, Viale Bligny. 26-1-09

Today was my first day at work. It went well! I met a lot of people and got to sit in on a few meetings. I’m still not sure what my learning curve will be but I am sure it includes ascoltare e leggere italiano molto buono.

I don’t have internet, so I’m not sure how I’m going to get these journals up online. I’m sure I’ll find a way. I can’t take a jump drive into the Consulate even with a secret clearance. Today at least, I was introduced to the guards and will have a pass waiting for me until I get my official badge. I can also take my cell phone into my cubicle… which is wonderful because we are on the 12th floor of the building (the top floor) and every room has windows. On our floor is the Executive and Pol/Econ branch… its pretty darn nice. I’m definitely going to enjoy working there.

But I’m jumping ahead of myself. I woke up this morning and took a hot shower, got dressed, picked my blue suit with black tie and red shirt. Put on my beautiful dress shoes and waited a few minutes for Giovanni my literal compagno di stanza. We walked quickly to the Metro station about five minutes away and bought tickets for the day. Then we boarded the crowded Metropolitana car and headed in toward work. Giovanni got off at the Duomo to switch lines and went off to work. I continued on to the Turrati stop and got off. I had given myself a large span of time to make sure I felt comfortable getting to work and had to wait 20 minutes outside the Consulate to be within the acceptable time table of my appointment for security to let me in. After I got in I met with the Marine at the inner door and gave my identification then continued on with Ms. Manno the HR director. She was very kind and helped me get acquainted with the floors and the steps that I needed to complete today. She took a picture of me and had me write up a small blurb about myself which she had posted in the elevator by the afternoon. This introduced my face and position to the consular members. Then I went with my mentor and supervisor, Mr. Kidwell, upstairs to my new office and had an introductory chat with him. Met the team I’ll be working with and went off about the consulate to introduce myself. I had to get my check-in packet signed off by each department. After that I attended two meetings…one a mentoring meeting for all the interns and a second, a very interesting goals meeting, for the Consulate. Both were fantastic and contained a plethora of information. The day passed quickly and tomorrow I finish up my security briefing. After that I only have Health and CLO check-ins which will need to be done next week.

I need to figure out what to do about this no internet issue. It could be highly frustrating. I don’t know how much personal use I can have on the unclassified system. I think very little since it is monitored at all times and for work. Maybe the CLO officer’s know a solution or perhaps I can bring my laptop and leave it downstairs in the CLO offices? I’m not sure. I’ll ask Mr. Kidwell tomorrow.

From what I heard in meeting and conversation today, I am going to really enjoy this post. I am very excited and think I’ll spend some extra time working at the Consulate as long as they don’t make me abide by my hours. I doubt they will complain about an unpaid intern wanting to work more… but who knows….t is a bureaucracy after all. I will need to find out I think. I got the other interns together for lunch tomorrow, meeting at 12:30 in the lobby to go out and grab some food for the day. I’ve been spending around 4-8 euro per meal and eating only twice a day, so keeping costs down. A blanket, pillow, and 1 fitted sheet cost me 38 euro at 50% off at the big department store outside of the city centre. It’s the cheapest I found… home items here seem to be unreasonably expensive. The blanket was 38 itself at full price, the pillow 10 and the sheets 18… so weird.

I also did laundry today, so I have freshly laundered clothing happily resting in my room on a drying rack. The implications of not having a dryer are interesting. I get a chance to lay out the clothing exactly as I want it before it dries. This lets me almost press my shirts without an iron. It should make it easier to deal with them.

Tomorrow I will wear my beige suit, coat and pants with dad’s tie and a baby blue shirt. I have not seen a single other person here wearing anything lighter than deep blue so I’ll stand out a bit, but maybe in a good way. It will be under my trench coat until work and we will see after that.

Food is great…pasta, meats, cheeses, and best of all, if you buy a drink at most of these shops, they have a miniature buffet where I can eat the equivalent of a meal for 3-4 euro (a glass of wine of Jameson). That’s a nice change. Small and bite-sized, they are a combination of meats, veggies, cheeses, mushrooms and bread. All smothered in oil I’m afraid.

Okay, I’m tired, time for bed.

Ciao, a domani.

January 26th – 29th Milano, Italy.

Having fun. Working hard. Struggling to keep up. The work isn’t my worry…I’m able to understand what types of information my superiors are asking for but my language skills are not up to par. I’m trying to read the paper each morning but it’s difficult as news language is different from everyday spoken language. But I’m learning steadily. Our meetings are held in Italian. They are using much more complex terms and concepts so my basic understanding, which has served me faithfully and allowed me to get by in day-to-day life, has not provided me with enough understanding to put together the full conversation.

Work is going well. I sat down and broke my chair today which was quite entertaining! I got to sit in on a meeting as well. Doing some basic clerical work but mostly focusing on learning what is going on here. I’m afraid I can’t go into details but generalizations are just fine.

I’m struggling with internet and it’s really beginning to agitate me. I went out and bought a mobile chiave (key) for my laptop which connects to the cell phone carrier’s network and uses that as a mobile connection point (59Euro). However, despite connecting and registering a meager amount of traffic, the 3.6MB/s connection will not allow me to actually surf. The browsers come up with a ‘Check DNS settings’ or ‘make sure the site exists’. Something is wrong and I’m not sure how to fix it. I will go into the tre.it (3) store today and ask them what’s wrong. I’ve tried everything I know, from setting a specific IP address, to manual forwarding, to creating a static IP address. No luck. I’ve even reset to Microsoft defaults and used 100% dynamic and varying degrees of static IP, DNS, and WIP. I followed their instructions and uninstalled and reinstalled their programs. It connects, it registers packet traffic to check connectivity, but will not allow any pages to display – nor will Skype or Pidgeon work…so I think it’s a communication issue between my computer and their server. (Their sever IP will not register – I think this is the issue). If they do not have an answer than I will return it, make sure I get my money back and walk 15 minutes to the internet café at Bocconi and pay per hour there. It’s not as nice as being able to surf in your own home and write and post whenever you would like, nor is it convenient since I get home around 7:30-8pm and everything closes between 8-9…but at least it will allow me to be online again after being sans internet for a week.

Milan is treating me well. Getting used to life here and trying a new ristorante ogni giorno. Va bene. I met the other two interns and for the last three days have gone to lunch with them every day at 12:30. I need to be off to meet them. I can surf etc. a limited amount at work which is how I wrote this.

I will work on getting internet and once I have it I will post my backlogged items.

Ciao

Searching. Waiting. Looking. Aspetta! Basta basta! Enough! I am done. Finished! This is over. I have found a safe, warm, place. A place with warm Italian vibes, good food, wine, and other students… best of all a place that barely speaks English.

I don’t know how to express the stress and aggravation that comes from not having a definite place to stay while in a foreign country where you barely speak the language and don’t always understand the cultural references that occur around you. I am just now beginning to cleanse that stress from my mind. Today (2:33 in la mattina) I will move in to my apartment. I share a room with another guy, and all together there are four of us. But the guys are warm, interesting and have been very welcoming of me. I will head over there later in the evening around 8pm. All I need to do is buy a blanket and some personal items for showering (shampoo, soap, razors). Other than that I packed perfectly and will be ready to start work early Monday morning.

Facebook has proven to be an interesting tool. Today I did a search for the group pages of the universities here in Milano and found a few different groups. The largest is for Bocconi. I posted a message asking if anyone would like to go out to Tropicana the Latin club on the same street as my apartment for next week and am waiting for a response.

The gentlemen I am moving in with invited me for dinner tomorrow night and I insisted that I bring a bottle of wine for the meal. I am excited for my first cooked meal in Italy. More so I am excited to have a kitchen! As well as a refrigerator. I can start cooking for myself… something I miss very much.

I am a little nervous about work, but not nearly as nervous as I was about finding an apartment. I know I will put in the hours necessary to succeed at the consulate…that at least is in my hands. Searching and finding an apartment was not fully in my control. I could ask and search but inevitably the result lay in the hands of a stranger. That I think was the hardest part.

I did more work for my Italian class today. I need to write a tema… I will do so in the morning after I get a full night’s rest for the first time since I landed. I am so pleased and excited to have an apartment, a bed, and keys so I can come and go as I please.

I am tired and we got back from the pub only half an hour ago. I think I’m headed to sleep!

Ciao,

Baci

Allora, Ieri sera io sono andato alle pub con Paul. Ho visto gli amici di Paul and ho parlato molto. Ho bevuto un po.

Yesterday was pretty darn interesting. I went to the pub with Paul and we decided to walk it. (from Paul’s to the pub is 20-25 minutes) It was COLD! But as we walked toward the duomo and the pub we encountered that same concert only this time as we walked by there was a live band playing. They were metal and the lead singer was screaming… but in Italian. A weird realization as I listened to it. The police were still quietly sitting at each of the exits of the piazza waiting in riot gear and their armor… I guess they are just for show. We passed through after listening to one song and continued on our journey.

We made it to the pub and started playing Jenga with the bartenders and some Italian/English guys who were regulars. I had a few drinks and so did Paul. Ended up wandering around and chatting with a bunch of folks, it was a very interesting night. I met a visiting Swede who was studying Italian and a young man whose parents work for the consulate. He said he would ask them if they knew of any places renting for pretty cheap or any families I could stay with. I gave him my card with my e-mail on it so now I can only wait and hope that it works out. At some point in the night I lost Paul. He wandered off somewhere with some of his friends. I waited at the bar chatting and having a good time until it closed. When the bar closed I decided that I’d wait 10 minutes and then walk home. I walked home without finding him and ended up waiting outside the front gate to his apartment complex.

Outside the complex I found a kebab shop that was great…3 euro for a wrap the size of my two palms and meat and veggies… not bad for 2:15 in the morning! After that I saw a guy go in the building. I propped open the door, got inside, and made it up to the apartment. I got in the apartment and went to bed knowing Paul had his key and would be fine with his friends. He came in about 15-20 minutes later apologized for losing track of me at the pub and went to bed.

All in all a fun night full of good conversation and interesting events!

Ciao Ciao!

Buon Giorno,

Ieri sera, io sono andato alle sei al agenzia immobiliare. Il agenzia immobiliare trova apartamenti con un contratto per 1-4 anni … non per 3-4 mese. Cerco per un apartamento ma non lo trovo.

The group of four guys who live down on Viale Bligny called and talked with me. The three I’ve met liked me the most of all the people who have asked about the apartment but their friend who is not moving out is worried about my short stay. His lease is up in June, and he is worried about not being able to fill the room by then and fill his space as well. Because I will be leaving on May 1st, he would only have a month to fill the space. He talked with his roommates and ten minutes later they called me again and said he changed his mind and would think about it. Then he called me directly and the gist of what I got from his Italian was that he wanted me to help him look for a replacement. I said I couldn’t fully understand but I got some of it and asked if we could meet in person to discuss it today. We set up an appointment at 6 and will discuss it then. I’m not sure if he wants me to guarantee a new roommate (which is impossible and too much stress for me to take on) or if he just wants me to help him write and post public announcements about the room on all the different sites… easy since I’ve used 5-10 different sites and can easily write a ‘bed for rent’ advert in English. He does not speak English which is what he is worried about … I think. I won’t know until I can hear him speak in person, I get so much more out of that and can gesture to make myself understood. I will take my dictionary with me… hehehe.

After that I walked home and listened in to a public concert in the square down Viale (Via) Gottardo. That was really fun … a bunch of big white vans parked under the massive freestanding archway just blasting music. At each corner of the square there were Italian police in riot gear… It was a little disconcerting. As I finished up my walk home I came to peace with the idea of moving into a hostel for a few nights if I had too. I have not found another immediate housing option but I have 3 that are open on February 1st. My main concern now is that the ones open February 1st are farther away than this shared place and much more private. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. I know private is nice … but I also don’t have any problem with sharing and it will help my Italian immensely to be living with Italians and not locked away in my room. Also those are 500-550 and have internet while the shared room is a meager 370 per month total without internet. The first month would be about the same since internet activation is 120 euro and 10 euro per month. I don’t understand how its so damn expensive to activate it but I think maybe I can negotiate.

I’m getting more comfortable with the idea of this shared place. It’s also in a great location. Three minutes walk from the Yellow line which goes straight to the consulate instead of a 20+ minute commute to the Duomo and then 10-15 to Turatti on the Giallo line. There is also a Latin dance school 100meteres down the street and Club Tropicana 60meteres down the street! Youtube Tropicana and you’ll see the club. That’s a big plus for me because the buses and metro shut down at 12:00-1am.

Two days ago I bought my student pass for 67 euro for 3 months. Unlimited access to all trains, buses, and trams within the metro area. Without it the transit costs 3 euro per day where as the pass is 17 per month with an initial 10euro for the card and photo. It looks like a fat phone card.

I also bought a cell phone 34 euro and a plan 10 euro, and put 20 euro of minutes on it. It has proved immeasurably useful in looking for apartments. I think I make 15-20 calls a day to different places asking about rooms.

I went inside my first big church today… they are so silent; I wanted to stay and just sit and calm myself. It was very tempting but I have to find a safe place to lay my head first then once that stress is gone I can prepare myself for work and really begin to explore Milan in depth.

If this place is where I end up staying then I won’t be online for a few days until I get internet sorted out. Don’t worry if that happens. At the latest I’ll get on from work when I start on Monday at the consulate. It will mean that at least I am in an apartment!! I’ve also found some internet cafés so maybe I can use them.

Got a great message from my folks. It was really wonderful to read their note and have their support. It makes such a difference in my determination and energy to know that my brother, mom and dad have full faith and confidence in my decisions.

As you can tell my mind is pretty focused on finding the apartment. I’ve got to go soon to meet up with the guy and talk to him. If we come to a reasonable agreement then I think I will do that. If I do I’ll need to get the deposit (2 months rent) and get a receipt from them. I wonder if I will need to sign a contract? Guess all good questions to ask today.

Ciao,

Baci.

Journal 5 – Thursday 22 2009:

Long day today. Started at 12:00 with my first appointment way out in Biscligli. About an hours ride outside Milan city centre. Too far, not going to be feasible as a place to stay… also out there the air is thick with smog. I got a headache and strong cough from walking through it for only 20 minutes. I coulden’t imagine doing it every day. Next on the list was back in Milan city centre.

Via Collodi. Found my way to it. The seller showed me the door inside and after I found the apartment on the first floor I talked for a few minutes with the folks inside. It wouldn’t be ready until the 20th of February. That marked that off the list.

As I made my way back into Milan I got struck by a wild hair to visit Polytechnico an industrial design school on the northern edge of Milan. I went for a train ride out to Polytechnico and found I couldn’t make my way onto the campus.

After returning by train (a different experience than Metro or Tram) I hurried down the Yellow line to Porta Romana. In Porta Romana I looked at two apartments. The first was nice, wood floors not tile and it looked much more like a house than a rental. Unfortunately the young man I would be renting from seemed shady. He was not sure on how much rent cost (weird right???) and mentioned having a private rental agreement. I kept it in mind because despite the young man the apartment itself was the nicest I had seen yet. Although the loft I would have rented was too short for me. So I’d be bent over and hunched if I did end up there. That fact alone makes it pretty low on the list.

The final place on today’s list was a four man three room apartment. Two bigger rooms with 2 beds each (shared) with one bathroom shared between the four. A kitchen/living room conglomeration and no internet. It was the cheapest I’d found so far coming in at 370 total with heating, light, gas, and rent. If I can’t find a place by Saturday that is the Apartment I’ll end up in. If I do end up there I’ll need to arrange for the building to turn on the internet service which might cost me another 25-40 Euro. I’m not sure.

Paul and his Italian roommate have been very kind about letting me stay on the couch. But I feel that I’m outstaying my welcome. I’ve been crashing here since Tuesday and I’d only planned to be here one day. I need to find something before the weekend.

Tomorrow I’m going to step into an Apartment locating office. Agencia Immobiliare. I’ll let them know what I’m looking for and hopefully have results by the end of the night.

The city was more active today. There was a protest of some sort in the Main square north of Paul’s apartment. Big white vans blasting music and a huge amount of people. Police were everywhere around the edges. I don’t know what it was about but it looked pretty interesting.

I’m off to study more Italian, trying to pickup what I can. They speak so fast and are using words I can’t put together yet.

Peace.

Journal 4 – 2 Am Jan 22:

Milan 2009 – Observations. The city is interesting, like its population it is fitted. Tight streets, tight corners, tight clothes. Everyone I’ve seen is thin, and strangely… fitted, like a silhouette. It’s a little odd. The buildings here have seen better days, and with snow expected for Friday, it should be an interesting weekend. Graffiti is very common and the city is deep in winter mourning. Everything appears slightly dampened. It’s a new feeling. Not something I felt even in the cold grey that was London… but it was summer when I was in London. People here are seasonal I think. As spring and summer come along I trust Milano will shine.

I saw a lot of interesting things during my walk through the city, the graffiti and the hungry growl of winter push foremost in my mind. I’ll start taking photos tomorrow as I’m walking between the apartments I am looking at. I hope I’ll find a good fit.

The bar was a lot of fun. Guys studying at Bocconi and one young woman studying at the Catholic Univeristy. Interesting group – English pub and everyone speaking English with a little Italian mixed in. Played Uno and Jenga over a pint of Guiness – it tastes so much better here. Pub closed around 1:30 and we stayed inside with the folks running it.

Basta. Io ho bisogno di dormire. Alle due in la mattina e sono molto stanco. Suffro di Jet lag e sveglio alle sette.

Ciao

Journal Three Day two – Milan – Jan 21st Wednesday evening:

Wonderful morning. Buon Mattina! This morning Paul and I went over to the consulate and checked in. I had a wonderful chat with Mr. Kidwell about my duties and what our division of the consulate does. I think its going to be quite a lot of fun. From what he described I’ve got a bit of writing and reading ahead of me to stay on top of my learning curve. Nothing I can study for either. I just need to pick it up quickly. Time to start reading Italian newspapers and online sites each morning to work on my language skills. I’m excited to start work on the 26th.

Since I only have 5 days before I begin work I need to figure out this whole apartment issue. The two apartments I checked into today didn’t work out. The first won’t be available until February 1st five days after I am to start work. The second was already booked. I took the entire day to check into resources. I managed to find my way to University Bocconi. After speaking with the staff and getting some contacts I fired off two e-mails to their housing directors and spent a good half an hour scrounging through the bulletin boards for room availability postings. I called 20 different people today and 14 of the 20 rooms had already been booked. I emailed two, and set up appointments to visit the apartments tomorrow starting at 1pm and going until 7pm at night. I hope I’ll find something manageable. I don’t want to impose on Paul and he’s been nice enough to let me stay here two nights now as it is. I think I’ll end up staying tomorrow night as well and hopefully moving out on Friday.

Its pretty cold and I’ve been fighting my jet lag. Had to take a nap today around 6pm so I could focus. I did my first assignment for my online ITA 202 course. Made a post and now need to wait for my fellow students to ask me questions then respond. It seems like the course will be a lot of busy work. But over all I think I’ll do just fine. It is imperative that I find an apartment with Internet though. Been talking and asking for directions in Italian and trying to bring my mind around to the idea of thinking in it. I’ll know its happened when these blogs are in Italian.

Better run, meeting Paul at the Duomo then off to a pub for my first drink in Italia!

Ciao,

Baci.