Bits and Pieces
Posted: 02/01/2011 Filed under: work Leave a comment »You know how there’s that trick at Chinese restaurants where if you’re not Chinese they’ll give you one menu, and if you are Chinese, you’ll get the better one? Turns out that’s kinda true in Italy, too.
I went out to dinner three of the Italians in the training course with me, to a restaurant I went to when I first got into town. That first time I ordered from the part of the menu I could read, i.e. the section with English. This time, however, I ordered with help from one of the Italians from the front section, which was only in Italian. And damn if the food wasn’t a hundred times better. But the kicker? The Italians declared the food ‘satisfactory’. That means there’s better out there. I’m so screwed.
Oh yeah, I’ve spent $180 on food in the five days I’ve been here. I think I’m going to get in trouble when I submit my expense report.
Other bits and pieces…I wore a short sleeved shirt out to dinner last night, and when I took of my jacket the Italians just started laughing. It’s apparently ‘very cold’ right now. It’s not. In the same vein, the following announcement was made on my flight to Brussels: ‘The weather is quite nice in Bruxelles, but it is very cold’.
I waited, since I know my definition of very cold and the European definition of very cold is vastly different.
‘It will be minus 3 when we land.’
I started laughing out loud, I couldn’t help it. While in Brussels, I went out to a bar that wasn’t very busy. Bianca’s sister commented that it may be because it was so cold. Before I could say anything, one of the Russians said, ‘It’s not cold’ and I finally stopped feeling like I came from the North fucking Pole.
Four or five different people have stopped me and asked me…something. I, of course, have no clue what they’re saying and always reply with ‘Non parlo Italiano’. Today on the way home from work, I got stopped by two tourists. From China. How awesome would it have been if I busted out some Mandarin and managed to tell them how to get to the hotel? Alas, I was forced to listen to their broken English, but I managed to get them where they needed to go.
typical winter day in milan
