tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78370613232876958932024-03-13T19:30:27.497-07:00the packing beast8 homes in 12 years across 3 continents. E...E...EXPAT ! Bless you.
Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.comBlogger140125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-19438052661906590962019-12-06T13:08:00.002-08:002019-12-06T13:23:27.999-08:00Merry Kiss-my-ass <div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijPNnIh_wyzO7RHX1f3XM5kSiJ89uyX6JU8qeAQ7a3D00BG8XOju6HHHg4rcnJKCXpvPKXgAhAcnuj-nqVM02RbPLrnzfwLImgEtKsViHR38JAKKVbwCDcgzhP7OJHUT3oLJChHJNyNJQ/s1600/Screenshot+2019-12-06+at+21.30.19.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijPNnIh_wyzO7RHX1f3XM5kSiJ89uyX6JU8qeAQ7a3D00BG8XOju6HHHg4rcnJKCXpvPKXgAhAcnuj-nqVM02RbPLrnzfwLImgEtKsViHR38JAKKVbwCDcgzhP7OJHUT3oLJChHJNyNJQ/s400/Screenshot+2019-12-06+at+21.30.19.png" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At <b>H&M</b> they sell Xmas sweaters. I like Xmas sweaters, they are kitsch and remind me of Colin Firth in Bridget Jones' Diary, which is one of my favourite movies. So I picked up one, and my eyes almost fell out of my head. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On closer inspection they are not Christmas sweaters at all. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The words are misspelled, they read: <b>MERRY KISSMAS.</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><u>KISSMAS</u></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is the preposterous sorry-ass crap by which we need to pretend that the celebration of the birth of Christ is not about Christ at all because in the victim olympics there is always someone who gets offended. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At anything. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This goes in the same preposterous sorry-ass basket of Obama and Clinton's reaction to the mass shooting of 300 Christians in Sri Lanka in April this year. They called them <i><b>Easter Worshippers</b></i>. You can't say <b>the C word</b>. God forbid (oops). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But the preposterous sorry-ass Oscar goes to Canada's prime minister Justin Trudeau, who is so preposterous that has turned being preposterous into an art form. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When asked a question that contained the word<b> <i>mankind</i></b>, he was so very sensitive and oh so perfectly considered, that he felt like he had to reformulate the questions and change the term to <b>PEOPLEKIND.</b> To make it gender neutral. Because really, we hear <i>mankind</i> and in our head all the women and everyone in between disappears. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">These, by the way, are the things that get people like Trump elected. Because people whose lives are hard, who are most of the voters, <b>HATE this crap</b>, they have no time or capacity for this level of snobbish and complacent political correctness and like things to be called with their name. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There. I'll go make dinner now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'll peel some </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">PEOPLEgo</b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> for a </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">roPEOPLEtic</b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> dinner with my </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">PERSON</b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, then a movie, that being Switzerland, will be in </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">GerPEOPLE</b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-79471078500043031952019-11-10T22:42:00.000-08:002019-11-14T04:04:00.953-08:00of memorable moments -- sui momenti memorabili<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhksuguJ1EctnY0sVublO8cblfD7lsSinRKK7QpRftn31j17kCiecHgrbGtwWyjqca4aJhZesACOfNv2Rw3AersYgUW_R_NNdIxM4edBfFi-PG3_EMWujI29eLdSeKoLhfxbUMF9TAiV3I/s1600/IMG_2387.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhksuguJ1EctnY0sVublO8cblfD7lsSinRKK7QpRftn31j17kCiecHgrbGtwWyjqca4aJhZesACOfNv2Rw3AersYgUW_R_NNdIxM4edBfFi-PG3_EMWujI29eLdSeKoLhfxbUMF9TAiV3I/s400/IMG_2387.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This was a perfect day, my girl and I both studying, the apparent quiet of two sizzling <b>brains at work</b>. Unfortunately, even though I brought her 2 peeled mandarins in my beautiful Ittala coloured glass bowl, this day will leave no trace. Normality is washed away, what remains burnt into our brain are <b>the special times</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When I think of my childhood, I don't recall the other 350 days, but those two weeks in which my parents took me and my siblings <b>around Europe in our little camping caravan</b>. My Dad loved the northern countries, so leaving from Italy the first few days of travel, in a van that reached a maximum speed of 100km/h, were just that: travel. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>I remember</b> eating the hard boiled eggs and tomatoes my Mom brought for the trip whenever we stopped at gas stations. We just sprinkled salt and bit into them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>I remember</b> us kids trying to get our hands on the tube of condensed milk we diluted with hot water for breakfast, but somehow each time my Dad looked in the rearvie</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">w mirror just in time to catch us. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>I remember</b> that time somehow stood still in the comfort of our little home on wheels. How my siblings and I played cards for hours and tried to listen to the tape recorder through the deafening sound of the diesel engine. How I tried to write down the lyrics of <i><b>Video Killed the Radio Star</b> </i>but my English was so bad that I had to be creative.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>"Pictures gay and occhio are, mutanda way or missy are...."</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At dinner my Mom made spaghetti with concentrated tomato sauce and on some very special occasions we stopped to eat at those roadside shacks that sold french fries and sausage. We sat at the table inside our little van, that swayed at the slap of every passing truck. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>I remember</b> the deserted northern beaches, the unfaltering salty wind and freedom I felt running around trying to whip my brother and sister with strands of seaweed. The starfish. The sheep in the Scottish highlands, the stormy skies, the cliffs, the castles, the joy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One year my Dad decided to take us to Ireland. We went by car to make the trip a bit faster. My Dad drove an old Volvo he bought when we were little, because it was the first car that came equipped with safety belts. We had tents and every night went camping. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>It rained the whole entire fucking time.</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Everything was soaked, even the book I read while travelling. Sleeping bags, towels, clothes, WET WET WET. We still pitched our tents every night and hoped for a ray of sunshine that never came. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It was still fun. I remember lying in my sleeping bag at night with the rain tapping on the tarp of my tent and feeling so alive and connected with the universe. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And <b>I remember </b>the night before we took the ferry to England</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">: my Dad parked in front of a hotel and announced we'd leave the tents to rot in the trunk and enjoy an upgrade, for once. Never in my life have I loved a hotel room so much. Dry beds! Hot shower! My siblings and I had a room to ourselves, which meant unsupervised TV till the wee hours. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Unfortunately we didn't understand much, as it was all in English. MTV wasn't a thing yet, at least if they had played <i>Video Killed the Radio Star</i>, I would have known the lyrics. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">---------------------</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Oggi giornata perfetta con me e mia figlia entrambe intente a studiare, la calma apparente di due <b>cervelli che fanno scintille</b>. Purtroppo nonostante le abbia portato due mandarini già sbucciati nella mia bellissima coppa di vetro colorato di Ittala, questo giorno non lascerà traccia. La normalità viene sciacquata via. Ciò che resta sono i momenti che<b> non fanno parte della routine</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Quando penso alla mia infanzia, raramente penso a quegli altri 350 giorni dell'anno, la mia mente torna a quei 15 giorni di vacanza in cui i miei genitori ci portavano <b>in giro per l'Europa sul loro piccolo camper</b>. Mio Papà è un grande amante dei paesi nordici, quindi partendo dall'Italia i primi giorni di viaggio in un camper che faceva al massimo i 100 km all'ora erano precisamente questo: viaggio. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Ricordo che</b> mangiavamo uova sode e pomodori ogni volta che ci fermavamo a fare benzina: un po' di sale e via, mordere. <b>Mi ricordo che</b> in viaggio i miei fratelli ed io cercavamo sempre di mettere le mani sul tubo di latte condensato della colazione, e che ogni volta mio Papà guardava nello specchietto retrovisore giusto in tempo per beccarci. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Mi ricordo che</b> il tempo si fermava nel calore della nostra casetta a 4 ruote. I miei fratelli ed io giocavamo a carte per ore e cercavamo di ascoltare musica sul registratore portatile nonostante il rombo assordante del motore diesel lanciato al massimo dei giri. Volevo a tutti i costi scrivermi il testo di <i><b>Video Killed the Radio Star</b></i> ma il mio inglese era così scarso che dovevo essere creativa:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Pictures gay and occhio are, mutanda way or missy are...."</i><br />
<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></i>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Per cena mia mamma faceva gli spaghetti conditi col concentrato di pomodoro e in qualche rara occasione ci fermavamo a prendere da mangiare da quelle roulotte al lato della strada che vendevano patate fritte e salsicce. Mangiavamo seduti al tavolo nel camper che ondeggiava allo schiaffo di ogni TIR che passava. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Mi ricordo</b> le spiagge del nord, deserte e battute dal vento, il sale nell'aria, la libertà che sentivo correndo sulla sabbia dietro ai miei fratelli mentre cercavamo di frustarci a vicenda con lunghissime alghe strappate al mare dalla forza delle onde. Le stelle marine. Le pecore nella tundra scozzese, i cieli tempestosi, le scogliere, i castelli, la gioia. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Un anno mio papà si decise per l'Irlanda. Siamo partiti in macchina per accelerare un po' l'avvicinamento. Mio Papà aveva una vecchia Volvo che aveva comprato quando eravamo piccoli perché era la prima macchina fornita di cinture di sicurezza. Avevamo le tende e dormivamo ogni notte in campeggio. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Ha piovuto tutto il tempo, giorno e notte. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Non smetteva mai. Era tutto fradicio: le tende, i sacchi a pelo, gli asciugamani, i vestiti. Marcio. Ma non importava, tutte le sere piantavamo le tende sperando in un raggio di sole che non è mai arrivato. Ma era bello anche così. Mi ricordo che di notte sdraiata nel sacco a pelo dentro la tenda sentivo la pioggia picchettare sul telo di plastica e mi sentivo così viva e connessa con il resto dell'universo.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">E poi <b>mi ricordo</b> quella gloriosa sera prima di traghettare per l'Inghilterra, quando mio Papà ha parcheggiato davanti a un albergo e ha annunciato che per una volta avremmo lasciato le tende a marcire nel bagagliaio e avremmo dormito lì. Mai nella mia vita ho amato una stanza d'albergo tanto come quella. Letti asciutti! Doccia calda! I miei fratelli ed io avevamo una camera tutta per noi, il che voleva dire accesso indisturbato alla tele fino a notte fonda. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Purtroppo non è che capissimo granché perché era tutto in inglese. MTV non esisteva ancora, almeno se avessero suonato <i>Video Killed the Radio Star</i> avrei saputo le parole. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-34057509594768276872019-11-03T06:41:00.001-08:002019-11-14T04:03:19.470-08:00of parents-teachers conferences -- sull'ultimo incontro con gli insegnanti<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipr-k4sTI6OPWwATbSPbXt4Uewlo6ULlDmj5dLMfsyIS5XNIgpTYG6j4xVQPnFkMBmSlegvV_kkNOltb1s4jM_7hXiXM3SVX8nICCyIJva1OUbuzsuHVM7HPR6o-a1y9n8D1bIyGEB3ss/s1600/IMG_2297.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipr-k4sTI6OPWwATbSPbXt4Uewlo6ULlDmj5dLMfsyIS5XNIgpTYG6j4xVQPnFkMBmSlegvV_kkNOltb1s4jM_7hXiXM3SVX8nICCyIJva1OUbuzsuHVM7HPR6o-a1y9n8D1bIyGEB3ss/s400/IMG_2297.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This past week I had my very last <b>parents-teachers conferences</b>. I went through this process for 15 years from when my son was in 1st Kindergarten and I sat on the little chair nodding while listening to his teacher tell me all the things he could do better and making a mental list of fuck-yous at each and every one of them. There was nothing wrong with him, he was just always <b>with one foot in reality an the other foot in the milky way</b>. </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fast forward through several schools and countries around the world and here we are, at the final stretch before also my daughter is done with school. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We went through a constellation of roughly perhaps<b> 100 teachers</b> between both of my kids and unfortunately I cannot say that any of them really ever fulfilled their more important role as <b>mentors</b>, no life-changing inspirational input ever came from any of them. There were excellent and awful teachers, but not a single one my kids are going to <b>thank in their autobiographies</b> for having changed their lives. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Teachers are <b>always stressed</b>. Through the years I have understood that they are <b>like first time moms</b>: they want you to know they have it harder than anybody else in the world, and they think they deserve a <b>badge of honour</b> for it. </span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The hardest part often was not trying to compensate my kids' teachers' shortcomings, but rather always<b> taking their side</b> in the eyes of my kids, in spite of those shortcomings. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because at least this they needed to learn: good or bad, the teacher is your superior and regardless of what you think (or how you FEEL to be perfectly postmodern), <b>you SUCK IT UP and do what you are supposed to do</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>You carry your responsibility without excuses</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because excuses are the <b>bullshit</b> that stands between what you are and what you can be. (This is not my quote and I am pretty sure I am paraphrasing).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So imagine my daughter's surprise when last week I walked into the meetings with <b>a COMPLETE change of attitude</b>: I took my daughter's side<b> ON EVERYTHING</b>: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What do you mean she doesn't study enough? She studies ALL THE TIME. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What do you mean she is messy with her school stuff? Do you think Mozart and Leonardo were tidy people? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My daughter was flabbergasted. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I don't know if she was more happy for what she was hearing or more concerned that I had lost my mind. Instead of making mental lists, I laid my fuck-yous very politely on the table. I don't know why, but it certainly had to do with it being the last time. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It was like SALES at the end of the season. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It was a <b>badge of honour</b> to her, my girl, who is messy and could study more, but lives at least <b>3 different existences all jammed into one</b> and twirls around life with a smile on her face and I have no concern about the person she is going to be, because bullshit excuses are such unknown terms in her vocabulary, that I am sure that whatever the challenge, she will rise to the occasion. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">-----------</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">La settimana scorsa ho avuto il mio ultimo <b>colloquio coi professori</b> di mia figlia. Ho dovuto sottopormi a questa tortura per 15 anni da quando mio figlio era nella prima classe di asilo e io me ne stavo seduta sulla seggiolina in miniatura mentre annuivo ascoltando la lista delle cose che secondo la maestra mio figlio doveva migliorare. E intanto facevo una bella lista mentale di vaffanculo a ogni suggerimento perché sapevo benissimo che non c'è niente in lui che non va, semplicemente <b>vive con un piede tra di noi e l'altro nella via lattea</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fast forward diversi anni, scuole e nazioni ed eccoci qui, a pochi mesi dal traguardo dove anche mia figlia avrà finito la scuola. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In questi 15 anni abbiamo avuto a che fare su per giù con <b>un centinaio</b> di insegnanti, e purtroppo devo dire che nessuno di loro ha mai svolto quella funzione fondamentale di mentore, nessuna rivelazione sconvolgente, nessuna ispirazione. Ci sono stati insegnanti ottimi e altri deleteri, ma nessuno di loro riceverà<b> ringraziamenti nelle autobiografie</b> dei miei figli.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Gli insegnanti sono <b>sempre stressati</b>. In questi anni ho capito che sono come <b>le madri al primo figlio</b>: vogliono far sapere a tutti che fanno una vita più difficile di chiunque altro, e pensano di meritarsi una <b>medaglia d'onore</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">La cosa più difficile non è stato tanto cercare di rimediare le mancanze degli insegnanti, quanto <b>prendere sempre le loro parti</b> di fronte ai miei figli nonostante le suddette mancanze. Perché la lezione fondamentale era che non importa chi sia il tuo insegnante, si tratta in ogni caso del tuo superiore e indipendentemente da quello che tu pensi devi <b>ingoiare il rospo</b> e fare il tuo dovere. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Ognuno porta la propria fetta di responsabilità senza scuse</b>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Perché le scuse sono solo <b>cazzate</b> disseminate come mine sul cammino del tuo potenziale. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Quindi immaginatevi la sorpresa di mia figlia quando la settimana scorsa mi sono presentata ai colloqui coi suoi insegnanti e ho preso le sue parti su <b>TUTTO</b>:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Come non studia abbastanza? Ma se studia TUTTO IL GIORNO!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Come è disordinata? Pensate forse che Mozart e Leonardo fossero persone ordinate?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mia figlia non ci poteva credere.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Non so se fosse più felice di questa nuova versione di mamma o più preoccupata che mi fosse dato di volta il cervello. Questa volta invece di fare la solita lista mentale, ho messo giù sul tavolo (in maniera educata) tutti i miei bei vaffanculo. Non so perché, probabilmente perché sapevo che era l'ultima occasione. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Era come i saldi a fine stagione. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">È stata una <b>medaglia d'onore</b> a lei, la mia piccola, che è disordinatissima e potrebbe studiare di più, ma vive per lo meno <b>3 esistenze allo stesso tempo</b> tutte cacciate dentro 24 ore e volteggia attraverso la vita con il sorriso e non ho nessun dubbio riguardo alla persona che potrà diventare, perché non trova mai scuse, di fronte a ogni sfida tira su la testa e ci si ficca. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-88061999755849031262019-07-02T08:02:00.000-07:002019-07-02T08:05:35.038-07:00of Die Bachelorette -- sulla Bachelorette<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgykUmJ9AxUKqn1hZ1JuasBICiqJDlTRqDoyEqFxLEB6h2kM0Wq0HxW6pQigA_vpU5C9Pdl7RfMLWo67ePGydL-DwrdZ79tnOVgp16rtbj7OClRU0s5h1dqic-EVOVdgqbKxPUe0vjoT60/s1600/IMG_9212.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgykUmJ9AxUKqn1hZ1JuasBICiqJDlTRqDoyEqFxLEB6h2kM0Wq0HxW6pQigA_vpU5C9Pdl7RfMLWo67ePGydL-DwrdZ79tnOVgp16rtbj7OClRU0s5h1dqic-EVOVdgqbKxPUe0vjoT60/s400/IMG_9212.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">God bless the Bachelorette, or rather<i> DIE Bachelorette</i>, because we are talking about the Swiss version of the match-making program. My daughter and I have been diligently following the program for two months, it's been an amazing tool to discuss with her the dynamics of the dating world. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Like how silicone has on the male brain the same effect of <b>Magic Mushrooms</b>, triggering hallucinations, sweating, a sense of euphoria and changes in the perception of space and time. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Or how when men compete for a prize, it's just about the competition and not at all about the prize, it's about prevailing on the other guys, just <b>like buffalos</b> going head to head and blindly trying to kill each other. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Week after week, thanks to <i>Die Bachelorette,</i> we had a chance to explore</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> fundamental human evolutionary issues such as: <b>how much tongue</b> is proper on a first kiss? (not too much and not right away), can a man ever wear<b> purple</b>? (under no circumstances), can a <b>six-pack</b> get you</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> through the hardships of life? (absolutely, to knock on wood) and are <b>grammar errors</b> ever forgivable? (NO).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So <b>Andrina</b> was looking for a serious relationship, for a man she could rely on as a lifelong, trusted companion. To move in together, possibly start a family. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Her choice came down to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1. <b>Danilo</b>, the Italian family man, hot but a bit shy, the one that never overdid it and played by the aforementioned not-too-much-tongue rule. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2. <b>Levin</b>, the smiley sporty boy, who did everything to please her, opened doors and pulled out chairs, he said everything she wanted to hear and on occasion wore colors matching Andrina's outfit. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">3. <b>Kenny</b>, the hot buff bastard who looks like Brad Pitt in<i> Legends of the Fall </i>(every woman in my generation never got over Tristan<i>)</i>. A player by his own admission, emanating self-confidence from his every pore, confessing with a naughty smirk to having broken countless hearts, with a faint hint about wanting to turn his life around, but maybe not. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So who did Andrina the serious-relationship girl pick?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Kenny</b>, of course, because just as men can't resist Magic Mushrooms, women will fall for the exciting bastard, because shy and gallant is nice and everything, but <b>nothing beats the player who knows what he is doing</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
-----------------------</div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Che Dio benedica la Bachelorette, o meglio<i> DIE Bachelorette</i>, perché sto parlando dell'edizione svizzera del famoso programma televisivo. Mia figlia ed io non ci siamo perse una puntata in due mesi, si è rivelato essere uno strumento fantastico per discutere con lei le dinamiche del corteggiamento. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Come il fatto che il silicone ha sul cervello maschile lo stesso effetto dei <b>Funghi Magici</b>, causando sudorazione, allucinazioni, un senso di euforia e cambiamenti nella percezione spaziale e temporale. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">O il fatto che quando gli uomini competono per un premio, la loro attenzione è tutta rivolta alla competizione stessa, e non al premio, per primeggiare sugli altri maschi, <b>come dei buffalo</b> che si prendono a cornate cercando di eliminarsi a vicenda. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Settimana dopo settimana, grazie alla Bachelorette, abbiamo avuto la possibilità di esplorare questioni alla base dell'evoluzione umana come per esempio: <b>quanta lingua</b> è accettabile in un primo bacio? (non troppa e non troppo presto), c'è mai una ragione per cui un uomo possa vestirsi di <b>viola</b>? (mai), possono <b>addominali scolpiti</b> tornare utili nelle difficoltà della vita? (certamente, per toccare ferro), si può perdonare un <b>congiuntivo sbagliato</b>? (NO).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Andrina</b> cercava una relazione seria e duratura, un uomo di cui fidarsi come compagno di una vita e futuro padre dei suoi figli. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I finalisti erano:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1.<b> Danilo</b>, italiano, uomo di famiglia, figo ma un po' timido, mai esagerato, conoscitore della suddetta regola della lingua. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2. <b>Levin</b>, sportivo, sempre sorridente che fa di tutto per farle piacere e assecondarla, le apre la porta e sposta la sedia, dice sempre la cosa giusta e occasionalmente indossa gli stessi colori di Andrina. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">3. <b>Kenny</b>, strafigo palestrato e bastardo che somiglia a Brad Pitt nel film <i>Legends of the Fall</i> (le donne della mia generazione non si sono mai completamente riprese da Tristan). Un playboy sicuro di sé che per sua stessa ammissione ha infranto innumerevoli cuori, con una fievole intenzione di voltare pagina, ma forse no.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">E chi ha scelto allora la nostra Andrina, la ragazza in cerca di una relazione stabile e duratura?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Kenny,</b> che domande! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Perché così come gli uomini non possono resistere ai Funghi Magici, le donne cadranno sempre per l'affascinante bastardo, perché buone maniere e sensibilità sono una bella cosa, ma <b>niente può battere il playboy misterioso che sa come si fa</b>. </span>Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-51887378865723717172019-05-21T01:10:00.001-07:002019-05-21T02:02:26.869-07:00of the second half -- sulla seconda metà<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0JJ629nOJ7cyDQIheSmktN-1GUIrDmbvcgAc7UEg1CIn6begSo5CObCMzeKBUu4mM6489uvY4JfGgVBVzdSJZcVADio0mu8XsSLoOtYuCrcPWFFxpUtddm_UC6hv-BRayXL9Q2F2gnFI/s1600/IMG_8206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0JJ629nOJ7cyDQIheSmktN-1GUIrDmbvcgAc7UEg1CIn6begSo5CObCMzeKBUu4mM6489uvY4JfGgVBVzdSJZcVADio0mu8XsSLoOtYuCrcPWFFxpUtddm_UC6hv-BRayXL9Q2F2gnFI/s400/IMG_8206.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">WTF, so much <b>turmoil</b> in this little person of mine. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I once wrote a post about midlife crisis and how I had read a quote that said that "<i>it's when you reach the top of the ladder and realise it was leaning against the wrong wall</i>". What a bunch on senseless crap. This is such a male thing to say, the top of the ladder <b>my ass</b>. Be happy that your ladder had a wall to lean on and you didn't fall flat on your face. And if it was the wrong wall it's because during the climb you were simply too self absorbed to notice where you were going. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This <b>midlife thing</b> has been popping up everywhere in my life, it's the universe talking to me, it cannot be otherwise. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I have reached a milestone birthday, or perhaps the universe simply speaks to us when we are finally willing to pay attention. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So I went to the <b>Carl Jung Institute</b> (new addiction) for a conference and our teacher, out of the blue (she was talking about marriage in mythical stories), said "<i><b>the second part of your life is when your ego needs to be in service of your self</b></i>". I obviously raised my hand from my little corner of ignorance (I was the only one present who is not training to become a Jungian analyst) and asked: "aren't ego and self the same thing?" The professor graciously filled me in during the coffee break and explained that the ego is what we consciously know about ourselves, whereas the self is our hidden motivation, our subconscious, authentic self that is in perpetual search for meaning and tries to steer the ego towards our true heart's desires. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>WHY ISN'T THIS TAUGHT IN 1ST GRADE INSTEAD OF ALL THAT USELESS CRAP ABOUT RECTANGULAR PARALLELEPIPEDS AND EUROPEAN RIVERS</b>? </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If that message in itself had not been loud enough, the following day I was browsing in my favorite bookstore and what book do you think I picked up? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>FINDING MEANING IN THE SECOND HALF OF LIFE</b>, by James Hollis, who by the way is another Jungian Analyst, to confirm the conspiracy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Skip two days ahead, I am sitting in the car during my usual Uber service to pick up my grumpy teenager n.2 from her dance training at 10pm and listening to one of my favorite podcasts. Who are they interviewing? David Brooks author of <b>THE SECOND MOUNTAIN</b>, which as you've probably guessed by now is: the second half of life.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ok, universe, <b>I hear you</b>, I am on the path to discover my true self and the deeper meaning of this existence, the mission of moral life I was put on this planet to achieve. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So I did what anybody invested with such daunting moral responsibility would do: <b>I went out and got a tattoo</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">--------------</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ma che cavolo, quanto <b>tumulto</b> in questa piccola personcina che sono. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Una volta ho scritto un post riguardo alla crisi di mezza età e sul fatto che avevo letto una citazione che diceva che "<i>la crisi di mezza età è quel momento in cui raggiungi la cima della scala e ti accorgi che era appoggiata al muro sbagliato</i>". Che colossale <b>stronzata</b>. Questa è una cosa che solo un maschio direbbe, la cima della scala... Ringrazia che avevi un muro a cui appoggiarla e che non sei finito spiaccicato di faccia per terra, e se era il muro sbagliato è solo perché durante la salita eri talmente assorbito in te stesso da non accorgertene prima. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Questa cosa della "<b>mezza età</b>" continua a spuntare da tutte le parti nella mia vita, è chiaramente l'universo che mi sta parlando, non può essere altrimenti. Forse è per il fatto che ho raggiunto un compleanno importante, o forse perché in effetti l'universo ci parla tutto il tempo, e ce ne accorgiamo soltanto quando siamo finalmente disposti ad ascoltare. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">È successo che mi trovavo all'<b>Istituto Carl Jung</b> (la mia ultima mania) per una conferenza e la relatrice di punto in bianco (la conferenza riguardava il matrimonio nelle storie mitologiche) ha detto: "<b>nella seconda parte della vita, l'<i>ego</i> deve mettersi al servizio del <i>self</i></b>". Al che ho alzato la mano dal mio piccolo angolo di ignoranza (ero l'unica presente che non sta studiando per diventare analista) e ho chiesto: "ma ego e self non sono la stessa cosa?". Quella santa mi ha preso in disparte durante la pausa e mi ha spiegato che l'ego è quello che consciamente sappiamo di noi stessi, mentre il self è l'inconscio, che secondo Jung è il nostro io più autentico che cerca costantemente di guidare l'ego verso i nostri desideri più profondi, cercando il vero significato della nostra esistenza. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>MA PERCHÈ QUESTE COSE NON SI INSEGNANO IN PRIMA ELEMENTARE INVECE DI TUTTE QUELLE CAZZATE SUI PARALLELEPIPEDI E I FIUMI D'EUROPA</b>? </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Se quel messaggio non fosse stato abbastanza chiaro, il giorno dopo mentre curiosavo nella mia libreria preferita ho tirato su un libro a caso e indovinate un po' cos'era? <b>CERCANDO IL SIGNIFICATO NELLA SECONDA PARTE DELLA VITA</b>, di James Hollis, che fra l'altro è un analista Jungiano, a conferma del complotto. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Fast forward</i> due giorni dopo, sono seduta in macchina alle 10 di sera aspettando di portare a casa mia figlia dopo l'allenamento di danza e sto ascoltando uno dei miei podcast preferiti in cui intervistano diversi autori. E a chi tocca? David Brooks, che ha scritto <b>LA SECONDA MONTAGNA</b>, che ovviamente si riferisce alla seconda parte della vita. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Va bene, universo, <b>ho capito</b>, sono sul cammino che mi porterà a scoprire il mio io più autentico e il significato profondo di questa esistenza e la missione che sono stata mandata su questo pianeta a compiere. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Così ho fatto ciò che chiunque investito di cotanta responsabilità morale farebbe nella stessa situazione: sono andata <b>a farmi fare un tatuaggio</b>. </span>Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-7053507540965675382019-02-27T13:52:00.001-08:002019-03-03T12:33:34.367-08:00of my love for this country -- dell'amore per questo paese<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoD4TSsGcf2bkPVCpwzPkL-z_GHRO6a7bW7L0D9V_fJY4oZBi3u-_r1Ev5lJrfVX1udYa_2uOFebwb-LzB128gBb4mCmUKRAavjSmP2vcLxGxpesBW2IFfGw2pojqgLfT5Q2GaxowwOdQ/s1600/IMG_6086.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoD4TSsGcf2bkPVCpwzPkL-z_GHRO6a7bW7L0D9V_fJY4oZBi3u-_r1Ev5lJrfVX1udYa_2uOFebwb-LzB128gBb4mCmUKRAavjSmP2vcLxGxpesBW2IFfGw2pojqgLfT5Q2GaxowwOdQ/s400/IMG_6086.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So this week I got <b>two tickets</b>, one was from the Zürich police and one from Italy. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The latter one was for a <b>highway toll</b> that I supposedly failed to pay, and it was from <b>September 2016</b>. Strangely though, the payment request came from an unknown private company that, as I discovered after checking it out online, is responsible for managing and collecting tolls for some specific stretches of Italian highways. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It still didn't feel 100% legit, although I am quite aware of Italy's fondness for fragmentation and unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles. So I looked for more information and ran into some <b>reviews</b> of this </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">company. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They were not too exciting.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Terrible organisation sending you fines for traffic violations you didn't commit. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is a scammers' organisation.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I got a ticket after 3 years from the supposed infraction.</span></li>
<li><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148); color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Impossible to contact them. If you call they tell you to send an email to which they never reply. </span></li>
<li><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148); color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mafia.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I have of course no way of checking whether or not 2,5 years ago I paid that highway toll. It is not a big amount so I will just go ahead and pay, mainly<b> to avoid the hassle</b> that would ensue from disputing the matter further. Life is too short. And I think this might be precisely the game they play on a bigger scale, perhaps even more so with foreign-plated cars. I wouldn't bee too surprised.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>2,5 years, murky, no way of checking</b>. </span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now let me tell you about the ticket I got from the <b>Zürich police</b>:</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We have a yearly Residents' Parking Permit, which allows us to park in our neighbourhood's Blue Zone for unlimited time. This permit needs to be renewed every year in January.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It just happened that I missed the deadline for the renewal (January 15th) by a week, because life was being more bitchy than usual and required my undivided attention. I got the new one on January 21st,</span><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"> one whole week of illegal parking</b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, which didn't go unnoticed: the police promptly sent me a parking ticket. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But together with the ticket for a week of illegal parking, was <b>a form in which I had a chance to explain</b> why I had committed the infraction. So I wrote back attaching a copy of my new Parking Permit saying that I had inadvertently missed the renewal deadline. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I sent it on Monday. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today, Wednesday, I heard back from the police: my fine was reduced, I only had to pay for one hour of illegal parking. A symbolic fine. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);"><b>2 days, straightforward, common sense</b>.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And that, my friends, is the difference between living in Switzerland and living in Italy, my home country: the feeling that law abiding citizens are dealing with a <b>fair and benevolent authority</b>, not a <b>despotic thug</b> always finding new ways to corner you and rob you. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">-----------------------------</span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Questa settimana ho preso ben <b>due multe</b>, una dalla polizia di Zurigo e una dall'Italia. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">La seconda era per un<b> pedaggio autostradale</b> che nel <b>settembre del 2016</b> secondo loro non avevo pagato. Stranamente la richiesta di pagamento veniva da una compagnia privata mai sentita, che, secondo quello che ho trovato online, è responsabile per la riscossione dei pedaggi di alcune tratte di autostrada. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ancora non ero convinta, nonostante conosca bene la passione italiana per la frammentazione e le complicazioni inutili. Allora ho ricercato ancora un po' e mi sono imbattuta in alcune <b>recensioni</b> su questa organizzazione. Non erano esattamente esaltanti:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Organizzazione pessima che manda multe per infrazioni non commesse.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Organizzazione fraudolenta.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ho ricevuto una multa 3 anni dopo la presunta infrazione.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Impossibile contattarli, se telefoni ti dicono di mandare mail a cui non rispondono.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mafia.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">E allora che fare? Non posso assolutamente ricordarmi le circostanze in cui 2 anni e mezzo fa possa avere o non avere pagato quel pedaggio. Non è una grossa cifra, e allora la pagherò, più che altro <b>per evitarmi la grana</b> e la perdita di tempo di contestarla. E questa è forse precisamente la loro strategia su larga scala, specialmente con le macchine con targa straniera. Non sarei troppo sorpresa.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);"><b>2 anni e mezzo, faccenda poco chiara, impossibile rivalersi</b>.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);">Adesso invece vi racconto della multa che ho ricevuto dalla <b>polizia di Zurigo</b>. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Abbiamo un permesso per residenti annuale con cui possiamo parcheggiare la macchina nella Zona Blu del nostro quartiere per tempo illimitato. Questo permesso va rinnovato in gennaio, entro il 15, ma quest'anno è successo che siccome la vita in quel periodo era particolarmente rompiscatole, ho mancato la scadenza di una settimana. <b>Un'intera settimana di parcheggio illegale</b> che non è passata inosservata, e difatti ho ricevuto prontamente la multa. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ma insieme alla multa c'era <b>un modulo in cui potevo spiegare</b> le ragioni dell'infrazione, infatti ho subito scritto allegando una copia del nuovo permesso, spiegando che si era trattato di una svista. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ho imbucato la busta lunedì pomeriggio. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Oggi, mercoledì mattina, ho ricevuto la risposta: la multa mi è stata ridotta a un'ora di parcheggio non pagato. Una multa simbolica.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>2 giorni, buon senso, trasparenza.</b> </span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">E questa ragazzi miei è la differenza tra vivere qui in Svizzera e vivere in Italia, il mio povero, disgraziato paese. La sensazione che i cittadini per bene hanno a che fare con un'<b>autorità giusta e benevola</b>, e non con un'associazione a delinquere che <b>cerca di fotterti</b>. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(awesome watercolour by me, all rights reserved)</span>Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-90445980077602134842019-02-24T04:39:00.002-08:002019-03-03T12:33:59.853-08:00of finding meaning -- sul ritrovare il senso<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRWagaZZAmfEO9GQlGGrRdEdQvwPTax4XbSawrasQtyn9GZ6cxQtfpPZPDv6diEb2OXci9D4u1n3CA3GskduGYP6I5Du_3tGjNisw6gvNOXn_vZgN5LCYcnsn2dYQG98iGJfk6qdmz8tQ/s1600/IMG_6060.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRWagaZZAmfEO9GQlGGrRdEdQvwPTax4XbSawrasQtyn9GZ6cxQtfpPZPDv6diEb2OXci9D4u1n3CA3GskduGYP6I5Du_3tGjNisw6gvNOXn_vZgN5LCYcnsn2dYQG98iGJfk6qdmz8tQ/s400/IMG_6060.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am truly trying to <b>wean myself off the subject of Expats</b>. Because it seems like there is not much left to say, really. One day I will stop talking about it. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But not until I feel that it's still such an unresolved matter. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I follow a few Expat FB pages and I read with <b>tender compassion</b> the posts of 1st-time expats asking for help on how to figure everything out. I read <b>admiration and a sense of sisterhood</b> the many posts describing the struggle of moving kids to a new country-school-language, of figuring out how everything works in that place you just moved to, although you cannot even pronounce it right. <b>I know exactly how it feels.</b> Then there are those dealing with a sudden emergency at home, who have to organise an intercontinental trip with small kids in less than 24 hours. Those trying to smuggle their Christmas decorations in the container by labelling the boxes "art supplies" or "garden lights" if they are moving to the Middle East. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But then there is the sudden post by that <b>narcissistic bitch</b> that gives Expats a dubious reputation for writing things like:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"My son prefers the company of a kid who belongs to the royal Saudi family to the child of a Burmese general."</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Why, for God's sake, why?</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To whoever might not be familiar with Expat dynamics: those who make it sound the most glamorous, are also the ones that allow the producers of <b>Prozac and Ritalin</b> to make their best profit. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I wanted to comment "<b>Get out or I'll kill you"</b>, as Freddy Mercury tells John Reid when he fears he's breaking up the band (I know Bohemian Rhapsody by heart and it'd better win that Oscar tonight).</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>You don't break up the Expat band by being a bitch about your perceived privilege</b>. Get out. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This came just as I was pondering another unresolved Expat issue, namely the burning desire most expat wives have to <b>go back to work as soon as they can</b>, even though their husband is usually taking care of the family's finances quite well. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If the elements of <b>novelty and challenge </b>(supposedly the stuff happiness is made of) are more than satisfied by expatriate living, what is missing from the equation is often <b>MEANING</b>. Where is that bastard? Where to find it? </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Is it in voluntary work? Kind of. In learning a new language? To a certain extent.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But then navigating my new obsession with clinical psychology, I ran into the answer I was looking for, from the work of Lev Vygotskij, who theorised the concept of <b>ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT.</b> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Meaning lies on the border between being competent and pushing yourself enough so that you are developing yourself and moving forward.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The key is in the word <b>COMPETENT</b>, because expatriate living throws new challenges at you at such a rate, that you don't ever become competent at anything you do. It makes you hit the reset button so many times that you cannot really reach mastery in any project you might have pursued while on the go. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I wrote it in my book, although with a less clear idea of what it meant: I said I felt like a master of mediocrity, or like the Japanese saying goes:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>TAGEI WA MUGEI</b>, many skills, no skills. </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We don't look for money in our strongly missed, abruptly interrupted career (although a certain financial independence surely feels refreshing), <b>WE LOOK FOR MEANING THROUGH COMPETENCE</b>. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);">That is exactly it. </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(I have another post about going back to work brewing in my head, stand by, it's coming)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">-------------------------</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sto veramente cercando di <b>smetterla con questi post sugli Expat</b>, perché ormai cos'altro c'è da dire? Un giorno chiuderò definitivamente l'argomento. Ma non finché sento che è ancora così poco chiaro. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Seguo diverse pagine di FB per Expat e leggo<b> con tenerezza</b> i post delle Expat principianti, alla loro prima assegnazione internazionale, che si chiedono come risolvere perfino le questioni più semplici. <b>Con ammirazione e un senso di sorellanza</b> i post di quelle mamme che hanno a che fare con cambiamenti di paese-lingue-scuole per i loro piccoli e hanno mille dubbi, o che cercano di far funzionare la famiglia appena trasferita in un posto che non sanno nemmeno ancora pronunciare. <b>So esattamente di cosa parlano</b>. Poi ci sono quelle colpite da un'emergenza improvvisa a casa, che devono organizzare un rientro intercontinentale con bambini piccoli a carico in meno di 24 ore. E quelle che cercano di contrabbandare le decorazioni natalizie nel container scrivendo sulle scatole "arte" o "luci da giardino", se si stanno trasferendo nel Medio Oriente. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ma poi ecco che appare un post scritto da qualche <b>stronza narcisista</b> che rovina la reputazione di noi expat scrivendo cose come:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"Mio figlio preferisce giocare col bambino imparentato con la famiglia reale saudita che col <span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);">nipote del generale birmano".</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);"><b>Ma che cavolo, PERCHÈ??</b></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Per chiunque non conosca bene le dinamiche Expat: quelli che si vantano di star vivendo l'esperienza più fantasmagorica della loro vita e se la tirano senza sosta, sono quelli che poi permettono ai produttori di <b>Prozac e Ritalin </b>di fare i loro migliori incassi. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Volevo risponderle: "<b>Esci prima che ti ammazzi</b>" come dice Freddy Mercury a John Reid quando questi mette in dubbio l'unità della band (si, so Bohemian Rhapsody a memoria e stasera deve vincere l'Oscar!). Non intacchi la reputazione della <i>Expat band</i> blaterando cose senza senso sui tuoi presunti privilegi. Esci. <i>Goodbye</i>. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Questo è successo mentre stavo ponderando un'altra questione Expat che resta irrisolta, cioè il desiderio bruciante che le mogli Expat hanno di<b> tornare a lavorare appena possibile</b>, anche se di solito il marito guadagna abbastanza bene per entrambi. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Gli elementi di <b>novità e sfida</b> (fondamentali, a quanto pare, per essere felici) nella vita expat abbondano, quello che manca dall'equazione è il <b>SENSO</b>, il significato. E dove cavolo si trova questo stronzo? Dove andare a cercarlo? Nel volontariato? In parte. Nell'imparare una nuova lingua? Fino a un certo punto. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ma poi mentre navigavo la mia nuova ossessione per la psicologia clinica, mi sono imbattuta nella risposta che cercavo, è venuta da Lev Vygotskij che ha teorizzato la<b> ZONA DI SVILUPPO PROSSIMALE.</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Si trova un senso a quello che si fa, quando si sta sul confine tra l'essere competenti e lo spingerci oltre, allo scopo di poterci sviluppare e crescere. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">La parola chiave è dunque <b>COMPETENZA</b>, perché la vita expat ti lancia addosso nuove sfide con frequenza così incalzante, da impedirti di diventare mai veramente competente. Ti fa schiacciare il bottone RESET così tante volte, che non arriverai mai a completare nessuno dei tuoi progetti. L'avevo scritto anche nel mio libro, anche se con un'idea meno chiara sul significato: che ero un'esperta di mediocrità, o come dicono i giapponesi <b>TAGEI WA MUGEI</b>: tanti talenti significa nessun talento. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Non è l'aspetto economico, la molla (anche se l'indipendenza economica non è certo da <span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);">sottovalutare),<b> CERCHIAMO NEL RITORNO AL LAVORO QUEL SENSO DI COMPETENZA CHE DIA FINALMENTE UN SIGNIFICATO AI NOSTRI SFORZI.</b> </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);">Esattamente questo. </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);">(awesome watercolour by me, all rights reserved)</span></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-49372450410744999032019-02-23T07:51:00.001-08:002019-07-02T08:03:28.107-07:00of the consolation prize -- sul premio di consolazione<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGqjIVok8uRRaoX_w9ChcG-Qw1nqq1jfyFNsuYM9XuKxWviSPASRFn9Du-x9b0BLc9V1okhpdEbD2Rb40LxdMvFFRN9zhZQCWBFA9R9vHepnxIVWIdhU6hAMl5zVCInkRYgiyBjVTFbSA/s1600/IMG_6041.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGqjIVok8uRRaoX_w9ChcG-Qw1nqq1jfyFNsuYM9XuKxWviSPASRFn9Du-x9b0BLc9V1okhpdEbD2Rb40LxdMvFFRN9zhZQCWBFA9R9vHepnxIVWIdhU6hAMl5zVCInkRYgiyBjVTFbSA/s400/IMG_6041.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I anyway have further proof that </span><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Spanish is the best language in the world</b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. I left this <span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);">anecdote</span> out in my last post because there was already enough food for thought. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So I was watching a television program in Spanish, it was showing surreal court cases of people with peculiar stories who found themselves in unusual circumstances (freaks). In this particular case, a husband was arguing that his wife had to stop using her <i style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);"><b>CONSOLADOR</b></i>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Having studied <b>Latin</b> and being therefore a world class expert in the etymology of words, I knew exactly what they were talking about:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>To console</b>, from the Latin word <i>consolari:</i> to comfort someone at a time of grief or... <b>disappointment</b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The woman must have had a kind of <b>Linus blanket </b>she couldn't give up even though she was all grown up and married. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So unreasonable! </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That poor husband. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then I double checked on <b>Google '</b>cos they were making such a big deal of it!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">OOPS</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That poor wife. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">-----------</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ho comunque le prove che lo spagnolo è la migliore lingua al mondo.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ho omesso questo aneddoto nel mio ultimo post perché c'era già abbastanza da riflettere. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Allora, una sera guardavo un programma televisivo in spagnolo di quelli che fanno vedere casi in tribunale in cui sono coinvolte persone con storie particolari in circostanze dubbie (dei pazzi completi). In questo caso specifico, un marito citava la moglie perché smettesse di utilizzare un <b><i>CONSOLADOR</i></b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Avendo studiato <b>latino</b> ed essendo un'esperta mondiale nell'etimologia delle parole, sapevo esattamente di cosa si trattava:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Consolare</b>, dal latino <i>consolari, </i>composto di <i>con</i> (insieme) e <i>solari</i> (confortare).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);">Confortare qualcuno in un momento di dolore o... <b>delusione</b>.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);">La moglie di quel tizio doveva avere una specie di <b>coperta di Linus</b> a cui non voleva rinunciare, nonostante fosse già adulta e sposata.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);">Davvero irragionevole.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);">Povero marito.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Poi per scrupolo ho controllato su <b>Google </b>perché continuavano a discutere.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">OPS</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Povera moglie. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(awesome watercolour by me, all rights reserved)</span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);"><br /></span></span></div>
Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-45435831680648465492019-02-23T03:45:00.001-08:002019-03-03T12:34:37.821-08:00of Frida and Shakira -- su Frida e Shakira<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDg-JTRUMofI0VcKVHOfqg41u4wWRRv8KA23osojPo5rEZ70vhSS0ghyphenhyphenzPodL_4C9uC_TW25M40BQtQGOUjoMdGkf67tWcVmriCzVwRXQUdmm8srqedo68JvsNlD2bzK8SltHOOJgPCgg/s1600/IMG_6037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDg-JTRUMofI0VcKVHOfqg41u4wWRRv8KA23osojPo5rEZ70vhSS0ghyphenhyphenzPodL_4C9uC_TW25M40BQtQGOUjoMdGkf67tWcVmriCzVwRXQUdmm8srqedo68JvsNlD2bzK8SltHOOJgPCgg/s400/IMG_6037.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Although the <b>Spanish language</b> is tied to a very difficult time in my life when I lived in Panama, I still love it. To me it's the perfect language for a drink with friends, it's got that "<i>who cares, let's party</i>" feeling, maybe because of its natural musicality. </span></span></span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">I had the same feeling about the Thai language, when we lived in Bangkok, with the only tiny difference that apart from taxi directions (<i>right, left, stop</i>) I couldn't understand a word. </span></span></span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">But everything sounded like "<i>let's kick off our shoes and have a cocktail on the beach</i>".</span></span></span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Anyway, I love Spanish and I love Frida Kahlo and her perfect poem:</span></span></span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><i>Mereces un amore que se lieve las mentiras, </i></b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);">que te traiga la </i><i>ilusión</i><i style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);">, </i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);">el café y la poesia.</i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);"><br /></i></b></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(you deserve a love that will take away the lies, bring you illusion, coffe and poetry)</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So today as I was driving my puberty-possessed child to one of her many weekend commitments, we were listening to a song by Shakira and the lyrics said:</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Yo no pido nada extraordinario</i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>solo un hombre de verdad</i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>que se tire por mi al barro</i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>que cambie las bombillas o hasta que me lave el carro</i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Quiero un tipo atento y cariñoso, pero que no sea muy celoso</i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Que en la calle sea un principe </i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>pero que en mi cama sea salvaje y peligroso.</i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(I don't ask for anything exceptional, just a real man who will throw himself in the mud for me, change the lightbulbs and even wash my car.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I want a guy who is attentive and loving but not too jealous, that is a prince on the street but a dangerous savage in my bed)</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Where is the romance? </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Perhaps the titles say it better than the lyrics:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Frida's is <i><b>Mereces un amor</b></i>, you deserve a love, while Shakira sings <b><i>Perro fiel</i></b>, faithful dog. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Have we come a long way or gone too far? I don't know, you be the judge.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But somehow I think my possessed teenager should listen carefully to both. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">-----------------</span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Nonostante <b>lo spagnolo</b> sia una lingua legata a un periodo molto difficile della mia vita, quando vivevo a Panama, continuo ad amarla. È la lingua perfetta per uscire a bere qualcosa con gli amici, ha quel non so che di "<i>ma si, dai, chissenefrega</i>", forse a causa della sua innata musicalità. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anche <b>il tailandese,</b> quando abitavamo a Bangkok, mi dava la stessa impressione, solo che lì a parte tre parole usate coi tassisti (<i>destra, sinistra, stop</i>!) non capivo un tubo.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ma qualsiasi cosa mi dicessero suonava come "<i>ora di un cocktail sulla spiaggia, a piedi nudi</i>". </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In ogni caso, amo lo spagnolo e amo Frida Kahlo e la sua poesia perfetta: </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><i>Mereces un amore que se lleve las mentiras, </i></b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>que te traiga la </i><i>ilusión</i><i>, </i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><b>el café y la poesia.</b> </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(Meriti un amore che porti via le menzogne, che ti doni l'illusione, il caffè e la poesia)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Oggi ero in macchina che accompagnavo la mia teenager posseduta dal demonio dell'adolescenza a uno dei suoi tanti impegni del fine settimana e ascoltavamo alla radio una canzone di Shakira. Diceva:</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></b>
<b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Yo no pido nada extraordinario</i></b><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>solo un hombre de verdad</i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>que se tire por mi al barro</i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>que cambie las bombillas o hasta que me lave el carro</i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Quiero un tipo atento y cariñoso, pero que no sea muy celoso</i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Que en la calle sea un principe </i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>pero que en mi cama sea salvaje y peligroso.</i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(Non chiedo niente di eccezionale, solo un uomo che per me si butti nel fango, cambi le lampadine e mi lavi anche la macchina. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Voglio un tipo che sia attento e affettuoso ma non troppo geloso, che per strada sia un principe ma a letto selvaggio e pericoloso)</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Romantico?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Forse i titoli delle due opere sono ancora più chiari dei testi:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Frida scrive <b><i>Mereces un amor</i></b>, meriti un amore, mente Shakira canta <b><i>Perro Fiel</i></b>, cane fedele. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ne abbiamo fatta di strada o abbiamo esagerato? Non lo so, giudicate voi.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ma sono convinta che la teenager posseduta farà meglio ad ascoltarle bene entrambe. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(awesome watercolour by me, all rights reserved)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #000065; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.658824); letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #000065;"><span style="caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.658824); letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #000065;"><span style="caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.658824); letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-28920758789475020542018-12-03T22:59:00.000-08:002019-03-03T12:34:52.776-08:00of Jung -- su Jung<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgSp89iTo5iG2N2OeaEvGEuFYCzUch8diHZysGifPsyNaFMxz-_nknF3DHti94F9qZtdx1rKFdx3B14-IrwgRYGU9IG9gxd4G24rRwrdBXvZpYCGVpan7j7VAS8GQCv_6UnFqSLaMD3HA/s1600/IMG_4398.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgSp89iTo5iG2N2OeaEvGEuFYCzUch8diHZysGifPsyNaFMxz-_nknF3DHti94F9qZtdx1rKFdx3B14-IrwgRYGU9IG9gxd4G24rRwrdBXvZpYCGVpan7j7VAS8GQCv_6UnFqSLaMD3HA/s400/IMG_4398.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I have been reading <b>Jung </b>a lot. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">His writings are daunting, not just because of the content itself, but because the guy was so incredibly smart, it's scary. He can conceptualise answers to <b>questions that are not fit for the human brain</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But then again, like me, he studied <b>Ancient Greek</b>. When I say "study" here referred to myself, I use it of course in a broad sense, because even though I laboured for 5 long years over it, it has left behind nothing but a very faint trace. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I believe it's all been <b>pushed off my braincells by German</b>. That bully kept the trunk of the Greek tree: the declinations, but trimmed off all the Greek branches and replaced them with words such as <i>Räbelichtliumzug, Sechseläuten or Berufausübungsbewilligung</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My dear school friend <b>Michelle</b> (more like an accomplice in mischief during our teenage years) who is <strike>cursed</strike> blessed with a child who also chose to study Ancient Greek (God, thank you for not including it in the International School curriculum, amen), tells me that when she had to help him with school work, <b>IT CAME BACK</b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Her brain must be equipped with more gigabytes than mine. In my case there is no coming back. More than a CPR it would be like an exhumation. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Hopeless. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anyway, back to Jung. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I got interested in Jung after my wild teenager started spending her scout summer camp setting up tent with her crew in the beautiful garden of what was Jung's childhood home. Up to that point I very much confused him with <b>Freud</b>, both in the same field, both short names with the same origins, sort of like Lenin and Stalin in history class. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I got so much into his writings, that I even considered taking some classes at the Jung institute. The problem is that courses that will actually lead to a diploma are CRAZY expensive, and the weekend retreats are very popular among the <b>Birkenstock crowd</b>, which is attracted by such things as well as by homeopathy and lack of deodorant. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anyway, I think it's <b>mighty poetic</b> that such a scholar of human behaviour would have a bunch of scouts setting up tents in his garden. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I can imagine him hovering above with his notebook at hand and his pipe (or was that Freud?) finding meaning in their random pooping in the woods and not showering for 2 weeks. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's a pity that an <b>introduction to psychoanalysis</b> is not included in compulsory education with less, for example, Ancient Greek. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because out of the two I have a feeling that the former will come in handier than the latter, whilst dealing with the mundane order of things. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Just to mention one of Jung's teachings, which is also my favorite one:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"<b>Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.</b>"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Learn to face your demons, or they will dictate your destiny.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I know so many people that would have benefitted from this more than Greek, including yours truly. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">-------------------------</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mi sono messa a leggere <b>Jung</b> e non mi fermo più. I suoi scritti sono impressionanti, non solo per il contenuto ma per come trapela l'intelligenza acutissima di quest'uomo. Può formulare risposte concettuali a <b>domande esistenziali che non sono concepibili dalla mente umana</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">D'altra parte, come me, aveva studiato il <b>Greco Antico</b>. E quando dico "studiato" riferito a me stessa, lo intendo ovviamente in senso lato perché nonostante ci abbia sudato per 5 lunghi anni, nel mio cervello non ha quasi lasciato traccia. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">La mia teoria è che sia tutto stato <b>rimosso dal tedesco</b>. Quel bullo ha mantenuto l'albero greco delle declinazioni, ma ha tagliato via tutti i rami, sostituendoli con parole come </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Räbelichtliumzug, Sechseläuten o Berufausübungsbewilligung. </i><br />
<i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">La mia cara compagna di banco del liceo, <b>Michelle</b> (la mia complice di malefatte durante gli anni dell'adolescenza) ha la <strike>sfiga pazzesca</strike> grandissima fortuna di avere un figlio che ha deciso di studiare anche lui greco (Dio, grazie di non aver incluso il greco nel curriculum delle scuole internazionali, amen). Ebbene, lei sostiene che quando deve aiutarlo a tradurre, il greco <b>LE RITORNA</b>. Il suo cervello deve avere molti più gigabyte del mio. Nel mio caso, non c'è ritorno. Più che di rianimazione, si tratterebbe di riesumazione. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Nessuna speranza. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In ogni caso, torniamo a Jung. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mi sono appassionata a Jung dopo che mia figlia ha iniziato a mettere su tenda coi suoi amici scout durante il campo estivo nel bellissimo giardino di quella che era stata la sua dimora d'infanzia. Fino a quel momento me lo confondevo con <b>Freud</b>: entrambi nomi corti, con la stessa origine linguistica, attivi nello stesso campo. Un po' come facevo con Stalin e Lenin a storia. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ho anche pensato di frequentare dei corsi all'Istituto Jung, ma quelli che permettono di conseguire un diploma sono carissimi e i seminari del fine settimana sono un po' troppo diffusi tra il <b>popolo Birkenstock</b>, lo stesso appassionato anche di omeopatia e assenza di deodorante. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In ogni caso, trovo <b>estremamente poetico</b> che proprio uno studioso del comportamento umano ospiti nel proprio giardino una truppa di scout in tenda. Me lo immagino che svolazza a mezz'aria tra di loro con il taccuino e la pipa (o era Freud?) prendendo appunti e cercando significati profondi nel loro cagare nel bosco e non lavarsi per due settimane. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">È un vero peccato che un corso di introduzione alla psicoanalisi non sia incluso nel programma della scuola dell'obbligo sacrificando magari un po' di greco. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Perché dei due ho l'impressione che la prima tornerà più utile del secondo, nell'ordine mondano delle cose. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Per esempio in questo concetto, che è uno dei miei preferiti, Jung dice:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"<b>Rendi cosciente l'inconscio, altrimenti guiderà la tua vita e tu lo chiamerai destino</b>".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Affronta i tuoi demoni o finiranno col determinare il tuo futuro. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Conosco tante di quelle persone a cui avrebbe fatto meglio questo, del greco. Inclusa ovviamente a sottoscritta. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(awesome watercolour by me, all rights reserved)</span>Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-53848062179425180182018-12-02T14:32:00.001-08:002018-12-03T03:41:21.045-08:00of blogs, interrupted -- sui blog interrotti<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_X6Kg12orBXmqvNlJ8_uq37319hnsPhRqfgiVAmgm2hvY-h5xB7A7JDNxm_wE78JmveoEzRI9a5T4gAf8_WogJR0EhWY9nJitgpTq_qYITdqWhdRxQlq8WSrhBvKuFTNgkN4RB9L4pUw/s1600/IMG_4391.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_X6Kg12orBXmqvNlJ8_uq37319hnsPhRqfgiVAmgm2hvY-h5xB7A7JDNxm_wE78JmveoEzRI9a5T4gAf8_WogJR0EhWY9nJitgpTq_qYITdqWhdRxQlq8WSrhBvKuFTNgkN4RB9L4pUw/s400/IMG_4391.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When at night I go through <b>expat-blogs</b>, I have fun noticing how some of the bloggers have optimistically named them after the geographical location of what was probably their first international assignment, without imagining that they'd soon be moving on. </span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So there is a <b>Swiss-something</b> writing from Wisconsin and a <b>Zürich-something-else</b> writing from Australia. After she's been to Belgium, of course. </span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Just to name a few.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But then there is also the <b>dark side</b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Made up of those blogs that were flourishing up to their last post and then... nothing, oblivion. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Last post March 2013</b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No goodbyes. No explanation. Nothing. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One day they were describing a bucolic walk immersed in the picture-perfect scenery of some corner of the world and then, without warning, <b><i>EVANESCO</i>!</b> the vanishing spell was upon them and they were gone. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And there are so many of such blogs, what in the world happened to them? What makes one person decide from one day to the other that their adventures are <b>not worth narrating </b>anymore? </span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This gives me such <b>expat-angst</b>, you have no idea. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">How did they get lost in the <b>dark folds</b> of expatriate living? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Are they standing in line at some faraway <b>embassy </b>trying to get their visa to get out of that country?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Did they get forever<i> <b>lost in translation</b></i><b> </b>while visiting homes and schools ahead of their next posting?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Have they spent years on London's <b>Circle Line</b> without knowing how to get out?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Did they<b> fall in love</b> with a handsome local and are now living with him in a hut on the beach, that has no wifi? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Are they ageing at a <b>lost luggage</b> counter of some airport filling out forms? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Have they committed <i>harakiri</i> upon learning of the upcoming umpteenth month-long visit of their <b>mother in law</b>?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Have they been <b>run over</b> because they crossed the street forgetting which way the cars were coming from, in their current county of residence? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Did they get <b>food-poisoned</b> trying some exotic dish?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Has the destiny of Sleeping Beauty befallen them because of a acute case of <b>Jet Lag</b> turned chronic? </span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Which one is it? Shall I start writing my <b>last goodbyes</b>?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">---------------</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Quando di sera cerco <b>expat-blogs</b>, mi diverto a vedere come alcuni bloggers abbiano chiamato il loro blog con un nome inerente alla loro attuale locazione geografica, probabilmente quando erano alla loro prima assegnazione internazionale, senza immaginare che poi ne sarebbero seguite altre. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">E così c'è una <b>pinco-pallino-in-Svizzera</b> che scrive dal Wisconsin, e un'altra <b>cip-e-ciop-a-Zurigo</b> che invece scrive dall'Australia, dopo che ovviamente è passata anche dal Belgio.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Solo per fare due esempi.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ma c'è anche un <b>lato oscuro</b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Composto da quei blog che erano floridi fino all'ultimo post e poi... niente... l'oblio.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Ultimo post marzo 2013.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Niente saluti, niente spiegazioni, niente. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Un giorno stavano descrivendo una passeggiata bucolica immersi nello scenario pittoresco di qualche angolo del mondo e poi, senza preavviso, <i><b>EVANESCO!</b> </i>l'incantesimo della sparizione li ha beccati e sono scomparsi senza lasciare traccia. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">E ce ne sono davvero tanti di blog interrotti in questo modo. Cosa diavolo gli è capitato? Cosa induce una persona a decidere da un giorno all'altro che le loro avventure <b>non meritano più di essere narrate</b>?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Tutto questo mi riempie di <b>expat-angoscia</b>, non potete nemmeno immaginarvelo.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Come si sono persi <b>nelle pieghe buie </b> della vita expat?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sono in fila da anni davanti a qualche strana <b>ambasciata </b>aspettando un visto per ripartire?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Si sono <b><i>lost in translation</i></b> visitando scuole e case in vista del loro prossimo trasloco?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Si sono <b>innamorate</b> di un indigeno e adesso vivono con lui in una capanna sulla spiaggia in cui non c'è wifi?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stanno girando da anni sul <b>Grande Raccordo Anulare</b> senza sapere come uscirne?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stanno invecchiando compilando moduli per <b>bagagli smarriti </b>in qualche strano aeroporto in giro per il mondo?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Hanno saputo di un'ennesima visita di un mese della <b>suocera</b> e hanno deciso di fare <i>Karakiri</i>?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sono state <b>stirate da una macchina </b>per aver attraversato senza ricordarsi da che parte si guida in quel paese?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Si sono beccate un'<b>intossicazione alimentare</b> letale provando qualche piatto esotico?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Gli ha colti il destino della Bella Addormentata per colpa di un caso di <b>Jet-Lag</b> acuto, diventato poi cronico?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Qual'è la risposta? Devo forse cominciare a scrivere<b> i miei addii</b>?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(pic by me, all rights reserved)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-22892932860875492602018-12-01T08:35:00.000-08:002019-03-03T12:35:09.308-08:00of shopping alone -- sul fare compere da solo<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYmdQVJWCL2XmDqqWRQF7Rwzfdm_3qIzZLuwHiIetKbUh_0de8CXs3WAikqKHEN_MvyyTI4X4bEtOzrpWi8XLaAO5a3kZ5MqyNQzKK6LdPUs5BFCHsfD2wNrq-qk2iPFsU7Aw0oIAFZCg/s1600/IMG_4366.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYmdQVJWCL2XmDqqWRQF7Rwzfdm_3qIzZLuwHiIetKbUh_0de8CXs3WAikqKHEN_MvyyTI4X4bEtOzrpWi8XLaAO5a3kZ5MqyNQzKK6LdPUs5BFCHsfD2wNrq-qk2iPFsU7Aw0oIAFZCg/s400/IMG_4366.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When you kid leaves home to study abroad, everyday you find a new way in which you miss him. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But the pride of seeing him taking care of himself and fending off difficulties, most of the time counterbalances the <b>excruciating emptiness</b> of not having him close by.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So he had a rough week, <b>his wallet got stolen</b>, because having grown up between Switzerland and Japan, he thought it would be safe to leave it in the laundry room of his dorm while he quickly ran upstairs to fetch something in his room. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Bless his innocent heart.</b> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It was 2 am when he called me and I was up on my laptop cancelling bank cards and figuring out how to replace his documents, that, true to his TCK past, have been issued in different corners of the world. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But I didn't feel protective, it was nothing but practical matters.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then a few days later it was <b>his bike that disappeared</b> from the bike-rack outside the dorm. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mind you, it's a pawn-shop bike we bought together when he started university, and it had a proper lock which probably was worth more than the bike itself. But he needs it to go to his lessons. And once again, I reacted full action: told him to get a skateboard instead, so he can bring it inside.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the end he got his bike back because a friend of his saw it in a sketchy neighbourhood not far from campus. They just went there on a mission to retrieve it. Never mind that they could have gotten shot, but then again, I am ALWAYS the one with the worst case scenario in mind... </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And yet again, it was all </span><b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">soaked in adrenaline</b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, all action, no time for feelings. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then yesterday he called me while he was coming back from his lessons on his retrieved bike and told me he was going to <b>buy himself some khaki pants</b> for a semi-formal Christmas party his Fraternity is hosting, and then going for a haircut. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And suddenly the adrenaline was gone. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> I realised how big and independent he has become, and the thought of him trying on pants <b>without me</b> outside of his changing room made him seem more vulnerable than any theft. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It made me break down and I haven't stopped crying since. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">-----------------------------</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Quando i tuoi figli vanno via da casa per studiare all'estero, ogni giorno scopri nuovi modi in cui ti mancano. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ma l'orgoglio di vederli indipendenti e in grado di occuparsi di sé stessi è così forte che sovente prende il sopravvento o quantomeno controbilancia la <b>malinconia struggente</b> di non averli accanto.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ha avuto una settimana complicata, <b>gli hanno rubato il portafoglio</b>, perché essendo cresciuto tra il Giappone e la Svizzera, il ragazzo pensa di poterlo lasciare qualche minuto nella stanza lavanderia del suo dormitorio mentre corre in camera a prendere una cosa, e che nessuno glielo tocchi. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Beata innocenza.</b> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Erano le 2 del mattino quando mi ha chiamata, e dal letto sul mio laptop cercavo di capire come fare a rinnovare i suoi documenti che da bravo bimbo expat sono stati emessi in vari angoli del mondo.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ma non avevo istinto protettivo, era soltanto una questione pratica da sistemare. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Un paio di giorni dopo gli hanno <b>rubato anche la bici</b>, davanti alla casa per studenti dove abita. Fra l'altro è un rottame che abbiamo comprato a un banco dei pegni quando l'ho accompagnato là ed era regolarmente inchiavardato con un lucchetto che probabilmente valeva più della bici, ma gli serve per andare a lezione. E di nuovo ho reagito subito mettendomi in azione, gli ho detto di prendersi uno skate-board, così lo può portare in camera.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Alla fine l'ha ritrovata, un suo amico l'ha vista in un quartiere poco raccomandabile non distante dall'università e sono andati a riprendersela. Ovviamente qualcuno avrebbe potuto sparargli, ma tanto io sono famosa per essere quella che si immagina sempre lo scenario più tragico possibile.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Eppure anche questa disavventura era <b>intrisa di adrenalina</b>, senza sentimentalismi. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Poi ieri mi ha chiamata mentre tornava da lezione pedalando sulla sua bici recuperata e mi ha detto che stava andando a <b>comprarsi dei pantaloni beige</b> per una festa di Natale semi-formale alla sua Fraternity e poi a tagliarsi i capelli.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">E improvvisamente non c'era più adrenalina, solo sentimento. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">L'ho visto così grande e indipendente, e il pensiero di lui che si prova i pantaloni nuovi <b>senza che ci sia io</b> fuori dalla saletta di prova me lo ha fatto apparire più vulnerabile di qualsiasi furto, mi ha completamente distrutta e ancora a adesso non riesco a smettere di piangere. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(awesome watercolour by me, all rights reserved)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-32464242451967048232018-11-28T14:53:00.003-08:002018-12-02T14:38:07.308-08:00of expat blogs -- sugli expat blogs<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdoXMw-lL3UgR4gxEXrbtjOegp6q1hc5E8Ri-Hxf6qXFYBzRtpPb1YQuYLkr3BdXKsHlfxcMbdqtxD0V46Gy7KomckLp2umo5QxIh90TDYQSffe1Hm-5ZvzmT52aqW0jEV86MWl-GIPCk/s1600/IMG_4332.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdoXMw-lL3UgR4gxEXrbtjOegp6q1hc5E8Ri-Hxf6qXFYBzRtpPb1YQuYLkr3BdXKsHlfxcMbdqtxD0V46Gy7KomckLp2umo5QxIh90TDYQSffe1Hm-5ZvzmT52aqW0jEV86MWl-GIPCk/s400/IMG_4332.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Oh the things I do <b>while I wait</b> for my daughter to go to bed. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">She is often up studying late and I never go to bed before her. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's a matter of principle. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">She needs to be <b>tucked in and kissed good night</b> (yes, Mom, drop the eye-rolling, she is 16 on the outside but still my baby on the inside) and most of all she must have that magic, reassuring certainty that I am still <b>guarding the nest</b> during that time of extreme vulnerability when <b><i>you fall asleep the way you fall in love: slowly, and then all at once</i>.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(yes, John Green, I dared)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anyway, while she is in her room studying I am usually reading, illustrating my blog with awesome watercolours, or browsing the web for expat blogs that will sweep me off my feet.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I went on <b>EXPATSBLOG</b> that features blogs from all over the world, organised by current location of the bloggers. The problem is that since nobody seems to be updating the information, almost all of the expat bloggers classified under a certain location <b>in the meantime have moved</b>! That's the whole point of expat life! It's like going for the aviary at the zoo and finding that the cage has been left open letting all the birds fly away! </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You know, I have been thinking of the right metaphor to use for a couple of days, and I have only come up with bird-themed metaphors. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(The other one was: classifying expats by their country of residence, is like classifying pigeons by the monuments they poop on) </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Coincidence</b>? I think not! </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">How do I know it? Ladies and gentlemen, here is the solution to the psychological riddle:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"<b>Bird spirit is the perfect symbol for freedom</b>." </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's scary how much sense it makes.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(I put it in quotation marks for drama's sake but I actually just googled MEANING OF BIRDS)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">--------------------------</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Mentre aspetto</b> che mia figlia vada a dormire, faccio di tutto. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sovente finisce di studiare molto tardi e non vado mai a letto prima di lei.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">È una questione di principio. Devo <b>rimboccarle le coperte e darle il bacio della buonanotte</b> (si, Mamma, alza pure gli occhi al cielo. Ha 16 anni ma è ancora la mia bimba piccola) e soprattutto deve avere quella magica e rassicurante certezza che sto ancora <b>vegliando sul nido</b> durante quel momento di estrema vulnerabilità in cui <i><b>ci si addormenta come quando ci si innamora: piano piano e poi profondamente</b></i>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(Ebbene si, ho osato storpiare John Green)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Comunque sia, mentre studia in camera sua di solito leggo, dipingo acquarelli meravigliosi per illustrare il mio blog, o navigo su internet in cerca di expat-blogs che mi ispirino.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sono passata da <b>EXPATSBLOG</b> che raccoglie diversi blog scritti da expat, classificati a seconda del paese da cui scrivono. Il problema è che siccome evidentemente nessuno si prende la briga di aggiornare le informazioni, quasi tutti i bloggers che sono classificati sotto una certa destinazione geografica, nel frattempo <b>sono andati a vivere da un'altra parte</b>!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">È l'essenza della vita expat, il movimento continuo. È come andare allo zoo a vedere la voliera e trovarla vuota perché è stata lasciata aperta!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sono due giorni che penso a che metafora usare e stranamente mi sono venute in mente solo metafore volatili. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(L'altra se vi interessa era: classificare gli expat a seconda del paese in cui risiedono è come classificare i piccioni a seconda del monumento su cui cagano)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Si tratta di una semplice <b>coincidenza</b>? Non credo proprio. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ecco infatti la soluzione a questo enigma psicologico:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"<b>Gli uccelli sono il simbolo perfetto della libertà</b>".</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Tutto torna, in modo quasi inquietante.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(L'ho messo tra virgolette per maggiore autorevolezza ma ho semplicemente cercato su google "simbolismo degli uccelli")</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(pic, aka "awesome watercolour" by me, all rights reserved)</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-74889240756303167742018-11-26T08:48:00.003-08:002018-11-28T23:46:58.904-08:00of radio stations around the world -- sulle stazioni radio in giro per il mondo<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFFENqw8uB0H30JHWO3fCMMU3Psg1EK7acirTnwZzeJlGvgTtwZDfnA8oqdEV7qzdKeiTFnvqHybVkj0oz6Ey7FWaF_lUVtwoqPWyIKVi7SUOstX_2iP_jRStsSSIQ-8MperKDUcNTOiI/s1600/IMG_4265.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFFENqw8uB0H30JHWO3fCMMU3Psg1EK7acirTnwZzeJlGvgTtwZDfnA8oqdEV7qzdKeiTFnvqHybVkj0oz6Ey7FWaF_lUVtwoqPWyIKVi7SUOstX_2iP_jRStsSSIQ-8MperKDUcNTOiI/s400/IMG_4265.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So new week, new addiction. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This has actually been going on for a while: the <b>Radio Garden</b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's a webpage that works like Google Maps but lets you zoom in not on places, but on <b>radio stations</b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You have no idea how cool this is. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So I am there making our family's traditional Sunday night pizza and my phone is all covered in flour because I keep scrolling, I can't listen to the same radio station for more than 5 minutes, I need to flip through timezones and and discover what tune <b>families in Vancouver</b> are having lunch to, what's playing on <b>my fellow Italians</b> car radios as they are returning home after the weekend, and what melody <b>lovers in Siberia</b> are making middle-of-the-night-love to. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then I moved over on to Florida because I've got some family investments over there. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I started from the north, that still feels the influence of the infamous <b>Bible Belt</b>, and got plenty of information that will serve me well if I never want to sleep ever again in my life: it turns out I should always have some holy water at hand to spray around my home ON A DAILY BASIS in order <b>to keep the creatures of the abyss at bay</b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Damn. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So that's why I can't get the chords of Bohemian Rhapsody right, my daughter's room is a mess, my son could have gotten a much better IB score and I can never find a hairband when I am late for tennis: it's the creatures of the abyss that have been operating undisturbed for all these years. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Having heard enough <strike>crappy nonsense</strike> culturally enriching information, I moved <b>further south to Miami</b>, a city that I absolutely ADORE, but even there I fell upon a Christian radio station. This one was in Spanish, and boy-oh-boy how different the music was. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It was still about the Bible, but the Belt was definitely loser, if not coming off altogether. <b>So the pastor said</b>:</span></div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Husbands need to <b>devote themselves</b> to their women just as Jesus devoted himself to the Church. With complete devotion.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That a love too physical is not right, but one <b>too spiritual</b> is just as wrong.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And then this one, which completely won me over in form and content and metaphor chosen:</span></div>
<br />
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That women are like guitars, if you want music in your relationship, you need to learn how to <b>touch them right</b>. </span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>AMEN</b> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Time to book my next trip to Miami. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">----------------------------</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Nuova settimana, nuova mania.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No, in realtà questa dura già da un po', la <b>Garden Radio</b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">È una pagina web che funziona un po' come Google Maps ma invece di trovare posti, trova <b>stazioni radio</b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bellissimo.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Così mentre preparavo la nostra tradizionale pizza della domenica sera avevo il telefono coperto di farina perché continuavo a cambiare paese, non potevo ascoltare la stessa stazione per più di 5 minuti, dovevo cambiare fascia oraria e scoprire cosa stavano ascoltando <b>a Vancouver</b> durante il pranzo, o i miei <b>connazionali</b> mentre rientravano a casa dal fine settimana, o gli <b>amanti in Siberia</b> ancora svegli nel cuore della notte.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Poi mi sono spostata in Florida perché da quelle parti ho degli investimenti di famiglia. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ho iniziato al Nord, che è ancora influenzato dalla famigerata <b>Bible Belt</b> (la "cintura della Bibbia", una zona intrisa di conservatorismo e religione), e ho raccolto diverse informazioni molto utili che mi serviranno casomai decida di non voler mai più chiudere occhio per il resto della mia vita: a quanto pare dovrei avere sempre in casa dell'acqua santa da spruzzare QUOTIDIANAMENTE in giro <b>per tenere a bada le creature dell'abisso</b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ma che cavolo. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ecco perché non azzecco mai gli accordi di Bohemian Rhapsody, la camera di mia figlia è un casino bestiale, mio figlio ha preso un voto di IB così così e non riesco mai a trovare un elastico per i capelli quando sono in ritardo per tennis: sono le creature degli abissi che scorrazzano indisturbate per casa da anni!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Dopo aver sentito cotante <strike>stronzate</strike> illuminanti informazioni, mi sono spostata più a Sud, per l'esattezza <b>a Miami</b>, che è una città che ADORO, ma anche lì sono finita su una stazione radio cristiana. Ma era in spagnolo, ed era tutta un'altra musica. Erano molto meno abbottonati, a dire il vero la cintura era proprio slacciata del tutto. <b>Il pastore diceva</b>:</span></div>
<br />
<ul>
<li style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I mariti devono dedicarsi alle proprie mogli così come Gesù si è dedicato alla chiesa. Con devozione completa.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Che l'amore troppo carnale non va bene, ma anche quello troppo spirituale è sbagliato.</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">E poi questa chicca, che mi ha conquistata per forma, contenuto e scelta della metafora:</span></div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Che la donna è come una chitarra, se vuoi che ci sia musica nella vostra vita, devi imparare il modo giusto di toccarla. </span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>AMEN</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ora di prenotare il mio prossimo viaggio a Miami. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(pic by me, all rights reserved)</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-53305423723816882322018-11-20T23:30:00.001-08:002019-03-03T12:36:05.050-08:00of midlife crisis -- sulla crisi di mezza età<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijIUveA2xCYrW3Mf2skk2K8_PeCrf0PXHkHLZW7HeaHoo0WxvXjeOdvMR5b-BmPcZoQ5qg87GUnFw1qoIWLSnepFl_Ijgr64LfEWdu8uzsXJvTEDiOXVh0_x9w4i58dnlXHCvhEE1AQh0/s1600/IMG_4112.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijIUveA2xCYrW3Mf2skk2K8_PeCrf0PXHkHLZW7HeaHoo0WxvXjeOdvMR5b-BmPcZoQ5qg87GUnFw1qoIWLSnepFl_Ijgr64LfEWdu8uzsXJvTEDiOXVh0_x9w4i58dnlXHCvhEE1AQh0/s400/IMG_4112.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So my lovely husband told me he dreamt about buying himself <b>such a big motorbike</b> that at traffic lights he had to jump off 'cos he couldn't reach the ground. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Speaking of which, I just read something about midlife crisis. It was a quote that said:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>"Midlife crisis is when you reach the top of the ladder and find that it was against the wrong wall</b>."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I don't know why I got such a big <b>WTF </b>out of this. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Perhaps it had to do with the motorbike thing. Or maybe it's because it feels like I did <b>nothing but</b> hold other people's ladders for all these years, I held them firmly in place when they were standing on <b>uneven ground</b>, so that the climb could go on. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>My ladder needs no wall.</b> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Every expat woman who followed her man around the world knows what I am talking about. It's one of those models that can stand alone, the double ones shaped like an A. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The wall has changed so often, that we've learned to do without. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our ladder can stand in the middle of the desert, of a hurricane, of Times Square, of Christmas with the in-laws and it still <b>won't budge</b>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I've climbed it up and down so many times that I could do it with my eyes closed, spinning a dish on my nose while juggling 12 tennis balls (and a racquet).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I could<b> tour the world with a circus</b>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Which come to think of it, is precisely what I have been doing. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">------------------------------</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mio marito mi ha detto che ha sognato che si era comprato una <b>moto così grossa</b> che ai semafori doveva scendere perché non toccava per terra. Guarda caso avevo appena letto un articolo riguardo alla crisi di mezza età, che diceva:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>"La crisi di mezza età è quando raggiungi la cima della scala e ti accorgi che era appoggiata al muro sbagliato</b>".</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Non so perché mi ha fatto così <b>incazzare</b>, non so, forse era il sogno della moto.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">O forse è perché mi sembra di <b>non aver fatto altro</b> per tutti questi anni se non tenere la scala degli altri, tenerla ben ferma quando <b>il terreno era sconnesso</b>, perché potessero continuare a salire. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>La mia scala non ha bisogno di nessun muro.</b> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ogni moglie expat che ha seguito il proprio marito in giro per il mondo sa cosa intendo. È uno di quei modelli a forma di A che stanno su da soli.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Il muro è cambiato così sovente che abbiamo imparato a farne a meno.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">La nostra scala sta in piedi nel deserto, in mezzo a un uragano, a Times Square, al Natale coi suoceri, <b>senza fare una piega</b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sono salita e scesa così tante volte che potrei farlo con gli occhi chiusi, bilanciando un piatto sul naso mentre faccio il giocoliere con 12 palle da tennis (e una racchetta).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Potrei girare il mondo con un <b>circo</b>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Che a pensarci bene è poi esattamente quello che ho fatto</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(Pic by me, all rights reserved)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-51199943288510044372018-11-17T04:18:00.000-08:002018-11-17T04:19:21.233-08:00of the Sharapova in me -- sulla Sharapova che c'è in me<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5nWtoReNL63jpiXXRn8irfiwgRrR9NC5YtgaNn8YfaWdpZ48glbDqz85H0YFJMn1uB3xdoUG6UhLS7-Fy5OWRbsQawerbcPv4s1FW7o0coW28O89xi0TmpMcaDNW-_Qy4x1kRv4ffGvM/s1600/IMG_4079.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5nWtoReNL63jpiXXRn8irfiwgRrR9NC5YtgaNn8YfaWdpZ48glbDqz85H0YFJMn1uB3xdoUG6UhLS7-Fy5OWRbsQawerbcPv4s1FW7o0coW28O89xi0TmpMcaDNW-_Qy4x1kRv4ffGvM/s400/IMG_4079.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Enough already with Tennis</b>! </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I know, but next week I've doubled my training hours so it's only going to get worse.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I play with this lovely girl, Jenna, and our handsome trainer, David, and things are a bit unorthodox, which always makes for an awesome time.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First of all when Jenna and I play against each other, David is our ballboy and umpire and needs to keep saying <b>SILENCE PLEASE</b> not to the public but to us players. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Secondly, whereas in Tennis the player who serves usually has the upper hand, our games always go <b>to the one who receives</b> because our serves, how should it put it, still need a bit of refining touches (we suck). </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, by watching hours of tennis on TV and studying the laws of dynamics, I have discovered the two necessary elements for a killer serve:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">no, not training diligently and following David's directions to the letter.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But rather: <b>jumping and yelling</b>. That's right! It works! </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Perhaps the jumping increases the inclination of the serve and therefore optimises the angle at which the ball hits the opposite court and the yelling helps the potential energy turn into kinetic one or some other scientific nonsense. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But to me it just adds that crazy factor that works like magic in making it all so <b>much more fun</b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I jump and yell and think of that joke of the guy who turns up the TV whenever <b>Ms. Sharapova</b> is playing, so his neighbours will think that he too sometimes has sex. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(By the way, I've found that jumping and yelling can be added to any human activity and the increased fun is guaranteed. )</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-------------------------</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>E basta con 'sto Tennis!</b> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">E invece la settimana prossima ho raddoppiato le ore di allenamento, quindi peggio per voi.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gioco con Jenna e il nostro allenatore David e le cose non sono proprio come dovrebbero essere, il che naturalmente rende tutto più divertente.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Prima di tutto quando facciamo una partita, David ci fa sia da raccattapalle che da arbitro e deve continuare a dire <b>SILENZIO PER FAVORE,</b> ma non al pubblico, a noi. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In secondo luogo mentre nel Tennis normalmente chi serve è avvantaggiato, con noi il gioco va sempre <b>a chi riceve</b>, perché il nostro servizio, come posso dire, ha bisogno ancora di qualche rifinitura (fa schifo).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In ogni caso, guardando ore di Tennis alla tele e studiandomi attentamente le leggi della dinamica, ho finalmente capito cosa ci vuole per un servizio perfetto: no, non allenarmi diligentemente e seguire alla lettera le istruzioni di David.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Piuttosto: <b>saltare e gridare</b>. Giuro! Funziona!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Forse il salto aumenta l'inclinazione del servizio e quindi ottimizza l'angolo con cui la palla colpisce il campo avversario e gridare forse aiuta l'energia potenziale a trasformarsi in cinetica, o qualche altra boiata scientifica del genere. Ma secondo me aggiunge semplicemente al gioco quel fattore di follia che magicamente fa diventare<b> tutto più divertente</b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Così salto e grido e penso a quella barzelletta del tizio che quando gioca la <b>Sharapova</b> alza il volume della tele per far credere ai vicini che anche lui, ogni tanto, scopa. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(Fra l'altro, ho scoperto che saltare e gridare migliora non solo il servizio ma anche qualunque altra attività quotidiana).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(pic, and serve, by me, all rights reserved)</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-13371650800568570642018-11-14T23:42:00.001-08:002018-11-15T09:24:21.900-08:00of the right to bear horns -- sul diritto alle corna<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDnx3VEj-aTiZKAygC5Via17xmOOXdE2k4UiaDYQDWiVT0-CMS2lqzHiXjeBAyJfpaw1XW3tzCkYKHMgKJE3PPtfCvYYjQryzOjHZTY1Omi8kfBUzZhujP9fBjEpmYNUMCH6dtfRgl0v4/s1600/IMG_4055.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDnx3VEj-aTiZKAygC5Via17xmOOXdE2k4UiaDYQDWiVT0-CMS2lqzHiXjeBAyJfpaw1XW3tzCkYKHMgKJE3PPtfCvYYjQryzOjHZTY1Omi8kfBUzZhujP9fBjEpmYNUMCH6dtfRgl0v4/s400/IMG_4055.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So all hell might be breaking lose in the rest of the world, but here in Switzerland we are voting on a <b>referendum on cow's horns</b>. Yes, there is a pro-horns movement, because from time immemorial cows have had horns and somebody noticed it wasn't the case as much anymore.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Why? Because farmers realised that horn-less cows need far less personal space than their horned counterpart, cause each other less injuries and notwithstanding their diminished glamour are just simply <b>easier to manage</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The<b> hornlessness</b> is achieved mostly through favouring hornless breeds or sometimes by surgically removing the horn buds in baby cows. Appalling, but yet again we also invented circumcision, nipple-piercing, tattoos and dental braces, and that we do <b>TO OUR OWN PEOPLE</b>, so hold your indignation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anyway, what the referendum proposes is to subsidise</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> farmers who <b>go for the horny kind</b> (oh how I love the English language) so that they can build bigger stalls to make room for the horns. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This looks like a noble attempt to straighten things out and sacrifice convenience in the name of natural beauty, but it might actually be a matter of the <b>urban ideal for picture-perfection over rural practicality</b>. As it happened before as during the referendum to limit construction of new homes in Swiss touristic locations, the local people (who live on tourism) were against it, but the city people decided that mountain villages should stop growing, and they won, disregarding the interests of the people who were most directly affected.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When I was little I witnessed a perfect example of <b>city idealism over mountain pragmatism</b>. We were hiking with my Grandfather who worked as textile chemist in Torino but escaped to the mountains whenever he could. We crossed paths with a farmer and his cow. My grandfather stopped to compliment the farmer and said:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"What a majestic beast, what is its name?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And the farmer replied:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"<b>COW</b>."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">------------------------</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Nel resto del mondo sta venendo giù tutto ma qui in Svizzera votiamo un <b>referendum sulle corna delle mucche</b>. Ebbene si, c'è un movimento pro-corna, perché dall'inizio dei tempi le mucche hanno avuto le corna e qualcuno si è accorto che le cose stavano cambiando.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Perché? Perché le mucche scornate tengono meno spazio, non si feriscono a vicenda e nonostante la diminuzione di fascino sono semplicemente <b>molto più pratiche</b> da allevare. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">L'assenza di corna si ottiene allevando solo specifiche razze che ne sono prive, o rimuovendo chirurgicamente la matrice delle corna nei mucchini appena nati. Allucinante, vero? Ma non dimentichiamoci che siamo la stessa stirpe che ha inventato la circoncisione, i piercing al capezzolo, i tatuaggi e l'apparecchio ai denti, tutte cose che facciamo <b>A NOI STESSI</b>, quindi non facciamo scena.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In ogni caso il referendum propone di dare dei sussidi agli allevatori perché costruiscano stalle più spaziose che possano contenere non solo le mucche ma anche le corna. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Quello che può sembrare un tentativo di ristabilire l'ordine naturale delle cose, potrebbe invece essere<b> il trionfo dell'ideale bucolico degli abitanti delle città in barba alla praticità della gente di campagna</b>. Come nel caso del referendum sulla moratoria edilizia nei paesi di montagna: i montanari, che di turismo ci campano, erano contrari, ma la gente di città ha votato in massa per mantenere l'ideale di villaggetto in cui passare i fine settimana, non curandosi degli interessi di chi sarebbe stato più colpito dalle conseguenze. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Quando ero piccola ho visto con i miei occhi lo scontro tra <b>mentalità cittadina e praticità montanara</b>. Stavamo facendo una gita in montagna con mio Nonno, che lavorava come chimico tessile a Torino, ma appena poteva scappava in montagna. Abbiamo incrociato un contadino con la sua mucca. Mio Nonno si è fermato ad accarezzarla e ha detto:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"Che splendida bestia! Come si chiama?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">E il pastore:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"<b>MUCCA</b>."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(pic by me, all rights reserved)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-68948128042400805252018-11-05T08:28:00.003-08:002018-11-14T01:53:16.694-08:00of bohemian rhapsody -- su bohemian rhapsody<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs58MZySpMLyLaBERTOcbW6yBE1SiXATvzHgZ500owXkdDUhG6NrplOebvpjPZqr3VqL86mpBUM36X5X_TGsmUtcLkg_l13ZLztQb0TOoyanadV9QZeYM1nks-Q5O0c7cs0qvYE2QuGKY/s1600/IMG_4029.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs58MZySpMLyLaBERTOcbW6yBE1SiXATvzHgZ500owXkdDUhG6NrplOebvpjPZqr3VqL86mpBUM36X5X_TGsmUtcLkg_l13ZLztQb0TOoyanadV9QZeYM1nks-Q5O0c7cs0qvYE2QuGKY/s400/IMG_4029.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I don't know why I have such a hard time with <b>simplicity</b>. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span>
<br />
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I went to see Bohemian Rhapsody and I haven't <b>enjoyed a movie</b> this much for a very long time. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Leaving the theatre feeling inspired and stunned by the awesome music was not enough. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">NO</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I have to know things inside-out and back-to-front, so I went home in a spirited state, got out my guitar, found the chords for the biggest Queen hits, watched interviews with the actors, found out how the movie was made and how they got <b>the voices of the crowd singing along at Wembley during Live Aid</b>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They actually had a webpage where anybody could upload their voice singing to the songs in the movie, then they combined them all together and <i>voilà </i>Wembley. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Can you imagine being part of a project like that? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But there is certainly a reason why I didn't find out about this in time to add my own voice: <b>I did not deserve to be part of such magic.</b> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I did, in fact, and I am not proud of it, give <b>ALL of my Queen CDs</b> to my brother when I got married, because my husband didn't like their music, he was more a Reggae kind of guy. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Don't get me wrong here, he didn't <b>MAKE ME</b> give up my CDs, I was just one of those love-drunk brides who believes that the love of their life is going to <b>make up for any sacrifice</b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">AS IF </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Of course since Spotify came along (and iTunes before that) I have downloaded all of the Queen repertoire on my electronic devices, thinking that <b>Freddie, from up there</b>, will forgive my momentary lapse of judgement and betrayal. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">BUT NO</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because the music on Spotify is<b> fleeting</b>. It's there but not really. It doesn't have the lyrics in the inside cover. It's not part of the home you live in. It's not tied to the memory of that day when you went into that record shop and spent your teenage money to have it. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">NO</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Spotify is to CDs what a one night stand is to a long-lasting, loving relationship</b>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Unless it's a give-up-your-music kind of relationship. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In that case, good luck.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">------------------------------------</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Non so perché io non possa <b>semplicemente</b> prendere le cose come sono. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sono andata a vedere BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY e devo dire che da anni non vedevo un film così bello. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ma uscire dal cinema ispirata e stordita dalla musica meravigliosa di Freddie non era sufficiente.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">NO</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Devo sviscerare tutto a fondo finché non ne conosco il perché e il percome, il dentro e il fuori, il davanti e il dietro. Così sono andata a casa e come posseduta dal demonio ho preso la chitarra e ho cercato gli accordi per le canzoni dei Queen, ho guardato le interviste con gli attori del film, ricercato come hanno fatto a fare il film e come hanno replicato <b>le voci del pubblico dello stadio di Wembley durante l'iconico concerto del Live Aid</b>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Hanno fatto così: c'era un sito di internet su cui chiunque poteva cantare le canzoni dei Queen e registrare la propria voce che poi veniva combinata con tutte le altre e <i>voilà</i> Wembley!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ma ve lo immaginate partecipare ad un progetto del genere?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ma c'è una ragione per cui io ne sono stata esclusa e non ho scoperto questo sotterfugio finché non era troppo tardi per registrare anche la mia di voce: <b>non meritavo di partecipare a cotanta magia</b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ho infatti commesso l'errore, e non ne vado di certo fiera, di aver regalato a mio fratello <b>TUTTI i miei CD dei Queen</b> quando mi sono sposata, perché a mio marito non piaceva la loro musica, lui è sempre stato uno un po' Reggae. Non è stato lui a farmeli dar via, sia chiaro, sono io che ero una di quelle spose rimbambite che pensano che l'amore della loro vita <b>compenserà qualsiasi sacrificio</b>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">BUONANOTTE</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Naturalmente da quando c'è Spotify (e prima a</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ncora iTunes) ho scaricato la musica dei Queen sui miei aggeggi elettronici, sperando che Freddie da lassù perdonasse il mio momentaneo tradimento.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">MA NIENTE DA FARE</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Perché la musica su Spotify è <b>fuggevole</b>. C'è ma non proprio. Non ha i testi delle canzoni nella copertina. Non fa parte dell'arredamento della tua casa. Non è legata al ricordo del giorno in cui da ragazzina l'hai comprata nel negozio di dischi, spendendo tutti i tuoi risparmi.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">NO</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Spotify sta ai CD come l'avventura di una notte a una relazione stabile e duratura</b>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A meno che non sia iniziata dando via la propria musica. In quel caso, buona fortuna. </span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(pic by me, all rights reserved)</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-63460313571357188592018-10-28T03:02:00.005-07:002018-11-14T01:53:27.095-08:00of full moon insomnia --sull'insonnia da luna piena<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp18ViCadR3wREtkcWZrNzRmXGE0qvJO1o4lq_vgVh0QSllqQjIOjb6j5WmNBsq2eXsHEwdb3oIaGFQkmfDccou6D5oGOv2TsfDfYKS_arQNYzyyHrMm2ox3h7Bw7NbUCGQ0ZVVG5lhw8/s1600/IMG_3942.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp18ViCadR3wREtkcWZrNzRmXGE0qvJO1o4lq_vgVh0QSllqQjIOjb6j5WmNBsq2eXsHEwdb3oIaGFQkmfDccou6D5oGOv2TsfDfYKS_arQNYzyyHrMm2ox3h7Bw7NbUCGQ0ZVVG5lhw8/s400/IMG_3942.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If your family too has werewolf traits and <b>cannot sleep during full moon</b>, here are some tips on how to</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> make the most of your insomnia:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>First</b>, send your husband off on a business trip to keep him safe (werewolf traits come from your side of the family).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Then</b> go to Basel for the <b>Swissindoors Tennis tournament</b> and make sure Roger Federer is on the court. Get a mortgage to buy the ticket if necessary, totally worth it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At <b>22:45</b> come home to find your teenage girl<b> raiding your closet</b>. Be deeply moved at the though that notwithstanding puberty, there is actually something in your closet she approves of. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Realise she just needs pants for a <b>Halloween party</b> where she will go dressed as a hippy: your favorite UNIQLO sweatpants from when you lived in Tokyo</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> have been sentenced to<b> death by tie-dye</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>After midnight</b>, tell the girl, who is still working at her costume, that <b>enough is enough</b> and she needs to go to bed (raise your voice a bit to make a point). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>12:30</b> Get in bed with your laptop to finish some work (watch videos of Roger Federer on Youtube hoping you'll be <b>Mirka in your dreams</b>, should you finally fall asleep).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At <b>1 am</b> receive<b> FaceTime call</b> from teenage son on different continent who knows you are still awake. And not because he remembers it's full moon. Because the teenage girl you sent to bed almost one hour ago is <b>on Snapchat</b> with him instead of sleeping and told him. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>1:01</b> <b>am</b> walk into her room where she pretends to be asleep, then watch her jump into your bed <b>with a sassy laugh</b>, make herself comfortable and watch cute animals videos on your laptop while the family video-</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">conference with her displaced brother goes on. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At <b>2 am</b> either pass out or start the <b>werewolf transformation</b>, because I have no further memories. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">------------------------------------</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Se anche voi siete una famiglia di licantropi che <b>non riescono a dormire con la luna piena</b>, eccovi qualche suggerimento su come approfittare al massimo della vostra insonnia:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Prima di tutto</b>, spedite vostro marito all'estero per lavoro perché sia al sicuro.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Poi</b> andate a Basel a vedervi il torneo di tennis <b>Swissindoors</b> assicurandovi che ci sia in campo <b>Roger Federer</b>. Fate un mutuo per comprare il biglietto, se necessario, ne vale assolutamente la pena. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>22:45</b> Tornate a casa dove trovate vostra figlia adolescente impegnata a<b> frugare nel vostro armadio</b>. Commuovetevi al pensiero che nonostante l'adolescenza, ci sia qualcosa nel vostro armadio che sarebbe disposta a indossare. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rendetevi tristemente conto che sta cercando dei pantaloni da mettersi a un <b>party di Halloween</b> dove andrà vestita da hippy, e che la vostra tuta preferita, comprata da UNIQLO quando abitavate a Tokyo, è stata condannata a morte per <i>tie-dye</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Passata la mezzanotte</b>, dite alla ragazzina che sta ancora provando il suo costume, che <b>adesso basta</b>, è ora di andare a letto (alzate un po' la voce per fare più effetto).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>12:30</b> Infilatevi nel letto col portatile per finire alcune cose di lavoro (guardare video di Roger Federer su Youtube sperando che se mai doveste riuscire ad addormentarvi, potreste per lo meno <b>sognare di essere</b> <b>Mirka</b>).</span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>1:00</b> Ricevete <b>chiamata su FaceTime</b> da figlio in trasferta su altro continente che sa che siete ancora sveglie. E non perché si ricorda della luna piena. Ma perché la ragazzetta che avete spedito a letto quasi un'ora fa, invece di dormire è con lui <b>su Snapchat</b> e gliel'ha detto. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>1:01</b> Andate a beccarla in camera che fa finta di dormire e scansatevi mentre salta su e <b>ridendo</b> si infila nel vostro letto, si appropria del vostro computer e continua la conferenza telefonica con suo fratello.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Alle <b>2:00</b> crollate o iniziate la <b>trasformazione in lupo mannaro</b>, perché non mi ricordo più niente. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(pic by me, all rights reserved)</span>Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-9456383690625817192018-10-22T02:29:00.005-07:002019-03-03T12:27:55.529-08:00of flight attendants -- sulle hostess <div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrEU3Qf_zQTgi8l2NQlTjPXyDU6hCdm8FmeOT4su4s76brTsYCiayHfF3G4lKNm7WH2-WWlMN7LbYIAINZRioDNBcgt40RgXlADqsoU1EXKcCCZUC_2fFyesUOJnWwWwOcHfVzJ0bPkd4/s1600/IMG_3940.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrEU3Qf_zQTgi8l2NQlTjPXyDU6hCdm8FmeOT4su4s76brTsYCiayHfF3G4lKNm7WH2-WWlMN7LbYIAINZRioDNBcgt40RgXlADqsoU1EXKcCCZUC_2fFyesUOJnWwWwOcHfVzJ0bPkd4/s400/IMG_3940.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So, true to her expat-kid lifestyle, my daughter had a <b>Minnie Mouse Flight <i>Attention</i></b> stuffed toy. She was 4 years old and the word ATTENDANT meant nothing to her. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So Minnie Flight <i>Attention</i> it was. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">She came on every flight with us and <b><i>nomen omen</i> </b>she served as reminder to always dignify her real life colleagues with the well deserved recognition for their job (Also, being <b>Lufthansa amazons</b>, I was a bit scared).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I have always been the sucker who follows the <b>pre-flight safety drills</b> carefully, nods at the buckle-and-unbuckle seatbelt demo as if it were the first time and shows excitement when they point at the emergency exits. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I've always felt a kind of <b>kinship</b> for this ladies and <b>envy</b> too. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Kinship because they too faced a <b>destiny</b> of constant transoceanic flights and chronic jet lag, and envy because they could withstand 12 hours in the air with <b>impeccable</b> make up and heels. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They were still smiling their perfect lipstick-ed smiles when I stepped off the plane dragging my kids along hoping there'd be a <b>stretcher and ambulance</b> waiting for me at the arrivals terminal. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bitches. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But yesterday as I flew home from Miami, I realised that now that I have teenagers, <b>the kinship has gotten even deeper</b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They too <b>run around</b> taking care of an ungrateful and entitled bunch. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They too <b>repeat the same things</b> over and over and are being systematically ignored.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They too fight the daily "<b>switch off all electronic devices</b>" battle and like me, know they cannot win. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">-----------------------------------</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fedele alla sua natura di bambina expat, mia figlia aveva un pupazzo a forma di <b><i>Minnie Flight Attention</i></b>. Diceva <i>Attention </i>perché a 4 anni la parola ATTENDANT per lei non aveva significato. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">E così ci portavamo Minnie Flight Attention su ogni volo e <b><i>nomen omen</i></b> mi ricordava ogni volta di riservare il meritato riconoscimento alle sue colleghe in carne e ossa per l'ottimo servizio svolto a bordo (inoltre, essendo <b>amazzoni tedesche della Lufthansa</b>, mi facevano un po' fifa). </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sono sempre stata la secchiona che segue con attenzione la <b>dimostrazione di sicurezza pre-volo</b>, sorride sorpresa di fronte all'allacciare e slacciare il pezzo di cintura come se fosse sempre la prima volta, e segue con sguardo grato l'indicazione delle uscite di sicurezza.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ho sempre sentito <b>affinità e invidia </b>per queste super-donne. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Affinità perché anche loro come me erano condannate a un <b>destino di voli</b> transoceanici e jet lag cronico, e invidia perché potevano resistere 12 ore in volo con in faccia un <b>trucco perfetto </b>e i tacchi ai piedi. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stavano ancora sorridendo col loro rossetto impeccabile quando io trascinavo i miei mocciosi fuori dall'aereo sperando solo che agli arrivi ci fosse un'<b>ambulanza con la barella</b> pronta ad aspettarmi. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stronze. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ma ieri mentre ero in volo da Miami, mi sono resa conto che adesso che i miei mocciosi sono adolescenti, l'<b>affinità con le hostess è diventata ancora più profonda</b>:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anche loro non fanno che <b>affannarsi per accontentare</b> un carico di gente ingrata e convinta di avere solo diritti.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anche loro <b>ripetono le stesse cose</b> un milione di volte e vengono sempre sistematicamente ignorate. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anche loro combattono la battaglia quotidiana dello "<b>Spegnete tutti i dispositivi elettronici</b>" e come me sanno di non poter vincere.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(Pic by me, all rights reserved)</span>Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-14928370064734855442018-10-04T00:40:00.001-07:002019-01-11T05:24:20.285-08:00of Tennis -- sul Tennis<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9hejyhyphenhyphenObqclsCMzQ6G9-KWULyFnapwqXl_qdcXgtnl32jPI_KTHgVkKHQYKph4_IoPVqufCebSJ1Nkg4mk-Peq-Zc3X-SDDVgec1UfCwP3AAOtYpi4m7jbrVvBYuS16iWkqZs7T2nhU/s1600/IMG_3941.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9hejyhyphenhyphenObqclsCMzQ6G9-KWULyFnapwqXl_qdcXgtnl32jPI_KTHgVkKHQYKph4_IoPVqufCebSJ1Nkg4mk-Peq-Zc3X-SDDVgec1UfCwP3AAOtYpi4m7jbrVvBYuS16iWkqZs7T2nhU/s400/IMG_3941.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>It was tennis! </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I should have known, all I needed was tennis, why did I try over and over to find my <b>peace of mind</b> in odd places such as yoga class? What is peace of mind anyway?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The answer was tennis.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's the <b>movement that feeds the thought</b>, like the first gear that puts the whole engine in motion. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's the aesthetic beauty of hitting a ball in the soft spot of the racquet with one mighty swing at the right time, with every part on a different trajectory and yet coming together at a fleeting, perfect instant. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's the magic and suspence of Ronaldo's bicycle kick, but at every single hit.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Perhaps that's why I used to devour mountain climbers' biographies and now I am obsessed with <b>big wave surfers</b>. Mountains in all their glory can't help but move a sad few centimetres per century. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Has this nomad expat living brought movement to the core of my bones? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Am I sick with a bad case of <b>Newton's laws</b> for which there is no cure?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I hadn't played tennis for a long time but watch it obsessively on television, forgetting to blink for hours at a time, mesmerised by the beauty of the game. And of Roger. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And so it happened that by sheer randomness I ended up playing at a <b>club</b> where he sometimes trains. This might sound very posh, but he actually practices randomly at several, very normal tennis clubs around the area as a way to avoid attracting crowds. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My wonderful, fun trainer has been instructed to inform me ASAP if the Maestro should show up. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He also has a picture taken with Roger, so I showed him mine. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But then I skipped the part about how many copies of it I printed, and how I hung them up in every room of the house, leaving out only the <b>bedroom</b> because you know, last time I checked, <b>marriage etiquette</b> did not recommend saying <b>the wrong name at the wrong time</b>... </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Although being <b>Roger,</b> it can only be taken as a compliment.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">-------------------------------</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Era il tennis!</b> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Avrei dovuto saperlo, era di tennis che avevo bisogno, perché ho provato e riprovato a <b>cercare la serenità</b> in posti strani tipo corsi di yoga? Non si trova ciò che non esiste. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">La risposta era nel tennis.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">È<b> il movimento che nutre la mente</b>, come la prima marcia che mette in moto l'intero motore. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">La bellezza estetica del colpire la palla con forza al centro della racchetta al momento giusto, con ogni parte che segue una sua traiettoria eppure si incontra a mezz'aria in un attimo fuggevole e perfetto. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">È come la magia della rovesciata di Ronaldo, ma a ogni singolo scambio. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Forse è per quello che dall'ossessione per i libri sugli alpinisti sono passata all'ossessione per i <b>surfisti estremi</b>. Le montagne nonostante la loro gloriosa bellezza più di qualche centimetro all'anno non possono fare. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">È stata questa vita nomade a portare il movimento fin dentro le mie ossa? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mi sono presa un attacco acuto di <b>leggi di Newton</b> per il quale non c'è una cura?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Erano anni che non giocavo a tennis ma seguo ogni torneo in televisione per ore, dimenticandomi perfino di battere le palpebre per paura di perdermi qualcosa, rapita dall'eleganza del gioco, e di Roger. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">E così guarda caso sono finita a giocare proprio in un<b> club</b> dove a volte Roger va ad allenarsi, il che sembra una roba da strafighi, ma in realtà lui gioca in vari posti normalissimi sparsi nella zona per evitare di attirare troppo l'attenzione. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Il mio fighissimo allenatore è già stato istruito sul chiamarmi immediatamente, se il Maestro dovesse apparire. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anche lui ha una foto fatta con Roger, allora gli ho mostrato la mia ma poi ho evitato di dirgli che ne ho fatte 100 copie e ci ho tappezzato ogni stanza della casa. Tralasciando soltanto la camera da letto perché, mi pare di ricordare che secondo il <b>galateo del matrimonio</b> non sia raccomandabile dire <b>il nome sbagliato al momento sbagliato</b>...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anche se, trattandosi di <b>Roger</b>, può solo essere preso come un complimento. </span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(pic by me, all rights reserved)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-21979264308951480932018-10-03T01:09:00.003-07:002018-11-17T04:27:02.513-08:00of the plumber with crocs and other Swiss wonders -- sull'idraulico con le crocs e altre meraviglie svizzere<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSi2FTmUB9lFIkpjpYqt-Rw6iuofzel9eH5dzRnXo0CNK75wyqCyuE_vG_ZHttbK-UzzBiDuUu4PVSvA6BXVVRCa6YfFjSuALAoadw6GHvXmgGAdn-sq-AaPDnYKFv3koo1xohx4mNoI/s1600/IMG_3945.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSi2FTmUB9lFIkpjpYqt-Rw6iuofzel9eH5dzRnXo0CNK75wyqCyuE_vG_ZHttbK-UzzBiDuUu4PVSvA6BXVVRCa6YfFjSuALAoadw6GHvXmgGAdn-sq-AaPDnYKFv3koo1xohx4mNoI/s400/IMG_3945.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So, in reference to my last post, when I busy myself below deck to make sure that the Titanic of our family runs smoothly, I occasionally run into no, not <b>Jack</b>, but some other characters who are equally deserving of my deepest devotion</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<div>
<br />
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Yesterday it was <b>the croc-ed plumber</b>. He had to fix our kitchen sink and when I opened the door to let him in, he dropped a pair of crocs, smoothly slipped in to them with a Michael Jackson dance move, shook my hand and with his stealth croc-ed soft step went straight to work. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is not unusual for workmen in Switzerland to take off their shoes when entering a private home, but the crocs! </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was not prepared for this level of beauty. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then this morning it was <b>the recycling-truck-driver</b> who got my vow of unconditional and everlasting love. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I came back from driving my girl to school (which I normally don't do but she had an important test and needed to properly gear up in the cocoon of her Mom's Bruno-Mars-blasting car) and realised it was paper-recycling day because of the extremely tidy, perfect A4 piles of papers tied with biodegradable recycling string stacked up by our building entrance. And the recycling truck was already coming down the road. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The <b>F-word</b> ensued spontaneously as I wondered why in the world the captain of the ship had not thought about the damn paper himself. At least the paper! </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Silly me. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The captain of the ship is on his way to one of his high level business meetings on the other side of the planet, and in order for him to wrap his head around such mundane inconveniences such as garbage, <b>HE NEEDS TO BE TOLD</b>. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will one day thoroughly analyse this vice women have, of doing things themselves rather than asking their beloved. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It seems to me that the need to tell completely <b>annihilates the value that the deed would have it it were done spontaneously</b>. Truer words were never spoken, I know. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anyway, there I was, swearing and cursing and running up and down the stairs from our basement to the street corner to get our damn paper, when magic fell upon me: the guy from the recycling truck left his wondrous paper-eating machine parked on the sidewalk and followed me INTO THE BASEMENT TO GET MY crooked, something between A3, 4 and 5 piles of extremely untidy paper precariously held together by any old shoestring I could find in the house, took them from my hands, smiled and said: <b>KEIN STRESS</b>! </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No stress! </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now Jack might have given up the door for Rose, but this, this is clearly <b>love of a higher order.</b> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">--------------------------------------</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In riferimento al mio ultimo post, quando traffico sotto coperta per fare in modo che il Titanic della nostra famiglia continui sereno sulla sua rotta, mi capita di imbattermi no, non in <b>Jack</b>, ma in altri personaggi che meritano ugualmente la mia più profonda devozione. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ieri era il turno dell'<b>idraulico con le CROCS</b>. Doveva venire ad aggiustare un tubo in cucina e quando gli ho aperto la porta ha lasciato cadere sul pavimento le sue crocs, se l'è infilate leggiadro come un Michael Jackson danzante, mi ha stretto la mano e col suo passo felpato, e CROC-ato si è messo al lavoro. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Capita sovente in Svizzera che chi entra in casa d'altri per fare qualche lavoro si tolga le scarpe, ma le CROCS!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Non ero preparata per questo livello di estasi. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Poi stamattina è stato <b>l'autista del camion della carta</b> a meritarsi la mia promessa di eterno amore. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sono tornata a casa dopo aver portato la teenager a scuola (cosa che non faccio mai ma oggi aveva un test importante e le serviva una bella carica nella macchina della mamma con Bruno Mars a tutto volume) e mi sono accorta che era il giorno del riciclaggio della carta, perché davanti al palazzo era pieno di ordinatissime pile di giornali in formato A4 legate diligentemente con cordino biodegradabile con la cura con cui si fanno i pacchi di Natale. E il camion della carta era in avvicinamento. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Una parola orrenda mi è nata spontanea mentre mi chiedevo perché mai non poteva pensarci il capitano della nave a 'sto cavolo di carta, almeno quello!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Che scema.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Il capitano della nave è partito stamattina per uno dei suoi incontri ad alto livello dall'altra parte del pianeta, e perché si accorga di dettagli mondani come la carta da riciclare, <b>BISOGNA CHE GLIELO SI DICA</b>. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Un giorno scriverò un post definitivo sul perché noi donne abbiamo questo vizio maledetto di fare le cose da sole invece di chiedere alla nostra dolce metà di occuparsene. Secondo me è perché dover chiedere automaticamente <b>annienta il valore che il gesto avrebbe se fosse spontaneo</b>. Mai parole sono state più veritiere, lo so. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In ogni caso, eccomi lì che cristono e corro su e giù dalle scale tra la cantina e l'ingresso per prendere quella cavolo di carta, quando un incantesimo è sceso su di me: il tipo del recycling-camion ha lasciato la sua meravigliosa macchina mangia-carta parcheggiata sul marciapiede e mi ha seguito IN CANTINA per aiutarmi a prendere le mie pile di carta formato A3-4-5, tutte sbilenche e legate con qualche stringa di vecchie scarpe, me le ha prese dalle mani sorridendo e ha detto: <b>KEIN STRESS</b>!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Niente stress!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lo so che Jack ha lasciato tutta la porta a Rose perché potesse salvars</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">i, ma questo, questo è </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">amore di un ordine superiore</b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(pic by me, all rights reserved)</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-27020271942648975672018-09-23T02:09:00.001-07:002018-11-14T01:55:25.546-08:00of the expat misconception -- sul malinteso expat<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2y9uuRPhhdrw10xFn4tcBGjOLd6Bmydt687jsmoOrVX5D5T6eQQQdG1t8J1YK1L2zJLpSj61H3Rh14K-SiMcgtX0_BWZ7LFh-LG93SnHwMV3vEgrP7tevZoy5W8kif8FCIkcTtHzMhus/s1600/IMG_3946.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2y9uuRPhhdrw10xFn4tcBGjOLd6Bmydt687jsmoOrVX5D5T6eQQQdG1t8J1YK1L2zJLpSj61H3Rh14K-SiMcgtX0_BWZ7LFh-LG93SnHwMV3vEgrP7tevZoy5W8kif8FCIkcTtHzMhus/s400/IMG_3946.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I met a filmmaker who wants to produce a <b>documentary about expat wives</b>. I thought this was a great idea, given the general misconceptions surrounding these somewhat mystical and elusive <b>creatures</b>. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was surprised that she'd been interested in us without having ever been an expat herself, accustomed as I am to the general lack of interest for a category that's regularly dismissed as:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> arrogant</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> patronising</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> privileged</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> SUV-driving </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> whiny </span><b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">bitches</b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. </span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I once read we supposedly fake an accent during home visits just to get more attention...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What could I tell her over coffee? I stuck to the essentials: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The<b> unbalance</b>, the <b>resentment</b>, and their lovely child:<b> the recognition paradox</b>, better explained through role playing (as any therapist who has worked with traumatised patients knows).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So let's play Aladdin and then the Titanic, shall we? Here we go.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To the outside world, <b>the expat wife is Princess Jasmine</b> stepping from her balcony onto Aladdin's magic carpet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>She is the lucky one</b> getting a free ride to a luxury lifestyle thanks to <b>HIS</b> hard work and dedication. She travels the world, doesn't need to work, drives his company car and hangs out at Starbucks with her expat friends. <b>A free ride on somebody else's ticket. </b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He takes her hand and seductively sings: </span><br />
<i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></i>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">I can show you the world, shiny shimmering splendid</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But of course, he stops cold before the following verse: </span><br />
<i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></i>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Tell me princess, now when did you last let your heart decide</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">AH! The expat-Aladdin is smart enough to never go there, because expat-Jasmine has given up most of her decisional power when they packed their things and set off to their first relocation overseas. Better not remind her.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Which brings us straight to The Titanic:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The <b>expat</b> <b>wife</b> is usually "the accompanying (or trailing) spouse", which means that the family was shipped overseas on a <b>working contract</b> that bears the <b>lovely husband</b>'s name. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But the wife doesn't just "trail", as the definition might suggest, she jumps into the role of professional relocation master, dealing in several countries with all the little details that make daily life possible, while also sometimes popping out a couple of <b>kids</b> in hospitals where nobody speaks her mother tongue. A contradiction in and of itself, because what else is a <i><b>mother tongue</b></i> if not<i> The language to be spoken while becoming a mother?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">While adapting over and over to new countries, languages, cultures, homes, neighbours, schools, traffic rules, circles of friends, doctors, hairdressers and supermarkets, he also perfects the art of<b> denying her own needs</b>, and trying to dismiss the<b> </b>nagging<b> discomfort of not being financially independent</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>The husband</b><b> is the captain of the ship</b>. He holds the compass, sets the route. Gazes into the horizon with a look of purpose in his eyes and his subordinates patting him on the back. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">His wife? She is <b>down deep below deck</b>, sweating, swearing, greasing the wheels and shovelling coal into the engines, so that the ship can sail full power and <b>everything keeps running smoothly</b>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Does she get to join him in all his basking glory? Sometimes, but diplomatic wives are more accustomed to the spotlight than corporate ones. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For us a <b>dinner with his colleagues</b> is such a sporadic event that we tend to get nervous like Jack at the dignitaries' table, afraid of picking the wrong fork. And like Jack we try to impress by smugly proclaiming </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>"I love waking up in the morning not knowing what's gonna happen, or who I'm gonna meet, where I'm gonna wind up</i>"</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">while secretly longing to be back down below deck to hang out with our expat girlfriends, where <b>the real fun</b> is actually happening: the dancing and spinning and the booze and occasional toe challenge we can recount to our friends during home visit. But with an accent.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because that's the way they Princess Jasmine is supposed to talk. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(I know you were expecting the iceberg) (sooner or later it will come)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">-----------------------------</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ho conosciuto una produttrice cinematografica che vuole fare un <b>documentario sulle</b> <b>mogli expat</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ho subito pensato che fosse un'ottima idea, considerati i pregiudizi e gli equivoci che circondano queste <b>creature</b> mistiche e fuggevoli. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mi sono stupita del fatto che si interessasse a noi expat senza essere mai stata lei stessa parte di questo mondo di vagabondi, visto che normalmente noi mogli expat veniamo sbrigativamente etichettate come:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">arroganti</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">saccenti</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">privilegiate</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">al volante di macchinoni </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">capricciose e viziate</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Una volta ho perfino letto che a quanto pare durante i rientri a casa parliamo con un accento straniero per attirare ancora di più l'attenzione...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cosa potevo dirle nel tempo di bere un caffè? Mi sono limitata all'essenziale:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lo <b>sbilanciamento</b>, il <b>risentimento</b> e il loro figlio prediletto: <b>il paradosso del riconoscimento</b>, che si può spiegare con un gioco di ruolo (come ogni psicologo che tratti pazienti traumatizzati sa bene).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Allora giochiamo a Aladino e al Titanic, pronti? Via!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Il mondo esterno vede la <b>moglie expat come la Principessa Jasmine </b>che dal suo balcone sale sul tappeto volante di Aladino. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>È fortunata </b>a viaggiare gratis verso uno stile di vita lussuoso grazie al grande impegno di lavoro <b>di suo marito</b>. Gira il mondo, lei, non ha bisogno di lavorare, guida la macchina della ditta di lui e perde tempo da Starbucks con le altre sue amiche expat. <b>Un giro gratis alle spalle di qualcun altro</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lui le prende la mano e le canta seducente: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Ti posso mostrare il mondo, splendente, brillante, splendido. </i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ma non si avvicina nemmeno al verso seguente, quello che dice </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">dimmi, principessa, quand'è l'ultima volta che hai deciso qualcosa tu? </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Eh no! L'expat-Aladino non è mica scemo e sa benissimo che l'expat-Jasmine ha da tempo rinunciato a gran parte del suo potere decisionale, praticamente dal momento in cui hanno impacchettato le loro cose per la prima assegnazione internazionale. Meglio non ricordarglielo. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Il che ci porta dritti al Titanic:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">La <b>moglie expat</b> è solitamente la coniuge "accompagnatrice", perché la famiglia è stata spedita all'estero con un <b>contratto di lavoro</b> che porta il nome del <b>caro marito</b>. Ma la moglie expat fa ben altro oltre ad accompagnare. Diventa a tutti gli effetti un'esperta di traslochi intercontinentali, sbrigando nei vari paesi tutti i piccoli grandi dettagli che rendono possibile la vita quotidiana e nel frattempo a volte spara fuori anche un paio di <b>marmocchi</b> in ospedali in cui nessuno parla la sua <b>lingua madre</b>. Una tragica contraddizione, visto che la lingua madre altro non è che <i>la lingua di quando si diventa madre</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mentre continua ad adattarsi ripetutamente a nuovi paesi, lingue, culture, case, vicini, scuole, regole della strada, giri di amici, dottori, parrucchieri e supermercati, diventa anche un'esperta nel<b> rinnegare le proprie necessità</b> e nel cercare disperatamente di mettere a tacere quella <b>frustrazione costante di non essere economicamente indipendente</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Il <b>marito è il capitano della nave</b>. Ha in mano la bussola, decide la rotta. Guarda fisso all'orizzonte con uno sguardo intenso, circondato e complimentato dai suoi colleghi. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">E la moglie? Ah! Lei è<b> giù sottocoperta</b> che suda e cristona mentre olia gli ingranaggi e spaletta carbone nel motore, in modo che la nave continui la sua rotta, e <b>che tutto fili liscio</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">E lei non condivide la luce dei riflettori? A volte, ma sono le mogli dei diplomatici che sono più sovente incluse negli eventi mondani. A noi capita raramente, la <b>sporadica cena coi colleghi</b>, infatti ci sentiamo un po' fuori luogo come Jack al tavolo dei dignitari che non sa bene quale forchetta usare. E come Jack facciamo le spavalde dichiarando: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"<i>adoro svegliarmi ogni mattina senza sapere cosa succederà o chi incontrerò o dove andrò a finire</i>" </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">mentre in realtà aspettiamo solo di poter tornare giù sottocoperta dalle nostre amiche expat, che almeno loro si che sanno come ci si diverte: la musica, la danza, l'alcool, e occasionalmente anche la sfida sulla punta dei piedi che poi potremo raccontare ai nostri amici durante i rientri a casa. Ma con l'accento straniero. Da vera principessa Jasmine. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(lo so che vi aspettavate l'iceberg) (prima o poi arriva)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(pics by me, all rights reserved)</span>Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-77385184097187961392018-09-16T04:40:00.002-07:002018-11-14T01:56:27.886-08:00of expats' mixed languages -- sul miscuglio di lingue expat<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV1TrpE2raqkAgiJdK3PX_KMaowyGdNtK_DB77P83YaHrDfmcsaVOr6eVfKx5YEyDWFw1yL6Nr12flatTkDudgTjtgZTC-LeBx7bsNFio-M-hdiESbJT6zERaR6_TRm4eyuLBerp_Ay2M/s1600/IMG_3943.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV1TrpE2raqkAgiJdK3PX_KMaowyGdNtK_DB77P83YaHrDfmcsaVOr6eVfKx5YEyDWFw1yL6Nr12flatTkDudgTjtgZTC-LeBx7bsNFio-M-hdiESbJT6zERaR6_TRm4eyuLBerp_Ay2M/s400/IMG_3943.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If there is one thing I cannot stand, it's<b> Moms' blogs</b>. We get it, you are the only one in the history of the world to ever have had a baby, and that's amazing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">More annoying than that are just the <b>online names</b> they make up for their kids, such as Lilo and Stitch, or The Gentle Giant or The Pug or The little Buddha. Because we need to know every amazing thing your little ones say and do and even how many times a day they poop and what colour it is, but God forbid you tell us their real names.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>That's private!</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So today I want to tell you what amazing thing my Princess is up to these days<b>.</b></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">She is amazing.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Being a multilingual amazing third culture kid, she writes amazing messages with her amazing phone using all the amazing languages she knows and choosing the shortest term at hand. (Which is PRECISELY what I do when I write down cooking recipes. Amazing genes don't lie).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So before she left for her scout camp, The Amazing Princess wrote:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>MI MANDI IL BLATT CHE HAI AUSGEFÜLLT, PENSO CHE LO FORGOT</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Which is Italian-German-English for:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">CAN YOU SEND ME THE PAPER YOU FILLED OUT, I THINK I LEFT IT AT HOME</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So move over, Alan Turing: we have our own Imitation Game at home every single day. The secret services still didn't get it, that their best recruits are among expat Moms. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">------------------------------------</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Se c'è una cosa che non sopporto, sono i <b>blogs delle Mamme</b>. L'abbiamo capito, ok? Sei l'unica nella storia dell'universo ad avere avuto un bambino, fantastico! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Se poi danno anche quei<b> soprannomi virtuali</b> ai loro pargoli, come Lilo e Stitch, Il Gigante Buono, Il Cucciolo o Il Piccolo Buddha, non ce la posso proprio fare. Perché ti senti in dovere di raccontarci ogni fantastico passo e parola del tuo piccolo, incluso quante volte va al bagno e di che colore la fa, ma che Dio ci scampi dallo scoprire il suo vero nome! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Sono informazioni riservate!</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">E quindi oggi vi racconto il fantastico talento della mia Principessa.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">È fantastico. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Trattandosi di una fantastica creatura multilingue e "figlia della terza cultura", quando scrive fantastici messaggi col suo fantastico telefono, utilizza tutte le fantastiche lingue che conosce, scegliendo il termine a disposizione più breve (il che è ESATTAMENTE quello che faccio anch'io quando mi annoto una ricetta. Un DNA fantastico non mente).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Quindi, il giorno che è partita per il campo scout, la mia Principessa meravigliosa mi ha scritto:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>MI MANDI IL BLATT CHE HAI AUSGEFÜLLT, PENSO CHE LO FORGOT</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Che è una frase in tedesco-inglese-italiano per dire:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">MI MANDI IL FOGLIO CHE HAI COMPILATO, PENSO DI AVERLO DIMENTICATO</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Quindi fai posto, Alan Turing, perché abbiamo anche noi il nostro Imitation Game quotidiano qui a casa nostra e i servizi segreti non hanno ancora capito che dovrebbero assumere solo ed esclusivamente Mamme expat. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(pic by me, all rights reserved)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7837061323287695893.post-9818448401678464382018-09-12T22:16:00.001-07:002018-11-14T01:57:16.850-08:00of leaving the nest — sul lasciare il nido<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAVCNLY3ilrvmeWcJDtjWG6sTHTh5_C53LRXfX6dfaIY9m0UDUwJXosXS4Fl-PgV3sdOgnpNpEaoyF0DOgiN3pOdgzx5W7cbRCRMm-3mTMmxGdzJesx39Q5oZBJqWP1vJP-1GXQetYtpE/s1600/IMG_3944.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAVCNLY3ilrvmeWcJDtjWG6sTHTh5_C53LRXfX6dfaIY9m0UDUwJXosXS4Fl-PgV3sdOgnpNpEaoyF0DOgiN3pOdgzx5W7cbRCRMm-3mTMmxGdzJesx39Q5oZBJqWP1vJP-1GXQetYtpE/s400/IMG_3944.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So my son left for university. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's been so exciting watching his dream come true and I have been so happy for him, shared his enthusiasm, helped him with the application process, cheered him on during exams. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And when the time came, together we boarded the plane that would take him so very far away. I watched him with his guitar strapped on his back, his step steady, as he hopped off Swiss soil saying "<i><b>hasta luego</b></i>" with that lightness if spirit that only the young have, because they are not yet burdened by existential ruminations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I flew back alone a few days later and when the plane's tyres left that other continent that will be his home, the <b>pain of separation</b> became so vivid and crude, that for a moment even all my legendary optimism couldn't dress it up as anything else. As great opportunity. As chance of a lifetime. As what will make him fully bloom into the great man he's growing into. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It was just the raw pain of separation.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's such a constant in the life of expatriate families, the <b>toxic surplus of goodbyes</b>, it tends to settle in like background noise, this constant melancholy of living without your family around. And somehow it becomes bearable.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But when a child leaves the nest, it's not the same. <b>A Mother's DNA changes</b>. It unravels from its original double helix structure and wraps itself around her heart like a crown of thorns. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Yes, I am even dropping religious references here, because my plane has long landed, but the dust is still settling. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I know this is temporary, and that with air travel and FaceTime and the other Devil's works (quoting my Grandma here) the distance will be shortened.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is the harbour where he cast anchor. We are here. His roots are here. And most of all, <b>his Vespa</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">-------------------------------</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mio figlio è partito per l'università. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">È stato esaltante vederlo realizzare il suo sogno e sono stata felice di supportarlo nel processo di selezione, ho fatto il tifo per lui durante gli esami.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">E quando il giorno di partire è arrivato, siamo saliti insieme sull'aereo che lo avrebbe portato così lontano. L'ho guardato con la chitarra a tracolla, il passo deciso mentre lasciava la Svizzera dicendo "<i><b>hasta luego</b></i>" con quella leggerezza di spirito che solo i giovani hanno, perché ancora non sono gravati da riflessioni esistenziali. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sono tornata indietro da sola dopo qualche giorno e quando il carrello dell'aereo si è staccato da terra durante il decollo, ho sentito che lo stavo lasciando su un altro continente e il <b>dolore della separazione</b> è stato così vivido e crudo che per una volta nemmeno il mio leggendario ottimismo è riuscito a travestirlo da qualcos'altro. Da grande opportunità. Da occasione di una vita. Da ciò che lo farà crescere e sbocciare nell'uomo meraviglioso che sta diventando. </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">C'era solo l'atroce dolore della separazione.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Per noi expat questo tossico surplus di distacchi è una costante, purtroppo. Tende a diventare un rumore di fondo, la malinconia cronica del vivere lontani dalla propria famiglia. E in qualche modo diventa sopportabile. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ma quando un figlio lascia il nido, non è la stessa cosa. <b>Il DNA di una mamma si trasforma</b>. Si srotola dalla sua forma originale a doppia elica e le si avvolge intorno al cuore come una corona di spine. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ebbene si, ci sto cacciando pure i riferimenti religiosi adesso, perché anche se il mio aereo è già atterrato da settimane, le acque devono ancora calmarsi. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So che è tutto temporaneo e che con gli aerei, FaceTime e tutte quelle diavolerie (cito mia Nonna) la distanza sarà ridotta. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Questo è il porto in cui ha gettato ancora. Qui ci siamo noi. Le sue radici. E soprattutto<b> la sua Vespa</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(pic by me, all rights reserved)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
Bean far awayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393867951336506350noreply@blogger.com4