Surf’s Up!

We’re here! It’s strange! We had a great 4 day drive from Wisconsin. It was really cool to see the Rocky Mountains. Janine really got a kick out of driving out there with me “showing her It-tai guy” what the west was like. It was fantastic! We left Madison and headed south until we got the high-way to Des Moines Iowa – and then out to Lincoln Nebraska – Bruce Springsteen’s best album! We stayed in Lincoln for the night and the next day went through Denver and into the high Colorado Rockies (the mountain range). It was spectacular. Like the alps, but somehow more wild. And the little towns and cities have real “western” feel. They are lined up along a main street with shops along the sides of the road and sidewalks. The mainstreets are quite wide, but still. Then outside the town centres there is always a shopping centre, industrial park or broader residential centre. And the mountains are everywhere! The second night we stayed in Grand Junction. It was amazing! Very different from Wisconsin! OK – here it comes. The next day we took a short drive to…

LAS VEGAS! This was the coolest, tackiest, most interesting, most disgusting city I’ve ever been in. It lives up to the movies! We stayed in a cheaper hotel and just walked around all evening. We ate at a place called the Peppermill – which was alright. We didn’t go into casinos – because rent in San Diego is going to be pretty expensive and we have all the setting up expenses to pay. Moving costs money! It was just amazing to see the place – all the lights and hotels and – a surprising number of Italian-American services (hotels and restaurants). We didn’t go.

After Las Vegas we drove THROUGH THE MOJAVE DESERT! The day before we were in high mountains and then in desert HEAT! Any Russ Meyer fans out there? Faster Pussycat territory! Again, it was spectacular – but no place for the car to break down! We bought a lot of water before we left Las Vegas. We didn’t have any problems, but it’s easy to imagine getting cooked out there! We arrived at our new apartment in the later afternoon and met our landlord. She’s very nice and very helpful.

It was so much nicer walking into a strange appartment this time. One reason was that I’ve done this before in Madison – only last year! The most important reason was that I wasn’t alone. Janine has been great with all these changes. I love it, but it does make me a bit nervous – and tired. I find it really tiring. In Italy I had all of my stuff in one place and my friends and places to go all in one place – since I was kid. Madison was great adventure, and so is this, but I think being back in Italy for a couple of weeks this summer just brought back old habits or ways of doing things. Then I came back to Madison, finished packing and “hit the road”. There was no time for re-culture shock (even if its only 110 V – ha ha!). We’ve been here a little more than a day – and haven’t really had time to explore yet. I start work officially next Monday – but I’ll go in on Friday to say hi and tell them I’ve arrived etc. this evening we ate at Chin’s Szechuan Restaurant – mostly because it was on Madison St. and we were a little homesick! It was really good though – I’d recommend it to anyone! It’s much better than the chinese food we got in Italy. Anyway – it did a great job of curing homesickness!

So tomorrow we’re setting up the house more and going to the grocery-store and shopping centre to get supplies. It’s been a crazy period, really since just after that presentation in March. I’ve got internet set up now, which is good. I e-mailed Frank, but haven’t got a reply yet. Madison seems so far away. Maybe because it is!

Expression of the day “We’re not in Kansas anymore” – it comes from the film “The Wizard of Oz” when the character Dorothy realises for the first time that she’s not in her hometown in the state of Kansas. By now it is used to mean “We’re in a strange new situation that is beyond our control – for now”.

I can’t keep up! I must!

I went back to Italy for a couple of weeks, it was great to see everyone at home again and, heh heh – graduate from Urbino. Thank you Prof. Bogliolo! I just arrived in Madison to finish getting my things together and then Janine and I are MOVING TO SAN DIEGO! Yes – you heard me, Janine is coming too! My parents thought I was taking things a bit fast, since I’ve only known Janine for less than a year, but we figure that things will work out the way they work out whether we’re in Madison or San Diego. I guess that’s the part they’re not comfortable with – the fact that I’ll be in the US. Mum gets it a little more than Dad, but they’d both prefer I were in Italy somewhere they could see me regularly. And I thought they’d be used to it by now! Anyway – they’re basically happy, and very happy about the job.

It’s going to be really hard to leave the gang here in Madison. I got to know them pretty well, and really feel at home here. Like Frank says, though, I’m too young to be “set in my ways” (have rigid plans). I told him that the plan was fine, it’s just that I’d miss everyone “a whole f*ck of a lot”! (One thing about being young in the States – they say “f*ck” a f*uck of a lot! heh heh”. Watch US action movies or crime dramas – in fact it’s worse when they make movies about Italian American communities or what they consider “ethnic” communities. Anyway – that’ll be a discussion for another day.

San Diego – It seems really nice out there. It’s got a lot to offer as a city and I like the south western feel. What is south western? Well – somewhere between “The Big Lebowski” and a Tommy Lee Jones movie. It’s got all of the Los Angeles components in some ways, but it definitely has a more southern, desert feel to it. From San Diego, you know Mexico is just across the border and Arizona is not too far away. It’s got the ocean, which I love, and lots of tourist and cultural things. Anyway, it’s a big city – the seventh largest in the US! Maybe I’ll learn to surf more than the internet. We’ll be living in North County – which borders on the Los Angeles area, but it’s relatively close to the company and has a pretty cool beach culture. It seems “laid back” (I think I explained “laid back” once – it means “easy going”.)

http://www.sandiego.org/article_set/Visitors/8/119

This link is from the San Diego Tourist Bureau’s website. CEO’s changing into wet-suits to go surfing on their lunch breaks! I could live like that!

Anyway – I’ve got a million and a half things to do RIGHT NOW! We’re going to Janine’s parents later in the week and we’ll drive out to California from there. I’m really going to miss everyone here. (But I get to take Janine with me!) It’s going to be strange to go through the leaving and arriving phases again – so soon after settling into Madison. Oh well – that’s as it should be!

“Well I’m goin’ out west where I belong.

Where the days are short and the nights are long.

And I walk, and she walks.

And I run, and she runs.

And I shimmy, and she shimmies.

And I fly, and she flies.

And we’re all just a havin’ fun – in the warm California sun!”

(I know the version of this by the Ramones – but I don’t know who originally did the song – actually – let me look it up…

Wikipedia says it was written by Henry Glover and Morris Levy, is a song originally performed by Joe Jones in 1961, covered very successfully by The Rivieras in 1964. It reached #5 in the main U.S. pop chart

here’s the Ramones version of the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z9iUdiS3hI

and here’s the Riviera’s version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LH8q95xJ34&feature=related

I hope to have time to post more soon!

No rest…

Whew – It’s been busy! I’ve left my apartment, and got my damage deposit back completely – which is a nice bit of extra cash available for moving to San Diego. The only problem is still to find an apartment out there! Somehow it doesn’t seem as scary the second time you do it, though. I can’t wait to get out there. It will be amazing living near the Pacific Ocean.

Surf’s up dudes!

Wish me luck

Wish me luck everybody! I leave for San Diego tomorrow. My interview is on Tuesday. This is really fantastic. On the one hand, its a job interview – you know, JOB for MONEY – and not a small amount of money – at least for me! To be called for an interview means they’re interested in hiring me – or they probably wouldn’t have called an Italian. At least, I like to think that this is the case. I hope that this is the case!

I’ve been talking with Janine and Frank and everybody about this, and they all say that it makes sense: they wouldn’t call me for an interview if they weren’t seriously interested in hiring me – or seriously curious about me anyway – because of the commitment involved in hiring a non-American. Frank says that my internship here has really helped me – but he won’t say whether or not the company called him or Mr. Lundgren. If this were Italy, I’d almost be sure that they had – but it’s not, so I’m not. Anyway – I’m rambling on again.

Janine has been fantastic about all this – although right now she’s asked me (reminded me) not to write too much about her here as she does work for Mr. Lundgren here in Madison – so her comments shouldn’t be made too public. It’s been kind of funny at times, the things that I’d like to write most about are private information. Anyway – work aside, job interview aside, Janine and I have been having a great time. I’ve been really lucky here in the US. The only thing this place has required of me is that I work like crazy and have a good attitude. With that, so many things have been so positive. I have to begin thinking about moving out though. I have my apartment until the end of July – but that’s not too far away. My internship officially finishes soon too, although Frank says they could keep me on an external contract for a couple of months if necessary. There’s a lot going on. I suppose I’m tired too. More has happened in the last year than in the rest of my life – and it looks like that may be the way it stays for a while. Frank gives me funny looks at work – a lot. He says he feels proud of me like I was his little brother or something and he “gets a kick” out of watching me do all of these things. That’s pretty nice. I will hate to leave Madison. In a year, I’ve got to know my co-workers and some of them have become really good friends – and now a year is almost over and I realise that it has ONLY been a year, and that has gone fast too. When I think about it, the people I know at home, I’ve known since elementary school, but I always took it for granted that they were there. Now I have new friends – who ARE true friends and soon will not be there. Anyway – I’m rambling again. I woke up thinking about this stuff this morning, and Janine isn’t here to talk to, and it’s about time I posted something too! I really hope the job interview works out well. That will give me something to focus on. I’ve sent out quite a few applications to other places, mostly in and near Madison though – and then there’s the idea of going back to Italy. That’s perhaps the strangest idea of all. I know that whatever I do next, I’m not finished with the United States yet. I learned so much, and had so much to do, and have enjoyed it so much here, but I know that it is only a small part of what I could learn and do with more time. As Frank said, I’ve got time.

Anyway – enough for now. I’ve got to get some coffee and see what Janine is up to this afternoon. It’s Spring! The weather isn’t horrible! Maybe lunch down at the lake and a movie or something.

The expression of the day is “cool as a cucumber” – it means to be reserved and logical when everything is going crazy – to have the right reaction for the right situation and not to show excessive interest or emotion. These days, I am NOT “cool as a cucumber”! Bite into a cucumber, it’s cool inside. Cool like Fonzi! Not me, I’m a chattery mess. I’m still chatting. I’ll stop. Have a great Sunday everyone!

What to do next?!!!

Well, sadly but inevitably it’s time to figure out what to do next. Life in Madison has been great, and working here has been fantastic, but talking to Frank and some friends, moving on is really the right idea. Frank said that at 22 years old I’ve got to build experience, in general, and specifically for my c.v. I could do that here, but it would be limited. After talking to Bill Powers, San Diego sounds like a really interesting place. I’ve never been to California. There seem to be quite a few opportunities out there, and since talking to Mr. Powers I’ve got a few addresses and contact numbers to try. Having Frank as a reference is great – he knows a lot about this business and the people in it. I could live in California for a while – I think. It’d be great to see another part of the US (and after the long Wisconsin winter – a warm climate sounds good!)

The other option in San Diego is the University of California. They have a really good Masters programme in computer science. You can check out the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at www.cs.ucsd.edu. They have about 330 graduate students! (students who have already received their first degree and now are doing a Master or PhD.) That’s massive! They seem to have a lot of financial assistance in the form of scholarships and bursaries (like our study bursaries in Italy), or research and teaching assistantships, which means there is the chance of being paid to do my graduate studies. Not bad! I could enter the Masters programme and do a concentration field in Communication Networks, for example.

The “downside” of this, however, is the deadline. To start in the autumn of 2008 I would have had to send in my application form and fee in December 2007. So, I’m too late for this coming year. The advantage is that I could use the time to gain more experience working and settle into life in San Diego. Then I could apply for the fall of 2009, if I still think it’s a good idea. So, I suppose the next step, at least in the short term, is to find a job in San Diego!

The expression of the day is “to be gassed and stoked” – I think it comes from a Rolling Stones song, Frank uses these terms a lot – both together and separately. They mean “to be really excited about something”. That’s me right now!

Did I mention – “to be bushed”?

Wow – the holidays have caught up with me! I’m not sleeping much any more as the relaxation over the holidays was so total that I think my blood stopped circulating! I have to say, it was really nice to speak Italian again. I hadn’t noticed how much energy it takes to use a foreign language day after day. It’s great, and you don’t feel strange about it, or even think about it – until you go back to your mother tongue. At least that was my experience with my family here. It was like having the first night’s sleep after running a marathon. Now it’s the morning after! Frank told me to take vitamin D supplements – as the winter can be long and you don’t get enough sun (which helps the body produce vitamin D – he says), particularly in our field as we’re indoors all the time. It’s actually kind of interesting, my mum (mom in the US) said that’s true – that when you’re vitamin D level drops you can feel depressed or “run down” (low energy and interest level) – causing “cabin fever”, where you feel “stir crazy” – meaning that you feel that you are going nuts from being inside all the time, but don’t have much energy to do anything that is available to you – I think. I’m still not sure how this combines with depression, but I don’t think I’m going to find out anyway. I can’t afford that (meaning I can’t allow that to happen)! I’m looking at the second half of this experience now, and I want to keep my energy up until the end (then a collapse this summer?!?). Anyway – I’ll give it a try. I don’t know how much I should take, so I’ll ask the pharmacist. It’s funny, here it’s also called “the drug store” – the first time I went I asked for a kilo of heroin – but they didn’t think it was funny. Oh well, stupid foreigners – right? heh heh.
So, I think this general tiredness is like “vacation jet-lag” because I changed my daily routine from 380 to 110 volts and then back again in a relatively short period of time. We’ll see if the vitamin D helps. Crap – do I need to take up a sport? I hate sports!

Anyway – the expression for the day is “all hopped up” – meaning having an excessive amount of energy due to some form of chemical reaction in the body, often from ingesting some type of substance – LIKE VITAMIN D!!!

Welcome back to the work week everybody (even if it started last week – or doesn’t start for you for a while yet!)

Telecommunications Etiquette

Fantastic! I’ve been vindicated! On page 15 of this week’s Economist there is an article about SPAM and SPIM and communications etiquette. It’s interesting as they cite the historian Matthew Sweet who notes that the telegram was initially seen as an intrusion, as well as the phone. He gives a funny example of a woman in 1903 who received a phone call while she was dressing and then, after, reflecting on the experience realised that she had just had a conversation with a man as if they had met on the street – except she was totally naked! Hah hah! It makes me think of all the times I’ve answered the phone while on the toilette! Watch out blackberry! Anyway – I thought it was interesting.

I’M HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got to Madison last Wednesday. The plane from Chicago to Madison was delayed because of massive rain – what first impression! It rained hard until Saturday! My first purchase in America was a big umbrella!!!!!!!! Luckily I had already arranged a place to stay via internet – wonderful invention.  I found an “efficiency apartment” (this means 1 room with bathroom and cooking corner (“kitchenette”)) that has internet (which I still need to get hooked up). Right now I’m in an Italian coffee bar on State Street – that has wireless – YAY!!!!!!!!!! I can e-mail and do all the things I need to if I drink enough coffee!!!  It’s great, because for a while I didn’t have internet access.  It’s going to be hot today (91° Fahrenheit – sounds hot) so I ordered an iced café latte and got ALMOST A LITRE of ice cubes in a glass with café latte in it. Wow! Anyway – I’m getting free wireless with my purchase! Mum was happy to get my e-mail.

I was very nervous about arranging my appartment via internet – but I found it very efficient and the appartment is quite nice – although small. It’s only about 15 minutes walking to get down town – and near a store called Wholefoods that sells more than “wonder bread” and orange cheese. YAY!!!!!!! As well, I can get Italian products at Fraboni’s  – which – although prices are high, I can get real coffee and prosciutto there. The coffee is important! Now – where can I buy a mokka!??! Anyway – I didn’t walk around much the first few days – because of the rain. That was a bit, well – long.  My first evening in Madison, the house agent told me to go an Italian restaurant really close to my apartment – but looking at it, I found a nice Lebanese restaurant nearby. This looked more like a restaurant – no plaster statues and neon signs on it! The food was really good – and reasonably priced (particularly if mentally you’re still paying in Euros!) My mum reminded me to leave 15% of the bill for the tip – ugh! adds to the price, but I guess waiters here aren’t paid very well. Anyway – good way to spend a rainy evening.

The next morning I went to Starbucks on University Avenue and had their small four litre coffee! Hah hah – everything big here! I will be big too by time I leave! And I had a real blueberry muffin. I haven’t had one since last time I went to Canada with mum. Tasty.

Downtown Madison is fun to walk around. There are lots of people on State Street – which seems to be the centre of town and leads (logically) to the State Capitol building.  This area is on an isthmus between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona (I asked myself – men’ dota di cosa? heh heh!!!) It was sunny on Sunday (ha ha) so I walked all over the university campus, along lake Mendota.  This was beautiful, as the campus has some high hills that directly overlook the water (Lake Mendota).  I’ll have to go back there for a picnic.

I don’t start work until after “labor day”, which is their worker’s holiday on Monday, September 3rd. I’m a bit nervous, but looking forward to getting started. I will, however, use my last week of vacation to get to know the city as well as possible.

Thanks Kate for all your advice about where to look for the apartment. Now that I see the place in the sun – I think I will be happy here!  How may I thank you for your kindness? Coffee sometime?