Thursday, September 30, 2010

What I Miss Most

I was reading a book today by Elizabeth Lynn Casey, and came across the following paragraph:

"Her great-grandmother had always said the best medicine for any ailment a woman had was time with true friends. Time spent in good-natured gossip, occasional male-bashing, and shared tears. But most of all, she said time with other women was for laughing from deep within your soul."

That's what I miss most about being here in Milan. Time spent with my good friends, my sister, Chris, and my daughter, Kimberly.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Aggies vs. Longhorns? Italians Know!

Today the American School held another event for newcomers. This one was a workshop about the Italian culture. We talked about beliefs, values, communication, and the way different cultures react to different things. It was pretty interesting.

There was a lady there from Austin. She said that she had been told that a certain hand symbol should not be used in Italy. The symbol is one commonly used by people who are fans of that inferior school in Austin. She made the longhorn symbol and was quickly told by the Italians that were there that she should never make that symbol while she was in Italy.

We all asked why the longhorn symbol was unacceptable over here, and were told that to them it meant a man who had horns because he was having an affair!

We asked if the thumbs up Gig 'Em, Aggies sign was okay to make, and were assured it was fine.

So it looks like as far as Italy is concerned, Aggies rule!

Friday, September 24, 2010

Our Italian Apartment

We have been in our apartment for a week. I had hoped to post pictures of it, but we are using a remote internet key for now, and it only allows 5 hours of internet a day. Plus doing stuff with pictures somehow uses up your time faster, so they will have to wait.

Our apartment is in a nondescript 4 story building. It’s in a very quiet area of San Donato (outside of Milan), and is surrounded by many large trees. It’s a nice area. Our apartment is on the 2nd floor, as far as Italy is concerned. Here, what you could consider the first floor in the U.S., is called Terra (ground), what you would consider the 2nd floor is the first floor, and what you would consider the 3rd floor is the 2nd floor. So in Italy we live on the 2nd floor. If we were in the U.S. we would live on the 3rd floor. Got it?

We have a one car garage, which is very nice, since I hate street parking. It doesn’t have an automatic garage door opener though, which is a pain. I’m really going to miss it when it rains!

We have a key that lets us into our little lobby. There are 6 apartments that use the same entrance, so I feel pretty safe. This key isn’t quite as exciting as the one I posted about earlier, but it is different from American keys.

We have an elevator which is not much bigger than 3 feet by 3 feet. Seriously. Scott won’t even use the elevator - it scares him a little with the clunking noises it makes! And it never lines up even with the floor when it stops. You always have to watch your step!

Once you step into the apartment, you see a small entry area and then a large living/dining area. It’s much bigger than any of the other apartments we saw. We don’t all feel like we’re on top of each other. There’s even a little nook with a desk for my computer. It has wood floors, which I like. It came furnished. We have 2 yellow sofas, which I actually like. Plus a nice TV and plenty of shelves for our DVDs and such. There’s also a dining room table and chairs. Basic stuff, but all we need.

We have a balcony, except our landlord enclosed it in glass, so it’s more like a sunroom. I kind of wish it were still a balcony.

The kitchen is fairly small, but functional. There’s a table in there, but it’s up against the wall. The cabinets are blue metal. Kind of interesting looking. But there’s not a lot of them, and there is almost no counter space. We have a very nice cooktop - 5 burners with gas. That’s the only thing I’ve seen that‘s nicer than what I have at home. The oven is tiny. No room for even a small turkey, and I’m pretty sure my cookie sheets aren’t going to fit in it. We have a dishwasher, but I’m kind of afraid to use it. There are lots of buttons, and I’m not sure what any of them mean! There’s only one sink, which will take some getting used to. The cabinet above the sink has built in drying racks in it. You put your dishes into it and they drain into the sink. Pretty ingenious, but I think I would have preferred an extra cabinet.

Right off the kitchen is the laundry room. Very tiny. For some reason, our microwave is in there. This microwave is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Another one of those appliances I’m kind of afraid to use! Right now, we also have a washing machine in there. The landlord has ordered a combination washer/dryer, but until it comes, I’m hanging up the clothes to dry. May I just say how much I hate that? There are things like underwear, socks, and garments that just need to be thrown into a dryer! I can’t wait until the new machine shows up. Also, the machines here are tiny. I can wash 3 pair of pants at one time. That’s it. And I don’t understand why it takes 1-1/2 hours to wash a load of clothes. If all front loaders are that slow, I’m never buying one!

We have 3 bedrooms. The guest bedroom has a twin bed with a trundle, a desk, and a wardrobe. There are no closets in the apartment. Just big wardrobes. But there’s room for guests, and we’d love to have anyone come visit.

Scott’s bedroom also has a twin bed with a trundle, a desk, and a wardrobe. It’s smaller than his room at home, but he doesn’t have much stuff to put in it, so it’s fine.

There’s a hall bathroom, which has a shower/tub, a sink with lots of storage space, a toilet, and a bidet. Yes, a bidet. All of the apartments here have them. I don’t anticipate any us ever using them, but we’ve got them!

The master bedroom is small. There’s a bed - close to queen size, but not quite that big, a dresser, 2 nightstands, and a wardrobe. With all of that furniture, there’s not a lot of extra room.

We do have an on suite master bathroom, which is a rarity. I think Robert only saw one other apartment with an on suite master bathroom. It is very tiny, though. It has a stand up shower, a sink with very little storage room, a toilet, and a bidet. The hall bathroom is actually much nicer than our bathroom.

Well, that’s our apartment. It’s very nice, as far as Italian apartments go. It makes me miss so many things about my house in Texas, though. I will never take the amenities I have back home for granted again!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Banking in Milan

Today we went to the bank so I could get added to Robert's account and get a debit card. Actually, Robert and I, along with one of the secretaries at work, went. She was there to translate for us. My impressions of banking in Milan (San Donato, actually):

1. To get in the bank you have to step one at a time into a tube. The door opens, you step in, the door closes, if nothing makes them nervous inside, the door into the bank opens, you step into the bank. There are little lockers outside in case you think you might have something that makes them nervous!

2. I signed my name at least 20 times in order to get added to Robert's account! That's crazy! I felt like I was buying a house. And lets hope the lady from Robert's work was really telling us what the papers said, since we would have no idea!

3. There is a charge to have more than one debit card. It's not much, but still.

4. We wanted to make a deposit. The lady at the bank told us that was fine, the first deposit is free. What? If we make more than one deposit a month at the bank, they charge us 3 euros (close to $4.00) for every deposit. What bank charges people to put money into their bank??

5. The ATM machines aren't like the ones at home that give you a choice of languages. Oh no, that would be too helpful. Your only choice here is Italian. Who knows what I might end up doing at an ATM machine here!

I am constantly amazed at how different Italy is from the United States. And I am constantly glad I get to return to the United States to live at some point.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Positively Medieval

We finally got an apartment! We will officially be moving out of the hotel on Saturday. It will be nice to be in a place of our own, although I have no idea how long it will take us to get the internet hooked up. I may go crazy while I wait for that.

Yesterday afternoon Robert and I met with the realtor (because apartments here are rented through realtors) and picked up the apartment keys. We were given about 5 keys. All of them were kind of old fashioned looking, but we were most intrigued by this one:
I didn't even know anyone still used keys like this - except in a castle or old cemetery. But this is a pretty typical apartment key in this area.

I didn't have a ruler with inches, but I measured it in centimeters and converted the length. The key is 4-1/2 inches long! Craziness!

You sure don't want to carry these keys in your pocket!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

The Duomo - Part 2

After seeing what the Duomo had to offer from the ground, we decided to venture up to the roof. There were 2 ways to the roof - 165 stairs or an elevator. Robert and I chose the elevator, while Scott chose the stairs. As it was, the elevator only took us close to the roof, we still had to walk another 80 steps to get to the roof. And that was enough stairs for me!

There were a lot of interesting statues on the roof, or actually hanging off the roof. I really liked this one, which looks like a winged dog. I'm not sure why he would be on the Duomo, but he was intriguing.
This view is from the lower roof, looking through the spires. You can see that all of the spires have a figure on the top of them. In fact, the very highest spire has a gold figure on top. I thought that was interesting.
Here's a view from the highest part of the roof we were allowed access to. You can just barely see mountains in the distance. I'm not sure what mountains they are, so don't ask!
There you have it. Our first touristy experience in Milan!

The Duomo - Part 1

I was hoping to write one post about the Duomo. But apparently the internet at the hotel is opposed to uploading more than 2 or 3 pictures at a time. So here is part 1.

The Duomo is a cathedral in the center of Milan. Actually, it is the center of Milan, and the city goes out from there. It's a gigantic cathedral - the 4th largest church in the world. Building began in 1387, and took 5 centuries to complete. That's a long time to build a church! There's a large plaza in front of the Duomo, but on the other 3 sides buildings are no more than 100 feet away. We thought they should have left more room on all 4 sides. It is a beautiful building.
This is an example of the scenes carved all around the base of the building. I'm not sure what they depicted, but the detail was amazing.
We also went inside the Duomo. Cameras weren't allowed. There were still many people taking pictures, but it is a working church, and that didn't seem right to me. It was beautiful inside. Giant marble columns. Gorgeous stained glass windows.

That's the Duomo from the ground. Part 2 - the Duomo from above.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

11th Grade "Bonding" Trip

Today Scott went on a field trip. Excuse me - I mean he went on a "bonding" trip. The whole 11th grade was invited. Bear in mind, the whole 11th grade consists of about 40 kids. That's right - 40. About 25 of them chose to go. And where did they go?

White water rafting.

That's right. Scott went white water rafting for a field trip. I guess they figured that trying to keep your raft from capsizing would be a good way to bond with your fellow classmates.

Scott loved it! They made them all jump in the water, and he did say that it was freezing. The cold that takes your breath away when you jump in. But he had a great time. They rafted through some rapids, which he thought was great.

I'm not sure any field trip in an American school can compare with this one.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Glad We're Not Paying

Scott started school on Wednesday. He is attending the American School of Milan. It seems like a good school, and will definitely be a different experience for him.

All I have to say is that I'm glad Robert's company is paying and not us.

Here's the cost:

Registration - 1200 euros
Admission - 4500 euros
Tuition - 16890 euros
Building fund - 2000 euros
Bus transportation - 1950 euros
Technology fund - 1900 euros

Grand total for a year at the school - 28440 euros!

Bear in mind, that is the price in euros. Using today's exchange rate, the price in US dollars would be $36657.89!

As I said before, I'm glad we're not paying!