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Fondue: [Tuesday 13th May 2008]

After a quite hard day at work, where a lot of rather sad things happened, Chiara called me at work to ask me if I wanted to go to IKEA to "take a look around" (read: buy an heap load of useless stuff).

I didn't want to go to IKEA, especially because the knee is not fit to walk around a lot yet... So for once, after Chiara arrived at home after work in her usual 1 hour delay, I did not get angry at her for being so hideously late...

Instead we decided that it was too late to go (pheeewwww...) and instead we decided to have a dinner out.

It was quite sad to come to the realization that the area where we live in is totally devoid of decent restaurants, so in the end we decided to take the car and go to a "Swiss Fondue" place.

The restaurant was quite nice, very well kept. Unfortunately because Chiara cannot eat a lot of cheese we decided to go for a Burgignon, where basically you have a lot of sauces and you dip row meat in a pot of boiling oil.
The food was ok I guess, although I think that we should have gone for a real fondue, to have the full blast "fist in your liver" experience...

Of course we had to close the dinner with a mandatory chocolate fondue with fresh fruits, which was quite nice...

All in all a different Tuesday!
[4 comments]
INAIL: [Friday 9th May 2008]

INAIL stands for "Istituto Nazionale per l'assicurazione contro gli infortuni sul lavoro", which means "National Insurance Institute against Work-related Injuries".

Today I had to go there because of the new knee problem that I have, as I got injured while working and therefore it was a work-related issue.

Entering INAIL building in Florence, but I guess everywhere around Italy, it's like entering into a dream.
The buildings are really old, they reek of old, they look old, the paintings are old, the flooring is old, the colour of doors and paint is old. It's like going back to the 70's.

In Pizzaland these places are commonly referred to as "Palaces of Sleep", i.e. sleep is the king in the halls and corridors of these offices. I will not venture into one of the greatest problems that afflict Italy (public servants), but my brief experience of today simply strengthened my beliefs.

I arrived at 9.00, at the entrance I could find an automatic dispenser of paper numbers, needed to queue properly to be registered for the visit.
After a short wait I got in, explaining to the nurse that I was there because I wanted to shorten the period of illness that I was given at the hospital.
She looked at me as if I told her that I wanted to rip her heart off with a spoon... I think it took a good five minutes to explain that I wanted to go back to work even with crutches!
After she recovered from the shock she told me that I was not in the system and I had to go on the second floor to be added to the database (WHY!?!?!?)....

On the second floor I arrived through the staff lift, which opened onto a corridor that could be easily defined as my representation of hell.
Green linoleum flooring, a lot of rooms full of "stuff", desks, computers, most of them empty (i.e. with no workers inside), there must have been 20 rooms with to people working, and maybe 1 or 2 with some staff.
A dim light coming through the dirty windows, an environment that is so "behind" that it looks as if you had a Quantum Leap to the 60's!

I was greeted by a blind dwarf (yes a BLIND DWARF), well actually not much of a dwarf, but a man that could not see very well, and was quite short. A typical dweller of these halls, and he told me that I had to wait for the "lady that shouts"...

The system to be added to the database is somewhat crazy... Basically I had to wait half an hour for a woman to open a door and shout in the corridor if there was someone that "needs to be put in"... as if it was a secret word! Some people there waiting with me lined up and after another half an hour we were in the mighty database of INAIL (apparently the computer system crashed and therefore they were a bit slow, in truth it was 10 which means coffee break for public servants in Pizzaland).

I thought that I was living in a dream, or better a nightmare!

So it was time to go back down, where I had to wait for another hour and then I was visited by the doctor who basically did not tell me nothing more that I did not know already... One thing was quite disappointing, since INAIL has go no funds from the government, even if they are an insurance institution, I could not get the MRI that I need for free... Wow a great insurance that is!

Before leaving the final act of a day that needs to be remembered... The medic told me that it was ok to go back to work on Monday (despite me having sick days until Wednesday), and when he signed the papers told the nurse "he's a good one!" all jolly and chirpy. Apparently 99% f the people there begs for more days faking strange symptoms, so I was a bit of a novelty to them (although they tried to talk me out of going to work earlier).

So I ask myself... WHY THE HELL DO I PAY TAXES TO KEEP THESE PEOPLE WHO DO NOTHING EVERY DAY and when I need the support they refuse it?!?

Oh well, I'd better not get started...
[3 comments]
Homebound Again: [Wendsday 7th May 2008]

I took the liberty of adapting the title of one of the most beautiful songs of Dire Straits, Southbound Again, for this post.

Yesterday around 11,45 AM my right knee decided that it was time to stop working (again) and blatantly failed on me while I was walking in the corridors at the office.
It twisted, and left me there holding it with flashes of memories that went to three years ago when I fist seriously hurt myself during a football match.

I went to the Hospital straight away, but as usual they couldn't tell me anything. It seems that only MRI is going to shed some light on what is not working inside there...

So here I am at Home, writing, thinking, trying to work from my desk with the company mobile phone...

Needless to say that it all sounds terribly familiar, almost two months ago I had suffered a blow at the knee but after a while it recovered well, and I was walking fine once more.

The whole thing happened at work, which is not so good because the hospital had to start a "Injury at the Workplace" file, which requires a lot more of bureaucracy than normal injuries.

The whole thing happens at a very bad timing, I was just about to fix a lot of appointments to go and see some clients around Europe and Asia and of course this is not going to happen at the moment because travelling with heavy bags and crutches is certainly not the best thing to do... I just hope that I will be back on my feet soon so that I can go...

As for the knee I need to get all the exams done and then with some answers from the MRI I will see what needs to be done.
I really do not want to get surgery again, but it feels as if the decision is out of my hands at the moment...

On the other side I am not going to give up of course, this Saturday I am going to see a match of Underwater Rugby, which I feel it's going to be my future sport once the knee is back on track. I cannot live without sport it's something that I really need!!

Now, Goddess or God of Karma, it's time to start looking somewhere else for bad luck, I have had ENOUGH I think. Please?

[11 comments]
Bus Ride: [Saturday 3rd May 2008]

Spring has finally arrived to Italy, the weather is now great and a glorious sun is blessing the land.
I think that this turn of event coincided with me deciding to go for an haircut, and at the same time me and Chiara started thinking about changing the scooter that Chiara owns and that is clearly in need of some retirement.

I am even going to have the driving test for drivig motorbikes, it costed me an hell of a lot, and I still do not have a bike to practice, but I feel confident that when I'll take the test (probably somewhere in July), I will be able to pass it... I hope...

Today I went to the center of Florence to have my haircut, and since it's impossible to go there with the car, I went on the bus.

It has been a very long time since I have used this typical Florentine public service, and I must say that it hasn't changed a lot, apart from some minor refurbishments that the buses have had in the years.

I used to go to school by bus, it is now more than 15 years ago, and I remember that me and my friend Matteo would meet in the morning to ride line N.3 together with other scores of pupils going to the same high school.
I have many good memories of the bus, most of them were gossips, fights, abuses to cars that used to DARE overtaking the bus, free rides, and of course the mandatory review of all the notes before a test.

I kind of miss it.

Then when I was 16 I got a moped and life changed, Matteo changed school and everything turned a lot more "private" rather than "public" in terms of trasportation. In a way it's a school to what life will be later, stuffed inside a tin can with wheels going to work.

Today I am going with Chiara to our favourite lunch place (called Bordino in the center of Florence) and then later technically I should go to buy an I-pod stereo type thing... I set my eyes on the Zeppelin (B&W) but it's very expensive... Let's see what I'll come up with!
[2 comments]
Slovenia and short holidays: [Thursday 24th - Sunday 28th April 2008]

Portorose is a nice little city along the Slovenian coast. We were not meant to go there until a couple of days before leaving. One night I think that me and Chiara were talking to Gianfranco about the coming bank holiday, and he told us that he planned a short trip with his brother Silvio and their cousin to Portorose.

The plan was a 5 star hotel, the free thermal treatments (Portorose is a famous spa), and three days of total laziness.

Me and Chiara were quite interested in this plan, as we didn't make one of our own! In the end we managed to find a place at a nearby hotel and we joined the group!

We left on the 24th early in the morning, after some time wasted on the motorway (there was some traffic and an accident) we arrived at Portorose in the early afternoon, in time to get the rooms and try for the first time the spa centre of the Bernardine Hotel where we had the room.

Hot and cold pools, jacuzzi and several other interesting baths have been thoughtfully tested by me and Chiara on the three days!

In the evening thanks to our Lonely planet guide, we had a great dinner at Staro Sidro (the Old Anchor) mostly fish and soups, but it was truly great.

The next day we went to Croatia, Ilaria, girlfriend of Federico (Gianfranco and Silvio's cousin), told us about Rovigno, a nice little city that apparently had a lot of Venetian influences. Well the city was indeed quite Venetian and nice, on the way back we stopped at Porec to take a look at a very old abbey (the rest of the city was nothing special), and in the evening we had a quite bad culinary experience at a place called Figuerola.

The staff was awful, the food even worse, the bill was the only high point of the evening and of course we were totally not happy about it... But that's life, we quickly went out and had a great slice of cake (you can check out the pictures to see) and everything was good again.

The evenings in Portorose are made interesting by a throng of Casinos that seem to bloom more than flowers in Spring.
It was a nice experience even though I know that I am not good at playing, I am too stingy and in the end I never really "let go" and get possessed by the demon of betting.

I did win some money, which is quite a novelty in the casino business I guess, but it was very little, compared to what other people seemed to play (and loose) with terrifying calm (I have seen a man loosing 1000 euros in 3 hands at blackjack and didn't even twitch)...
The last day me, Chiara and Gianfranco managed to almost double the starting capital, mostly by betting on the roulette on number 26 (black), following an inspiration that Chiara had (but that didn't repeat itself alas).

Back to the holiday the Hrastovlje church needs a special mention. We ventured in the countryside, armed with a good share of faith and a map, I have to say that the countryside in Slovenia is stunning.

The Hrastovlje church comes straight from the IVth century, it's quite beautiful, surrounded by medieval walls it looks like a castle.
Inside there was a rather interesting painting called the "Macabre Dance" where 14 skeletons take by hand different people to their grave where Death awaits them. Surely not the type of painting that you often see in churches and that made it all more interesting!

he lunch that we had afterwards was probably the best culinary experience that we had, we found the place by chance in Hrastovlje (well, it was the only restaurant). The food was really genuine and extremely abundant, we all loved it and we closed the meal with a special distilled liqueur (of which we ignore the name) made of juniper that you could probably use to clean a rusty engine from the sheer strength of it.

All in all a great holiday, it was a good chance to relax and clear the mind a little for the weeks that are to come. In the last two years I never took time off work, so in a way this little holiday was a great change for me!
[9 comments]
Elio e le Storie Tese: [Tuesday 22nd April 2008]

Today Elio e le Storie Tese came to Florence for the ritual annual concert. Of course me Federico and Francesco had to go, even if this time it was not free as usual. We are huge fan of the band, sometimes we even start singing their songs out of a blue, all together.

Also Elisa came, it seems that after many years finally Elio is sinking through her as well, thanks to Francesco of course!

I guess that if we were women we would be groupies tagging along the band!

Elio is a great group, they are very talented, there are a lot of people who do not like the lyrics, but the musical aspects are great, they are really talented.

The concert this time was a bit strange as we were all seated, of course Elio had to take the occasion to tell the audience that it was done on purpose because they turned suddenly "elegant"!
Their songs are quite far from elegant, in most places, but that's part of their spirit, always daring, always satirical.

Nothing more to add, it was a great night, it really took all the bad thoughts and problems away from my mind, not to speak about the two hours of laughs that I spent together with my mates!
[No comments]
Milan: [18th - 20th April 2008]

Milan is always the same, a beautiful centre of town and a crappy suburb full of crappy houses and generally speaking nasty looking people.

Ten years ago I was living in a similar place, when we were renting at Radstock Road, but I guess that there are times in one's life when you have to experience different walks of life.

This little intro is for the hotel that we had to go for, I am in Milan for work, we have this event together with another company. Basically we are displaying the goodies that we produce in a nice showroom in the centre of Milan. The place where fashion is at its utmost level, the place to be.
Shame that it all was decided 1 month ago and finding a decent accommodation is just impossible! Hence we went for a distant and crappy one...

The event has been quite disappointing; the kind of people that we wanted to see are not coming into the picture at all, but I guess that this was one of the pitfalls of this event.

The other pitfall, but here I am speaking personally, is that I have to stay here all the time, all the weekend gone in something that will hardly produce any results. It's incredibly boring!! And I have to be here 10am-10pm!!

Oh well tomorrow it's going to be the last day, so no big trouble I guess, there are positive sides to this trip, one of them being the fact that I managed to shed more light into the relationships that are in place at the company, allowing me to understand more "behind the scenes" attitudes and behaviours of a lot of people around me...

I won't go too far into details because there are people who work with me who (I have strong grounds to believe) read my blog, which would be perfectly fine if that wasn't done for the pleasure of being nosy to find informations and/or secrets about me.
I guess that I could easily find out who they are, I have all the details that I need, but frankly speaking I cannot be arsed. I do not think that there is anything to find about me here probably because I do not have many things to hide... Sorry!

The event is quite boring, but fortunately the people of the other company are very nice and it's great to chat with them. They brought this typical cheese from Udine (in the north of Italy) that it's great, and goes extremely well with the white wine from the same region that they are serving...

Lovely stuff!
[4 comments]
John Hawkins: [Thursday 10th April 2008]

It has been quite a long time since we didn't see each other, and I was really looking forward to see John in London. The last time was in Japan just before he left the country to go back to England.

So we met at Holborn station, because the night would unravel in that area. I asked John some time before to take me to those pubs that he always talks about in his blogs, nameli "the MITRE" and the "CITTIE of YORKE".

We had a nice Korean meal, drowned with the usual Shochyu JINRO (very heavy stuff) and a beer. We then moved to the CITTIE, a marvellous pub! I think that as a foreigner, that pub is just what pubs should be. The whole place looks extremely old, and it is quite different from the "usual" pubs that I used to go to when I lived in Reading.
Here we had a pint of Alpine Larger and I bought a bottle of TADDY PORTER. I was really happy to know that this beer was the real first "stout" ever made.

We then moved to the MITRE, other lovely pub where we had a another marvellous beer of which I forbot the name now, but it was great, very creamy and almost fruity.
The history of the pub was also quite interesting, John know it all!

It was not finished the night because we had to go to the Whisky Society. Though the place is really new, I was expecting something more "classic", again my imagination run freely and I was seeing leather sofas, armchairs, Persian carpets, a fireplace and a butler dressed like a penguin!
Well the Soc. is quite different, it's much more modern, but it was pleasant nonetheless.

Here we sampled three whiskeys, all of them were rather nice, cask strength, coming from the isle of Islay.

At the end we parted around midnight, needless to say that I am not used to drink SO MUCH and so many different things, so the rest of the night was quite "eventful" for me, but it was great to be with John, every time I meet him, I realize how much I miss having him around... Oh well, he's one of my best friends after all!
[3 comments]
Hong Kong and Taiwan: [Somewhere in 2008]

A trip to Hong Kong and Taiwan, places that I had seen before but that this time I managed to see more in details, thanks to a free weekend there!
[2 comments]
Thailand: [Somewhere in 2008]

A marvellous trip to Thailand, that got me a free day to check out Bangkok and its beauties. It's an old trip, I could not post the pictures at that time so I am doing it now, I hope you like them!
[1 comment]
Birthday: [Wednesday 2nd April 2008]

And so it is, a new birthday for me, the start of the the 34th year of age... Well after a brief discussion with a colleague I found out that although I pride myself of being 33, in reality I am starting the 34th year of my existence.

I think that the last year was one of the hardest in my life, an year that closed itself with what looks to be yet another serious injury at my right knee (the one that was operated 2 and half years ago), and a bigger ordeal at work, but I will tell about it in a different post.

Very hard we were saying, and since in Italy we are polluted with Christianity I could not avoid comparing this 33rd year to the Stations of the Cross that some other person much more famous than me had to go through.

I will spare the reader with the details, now I just hope that my right knee is not as bad as I have been told (MRI coming up at the end of May), and that maybe I can have a little bit of luck coming my way so that I can settle properly in Florence once more and maybe move forward in life, making a family, buying a house and so on...

One of the positive things of being here for my birthday has been the fact that my Grandmother and mum invited me for a dinner party (with presents), my mother said that it must have been more than 10 years that we didn't have my birthday party, and surprisingly she is right, because I left Italy when I was 19 and since then I have always travelled around and even when I was in Florence I was not here in person (because on some business trip) to have a celebration...

On the contrary none of my friends seem to have remembered about it, on the day we met to play RPG and I announced my birthday and the guys made a little card with a sarcastic picture on it, but then I failed to bring myself to organize some dinner party or anything. Well I guess it's my fault :(

Anyways, happy birthday to me! :D
[6 comments]
EOF: [Monday 31st March 2008]

End Of File...

That's it, today is the official last day of work for the Japanese employer to which I have lent my services for the past year and half.

It another chapter of my life that draws to a close, unfortunately thing have not worked out in a good way, I have to admit that it has been a failure.

In bad things there are always positive points, so I need to force myself to learn from this experience.
It's a shame that I was not put in the conditions to produce what I was able to produce any tangible result, but in a way I do not think that I should say that too much as it is a way to "excuse" myself for a failure that affected mostly me and that resulted in me resigning from the position that I had.

That's it, most of the dwellers here at "La Maison" knew of these turn of events, for the fresher news I will have to wait a little bit more, there is a lot going on at the moment, but it's not yet the time to talk about it...

As for this job, and this part of my life, it's time to call draw the curtain and look forward, hence...

EOF
[1 comment]
Gandmother's Birthday: [Sunday 16th March 2008]

My Florentine side of the family is not that big, there are only two sisters, and of course my grandmother (granddad passed away few years ago). Today it was a very special occasion as my grandmother turned Eighty-five and it was a good chance to celebrate all together. We used to have family meetings a lot when I was a kid, I quite hated them because they were boring, and usually meant that we had to go to the countryside villa that my granddad owned to have huge meals and endless chats (not to talk about arguments but that's another story).

This system was abandoned when me and my sister grew up enough to say that we had better engagements, and from then all family parties are held either in a restaurant (like in this occasion) or at my Grandmother's house.

The birthday lunch was rather nice, we were all there, chatting about different things, in a very relaxed atmosphere, great food. The restaurant of choice is in the countryside so the type of cuisine was rather "traditional Tuscan" meaning lots of red meat and red wine together with veggies.
A very good party, eighty-five is not an easy age, I wonder if I'll ever live long enough to see it!

Happy Birthday Granny!!
[2 comments]
Statistics: [Friday 7th March 2008]

Until 6/7 years ago I never too much interest in statistical analysis, probably as every other good student I was regarding the subject to be too abstract to be appealing.

The work came and I found how marvellous numbers are, and how important are they to "read" a situation and finding what to do in order to achieve one's goals.

Numbers are also important because they can be presented in a way or another in order to strengthen a certain point of view, and sometimes (but politicians are better than me at this) you can use numbers and statistics to twist reality.

Well, anyways all of this is a little hat to what I really wanted to say. Since February I have been monitoring the traffic that my pages are having thanks to Google Analytics. I do not know why I was always so curious to see how many people come to the site and read about my life and experiences.

Apart from the obvious traffic from England, I have noticed that people from different countries connect to my site.
Dunno why but it makes me happy, it would be great if they posted comments, but even the classic invisible reader is fine I guess!

Soon at the end of the month I will be able to post pictures again, I've got a couple of updates that are waiting there for the right moment to come out.

Thanks for reading my blogs, I hope that they evoke feelings in you readers, positive or negative doesn't matter, as long as emotions are flowing!

P.S.
Do not worry I am not tracking down the traffic, it's not possible with Analytics, your identity will always be a secret to me!
[4 comments]
Farewell Gary: [Tuesday 4th March 2008]

It is with great sadness that I have read that Gary Gygax, inventor of Dungeons and Dragons, died today.

I have no words, I owe this man a lot in a way, I would have never met John, Rob, Tim, Jon Ellis and Chris if it wasn't for Role Playing Games.

I would have never met Matteo, Francesco, Stefano, Simone, Federico plus another scores of great friends if Role Playing Games were not there.

I would not be what I am now if RPGs were never invented.

So, thanks Gary, I owe a lot to you and your games, a lot of great hours of fun and even now a lot of great hours not thinking of all the problems that we live everyday.

Farewell Gary, D20 rolls will never be the same again.

Kevin Stalflare
[6 comments]
Fiorentina: [Sunday 2nd March 2008]

Fiorentina is Florence football team, of which I am a proud supporter since 1975, pretty much when I was born.

Today one of the dreams that we supporters have came true.

We have beaten A.C.Juventus, probably Fiorentina's biggest rival, well in injury time, after going down 2 goals to 1 at the beginning of the second half.

I was in tears, screaming like a madman at Gianfranco's place (where we meet every Sunday to watch the matches on TV).

Let's hope for this event to be the first of a long series, for many years we have had only disappointments, we even saw our team bankrupting and being relegated to lower divisions...

Oh well, doesn't matter, this has been a GREAT Sunday, football-wise of course!
[10 comments]
Collective Cynicism: [Friday 29th February 2008]

Today is a day that doesn't exist, that was never meant to be but that lunar phases put on our calendar every four years.
Technically if someone was to live 365 years, and was born on a leap year, it would be 366 years old.

Anyways, the evening of this Friday is what I feel I should talk about.

Since on Saturday we have a birthday party of a friend, and since the coming Monday I am about to have a "little" trip of which I cannot yet disclose the nature, me and Gianfranco decided that it was better to go to see "No Country for Old Men" today.

Since we decided to go at the late night show (starting at 22:50), we went to this multiplex cine hall that was built at the outskirts of Florence, where they have a nice pizza place. Friends, chats, pizza, cinema. What a lovely night.

The problem is that we never seem to get timing right. Last time we went there we arrived more or less at the same time (around 20:30) bought the ticket in hideous advance and then got stuck at the pizza place that was full beyond belief and that forced us to eat in 10 minutes flat.

That's why this time we went there a little earlier.... and the cinema was DEAD EMPTY.

We were sat and fed in less than 30 minutes...

This left a good hour to be wasted, now at the bathroom, now at the entertainment center and taking a walk near the cinema (weather is finally moving towards spring standards!!)

Around 30 minutes before the beginning of the movie, we were standing there, in the hall that separates the cinemas from the rest of the complex, waiting for the ticket inspector to open the gates.
Here a sudden outburst of cynicism stroke and like two old men sitting on a straw chair outside a small bar in a country village (the typical Italian old man that argues about almost anything and looks grumpy), we started commenting on the local "fauna" inside the cinema.
I will spare the audience the comments, most of them were quite sharp and downright politically incorrect, but it helped us spending those 30 minutes and gave us a good picture at how the world is moving today, as there were a lot of younger people around and we never stop to see what they do or how they express themselves.

Incidentally the law of retribution stoke here, and sitting next to us were some ladies that we especially loved to comment about (and even more incidentally the ugliest fattiest sweatiest one sat next to me...).

Before leaving we helped this couple that had a flat tyre in the car park, the guy managed to to completely spoil one of the bolts and in the end all our efforts were useless, but at least the cynicism was only in the way we look at the world, not at the way we behave..

Last thing. the movie is good, very Pulp Fictionesque, didn't like the ending bit, but a good movie nonetheless!
[4 comments]
Nightmare from the past: [Thursday 21st February 2008]

I do not feel like writing too much about it, but today I lived a very close match to what happened to me HERE. This time the place of choice is Colombia and the venue a second wedding ceremony to which I cannot attend for work related issues.
More or less the feelings that I am going through are the same as before, I'll write about them later when I manage to collect the things after the storm.

Incidentally reading through the post from June I noticed a comment made by a so called Leyla, which I would have loved to reply if I had seen it sooner.

The comment comes once again from a person that cannot stand the fact that I write personal things on net internet, a point that apparently is shared by other readers that cannot come to terms with the fact that I can express my thoughts in this way.

Well, I am sorry if the post offend someone, or actually I do not give a flying fuck about it, that's the way it is full stop.

The thing that I do not understand is why someone should keep things inside. What is the difference between writing about a day at the park and some feelings that are caused by such and such event?
Why do people refuse to understand that writing about almost everything is also a way to put in discussion the ideas that one thinks are right?
What is so wrong with sharing these moments with other people, even unknown?

I guess I will never know, it's down to the way people are educated I think, and I am not going to criticize a way or another.

Me? I think that with no dialogue comes no growth.

Anyway, the events might shed some light onto a relationship that clearly is far from perfect, I guess it's badly needed...
[6 comments]
Bokkeisai: [Sunday 17th February 2008]

Actually the post should be referred to Friday and Saturday as well. On Friday I had the chance to go out for dinner with Kutsunugi san, Mr. Hwang and Paolo Bini (sales responsible for a textile company in Prato).
Six months ago, I managed to hook up Kutsunugi san with this company (called Bartolini), as they were looking for a good agent in Japan, and surely Kutsunugi san was the right person for the job.
Mr.Hwang was also my agent for the Korean market, so in a way it was a great re-union that I really enjoyed. My relationship with Kutsunugi san is very close, he and Keiko (his wife) are like a second family to me, but also Mr.Hwang is a very close person to me, a sort of older brother, he believed in me from the very first time we met, and for that I will always be grateful.

On Saturday me and Chiara took Kusunugi san and Keiko to a pizza place, it was like going back 2 years ago, when I was working for Ratti, having dinner together telling jokes and everything, it really helped me taking my mind off other issues that are best going untold for the moment.
Still it makes me look back at the time in Ratti with a different eye, if only that company was in Florence I would have probably never left it.

We got talking about studies, and here is the title of the post "Bokkeisai".

Bokke = Stupid
Keisai= Economics

You do the maths... :D

Yes in the end all the Economics that me and Kutsunugi san studied (and also Chiara), was really never used, we got talking how when you are young you are told that they are so incredibly important, and in truth they are to have some doors open in front of you, but generally speaking we all got jobs thanks to skills that we never thought would have make any difference, and that we never learnt.

On Sunday I saw them off to the airport, I am not happy, now that I am writing, I miss times gone, I miss working with them, but the good side is that we see each other, not everything is lost at least!
[6 comments]
Passports: [Monday 4th January 2008]

And so it was the time for me to ask for a new passport. Even though the new one did not expire it was so full of visas that I needed to get it changed, as there wasn't any more space to stamp more visas.

In a way this means archiving a part, quite long, of my life. The part that saw me moving back to Italy after the U.K.

The part that saw me working up north for the textile company, to which I owe most of the 62 (SIXTY TWO) visas that I have on the passport.

Yeah, I mean the passport was made in 2000 to go to Moroc when I was working for the congress organizing company, and since then, in less than 8 years I have filled the 36 pages that I was allotted. The visas belong to these places:

Japan, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Turkey, Moroc, USA.

All in all I could have gone to more places that required a visa!

A quick calculation shows that I have spent 620 hours on a plane (I have calculated an average of 10 hours x visa, having to account the 12 hours trips but also the internal flights), basically 25 days straight spent on a plane.

Quite a lot if you ask me!

I must have spent abroad a lot of time, but that's much more difficult to account, but it must be in the region of 6/8 months in the last 7 years.

Ok then, the new passport will arrive soon, maybe a couple of weeks. I have been given my old one back, which was nice as it's full of memories, like the time I LOST it in Japan...

Let's see how long it will last, I think that if I keep up with this schedule it will expire before the expiry date again!!! :D

[3 comments]

Lox, Lorenzo... ME!!: A little introduction about the author and the blog itself. Plus contacts and CVs... You never know!
Pictures: A Selection of the best pictures that I have taken all over the world during the years, all nicely indexed by year and geographical area. Jolly good!
History of this Blog: A collection of all the articles that I have wrote so far, divided by month/year.