Our fish doesn't smell...

Milano in the summer is kind of like spending time in an oven. Well, it is like being in an oven with 70% humidity and a ton of mosquitos. But if you look past all the negatives like the heat and bug bites, you will find a prettylively market scene. This past weekend I discovered two open air markets near my apartment, one was filled with crap, but had a very awesome food market at the end of it.

Even though Milan isn't very close to the sea (its pretty freaking far from it), they have the freshest fish. It is pretty amazing. At the market there is a huge fish section, and unlike China town in San Francisco, it doesn't smell. Not even a little. I promise. My roomate, Andre, and I picked up two huge freaking pie

ces of salmon for 2.50 Euro. The fish was fresh and delicious! The only bad thing about the market is that it was crawling with Gypsies... literally. They sit on thefloor in the most inconvenient location and stick their hands, feet, and cups out expecting you to give them all your money. I guess they might not always expect you to give them money, because rumor is that they also love to steal things from you.

The second market I went to was an antiques market. It was mostly old junk that I am pretty sure is worthless.The old italians were selling everything from old tobacco pipes, to telephones, to paintings that looked a couple hundred years old. Every table had basically the same things, and there was no awesome food market at the end, so I think I will stay away from that for a while.

In other news, I finally got hot waterin my apartment, so thats nice. Here are some pictures of my home for the next year...

Residency, Italian style

The past couple days have been busy. I established residency, signed up for free health care, and moved into a new apartment. The city is still empty as most of us (haha, that takes time to get used to) are still on ferie (vacation). For the entire month of August Milano is a ghost town. The streets are empty, about 70% of shops are either closed entirely or have seriously reduced hours, and nothing gets done. I guess I haven’t truly acclimated to the Milanese life style though because I have completed nearly everything I set out to accomplish within the first week of arriving.

On Friday I went to the Agenzie Entrate to register for my Codisce Fisciale (CF). The CF is basically my Italian Social Security number. I need this to do just about anything a normal Italian would do like, get a phone number, rent an apartment, get a drivers license, or open a bank account. Getting the CF was much easier than getting to the office. I spoke to a few Italians to ask where the office was and they all said it was within walking distance. So I start out on the walk and after 4 miles, I reach the office. Lesson 1 about Italians, when they say something is within walking distance, do not trust them. So after getting my CF I set out to establish residency.

There are 7 different offices in Milano where you can establish residency and luckily for me, there was one close be to the Agenzie Entrate. So a short walk later I arrive at the office, but it is closed for Ferie. So the woman who was standing outside told me where another one was. I jumped on tram number 3 and made my way up to the office. I took a number and waited about 45 minutes. This place is like a DMV with 20 angry people working at a counter with 100 even more angry people waiting to be served. So after my number is called, they informed me that since I am an Italian and lived in the USA, I had to register at a different office. Oh the bureaucracy of Italy. Pure. Joy. So I finally found the office, gave my info over, and was told that police men would visit me within two months to verify my address, but basically I am now Milanese!

After that journey I decided I needed healthcare. With all that walking just to become a resident, I figured my feet were sure to fall off shortly and health insurance would be nice to have, just in case. This was easy to get. I showed my passport, residency documents, codisce fisciale, and BAM! I have health insurance. Oh the joys of Italy. It can be nice!

Well, now that this boring stuff is done, my next posts will focus on a couple of the coolest food and antiques markets that I have ever seen.

Ciao Ciao!

Sono Arrivato!

Ok, so I have arrived! The weather is hot and the city is beautiful. I found an apartment after not too much searching in the heart of Navigli. Navigli is an awesome area. There are dozens of great bars and restaurants. It is also famous for apertivi. An apertivo is kinda like happy hour. The bars and restaurants set up a buffet of delicious food. The food has ranged from watermelon to pasta to pizza, to stuffed bell peppers. So for 8 Euro you can get all the food you want and one drink. The apertivi last from 6pm - 10pm and take place every night.

In the past days I have discovered that Milano is not as terrible a place as I thought it was. After living in Roma, I have heard that Milano is terrible. The people are supposed to be rude, fat, and too busy to love life, but in my short time here, I feel the opposite. The people have been incredibly nice, great shape, and having a great time! I assume Rome's distaste is more like a Nor-Cal/So-Cal battle.

Anyway, I am glad to report that I am beginning to settle in. I like it here and I cannot wait for school to start (wow, never thought I would say that again)!

Ciao,

Justin

T minus 48 hours till take off...

There is no real news since my last post. Only so much can happen in the last week before you move to a new country. My bags are packed, I found a hotel, I have an appointment to look at more permanent apartments, and I have my flight confirmation printed out. My mind has stopped racing and I am no longer stressing about all the little things I have to do when I arrive. All those little annoyances are in the back of my mind. As far in the back as they possibly could be. What is on the forefront of my mind are all the people I will be leaving back at home.

Maintaining relationships that I have made, will be tough. Luckily Al Gore invented the internet (COME ON!) and others came along and realized that social media is an awesome tool. Facebook, skyple, and linkedin make it pretty easy to keep touch with everyone back here in the Bay Area, and I am thankful for that. It would be too easy to move to Milano and start a new life, but the friends I have made here have shaped me and encouraged me to grow and seek out new challenges, like the MBA. So, the moral of the story I guess is that moving to a new country is easier for me than I thought, but leaving my friends, family, and girlfriend behind is weighing on me a lot more than I wish it would.

T minus 48 hours, guys!

Not too much longer for some real posts!

Pizza, gelato, ancient ruins, high fashion, better food, and a new chapter in my life await me when I leave to Milano in less than 2 weeks. I will soon have some actual experiences in Milan to write about, but until then, you will be forced to read about my anxiousness (and nervousness). With a list of two dozen things to do before I leave, I have my work cut out for me. Among the list of things to do are the names of four books that I must read prior to the actual courses. I am definitely not used to reading for school. I am an accountant not a librarian! At SCU there were a couple classes that I had to read for, but really it was mostly accounting. I never read those books, just did the problems.

While I am not used to reading academic books, the one that I started yesterday is actually pretty interesting, The Myth of the Rational Market written by Justin Fox. The book will go into the creation of the Rational Market Theory and its eventual downfall. Sounds boring I know, but trust me, it is interesting.

On another note, I think I found a roommate for Milan (no apartment yet but that will come too). The potential roommate is a German guy who has spent the past few years in Ireland. I think we have quite a few things in common.

Well, that's it for now. I can't wait to actually write about some experiences that I am having. Here is a picture to keep you interested.