Press play (and then repeat)

Don't let her small frame fool you; she has big ideas and is truly creative.
She is a talented singer and a trumpet player too.
An eclectic individual of Irish and Japanese provenance.

She is musically-minded
And has completed her first album:

Impressive Health Method

A parcel of hand-woven pieces
Put perfectly together in the privacy of her bedroom.

(She happens to be the protagonist of my previous post too.)

She is Ermhoi.

Tips, tricks and tools for fools

I am fairly certain that all the reading I have been doing for my dissertation has got me heading straight for the same fate as Lieut. Colin Blythe in The Great Escape. In other words, I am going blind. Fact.

Recruitment for guide person will start shortly. 

So here's hoping that I'll make it to the end of this post.
Luckily the torrential rain and lightning which has been plaguing Bologna for the past couple of days has made it easier to insert myself in the library and stay there for more than 20 minutes (win). So after a fruitful day of studying, and a particularly dull week of minimal socialising and venturing out, I thought I'd just give a few tips and tools that have helped me over the years, for learning a language.

Aside from the classic and best-known tricks to picking up a language (drinking and perhaps picking up a native-speaker in the process) here are three things that I would recommend:

1) Use a Translation Dictionary Thesaurus 

My second mother from my second family, up in Milan, gave me a little pocket thesaurus and commanded that I use it when reading and writing in Italian. Parting with good ol' Wordreference was a heartbreaking prospect, but hey, apparently it's what all the kids at school are doing, and unlike a lot of English people, Italians, on the whole, have excellent command of their own language. And so, a couple of months ago I made the switch from quick and easy Wordref to my little black book of "sinonimi & contrari". It's a great way to expand your vocabulary and it all happens naturally; you look up one word and learn four or five new ones. And if you don't recognise any of the words listed, then you can use a dictionary. By which point you have also learnt the meaning of the four or five, previously, unknown words. Multiple words with one stone!    

2) Join the Club!

What stroke of madness made me dish out 140 euros to play volleyball on a non-competitive, mixed team when I was paying 1/14th of that for a competitive, women's team in London (with a coach) you ask? Well, aside from the fact that I didn't want to become completely spherical on my year abroad, it also boiled down to the fact that I didn't know anyone when I first got here.
Joining a sports team, taking dancing lessons, joining a book club - or even just going to talks and events that interest you - is a great way to meet people who, most likely, have similar interests and hobbies as you. Your first conversation is also less prone to being awkward, as the activity you are participating in, or the talk you have just attended becomes a good conversation starter. Key tip: don't be afraid to go it alone. And be weary of bringing along a native. If you go with someone who speaks your language, you will probably end up clinging to them for the duration of the event, or at least to begin with, which could hinder your chances of conversing with other people!

3) Lang-8
While tandems are a good way to meet people and polish up on your non-native languages, they can be a little awkward and tedious to maintain. Lang-8 is sort of like a language tandem social media website. Basically you sign up, specify which language(s) you are/would like to learn and which one(s) you speak natively and start writing! You can start with an introduction of yourself in your target language, or by writing journal entries, or a few paragraphs about your interests/hobbies; whatever you want. Then, people that have specified your target language as their native language will see your post and correct it for you. You will then be able to see your original version, line for line, next to the corrected version. You can (though don't have to) return the favour to others by correcting other people's English posts (or posts that are written in whatever is your native language). Simple!

Of course there are many other tips that I have not mentioned, like reading books, watching un-dubbed films/tv series with subtitles and all the usual, but these are a few that are a little bit off the beaten track (except for maybe the second one) which I thought could be handy! 

And finally, to conclude this post, I share with you a little piece of entertainment that I found in my academic reading this afternoon. I know a lot of people are revising or writing dissertations like I am, and it can be a tough time, full of self-doubt and plummeting confidence. Well, my friends, not to worry. Today, I received some consolation, and a laugh, when I read that the subject of my dissertation, Dino Buzzati (author of Il deserto dei Tartari, Sessanta Racconti, Poema a Fumetti and others - recommended reads) shared something in common with me: a poor understanding of the rules of punctuation.

Anyone that has read a couple of my posts will know by now, that I tend to toss my commas around. Which is why this little gem about Buzzati made me chuckle (alone, in the library of, typical):

“Montanelli afferma, a proposito dei primi anni di Buzzati al “Corriere”, che i suoi colleghi dovevano sempre intervenire, all’inizio, a sistemargli le virgole: i punti sapeva dove metterli, ma le virgole le “buttava così, come fosse stato del sale, dove andava andava”. – “[...Egli] scrive senza punteggiatura e non è mai riuscito a capire dov’è che finisce una frase e ne comincia un’altra”. 

“Montanelli (a colleague of the author) confirms, that during Buzzati's first few years at the "Corriere" (an Italian newspaper), his colleagues always had to intervene, at the start, to tidy up his commas: he knew where to put his fullstops, but his commas he 'threw around, like granules of salt, they landed where they landed.'” - “[He] writes without punctuation and has never been able to understand where one sentence ends and another begins.”

Fancy that - I spend so much time doubting myself and my capabilities but hey, at the end of the day we're all clueless, even the very best of us!

Happy Friday.

Image from The Great Escape was from here.
The one of the thesaurus from here.
The super corny team photo from here. The next image was from here.
And that of Buzzati from here.
Excerpt about Buzzati's poor punctuation from p187 of Nella Giannetto's Il sudario delle caligini (Firenze, 1996)

The Perfect Swiss Getaway

I've just returned from a couple of weeks outside the small city of Bologna, knee-deep in my overdraft but happily refreshed after treating my eyes (and nose) to a view other than red walls and poo-laiden porticos. (No offense Bologna.)

Zürich and London were my two stops, and since there are already plenty of pointers on where to go in the latter, I will take this opportunity to propose a couple for the former, just in case you ever manage to find the opportunity (and by all means, if you do, grab it) to drop by.

Having a sibling that has lived in Zürich for the past four years not only means free accommodation, but a lot of good spots already picked out for you. No guidebooks or faffing (though a couple of minutes perusing this page would be well spent).

A Poushe strudel to salivate over 

Skipping breakfast and moving on to lunch might not be such a bad idea when you head over for your mahoosive Poushe strudel.
They have sweet and savoury strudels as well as cakes and cookies, and for under 20 CHF you can get this big baby with as much salad as you can fit on the rest of your plate (stacking, piling, squishing are key techniques).
The Poushe I popped into was here and is not hard to reach from the city centre. Italy has left me ever grateful for clean, functioning public transport and Zurich definitely has that in the bag.


An Afternoon of Art at Kunsthaus Zürich 

I'm usually not much of a gallery-goer, but on this occasion was ordered to visit Kunsthaus by an artist friend back in Bo. I ended up spending an entire afternoon here. They have an expressionist exhibition on at the moment, until the 11th of May 2014, which is definitely worth a visit. As a student I paid 17 CHF (full price is 22) and spents hours devouring every detail with my eyes. (On Wednesdays you can visit the galleries main exhibits for free.)


A Peaceful Pause at Piazza


Piazza is perfect for a catch up coffee with a friend or a quiet tea break after a long day of strudel-munching and art-gazing.
I've been here on a few occassions now and there are always people tapping away on their laptops, sipping coffee with friends or having a quiet tea with a newspaper at hand.

It's located in Idaplatz and has been my go-to cafe for study sessions and blog-writing afternoons during all of my stays in Zürich. (It's also close to Poushe, the strudelhaus I mentioned above - bonus!)

Just outside, dotted along the piazza in which this place is located, there are some other small places worth a peek; stationary shops, restaurants and cafes.

Unwind by Bouldering at Minimum

After a long day of desk-work and tram-riding, there is nothing like a good climb.

This happens to be the place where I popped my bouldering cherry and I must say it has me hooked. It's a great way to build strength and is much more difficult than it looks, not to mention much less dull than pumping iron in the gym.

The nicely challenging routes, fascinatingly good-looking and muscular climbers, and vibe of the place are only a few of its charms that will having you going back for more.

It is open until late and has a nice cafe/bar area where you can sit for a break between climbs or have a lounge around with a beer and a slice of quiche afterwards. It's here.




So there we have it, a few things that you could fit in to a day or two if you ever visit Zürich.
A bit of an unplanned, off-topic post but hopefully of interest to some all the same.

To anyone staying in Bologna, it is only a 5 hour journey by train up to Zürich with one change at Milano Centrale. The views between Milan and Zürich, through the mountains and past the lakes, make the whole trip worthwhile and enjoyable and it is definitely a journey that I can recommend.

Happy Sunday!

Tuscan Adventure

Back in December we went on a little trip.

With just a handful of friends (a couple of whom can drive).
Two cars, one blue sky, and a whole lot'a wintery sunshine. 
We drove through the rolling hills of Tuscany.
It was cold, crisp and clear.  

With our sunglasses, swimmers and scarves.
Seven Italians, one German and me.

 (And the awkward realisation that together we make the Axis powers).

(But it's okay, I'm half Ally too...)

We watched our toes disappear in white water.

And each others' faces fade into snowy steam.
Until, in the dark, slipping in mud and tripping over branches,
We blindly carried our sulfur-smelling bodies back to the car.

We sang songs round the fireplace, and fuelled with fiorentina, 

played hide-and-seek out in the dark.

Then I fell in a hole and bruised my knee.

And Annie cut her leg on a branch.

The game was deemed a drunken hazard and we trotted back indoors.

A few euros poorer, a hundred memories richer.

That's how I'll remember my Tuscan adventure.

Just when you think you've heard it all

I've mentioned before that Bologna is a small city which can at times be stiflingly so, especially coming from London.
But there is something much more delightful and pleasing about stumbling upon a new, unbeknownst trinket in a city the size of Bologna, that simply isn't experienced in the same way in a metropolis as large as London.

When it comes to London, I am fully in the know that I haven't even scraped the surface of the city; there are whole zones that I have never visited and many a main streets that I don't even know exists. Bear in mind, this is after two years of living in the very heart of it. The countless alleyways, various nooks and innumerable crannies mean that when you do stumble upon something new, it is a sort of unanticipated expectation; pleasant all the same but more a matter of what and when you will discover something, on any given expedition, than if you will or won't. You could stay in London your whole life and still have plenty of places waiting to be discovered, tucked away in the crease of a map or hiding behind a double decker bus. In comparison, Bologna comes across as much more conquerable, almost to the point of being boring; it is easy to forget that despite its modest size it is just as venous in its network of vicoli and backstreets.

So, when, with the guidance of your local friends, you veer into a sliver of the city that you have never explored, it is like uncovering a gem that you've been sitting on all along. Spending more time with my Bolognese friends has, unsurprisingly, led to a couple of new discoveries - little venues off the beaten track of Bolo, happily minding their own business, happily hidden, yet also happy to be found.

I present to you:

Bar Senza Nome

Literally meaning "Bar No Name" this cosy little venue serves nibbles and drinks and plays good music. It's quietly propped on one of the many alleyways of Bologna, just at the rear end of the Mercato delle Erbe. So what makes it so unique? Well, it was first described to me as il "Bar dei Sordi" which translates to "the Bar of the Deaf", as it is a bar run by a small group of deaf and mute people. Naturally, ordering your drink comes to involve a lot of hand-gesturing (even for Italian standards), exaggerated mouthing of words and a fair amount of lip-reading - because the staff are almost all deaf.

It's a simple bar that harbours a range of customers, from non-deaf to deaf and mute people, all flocking here for the same purpose: a drink and a chat in a relaxed space. It invites a mix of young customers silently conversing away with their hands, intermittently pausing for a sip of their drink, as well as older men gesturing to each other over mouthfuls of mortadella panini (unforeseen pro of sign language: you can talk with your mouth full without revealing the contents of it). The bartenders here are friendly, the appending toilet signs are handwritten and playfully drawn with pictures explaining the correct sign language for "WC" and the place tinkles with noise, chatter and music just like any other bar. Regardless of whether you can hear any of it or not, it is a welcoming space and enjoyable to everyone. For Bologna-dwellers out there that don't know of this place, this one I will leave for you to seek out. So keep your eyes peeled, or whatever functioning senses you have at your disposal (I, for one, am as blind as a bat), and go for a wander around the vicoli and vie behind the market... you might just manage to sniff it out too.

Opening times: Tues - Sat 15.00 - 3.00, Sun 15.00 - 23.00

Images one, two, and three.

The Wrong Way is the Right Way to go

Having begun to despair at the monotony of Bologna's restaurants (don't get me wrong, the food is great, it's just that when the same list of primi piatti, usually tortellini, lasagne and the like, and slight variations of very samey secondi, keep on popping up everywhere, eventually the appeal of eating out wares off) it came as a nice surprise to stumble upon a different type of restaurant.

I came across it when my sister was visiting me and we went for a little wonder down Via del Pratello, seeing as it was her first time in Bologna and that was one of my less explored parts of the city. We wondered about in search of - well neither of us really knew what we were in search of - so we simply wondered about aimlessly, until eventually we came across a little restaurant called "Il Rovescio" (which means "backwards," or "wrong way"). What attracted us most about the place was its menu which consisted of locally produced, mainly organic, foods as well as the cosy vibes that seemed to be pouring out of its buzzing interior. For those of you that don't know me personally, I am one to spend, what some may consider, an excessive amount of time in supermarkets checking the labels of products and deliberating over their origins; I do this with food and with cosmetic products and sometimes shopping can be a bit of an ordeal. I like to cook my own food (that way you know exactly what you're putting into your mouth) and to eat healthily, and where possible/worth the extra cost, I try to buy organic/responsibly sourced products. This could explain why I am always broke. Anyway you can understand my delight when I found this place.

So this little gem is located on a little street that branches off of Via del Pratello, and the idea is that they are a "ristorante a KM 0" cioè, serve locally produced foods.
They do their grocery shopping where I do mine every Saturday morning (at the Mercato della Terra about which I will dedicate a separate post to soon) and their menus change frequently, offering whatever fruit and veg is in season (which is another of their many charms in my opinion).

They also have a little pizza place called Il Forno del Rovescio, which serves wholegrain crust pizzas (as well as normal, white ones) with no additives, organic wines and beers, and a couple of other dishes that you can take away or have delivered to your front door. I ordered a pizza from them once to give it a try and was told that mine would take a while as they had just had another order and their means of delivery is by bicycle! Luckily, Bologna is rather small so it only took about half an hour anyway!

The only down-side that comes to mind is that, when my sister and I were there, a lot of their dishes were out of stock (it sounded like they had had a bit of a fridge problem so this could be why). I do appreciate it is difficult to effectively stock up for an organically themed menu, where things no doubt tend to go off much quicker etc. but it was a bit disappointing all the same. I'd say, if you're going to a small, independent restaurant that offers organic foods, be ready for them not to be able to offer everything on the menu - and see it more as a positive thing! Worth noting that everything that was available was great.
[A dinner would cost you around 20-30 euros per person including drinks.]

So there we have it; a cosy little venue that adds a bit of a twist to traditional Bolognese food; if they claim to be backwards, then backwards is definitely the way forward.

Blogging about Bologna

Chaotic, disorganised and late - the perfect opening post for a blog contrived in Italy (which, in case you were wondering, is three months overdue). 
First things first, a couple of things you should know about me:

I, like this blog, was born in Italy and, like this blog, am chaotic, disorganised and consistently late for just about everything. I am Japanese and English, and apart from my early toddler years, have spent the majority of my childhood growing up in Japan. 
In addition to a Japanese mother and an English father, I have a sister (who is a much better writer than me and has her own blog in which she writes about life in Zurich amongst various other interesting things; you can find her here)
I am a UCL student and am on my year abroad at the University of Bologna. My blog serves as a way to ensure that I observe and absorb as much of the experience as possible, while hopefully putting forth some interesting points for you in the process.
 
Since my arrival in Italy, I have had copious amounts of pondering-time and while I have a few general things to share eventually, I think as an opening post I will focus on general first impressions of Bologna and some advice to prospective visitors.

Image from the annual Mortadella Festival held in Bologna

Bologna is a mid-small sized city, south of Milan in the Emiglia-Romagna region. It is a quick train ride away from Florence and Parma and is known for its food, its relatively secular society and left-wing politics, and it's University which was founded in 1088 (and has been given the names "La Grassa; the fat one, La Rossa; the red one, La Dotta; the learned one" for those reasons).

So let's get straight to it (as I am late for a date with my revision notes!)

The Pros: 
-Fresh veg, cheese, hams and a range of other foods available from various markets dotted around the city.
-Lower (than London) rent with a large, non-damp, fully functioning house in the city centre. 
-A generally slower pace of life, laid-back attitude towards everything (including things regarding university, worryingly enough).
-Lots of bars and boutiques to visit and an abundance of events on offer at various venues.

The Cons: 
-Poo. And wee. There is lots of it. Forget texting and walking at the same time, keep your eyes on the road! 
-A rather disorganised university system that is difficult to navigate through.
-The costliness of playing a sport or joining a gym, at least from a student perspective.

Bologna's population is student-heavy, while also having a fair amount of tourists. It therefore takes a bit of time to figure out where to eat and drink without paying the extra tourist-price but also avoiding falling to the other end of the spectrum of low standards aimed at students. In following posts I will share some recommended spots to visit and further along in the blog will indulge in sharing some of my own recent thoughts as a student and these, much to your dismay, may well be off the topic of "Bologna" and be a rambling of recent encounters, articles, talks, experiences that I have had that have left an impression on me. Hopefully these will still be of interest to you too.

A quiet afternoon in Piazza Santo Stefano

    I hereby conclude my opening post. Cin cin! 

Have you ever visited Bologna before?

Share your thoughts on the city as well!