Going home today, returning to Bari on January 6th.
I am looking forward to two weeks without being asked "Where are you from?".
And of course I am happy to spend Christmas and New Year's at home. At the same time it's a very strange thought to leave Italy, I hope I won't forget all my Italian in those two weeks.
Probably won't write anything until January 6th.
A very merry Christmas, happy new Year and happy holidays to everyone!
2009/12/19
2009/12/17
Floods and Christmas lights.
There are two things I'd like to talk about today:
1) Bari's inexistent canalisation.
We've had some really bad weather these last days, it kept raining and raining and raining.... Well, okay, as a German from Bonn I can't really say I haven't ever seen any rain before, so I took my umbrella and wanted to go out. I hadn't quite expected the catastrophe that was awaiting me outside: my street was flooded. There weren't just puddles but at least 20cm of water everywhere in the street. This was the first time I noticed that I had never actually seen any gullies here. Since I needed to go to the supermarket I made may way out of the street anyway. There weren't any people in the streets, some cars were trying to make their way through the streets that had turned into rivers (it seemed). State of emergency. I actually got to the supermarket (it was deserted, not even the beggar who is usually always outside was there) and when I came back to my house, I was completely soaked from head to toe.
For the rest of the day and night, I stayed inside. The next morning, it was still raining and the circumstances hadn't changed much. By now, the streets are accessible again, but I am praying everyday that we won't get anymore heavy rain.
This explains why Italians don't understand how we can put up with our -much worse- weather in Germany. Yes, we have more rain and it's much colder in GER, but we are much better adapted to these "harsh" conditions - we have heatings (yup, in many houses here there's no heating), canalisation systems and much more...
2) Christmas in Italy.
Of course I won't be here for Christmas, but I have been observing Italian Christmas "customs". Everywhere there are lights - bright, coloured, blinking lights (not very classy to my mind!). You can see an army of Santa Clauses climbing almost every balcony of the city. There's tons of "living" wannabe-Santa Clauses who are strolling around in the city (also decorated with bright blinking lights), some playing Christmas songs on a trumpet or flute that make your tympanic membrane explode.
In the supermarkets people wait for hours in loooooong lines to buy some "Panettoni". A panettone is a kind of cake that you buy in a huuuuuuuuuuuge box, and according to Jan Weiler ("Maria, ihm schmeckts nicht"), it's just disgusting. Well, I tried some and it really depends on the sort of Panettone. Last time at the supermarket I saw a man with two shopping carts full of panettones waiting in line. I counted them, he bought at least 60. I was so vexed I hadn't taken my camera with me, the sight was too amusing... an old Italian, barely noticeable in between those two huge shopping carts with piles of panettones.
After seeing "A Christmas Carol" yesterday I am finally somehow in the christmas mood. Although, without the traditional German Christmas market, I'm not quite there yet.
Merry Christmas, happy new year and happy holidays to everyone!
1) Bari's inexistent canalisation.
We've had some really bad weather these last days, it kept raining and raining and raining.... Well, okay, as a German from Bonn I can't really say I haven't ever seen any rain before, so I took my umbrella and wanted to go out. I hadn't quite expected the catastrophe that was awaiting me outside: my street was flooded. There weren't just puddles but at least 20cm of water everywhere in the street. This was the first time I noticed that I had never actually seen any gullies here. Since I needed to go to the supermarket I made may way out of the street anyway. There weren't any people in the streets, some cars were trying to make their way through the streets that had turned into rivers (it seemed). State of emergency. I actually got to the supermarket (it was deserted, not even the beggar who is usually always outside was there) and when I came back to my house, I was completely soaked from head to toe.
For the rest of the day and night, I stayed inside. The next morning, it was still raining and the circumstances hadn't changed much. By now, the streets are accessible again, but I am praying everyday that we won't get anymore heavy rain.
This explains why Italians don't understand how we can put up with our -much worse- weather in Germany. Yes, we have more rain and it's much colder in GER, but we are much better adapted to these "harsh" conditions - we have heatings (yup, in many houses here there's no heating), canalisation systems and much more...
2) Christmas in Italy.
Of course I won't be here for Christmas, but I have been observing Italian Christmas "customs". Everywhere there are lights - bright, coloured, blinking lights (not very classy to my mind!). You can see an army of Santa Clauses climbing almost every balcony of the city. There's tons of "living" wannabe-Santa Clauses who are strolling around in the city (also decorated with bright blinking lights), some playing Christmas songs on a trumpet or flute that make your tympanic membrane explode.
In the supermarkets people wait for hours in loooooong lines to buy some "Panettoni". A panettone is a kind of cake that you buy in a huuuuuuuuuuuge box, and according to Jan Weiler ("Maria, ihm schmeckts nicht"), it's just disgusting. Well, I tried some and it really depends on the sort of Panettone. Last time at the supermarket I saw a man with two shopping carts full of panettones waiting in line. I counted them, he bought at least 60. I was so vexed I hadn't taken my camera with me, the sight was too amusing... an old Italian, barely noticeable in between those two huge shopping carts with piles of panettones.
After seeing "A Christmas Carol" yesterday I am finally somehow in the christmas mood. Although, without the traditional German Christmas market, I'm not quite there yet.
Merry Christmas, happy new year and happy holidays to everyone!
2009/12/08
Chaotic cartoon nights.
Yesterday, we went to a concert. At least I thought so. My friends told me to come, it would be great, blabla... I went in and was shocked: there was a huge monitor displaying cartoons for children, accompanied by loud childrens' music. I turned around to ask my friends if we were mistaken in that place, but they were already enthusiastically dancing. To childrens' music, the type of "Heidi, Heidi, Deine Welt sind die Berge...". Sorry I don't know any English cartoon songs, but imagine really annoying childish music with a very simple repetitive chorus.
So finally the "concert" started. 4 girls and guys dressed up as cartoon characters jumped on a stage and started to play "rock" versions of those stupid childrens' songs. I felt like I was put in a really bad movie... I couldn't believe at least 200 grown-ups were enthusiastically dancing and singing those songs. I mean, come on... at first I found it fascinating, but after a while it got boring. This kind of music is exactly the reason why people in Cologne get so drunk at Carnival... you can't put up with the music without alcohol.
So finally the "concert" started. 4 girls and guys dressed up as cartoon characters jumped on a stage and started to play "rock" versions of those stupid childrens' songs. I felt like I was put in a really bad movie... I couldn't believe at least 200 grown-ups were enthusiastically dancing and singing those songs. I mean, come on... at first I found it fascinating, but after a while it got boring. This kind of music is exactly the reason why people in Cologne get so drunk at Carnival... you can't put up with the music without alcohol.
2009/12/03
Back in Bari.
Well, what can I say, Siena was great! It made me realize what I miss here in Bari: some socially active flatmates who are there to talk to you, have a beer with you, watch tv with you, cook with you....
Here are some peculiar things I noticed about Bari:
1) Very often, you see someone talking to a door. After a while, you realize the person has rung the doorbell and is now talking to someone inside the house through an intercom system (Gegensprechanlage). It's very common to do so, ring the doorbell, say who you are and then chat for a while about the weather, how you are, blabla. I find this very strange. Even if you only talk for 5 minutes, why don't you just go in? If you don't want to see each other, then call the person!
2) Yesterday, I went to the cinema to see "picture of Dorian Gray" (which is very disappointing after having read the book by Oscar Wilde). The cinema was packed. I have noticed this before, but the crowded cinema just made me realize it much more: Italians don't just watch a movie quietly. Every single scene needs to be commented. In some especially peculiar scenes they cheered and shouted. Example: Dorian tells Sibyl that he loves her - everyone clapped and cheered. This resulted in a noise level that made it very hard to understand the movie. Although it's also quite funny.
3) Forgot about it. Tomorrow.
Here are some peculiar things I noticed about Bari:
1) Very often, you see someone talking to a door. After a while, you realize the person has rung the doorbell and is now talking to someone inside the house through an intercom system (Gegensprechanlage). It's very common to do so, ring the doorbell, say who you are and then chat for a while about the weather, how you are, blabla. I find this very strange. Even if you only talk for 5 minutes, why don't you just go in? If you don't want to see each other, then call the person!
2) Yesterday, I went to the cinema to see "picture of Dorian Gray" (which is very disappointing after having read the book by Oscar Wilde). The cinema was packed. I have noticed this before, but the crowded cinema just made me realize it much more: Italians don't just watch a movie quietly. Every single scene needs to be commented. In some especially peculiar scenes they cheered and shouted. Example: Dorian tells Sibyl that he loves her - everyone clapped and cheered. This resulted in a noise level that made it very hard to understand the movie. Although it's also quite funny.
3) Forgot about it. Tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
