November 2003

The Patented Woman

November 27, 2003

Congratulate the neo-patentata! (newly-licensed [driver]) I finally had my road test yesterday; it had originally been scheduled for late October but, as it turned out, I was in Texas then. The driving instructor, Massimo, accompanied his mini-United Nations to the exam: one Italian teenager getting her first license; a Moldovan truck driver taking the first [...]

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Life Without Buffy

November 27, 2003

We’re suffering Buffy withdrawal. Angel, the show which spun off from Buffy four years ago, is good, but it’s pretty much guy-centered. I have no complaints about watching all the good-looking men on “Angel,” but I miss the presence of powerful women, and the role model that Buffy provided for my daughter. Ross started watching [...]

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English Teaching in Italian Schools

November 27, 2003

It is admirable that the Italian public school system now requires foreign-language classes (usually English) starting in first grade. Unfortunately, a shortage of teachers means that most kids don’t actually start til 3rd grade. And how much anyone really learns is very much open to question. Parents nowadays are frantic for their kids to speak [...]

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American Stars in Italian Advertising

November 23, 2003

It’s not common to see big-name American stars in TV ads in the US, but they’re quite willing to do such ads overseas. Here in Italy I’ve seen Harrison Ford in an ad for a French car brand. Andie McDowell has for years advertised an expensive brand of shoes, and more recently cosmetics, for which [...]

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The Italian Holiday Season Begins

November 23, 2003

The Christmas season is upon us; here in Lecco, holiday lights are already up over some of the main streets, though they have not yet been lit, and shopkeepers are busy decorating. At least Italian merchants aren’t quite as overeager as some others. In the US, some Christmas displays go up right after Halloween. When [...]

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Relics of War

November 23, 2003

Many parts of Italy were severely bombed (by all sides) during WWII, but quite a few of the bombs landed without actually exploding. Some were buried in rubble and went undetected at the time, so every now and then they turn up when someone’s digging for construction or utilities. Today 55,000 people were evacuated from [...]

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Making Room: Italian Stratagems for Living in Small Spaces

November 23, 2003

Living space is tight in Italian cities, which are often geographically constrained because built into, on top of, or between mountains – the kind of urban sprawl you see in America simply can’t occur in most parts of Italy. Even where there is room to spread out, historically Italians tended not to. This may be [...]

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Gender Identity Crises: Can’t They Tell I’m a Woman?

November 18, 2003

Back in August I wrote about the difficulties of being named Deirdré, which no one can spell or pronounce. An additional problem arose when I began dealing with large numbers of people online: many people don’t know whether it’s a male or female name. The default assumption was that I was male, perhaps because people [...]

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Italian vs. American Diet

November 14, 2003

^ ravioli at Lanterna Verde – yum! One of the most boring things in the world is listening to people talk about their diet (hearing them complain about their weight runs a close second). However, in America today there’s nothing to discuss, because everyone is on the Atkins diet (no carbohydrates, but you can eat [...]

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Winter Holidays: A Good Time to Visit Italy

November 14, 2003

While many people dream of Italy, it seems that most can’t picture it outside the summer season. I’ve seen messages on the Lonely Planet boards asking: “Is it worthwhile to even go to Italy in winter?” Well, yes, it is, especially around the Christmas season. As elsewhere in the Christian world, this is Italy’s biggest [...]

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Milano: Italy’s Under-Appreciated City

November 14, 2003

where to stay: SunRe8 Bed & Breakfast things to do in Milan more things to do in Milan places to eat in Milan Milan museums Italian dining FAQs book tickets for the Last Supper FAQs Getting from the airport to the city: Malpensa Express train from Malpensa airport to Milan Cadorna railway station/metro stop. From here you [...]

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Bible Stories

November 7, 2003

When Rossella was still in preschool and I was travelling to the US a lot for work, I brought her with me several times on extended trips, usually while Enrico was also travelling for mathematical research. So Ross experienced daycare in several different places in America, which was good for her English, and gave her [...]

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My Attitude Towards Italy

November 7, 2003

I received email from someone who had visited my website, read a few articles, and concluded that I don’t like Italy much. I am confused by this, especially since the articles she cited (Babies, Homes, and one other, I forget which) didn’t strike me as negative. I see my articles as statements of fact, though written in a [...]

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Very Supertitious: Some Italian Folk Beliefs

November 7, 2003

Most Italians are not very religious, but they can be strangely superstitious. Purple and black are the colors of mourning, so wearing purple is considered bad luck. Bad luck for me – I happen to like wearing purple, but I know that, whenever I do, someone will comment. (Wearing black is okay – black is [...]

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