Why Sicily?

Yesterday one of the American students at school added me as her friend on the Facebook. I was glad, it made me feel appreciated and esteemed, even though the girl is like 8 years younger than me. Today she said she took a look at my pictures and liked them a lot. Then, all of a sudden she added: "And I saw your bf... He's so cute! Now I know why you had decided to come to Sicily!". Well, I just blushed and smiled but actually that's the sheer and inescapable truth- I came here for him! To be honest I never really regretted that decision. Of course I have my better and worse days, at times some moments of hesitation and I feel quite homesick when the Easter or Christmas time comes and I can't get back to my family in Poland, but on the whole it's an amazing adventure and experience that I'm undergoing! I'm extremely lucky having a steady job, wonderful colleagues and a pleasant working environment. I feel lucky being able to claim that my boyfriends' friends became my friends and that his family accepted me fully and completely (although we aren't married or engaged). But the best is that I still feel like during the first meeting with my bf in Rome more than 4 years ago. That despite the fact that we live together and see each other every day, there's still an enormous amount of love, respect between us. Of course there are ups and downs and we quarrel quite a lot (mostly because I love everything to be neat and tidy... and my bf... well, not always... or because of some cultural background differences) but then we kiss and make up and we plan on our next holidays or another short but romantic weekend in Milan... And then it always dawns on me... It makes sense, I say to myself.. and I'm happy. Like now when after the whole day of school and lessons, I'll call him to ask to take away some pizza for dinner when coming back from work since I'm too worn out to prepare anything... : ) And then we'll watch sth together and just relax. Another idle, agreeable evening... : )

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Celebrities in Italy: No.2 Men

Italian men- who are they…?

To put it in a nutshell,

• According to the market search company Synovate, Italian men are the most handsome rated globally by both males and females (Americans are in second place)
• Mamma’s boys (about a third of Italian males live at home until the age of at least 30).
• They’re macho men, extremely self-confident, who love all sorts of women of all shapes and sizes, of all races and creeds
• Italians flirt like other men breathe - regularly and naturally.
• Very much into their look and fashion.

In this post, I'd like to present two extremes... First 2 of the most handsome Italians I have ever seen (apart from my boyfriend, of course). To my surprise, they are neither actors, not models. Both are wonderful sportsmen.

1. Aldo Montano- according to Wikipedia (born November 18, 1978 in Livorno) is an Italian fencer and olympic champion in sabre competition.
He received a gold medal in sabre individual at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

2.Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi- according to Wikipedia: (born August 9, 1973) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who currently plays for Serie A club A.C. Milan.

These are my two types and proves that Italians ARE really handsome (of course it is just MY opinion, extremely subjective and personal).

There are, on the other hand, (at least) 2 men in Italy who thanks to their courage, originality and uniqueness pulled it off and became famous Italian personalities not only on the professional ground. I'm referring to:

Platinette (tv presenter, journalist and radio DJ) a drag queen who by wearing awkward clothes and wigs brought about an image of sexual ambiguity. Extremely sensitive and thin-skinned, a walking encyclopedia for the Italian music. Not afraid to express the criticism and not afraid to hear it.

Vladimir Luxuria (an actor, showman and politician) She was the first openly transgender member of Parliament in Europe, and the world's second openly transgender MP after New Zealander Georgina Beyer . Luxuria has long been a strong advocate for gay rights and a participator in events promoting equality for homosexuals. She helped organize Italy's first gay pride festival in 1994 and continued her activism throughout her tenure as a politician.

Their success is due to their direct, ironic comments, uncompromising responses and attitude. Of course they both provoke discussions and controversy every time they make a comment about something but I think it's high time we acknowledged that people like them exist and have right to freely express themselves.

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Oscars, Oscars...

I know that today's post was supposed to be the continuation of the Saturdays' one (Celebrities in Italy: Women), but I cannot really not write and not comment on one of the most important nights in the world of entertainment, the Oscars' night. Let me just draw you a picture of my attitude towards the Oscars. Since I was a little girl I couldn't wait to watch this remarkable event on tv and you should know it was a real challenge to stay awake almost all night (yes, the 9 hours of difference make a REAL difference, so you start watching it at about 2.00 a.m. until 6 or 7 a.m. and the same day (morning) you need to drink gallons of coffee in order to be able go to school/work). Therefore I remember quite well coming back from school, having dinner and then going to my best friend's home in order to get glued to the telly. Unfortunately, usually we carefully watched the less important categories and then ended up fast asleep ina comfy armchairs or on a comfy coach at the end of the ceremony when The Best Actor/Actress/Film were pronounced. It was fun, though! The second thing I should underline is that majority of films that are Oscar candidates you can see with a big delay in Europe. More often than not, they arrive after the Oscars were already handed. Consequently it's always difficult for all the cinema lovers to be "fully updated" for the Oscars' night. Nevertheless, this year we were more than lucky and managed to watch most of the films. Let me comment on the verdicts.

1. Best picture: "Slumdog Millionaire". I absolutely agree. This story, so simple and complicated at the same time made me hope that good films can/should be appreciated even though they're not entirely commercial.

2. Lead Actor: Seann Penn in "Milk". I should admit, I didn't have a chance to watch "Milk". I saw Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon", Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler" and I really expected that the latter would win. What a pity! Need to watch Milk this week, absolutely!

3. Lead Actress: Kate Winslet in "The Reader". Yes, yes, YES! It was an exquisite performance! On the other hand, I didn't like her in "The Revolutionary Road"... She was quite phoney, don't you think?

4. Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight". It couldn't be different.

5. Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona". I liked her, she was cute. Maybe the most conspicuous of all the other nominated roles.

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Celebrities in Italy: No. 1. Women

Tonight sth about celebrities in Italy. Before I start, I think it's crucial to cite a definition of Paparazzo.

According to Wikipedia: "Paparazzi is a plural term (paparazzo being the Italian singular form for photographers who take unstaged and/or candid photographs of celebrities caught unaware. Paparazzi take photos of celebrities at moments when the subjects do not expect to be photographed, such as when they shop, walk through a city or eat at a restaurant. (...) The word paparazzi is an eponym originating in the 1960 film La dolce vita directed by Federico Fellini. One of the characters in the film is a news photographer named Paparazzo."

Well, taking into consideration the long history of Papparazzi in this country, you should be aware that celebrities are extremely important public figures in here. Celebrities in Italy are usually very beautiful (there are some exceptions which I'm going to refer to in the following posts), most of them not very smart, and not very "lasting" (they pop up here and there, now and then and afterwards they just disappear forever. You cannot see a programme on tv where a celebrity is not invited to talk (if her/his IQ is high enough) or just to appear and smile (I'm talking e.g. about all these Sunday soccer programmes whose aim is to comment on the ongoing matches).

But there are also exceptions. I would like to show you and present you some of the most beautiful women in this country who proved that their beauty is not only external, but whose ambitions and determination made them real personalities.

1. Rossella Brescia- one of the most famous classical/modern music dancers, actress, TV presenter and radio DJ.

2. Ilary Blasi- an actress, soubrette and tv presenter. Ilary Blasi ranked No. 05 in COED Magazine Online's "50 Sexiest WAGs of World Football. Privately married to an Italian soccer star: Francesco Totti.

3. Michelle Hunziker- well, actually she was born in Switzerland, but has lived in Italy since she was 16 and so built her whole career here. She is an actress, TV presenter, and she released also some music albums. In 2007 she and another well known figure, a female attorney Giulia Buongiorno set up a foundation for physically/mentally/sexually abused women and the underage.

4. Monica Bellucci- I don't think I have to present her...

5. Elisabetta Canalis- maybe not soooo smart (I watched her last interview on tv and should admit she didn't have a lot of interesting things to say) but extremely beautiful.

6. Silvia Toffanin- ok, she participated in Miss Italia and then worked as a soubrette but after she graduated from the Foreign Languages Department (it rings a bell!) in Milan, she started off working as a journalist in the Italian tv. She's just 31 years old but in my opinion she's extremely talented! I love the programme she conducts called Verissimo (it's all about- usually Italian- celebrities).

And last but not least:

7. Maria Grazia Cucinotta- an actress. Many of you remember her for her extraordinary performance in Il Postino. Afterwards she continued her career both, in Italy and the USA. Apart from her acting talent and dazzling beauty, she is famous for her various projects and collaboration with the Unicef.

Ok, that's all in part one. In part two, I'll speak about Italian men. Good night! : )

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School & Teaching

I still haven't mentioned it I think but apart from being a Main Office Manager, I am also an English teacher. Actually it is my first job. Something like 2 years before I graduated from the English & French Linguistics Department at the University, I started giving private lessons. Then, just after the graduation, I started teaching in public and private schools. At the beginning I did this because I wanted to be more independent, I started to care about my look, I started to hate window shopping. Then after coming to Sicily, I wanted to find a job as a teacher but the strange system (politics?) in country says you cannot teach languages unless you are a native speaker of the language. And so you can find people, whose education has nothing to do with didactics, methodology, who aren't prepared to teach (people who have graduated from Chemistry, IT departments, etc.) Absurd, I know. And then I found this wonderful Institute where everyone speaks English, where I have opportunity to speak and use the language on a daily basis. I feel extremely lucky. However this does not mean I stopped being a tutor. I give private lessons at home to teenagers and adults or I organise private courses in hotels, offices, etc. and I find it really enjoyable and rewarding. I love to see that my students pass all sorts of exams (school exams, Cambridge and Trinity exams, etc.), that they come back from holidays with a smile on their faces because they managed to buy a bread, send a postcard or ask for directions to a local museum. It makes me proud and happy. It doesn't mean it's always bed of roses since I am a very strict, severe and demanding teacher. Oh yes I am.

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Fashion: Smart & Chic

Today sth about fashion. I cannot call myself a fashion victim, I don't spend every single penny on blouses, shoes or bags but I know what I like and what kind of style I'm into. How should I call it? Maybe a little babydoll style (yes, this pink!), sometimes casual but with a pinch of glamour and originality. I don't have a camera with me now, so I can't put pics of things I have in my wardrobe, but in order to specify my taste, I'm putting here some pics of clothes and shoes I found on the Internet, clothes I would love to have...

These shoes I picked for my wedding day (no, I'm not planning anything yet!). It's just the style that I love.

A delightful Ralph Lauren Black Label coat for Spring days... : ) $ 1498. Wow.

This is a simple "got to work" dress by Dior... : ) Costs only 1890 dollars... Ugh...

This is an elegant coctail dress.

As I said I'm keen on baby doll style. Carolina Herrera $2790.

Another lovely shoe... : ) Just wonder if the heels are not to high...

I really liked putting all the pics here. I promise I'll be adding more whenever I see sth interesting.

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The first day.

It was hard to decide what language to write this blog in. First I thought I'm in Italy, I'll write in Italian. On the other hand I'm Polish and as a graduated linguist I know that one can fully and completely express themselves only in the native language. BUT I like English a lot and I thought it's more universal. English, then as the first language but I'm sure at times I'm going to write sth in either Italian or Polish...or sometimes also French. Here I go then, following this "blog fashion". Well, in my case I wouldn't really call it fashion, to be honest. It was like a need. A personal need to share my thoughts, ideas with the Internet world. No idea if anyone anytime is going to read that and no idea if I'm going to become a devoted blog writer. No promises whatsoever. Let's just start!

I love music and the pink colour. I'm telling that now because it will be often, I'm sure, that I'll put some music, music videos and it won't be rare that you will be reading the messages written with the pink font..

I am very fond of advertisement. And I'm not referring to some trivial pop up windows when surfing on the Internet. I'm referring to the advertisement in magazines and on television (yeah, I never change the channel when there's the ads break during a film). My final thesis at the University was dedicated entirely to this, in particular to the use of implicature in ads.

It's been now more than 3 years since I came to live in Sicily, a picturesque Italian island with palms and approximately 300 sunny days a year.

I work as a Main Office Manager in a Study Abroad Institute legally established as an Italian school for higher education.

And that's it for today. Have a good night.

Jo.

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