And so it came...
Saturday the 14th November.
After a week of mixed training, not trying to push myself too hard on the bags and tire myself out, instead just working on 4 2 minute rounds of movement throwing punches all the time to condition. Running through combinations and punches in my head, practicing them in front of a mirror, spotting my weaknesses and trying to improve. A week of training and sparring on the monday, tuesday, wednesday and thursday with friday off to recover and rest.
Saturday the 14th November.
I woke up, calm, relaxed, I knew I could fight, I knew I was ready. My 1 worry was my weight. The fight was at 64kg, all week I had been around 64.5kg, absolutely nothing but my inexperience wasn't sure how easily this would be lost so I ate little just in case. A 4 egg omlette, some grapes and enough water to see me through. I would weigh-in 2 hours before the fight and I brought a pack of Jaffa Cakes to munch after, I was sure I'd need the energy.
At 7pm I arrived at the venue, Pallazzetto dello Sport "M. Benedetti" and dropped my bag in the changing rooms. The ring stood in the centre of the hall with seats on 3 of the 4 sides and another for the announcer and judges. Looking up was another spectator area where people could look down on the action.
The weigh-in. Given my card and form and into a side room with 3 people. Strip down to boxers and a t-shirt and step on the scales. The moment of truth...62.7kg. I'd made it with plenty to spare, I could eat again. Next time I'll try and be closer, I think I erred too much on the side of caution. A quick medical examination of blood pressure and reactions and I was sent off to prepare myself to fight.
Still time to go, I sat in the upstairs spectator area and listened to my i-pod and surveyed the scene and ran through how I wanted to fight. Move, move move, use my height to good advantage and keep him away, hit him when he stepped in and move off again. Confidence was high.
At 8pm I started to change into the Black shorts with White Trim and Black Vest of A.P.U (Associazione Pugilistica Udinese). On went my shoes and a jumper and I went out into the gym and started to warm myself up. Light jogging, dynamic stretching, static stretching making sure my boy could move easily. Some shadow boxing, moving around the room throwing punches, simulating the fight. All the time my friends were piling in to the spectator area above. English, Irish, French, Slovakian, Swedish, Spanish, Canadian and Brazilians. I'm grateful for every one of them for coming and hearing them shouting and cheering me on really spurred me on when the exhaustion was setting in.
8.45 - The presentations. We stand waiting to enter the ring with a packet of coffee, a gift for our opponents. The hosts are finishing their speeches and we're off. I look up to see my supporters cheering and smile. I'm so calm and relaxed and enjoying the experience. And the the names are announced, the first time I see my opponent. Shorter than me (definate advantage), stockier (potentially stronger but certainly slower). This was definately someone I could beat. We eyed each other up and shook hands. We'd be meeting again in a few minutes.
We left the ring and back to the changing rooms. Anna sits me down in a chair and puts Vaseline all over my face and arms to stop any cuts from appearing. A strange feeling when you aren't used to it and I'm up again. A last warm up before I step in the ring.
The first fights over, now it's my turn. I head down and wait ringside. The headguard and gloves go on. Last instructions from the coach in italian and broken english. All was understood...fight my own fight and win. I step into the ring. My name is called and I step forward to the centre, arm up I turn and present myself to the crowd and judges, big cheer from the Internationals and Udinese. This is great, I thought I would be a lot more nervous but there weren't any. I'd been looking forward to this opportunity for a while. Last instructions from the referee, we touch gloves and back away.
The bell goes and we're off. I move and jab, looking for an opening. He's doing the same but it's me that connects first. He hardly throws anything and I think I take the round (This will be sketchy as I havent seen it on video yet!) The bell goes and I walk back to the corner, this is good. I'm breathing heavily but I'm not tired. 3 more rounds like this and I'll walk it. The corner are happy, they want me to control the centre more, it's tough for me because I've always fought on the outside but I'll try.
Round 2, the bell goes again. He's immediately on the attack and for the first time I'm caught by a shot. It's nothing, I've been hit harder by Joe and all I'm doing is moving and countering, he walks onto a lot. I'm trying to control the centre but I can't as he keeps coming forward but he's not really hitting me much and again I think I take the round.
Now I'm tired. In England there would be 1 more 2 minute round to last and I'm confident I could hack that. But here there's 2 and I'm just trying to suck in the air and recover to cope. I've watched these rounds back on video and I narrowly lose both. I strongly emphasise narrowly. My punches are weaker and although I'm connecting with a lot I'm just trying to keep him away and survive. He's stronger, it's not his first fight he's a lot more experienced than me and it shows. He keeps coming forward and throwing strong punches. My tiredness means my defence slips and he's connecting with more. I'm throwing back still, lots, but I look weak, he looks strong. The 3rd round ends and I'm exhausted. 1 more to go and it's as described above.
At the end, I lean on the ropes, I'm knackered. Damn that was hard and I knew it would be close but I thought I'd done enough to take the fight. I clearly won the first 2 and narrowly lost the 3rd and 4th. On scoring punches I would probably take it. My corner thought so too. The one worry was his strength in the 3rd and 4th. The tiredness of my punches compared to the cleanness of his could count against me.
It did...DRAW.
I was happy. I wasn't beaten in my first carded fight but I was annoyed, I thought I'd done enough to win. Having said that out of the 5 Udinese fighters that night I was the only 1 who didnt lose.
I know how I need to train now. Fitness and Strength, my technique is good though I could work on getting more power into my right hand especially. Body shots would also help too.
Till next time which could be a while. I fucked up my wrist playing rugby and it's in a cast for at least a week. This has obviously dented my training ambitions but I'll have the christmas break free of work when I can get out and do the hard work in the gym.
Mandi ragazzi!
x
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Friday, 13 November 2009
Fight Night round 1
As many of you know...I'm a keen boxer. And now it has arrived, my first fight. Saturday 14th November in the Mario Vecchiato Memorial Trophy held at the Palasport M. Benedetti. My opponent will be a Francesco Battello from Monfalcone.
I took this fight on a weeks notice so haven't had anytime to build up to it and worry. I'm nervous slightly of course but I'm also confident. Sparrings been going well but theres always a knock or two to keep me on my toes and stop me getting over complacent. Weight is almost perfect. The fights at 64kg and I was a 1/4 of a kg over on thursday night so all is good. I'm feeling relaxed, I'm moving well and I know that if I box clever the way I normally do I'll win.
When it's over I'll write a report on how it went. On to Victory!
Mandi!
x
I took this fight on a weeks notice so haven't had anytime to build up to it and worry. I'm nervous slightly of course but I'm also confident. Sparrings been going well but theres always a knock or two to keep me on my toes and stop me getting over complacent. Weight is almost perfect. The fights at 64kg and I was a 1/4 of a kg over on thursday night so all is good. I'm feeling relaxed, I'm moving well and I know that if I box clever the way I normally do I'll win.
When it's over I'll write a report on how it went. On to Victory!
Mandi!
x
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Trials and Tribulations of getting anything done in Italy...
Is anyone still reading this? Safe if you are. It's been a while since I last updated.
I want to tell you the story of a land...a magically land shaped like a boot somewhere in the south of Europe. The most amazing thing about this land is that they have managed to convince the world they are a meaningful economy and diplomatic world leader because if anyone has to live here they would soon understand how big a lie that is.
Welcome to Italy, where you'll wait for something, only to be told you can't have it and have to go somewhere else/talk to someone else. They will then say no problem, but do you have a photocopy of your passport? If no, well you'll have to come back when the secretary is next open which will probably be half an hour sometime next week. So eventually you have your passport and you're in the right place, but wait...do you have a tax code? Why not? The fact that you might only need one if they want to work here doesnt occur to an Italian and causes yet more chaos with the beaurocracy!
And so this has been the story of my first month in Italy. Mostly queuing to get things done, only to be turned away with a smile and polite chat about where you're from and what you're doing before coming back the next day/week/month and finally getting it sorted. This was what happened when I went to sign up at the library, to find a doctor, to get a bloody tax code, to sign for a house, to get a sim card, to use an internet cafe. Honestly its a wonder they don't demand a blood sample with your shopping.
To continue the rant at the University of Udine. The last 2 weeks, classes have been disrupted due to building work. Any sensible institution in a developed company would surely e-mail students and inform them of this...not Udine. They simply pin a notice on the door of the class informing you when you turn up 5 minutes before class that its moved, not next door, but to the other end of the city and you have to get there, half an hour late to sit and listen to a professor mumbling about eastern european history understanding 1 word in 3.
Another thing which I discovered today is that, in fact, international students don't have the same rights as Italian ones. We aren't allowed to use the university printers, we can't take books out of the library and whereas Italians pay 1.90 for a meal, we pay 4.10. Fair...I think not! I'm also certain it goes entirely against the spirit and rules of the ERASMUS agreement so as soon as I figure out who to send it to, someone at Leeds/Udine is going to get an angry letter.
In case I haven't told anyone (and if you care). I'm studying 'contemporary history', 'history of eastern europe' and 'social geography'. It's not too bad.
Well thats enough of making it seem like I hate the place, I don't honestly. Udine is a lot smaller and a lot quieter than I first realised. Few bars stay open past midnight and there are no clubs in the town. It's also got really cold this week. On the plus side I've met some great friends already through Erasmus and we all go and get drunk and do the EU proud by integrating and sharing cultures! Last week, the English, Irish, Spanish, Swedes and others went to Trieste for a night out. Drinking in doorways is the way forward. Certainly in comparison to getting free entry to a club, but then not being allowed out unless you'd brought a drink for the reasonable price of 10 euros. They actually wouldnt let Sally leave. It was quite funny. I'm playing rugby for CUS Udine too in the Italian Serie C division. It's a good standard actually and we've got 2 wins from 2. I'm playing fly-half and learning as I go, I've not played many games there in 14 years still we should do ok. Ive also got 3/3 conversions so thats cool. The guys are a great bunch of lads and try and include me lots. I find their Italina difficult to understand. Not so much difficult as I usually understand what they are talking about, but I never feel like I've got enough to fully contribute to the conversation, still I'm sure I'll get there.
Erm...cheers for sticking with this rant if anyone still reads this. I'm back in England this weekend in Bristol with Kim.
Bye xxxx
I want to tell you the story of a land...a magically land shaped like a boot somewhere in the south of Europe. The most amazing thing about this land is that they have managed to convince the world they are a meaningful economy and diplomatic world leader because if anyone has to live here they would soon understand how big a lie that is.
Welcome to Italy, where you'll wait for something, only to be told you can't have it and have to go somewhere else/talk to someone else. They will then say no problem, but do you have a photocopy of your passport? If no, well you'll have to come back when the secretary is next open which will probably be half an hour sometime next week. So eventually you have your passport and you're in the right place, but wait...do you have a tax code? Why not? The fact that you might only need one if they want to work here doesnt occur to an Italian and causes yet more chaos with the beaurocracy!
And so this has been the story of my first month in Italy. Mostly queuing to get things done, only to be turned away with a smile and polite chat about where you're from and what you're doing before coming back the next day/week/month and finally getting it sorted. This was what happened when I went to sign up at the library, to find a doctor, to get a bloody tax code, to sign for a house, to get a sim card, to use an internet cafe. Honestly its a wonder they don't demand a blood sample with your shopping.
To continue the rant at the University of Udine. The last 2 weeks, classes have been disrupted due to building work. Any sensible institution in a developed company would surely e-mail students and inform them of this...not Udine. They simply pin a notice on the door of the class informing you when you turn up 5 minutes before class that its moved, not next door, but to the other end of the city and you have to get there, half an hour late to sit and listen to a professor mumbling about eastern european history understanding 1 word in 3.
Another thing which I discovered today is that, in fact, international students don't have the same rights as Italian ones. We aren't allowed to use the university printers, we can't take books out of the library and whereas Italians pay 1.90 for a meal, we pay 4.10. Fair...I think not! I'm also certain it goes entirely against the spirit and rules of the ERASMUS agreement so as soon as I figure out who to send it to, someone at Leeds/Udine is going to get an angry letter.
In case I haven't told anyone (and if you care). I'm studying 'contemporary history', 'history of eastern europe' and 'social geography'. It's not too bad.
Well thats enough of making it seem like I hate the place, I don't honestly. Udine is a lot smaller and a lot quieter than I first realised. Few bars stay open past midnight and there are no clubs in the town. It's also got really cold this week. On the plus side I've met some great friends already through Erasmus and we all go and get drunk and do the EU proud by integrating and sharing cultures! Last week, the English, Irish, Spanish, Swedes and others went to Trieste for a night out. Drinking in doorways is the way forward. Certainly in comparison to getting free entry to a club, but then not being allowed out unless you'd brought a drink for the reasonable price of 10 euros. They actually wouldnt let Sally leave. It was quite funny. I'm playing rugby for CUS Udine too in the Italian Serie C division. It's a good standard actually and we've got 2 wins from 2. I'm playing fly-half and learning as I go, I've not played many games there in 14 years still we should do ok. Ive also got 3/3 conversions so thats cool. The guys are a great bunch of lads and try and include me lots. I find their Italina difficult to understand. Not so much difficult as I usually understand what they are talking about, but I never feel like I've got enough to fully contribute to the conversation, still I'm sure I'll get there.
Erm...cheers for sticking with this rant if anyone still reads this. I'm back in England this weekend in Bristol with Kim.
Bye xxxx
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Update
Well I thought I'd give an overall update on life in Udine.
The last 2 weeks of glorious sunshine has ended today. It's not quite raining, it's not even cold but the sky is overcast. And there was me planning more trips to the beach all winter. I guess I could still go.
Friend-wise, well I've made some good ones now. We seem to have developed a great little international group of us, canadians, belgian, dutch, swedish, brazilian, germans and poles. All of them speak better English than me of course but that's standard. I try to speak normally so they understand me more. Some would say I sound a little bit rah...not good. Of course the main people we're lacking, apart from the French and Spanish who seem to only talk to each other is Italian's but we have a few of them who join us too and even more who want to talk to us when we're out because "It's fantastic that you are all learning Italian, che bello".
On top I get to boss Italian's round in their own language when I'm playing rugby. It's one of the best things about my position and of course it's difficult but I'm slowly learning more and more rugby-related vocabulary. The standard's pretty reasonable too. There's some things that I disagree with the coach on (such as holding the ball in 2 hands ALL THE TIME) but I understand he's trying to coach a lot of guys who played a lot less than me.
I'm boxing too. I still can't hit people until next friday when I have my brain scan but for now I'm getting super fit hitting punch bags as hard as I can for 3 minute rounds. It's certainly more intense than Tigers and hopefully once I can spar I'll learn a lot more. There's some good boxers there including a couple of women who box internationally for Italy. Those are a couple of girls you don't mess around with.
Still no internet in the flat, though if I position my laptop at an exact point by my bed I can steal it sometimes but it's poor. We've ordered some now so hopefully the box for me to install will arrive in the next few days.
Lessons. Well I've been to 3 lectures on "the History of Latin-American Art" because it's the only thing which vaguely (i use this strongly) interests me that started this week. It's hard, not so much because I don't understand enough of the Italian but just because I know nothing about art in general and especially not the latin-american kind. It's also hard not to fall asleep in a 2 hour lecture when the room seems the perfect light and temperature to sleep. Next week I'll start normal history modules which I know about and hopefully understand.
We went to the beach the other day. It was mint. There's even a photo of me half naked on facebook which my white body out and a couple of some random italian woman with her boobs out. Good times haha.
Feel free to comment/ask questions either on this or on facebook. I miss people loads but judging how quick 2 weeks have gone it won't be long until I see everyone again.
Ciao amici!
x
The last 2 weeks of glorious sunshine has ended today. It's not quite raining, it's not even cold but the sky is overcast. And there was me planning more trips to the beach all winter. I guess I could still go.
Friend-wise, well I've made some good ones now. We seem to have developed a great little international group of us, canadians, belgian, dutch, swedish, brazilian, germans and poles. All of them speak better English than me of course but that's standard. I try to speak normally so they understand me more. Some would say I sound a little bit rah...not good. Of course the main people we're lacking, apart from the French and Spanish who seem to only talk to each other is Italian's but we have a few of them who join us too and even more who want to talk to us when we're out because "It's fantastic that you are all learning Italian, che bello".
On top I get to boss Italian's round in their own language when I'm playing rugby. It's one of the best things about my position and of course it's difficult but I'm slowly learning more and more rugby-related vocabulary. The standard's pretty reasonable too. There's some things that I disagree with the coach on (such as holding the ball in 2 hands ALL THE TIME) but I understand he's trying to coach a lot of guys who played a lot less than me.
I'm boxing too. I still can't hit people until next friday when I have my brain scan but for now I'm getting super fit hitting punch bags as hard as I can for 3 minute rounds. It's certainly more intense than Tigers and hopefully once I can spar I'll learn a lot more. There's some good boxers there including a couple of women who box internationally for Italy. Those are a couple of girls you don't mess around with.
Still no internet in the flat, though if I position my laptop at an exact point by my bed I can steal it sometimes but it's poor. We've ordered some now so hopefully the box for me to install will arrive in the next few days.
Lessons. Well I've been to 3 lectures on "the History of Latin-American Art" because it's the only thing which vaguely (i use this strongly) interests me that started this week. It's hard, not so much because I don't understand enough of the Italian but just because I know nothing about art in general and especially not the latin-american kind. It's also hard not to fall asleep in a 2 hour lecture when the room seems the perfect light and temperature to sleep. Next week I'll start normal history modules which I know about and hopefully understand.
We went to the beach the other day. It was mint. There's even a photo of me half naked on facebook which my white body out and a couple of some random italian woman with her boobs out. Good times haha.
Feel free to comment/ask questions either on this or on facebook. I miss people loads but judging how quick 2 weeks have gone it won't be long until I see everyone again.
Ciao amici!
x
Friday, 25 September 2009
Che Opportunità
So I went Rugby training last night for the first time (after boxing as well so I was understandably pretty beat but still scored 2 tries).
The organiser was telling me that in November Italy are playing South Africa in Udine as part of the autumn internationals. Without going into details he said that they wanted a translator for English into Italian for the South African's and would I be interested.
Of course I'm interested. How often is it you get asked to translate for the Rugby World Champions. Hopefully I'll get the job.
Over and out.
Stay classy San Diego.
x
The organiser was telling me that in November Italy are playing South Africa in Udine as part of the autumn internationals. Without going into details he said that they wanted a translator for English into Italian for the South African's and would I be interested.
Of course I'm interested. How often is it you get asked to translate for the Rugby World Champions. Hopefully I'll get the job.
Over and out.
Stay classy San Diego.
x
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
A eventful day in short sentences...
Today I walked 3 miles to find the emergency Saturday doctor for Udine. He was so far away I actually left the city. If I was walking in the other direction I would probably have reached Slovenia. When I found him he felt my throat and made a funny yelping sound. I took this as bad news. I then had to walk 3 miles back. Then I went to find a pharmacy. In Udine everyone takes 3 hour lunch breaks. I had to wait 2 hours. Then I had to pay for my prescription. After I went to the 3 shop to buy mobile broadband. They can’t do direct debits in Italy with English debit cards. I wanted a contract broadband. I got a pay as you go one. Now I will only have Internet on this computer for important Skype cures. Maybe it will cure my facebook addiction. Then we found a supermarket and did some shopping. I had no change for a trolley. I had to carry 2 baskets. I forgot the Salami I brought. Tonight I walked into town. There is a festival of local culture happening. I saw a stand for Rugby Udine. I said I was a foreign student who played Rugby. I asked if they wanted any players. They invited me to training. I later realised Rugby Udine play in the National 1. Nice. All this was done in 30 degrees heat. Yay.
updated:
The mobile broadband wont work. They dont believe me in the shop and wont give me a refund. I have to take my laptop in tomorrow and show them and they still might not give me a refund. So I still have no internet.
I'm not ill anymore.
I have an italian mobile which ill start using more soon. The number is 00393291787468. Text me.
I've found a boxing club who told me I need hundreds of medical examinations. Ive managed to book too but can't find a doctor who will order a brain scan or whatever it is for me so ill continue that search tomorrow.
I also decided to join the uni rugby team and as soon as I buy some boots I will train with them on thursday.
x
updated:
The mobile broadband wont work. They dont believe me in the shop and wont give me a refund. I have to take my laptop in tomorrow and show them and they still might not give me a refund. So I still have no internet.
I'm not ill anymore.
I have an italian mobile which ill start using more soon. The number is 00393291787468. Text me.
I've found a boxing club who told me I need hundreds of medical examinations. Ive managed to book too but can't find a doctor who will order a brain scan or whatever it is for me so ill continue that search tomorrow.
I also decided to join the uni rugby team and as soon as I buy some boots I will train with them on thursday.
x
The first few days...
Well I’m here, and 3 days later I’m writing this blog. Indirectly anyway; for the moment I’m without Internet so I’m writing it in a word document to copy and paste later. It’s been a tiring start to life here. Not least because I had to get up at the rather ridiculous hour of 4am for a 6am flight from Birmingham. To compound matters I realised that I felt rather ill and my throat had swollen up like a balloon, something which no amount of ibuprofen and other drugs will get rid of. I really need to see a doctor but haven’t had time at the moment. I’ll try and find one tomorrow even though it’s Saturday and get the fat throat sorted. The flight was uneventful, I unsurprisingly fell asleep and was only awoken by the Air steward tapping me on the shoulder and telling me to turn Damien Rice off because the plane was about to land.
After a bit of a wait for a bus we finally arrived in Udine and had to drag our suitcases from the bus station at the bottom of town to the International office at the top but it gave us a chance to have a quick look at the town and it created a good first impression. After our welcome meeting with Alessia who was reasonably helpful and very organised for an Italian we went to meet our landlady at our address on Via Superiore. When I first saw the room I was happy, until she said that since it was a room for 2 people I would have to pay €400 instead of €220. Now that’s obviously a lot of money and adds up to a total of €4000 for the time I would be there, far far far too much for me to contemplate paying, especially for a what was basically a Formule 1 hotel room with a desk, 2 electric hobs, a mini fridge and one of those futuristic bathrooms where everything gets soaked and then mysteriously dries (although judging by the smell of damp every time I got back, this one didn’t!) Oh and there was no internet too.
So with that I went for a walk on my own and generally felt really depressed about the situation. People who went to Lille and are reading this will understand that this was the down point in my graph (for the rest of you, don’t worry about it). I was faced with the prospect of paying a ridiculous amount which I couldn’t afford for a property or trying to find a new one in a day and a half, an absolutely daunting task given that I was unsure just how good my Italian could be. To compound matters I was ill and it was raining, and I mean raining. I got absolutely drenched and wondered where the hell Id turned up because Italy wasn’t meant to be like this. With no Internet I couldn’t even talk to people to cheer me up so I went to the university, found a notice board with dozens of housing notices on, picked off the numbers that I liked and put them in my pocket to call the next day. Seeing that most were advertising single rooms at around €250 – 300 confirmed my instinct that she was trying to rip us off. That night we ate pizza, as we had for lunch.
So there the next day, after briefly going to the International Office to try and sort the problem and being told that it was a justified price I returned to the flat and sat down with a big map of Udine and dialled some numbers. Rather amazingly I coped and secured 3 properties to look at with relative ease. One thing I will say is people here are incredibly friendly and really try and help you (the woman in the library even ran out after me to give me some information in English). The first apartment I saw was really nice, very modern and shared between me and 2 other guys, neither of whom were students but were both young. The second property was older but bigger, had a massive balcony and room for another 5 people (students certainly according to the landlady) to fill. The third, the less said the better.
Me and Emma both looked at the second property and together decided to take 2 of the rooms. I’m glad we did, although it’s older it’s a great size. The living room is huge and my rooms a good size. The kitchen’s fully equipped and the landlady is a legend. She picked us up from our old accommodation and gave us a lift. She then whipped out some new towels and sheets, made our beds and told us there’s someone coming tomorrow to clean around and sort a few bits and pieces out (hopefully my wardrobe because judging by the smell in it, whoever was last in my room had a serious BO problem!) The balcony is incredible, it goes all the way around the apartment and has great views of the bustling streets below, and you can smell the pizzeria which is under the flat…amazing! All I could think when I was stood on it was how amazing it would be for a party. I’m glad to have found this flat. I’m certainly a lot happier here and am looking forward to when the other rooms are full with students to get to know people because we’ve not met anyone yet, Erasmus or Italian. Still no internet in the flat but I’m going to buy myself that mobile broadband jazz tomorrow so hopefully it will be sorted out!
I suppose I should write about Udine too. Well so far I really really like it. It’s a very pretty city and a lot more Italian looking than I was expecting (I’d heard it was very Austrian.) All the shops seem to be designer and I haven’t yet found a phone shop to buy a sim card but there are lots of cafés and it’s obviously a thriving, safe and friendly city. I think I’m going to really enjoy it here as long as I meet some students soon.
Alright, I’m very tired and this has gone on far too long. My next one will be shorter but there was so much to tell.
Bye everyone, get in touch. Ask me for my address if you want it.
X
After a bit of a wait for a bus we finally arrived in Udine and had to drag our suitcases from the bus station at the bottom of town to the International office at the top but it gave us a chance to have a quick look at the town and it created a good first impression. After our welcome meeting with Alessia who was reasonably helpful and very organised for an Italian we went to meet our landlady at our address on Via Superiore. When I first saw the room I was happy, until she said that since it was a room for 2 people I would have to pay €400 instead of €220. Now that’s obviously a lot of money and adds up to a total of €4000 for the time I would be there, far far far too much for me to contemplate paying, especially for a what was basically a Formule 1 hotel room with a desk, 2 electric hobs, a mini fridge and one of those futuristic bathrooms where everything gets soaked and then mysteriously dries (although judging by the smell of damp every time I got back, this one didn’t!) Oh and there was no internet too.
So with that I went for a walk on my own and generally felt really depressed about the situation. People who went to Lille and are reading this will understand that this was the down point in my graph (for the rest of you, don’t worry about it). I was faced with the prospect of paying a ridiculous amount which I couldn’t afford for a property or trying to find a new one in a day and a half, an absolutely daunting task given that I was unsure just how good my Italian could be. To compound matters I was ill and it was raining, and I mean raining. I got absolutely drenched and wondered where the hell Id turned up because Italy wasn’t meant to be like this. With no Internet I couldn’t even talk to people to cheer me up so I went to the university, found a notice board with dozens of housing notices on, picked off the numbers that I liked and put them in my pocket to call the next day. Seeing that most were advertising single rooms at around €250 – 300 confirmed my instinct that she was trying to rip us off. That night we ate pizza, as we had for lunch.
So there the next day, after briefly going to the International Office to try and sort the problem and being told that it was a justified price I returned to the flat and sat down with a big map of Udine and dialled some numbers. Rather amazingly I coped and secured 3 properties to look at with relative ease. One thing I will say is people here are incredibly friendly and really try and help you (the woman in the library even ran out after me to give me some information in English). The first apartment I saw was really nice, very modern and shared between me and 2 other guys, neither of whom were students but were both young. The second property was older but bigger, had a massive balcony and room for another 5 people (students certainly according to the landlady) to fill. The third, the less said the better.
Me and Emma both looked at the second property and together decided to take 2 of the rooms. I’m glad we did, although it’s older it’s a great size. The living room is huge and my rooms a good size. The kitchen’s fully equipped and the landlady is a legend. She picked us up from our old accommodation and gave us a lift. She then whipped out some new towels and sheets, made our beds and told us there’s someone coming tomorrow to clean around and sort a few bits and pieces out (hopefully my wardrobe because judging by the smell in it, whoever was last in my room had a serious BO problem!) The balcony is incredible, it goes all the way around the apartment and has great views of the bustling streets below, and you can smell the pizzeria which is under the flat…amazing! All I could think when I was stood on it was how amazing it would be for a party. I’m glad to have found this flat. I’m certainly a lot happier here and am looking forward to when the other rooms are full with students to get to know people because we’ve not met anyone yet, Erasmus or Italian. Still no internet in the flat but I’m going to buy myself that mobile broadband jazz tomorrow so hopefully it will be sorted out!
I suppose I should write about Udine too. Well so far I really really like it. It’s a very pretty city and a lot more Italian looking than I was expecting (I’d heard it was very Austrian.) All the shops seem to be designer and I haven’t yet found a phone shop to buy a sim card but there are lots of cafés and it’s obviously a thriving, safe and friendly city. I think I’m going to really enjoy it here as long as I meet some students soon.
Alright, I’m very tired and this has gone on far too long. My next one will be shorter but there was so much to tell.
Bye everyone, get in touch. Ask me for my address if you want it.
X
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
And so it begins all over again...
Hi to all,
I've decided that seeing as I'm going to
It's now 8 days before I go (actually its after midnight so make that 7). The city I will be living and studying in is called
Some things
Football - Udinese are the local team, anyone who follows Italian football will know them.
Languages - The city has 4 official languages, Italian, German, Slovenian and Fruili. Seeing as I speak 1 it should be a laugh.
Wine - waheyyyyy
Grappa - really drunken hungover waheyyyy
Also some cheese and food I've never heard of.
Ok so why
Geographically it's a brilliant place to be. 40 minutes to the north are the Dolomite mountains which head into
Well aside from cycling the Balkans, what else am I going to do for the year? Study? Potentially I guess. Italian universities seem very relaxed on the whole studying thing and Ive been told not to expect more than about 6 hours a week which will suit me fine. When I do have to work I intend to carry on with the old French, throw in a bit of Cinema and my old love for Modern History. Hell I might even learn Slovenian or something daft and useless.
I also want to do lots of sport. I've set myself an ambitious target of winning the Italian University Championships at Boxing. It might not come off but hey, I'll have the talent and the application and if I want to achieve something I'll try damn hard to do it so we'll see how that goes. I know theres a club in
Ermm, well I obviously want to meet people and experience different cultures. Thats the main aim of ERASMUS and there will be people at
There will be other stuff I'm sure but it'a ridiculous hour in the morning while I'm awake to see if Kim phones me (she'd better now :P) so I'm going to close it off a bit. Basically, I'll be leaving at 6 in the morning from Birmingham International Airport on the 16th September to fly to Trieste. There I will be catching a bus to Udine where I have to make my way to an Italian sounding road to meet an Italian person who will "give me all the help that I need" and take me to my appartment (A shared studio with my own bathroom and kitchen I'm told - probably a cellar with a cupboard for a toilet and a microwave in the corner.
So that's it. I;m excited to go, completely unprepared though and I will hopefully see as many people as I possible can in 8 days. I want people to know that they can come and stay anytime they want, as long as I'm there obviously and it would be great to have you (though if you're a complete stranger whose stumbled on this blog then piss off you can't come).
Bye for now, my next update will be from Italia. How strange.
Ciao xxx
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