I suppose I should keep this updated for those of you who read the entry below and the fact that this is the last day of my short-term contract.
… and then ….
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Work, work, work!
Well, my contract ends in two and a half days. This means that, technically, I am out of work and have no money coming in. I have to admit that these last two months have been more difficult, especially the last three weeks. I know what it is. Part of it is the fact that January and February have got to be the worst months in the calendar, so depressing and grey. The other factor is work.
It’s Milan Fashion Week and now I’ve actually been!
To be honest, Milan may be one of the fashion capitals of the world but, in the main, most people here continue to go about their business as if it was just a normal city. Fashion Week (there are four) just means a lot more traffic, full restaurants and waif-thin models on street corners with maps looking for the place of their next job. So it was, to be honest, for me too. But, finally, I saw something of what it is about.
Driving in Italy – Part 199
Today, as I am driving to work there is another accident. I crossed the lights and found myself in a traffic queue which, unfortunately meant that I was blocking the traffic traversing the road I was on. So, in order to avoid the blaring of horns by cars that would come right up to my drivers door, and because I am driving more and more like a Milanese, I turned my car to the right and pulled up alongside the car that had been immediately in front of me (who, incidentally, was also blocking some of the traffic from the right). So now he wasn’t blocking any traffic, it was only me.
Random Blog Searching
I really wish there was a decent blog search facility that allowed random blog searching. I’ve used the one on JournalSpace – but that only searches JournalSpace blogs. The one on Blogger does the same. Using Technorati and Google Blog Search, you have to type in a subject.
Filtered words
So, the English language is just great, isn’t it. V sent me a message from work and I replied. I was explaining about going for a fag. The next thing I know is that I get a message from our internal filter/firewall system to tell me that the message had been purged.
Question Tags and more on driving in Italy
OK. So we all (native speakers, that is) know about question tags, don’t we? We know how to and when to use them. We use them automatically, without thinking, all the time for many, many situations. They open a conversation with a stranger, they give others the chance to show that they agree with us (or not, of course), we use them when we’re unsure about something, etc. And, depending upon the fall or rise of the tone will tell the other person what we are trying to say (after all, they may be called question tags, but they aren’t always questions that we create, are they?)
Sometimes I forget just what a great city Milan is!
Living somewhere is completely different to visiting somewhere. And, overall, I cant really complain about the life I have here. Some aspects are good and some not so good. But, overall, its OK.
However, there are times when things makes make me remember why I am here.
Teaching English as a Foreign Language – getting a bad name?
So, I see that they have arrested someone in Thailand who is wanted for a dreadful crime over in the UK and, as he managed to escape to Thailand whilst on bail, has been doing what most people (including me) do when in a foreign country, not speaking the local language and needing money to live – i.e. teaching English.
The Supermarkets are open on Sunday!
Updated June, 2010 and again April 2015.
For those of you coming here to find which supermarkets are open on Sunday in Milan, well, now, most of them are. However, one that is guaranteed to be open every day (including Sundays), except 2 days (Christmas Day and Easter Day) is Esselunga in Viale Piave. Also, from what I understand, one that is open almost 365 days of the year is the supermarket at Central station (Stazione Centrale)
Now on to the original post ……..
Actually, that’s not true. Until recently, all the supermarkets in Milan were closed on Sunday. Coming from the UK, this seemed very strange, but you get used to anything.