crimper.co.nz

A bit of a strange day today. What a year it has been. One year ago (un anno fa) I left NZ. Riding into work this morning (yeah yeah, ok it was actually lunchtime..the sun was shining and the hill was beakoning so I accidently went for a ride that took longer than i thought...), comunque, I was riding into work at lunchtime and thinking to myself "wow, one year" What have I done?

Well, about time i kept a bit of a record of some of the blunders i have made with the italian language i guess.....as my skills improve, so do the number of times my friends are left rolling in stitches on the floor....and I'm left thinking "oh crap, what did i just say? was it rude, offensive or just plain stupid??"

So:

Well, Christmas was good - stunning day so went for a ride to the lake and sat on a park bench and had our muesli-bars. Oh yeah - we had to go to the lake because Santa thoughtfully gave me an early present on the 24^th - was down with some friends bouldering at the wall and a whole heap of new holds arrived. So there were a few new problems and the challenge was issued - you close thebloc, you name it. Excellent!The lure of a big long unpronounceable Maori name got the better of me....if i hadn't missed the final hold it would've been mine! But alas, a very awkward fall, and the guys learnt some kiwi swear words...and i got a sprained ankle. Bugger! Still, the wee boy with the electric drill who came to fix my ankle for me was a delight! And i got another bloc named after me, so all was worthwhile! ‘Kiwis don't fly

Well, we are rugging up for a cold, possibly white Christmas here in Verona. Got the trip to the supermarket tomorrow to buy our Christmas dinner – turkey and roast veggies, and of course chocolate pudding/cake of some sort with mascarpone and a good bottle of Valpolicella (the locally grown wine) red.  Snow is expected on Boxing Day, so will be a good mountain bike ride I’m sure!

mwaaa hahahaha - its a barrel of laughs here! Had a mulitcultural weekend with Matt and Aukje - a mix of pidgin Italian, English and a bit of Dutch. Isn't it funny what the translations of different words are - poor Aukje is almost in tears - Matt and I are finding Dutch so amusing. Especially the word varken....said with an almost 'f' instead of a 'v', sounds very much like an irishman swearing....but means pig, so everything has had 'pig' added as an adjective....ah, small things eh?

Yayheyhey - don't fall over! Twice in three weeks or so - this is a bit organised. Well, its just cos I am here on my lonesome, its a public holiday and I am working. Sad, but true. I'm just so dedicated you see. ahum, - who told you i wagged yesterday morning to go climbing?....never!

Si, Si, i know...I suck at the whole blog thing. Life has been pretty full-on over here, no time for writing up nice stories....wish i had a little palm-thingy – i could do them while on trains then.

So, the highlights:

Well, 6 weeks now. 2 without James. All is good.
Life: life is fairly easy and although certain things are very different to NZ, it is no that much different overall. I get around onmy little silver bullet- the basket is great - it can fit your groceries, or your climbing gear, or a whole ream of paper worth of scientific papers to read at bed-time, or ...no, i won't tell you how many bottles of wine...

Arrggh, finally got some time to get news to the world.... Settled into our apartment and getting into a routine. Although not sure if it's a good one. Go to work, come home real late (because, yes, I am a geek), try to fit in a mtb (3hours or so) after work once a week and climb the other nights. So don't get dinner till about 10-11pm. That's kind of normal here though. So might have to change it once J has returned to NZ.

One week down.
Mobile phones and internet - tick
Bank account - tick
Apartment - tick
Climbing wall - tick
MTB tracks and maps - tick
Bici shops (bike) - tick
Best gelato shop - tick
Plates, cultery, pots&pans, sheets - nup
Gas, water, electricity - nup
Permission from Govt to stay - nup (but working on it)