Stay.. or go..?

This is the question that by no means most of the Italian "graduate to be" pose themselves constantly.

I have just read an interesting article in the online version of Corriere della Sera (an Italian daily newspaper, first in sales), concerning young people in Italy, their ideas and expectations of the future.. the results of the survey are kind of... hm... let me put it this way: interesting...

First of all, 2 out of 3 undergraduates declare they want to start their working experience abroad just after finishing their studies. Only 36.8% of the interviewed decisively decline the idea. However, according to the commentators and work consultants, most of those intending to leave Italy have rather "romantic" approach to their future in a foreign country. They perceive the world abroad as better, easier and with more potential for their career and personal development... And now my personal view.. how the heck, are they going to succeed if 74% of Italian students study only one foreign lg, supposedly English, (source here) and I can bet that most of them are at the very beginner/elementary level.

But let's suppose they all go.. what are the countries they would choose? In the chronological order: the US, England, Germany, Spain, Sweden (?), and France.

And what is the first, the most important criterion when looking for a job abroad? Money, of course. This is understandable, especially if we consider the fact that statistically the first average salary for 43% of the post graduate in Europe equals 1700 euros, whereas in Italy most of the young employees receive a little bit more than a half of it.

And what is the list of jobs the Italians would never like to do? Well, let me cite the poll results: mechanic, operaio (physical worker), hairdresser (really??), aesthetician (really??), fast food worker, soldier, road sweeper and the most hated ever is the mason. According to the consultant there are two types of jobs: those ones which are taxing but not dangerous and those which are dangerous but not taxing. Mason is a combination of these two types. No wonder then that in Italy most of the masons are foreigners...

And now... what do you think about the Italians... : )

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D&G Perfume Anthology...

Do you remember this song? : )

One of my favourite ever, to be honest. Linda (Evangelista), Cindy (Crawford), Christy Turlington), Naomi (Campbell) and Tatjana (Patitz) look incredible! BTW, I have a little confession to make. When I was in the primary/secondary school it was very "in" to be collecting sth.. No, not stamps or butterflies but all materials (newspaper articles, photos, and when you had an autograph, you ruled!) concerning one artist/sportsman/band/actor, etc... So I was collecting everything about Cindy Crawford. I had 3 full albums with everything about her. I remember I was so crazy about even a tiny shot of her, I was able to buy a whole magazine only to have it! I asked everyone in my family and friends to collect the materials for me, I was buying postcards, video tapes (the ones with body workout) and recorded every programme that featured her.. Crazy I know.. My friend, Zuza collected everyhting about Claudia Schiffer and Marta loved Edyta Gorniak. I must still have these big, heavy files somewhere in the attic... : )

Anyway, that was just a premise to tell you about the new D&G fragnances that are now being advertised in the Italian tv.

Take a look at the spot:

It's the same song and again famous models appear! New 5 perfumes called with numbers, different numbers for different moods (click on the name of the perfume to see the ad and on the name of the model to see the pictures):

no. 1- Le Bateleur (featured by Tuson Ballou),
no. 3- L'Imperatrice (featured by Naomi Campbell)
no. 6- L'Amoreux (featured by Noah Mills),
no. 10- La Roue de la Fortune (featured by Eva Herzigova and Fernando Fernandes)
no. 18- La Lune (featured by Claudia Schiffer)

Cannot wait to smell them all! : )) I have only one question... why these particular numbers? Why not from 1 to 5..?

PS. I know my bf will read theis, but what te hell... Did you see Fernando and Tyson...? Hmmm... Cookies....

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Smile! Or cry!

A little part of the time I spent in Poland, I dedicated to watching tv. You cannot imagine how good and nice it is to finally watch programmes produced by your native tv stations. I loved to listen to Polish language, I cherished watching some fragments of Polish soap operas that I hated back in the past when I lived there.

One thing that I am always interested in and enjoy the most wherever I am are the tv spots and ads. And I saw one spot for an important language school in Poland that I absolutely need to share with you today here.

Of course it made me think. In Poland we were always a bit... hmm.. lazy about learning foreign languages. I must admit happily it starts to change (please note that I'm stressing the word "starts" here). I can see that more and more shop assistants at least try to communicate (and don't run away pretending there's a very urgent phone call they need to make at that very minute) when a foreigner comes in asking about the availibillity of colours of the T-Shirt he has just spotted on the display window, people don't turn around acting as if they didn't hear if a tourist asks them about direction to the nearest bank or post office. I'm not referring only to the English lg. I really hope that in a few years Poland we'll be more like Sweden (when children start learning languages in the kindergarten and sth like 70% of population speak English at an intermediate or higher level) or rather than Italy, France or Spain...

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Autumn or Fall (?) and Milan Fashion Week

It's September 23 today. What does it mean?

a) It's the first day of fall/autumn today!!! (BTW, which word do you use normally?)

Welcome in our lives!!! : ) Goodbye swimming suits, sun blocks, flip flops and hats! Welcome sweaters, jumpers, umbrellas and socks! : ) Where are you my beloved scarves and gloves? Has anyone seen my purple hat? I can't wait to put on my favourite violet boots.. : )

b) Milan Fashion Week starts today! : )

Fashion Week. According to Wikipedia:

"A fashion week is a fashion industry event, lasting approximately one week, which allows fashion designers or "houses" to display their latest collections in runway shows and buyers to take a look at the latest trends. Most importantly, it lets the industry know what's "in" and what's "out" for the season. The most prominent fashion weeks are held in the fashion capitals Milan, London, New York City, and Paris."

Now NY and London it's finally Milan's turn.


- 8 days,
- 203 collections of the most important Italian and foreign designers in the world,
- 96 fashion shows for 88 brands,
- 94 presentations for 80 various brands,
- 35 presentations "by appointment"

If someone is in Milan, here is the complete calendar of all the events and shows. Don't forget tomorrow Armani at 2.00pm, Moschino at 5.00pm and Prada 6.00pm!

Wherever you look, you can see models walking down the streets, taking Metro or a bus, running from one location to another from one show to another. You don't believe me? Look here. Gosh! I wish I could be there! : ))))

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Knock Knock! May I come in? : )

My Dearest Blog-Friends!

It's been soo long since I put a post on my blog! You know I was on a 2 week holiday in Poland and before that, my Polish friend, Ania came to visit me for a week and we left for Poland together. Of course, I'm not going to lie to you-I had wonderful time! Let's look at some pics, I'll be glad to comment on them for you.

Let's start with Ania's stay in Sicily. Unfortunately I couldn't dedicate much time to her, I was at work until 4.00pm everyday so I tried to organize her days the best I could to make her feel comfortable and to let her visit as much as she could during this short holiday.

During weekend, though, we found time to go to the beach:



I was elated when my Italian friends offered some help (they took her to Catania for example) and together we had wonderful evenings and "Italian style" dinners.

Ania, who loves frutti di mare (seafood), took pictures of almost every dish we had these days!

...then she also prepared some typical summer Polish plum cake for us:


... and OF COURSE we went for a pizza with her!




Ania OF COURSE was astonished about how the Italians park their cars... Well, I got used to it.

Then we went to Poland together. Of course I couldn't miss the Manufaktura complex, which I find absolutely amazing! You can do absolutely everything in there- there's a big commercial centre when you can indulge yourself with shopping, you can go to SPA, go bowling, watch a movie in the cinema, go clubbing in the evening, eat delicious meals in more than 40 various pubs and restaurants, I love it!





Of course I was meeting my friends for some... Italian coffees... in fancy new cafés : )

and I was walking a lot in the park close to my house:


...and then one day I decided to have my hair cut:


... I visited some of the furniture shops with my Mum since she's considering buying a new coach to the living room... Sometimes I saw really strange things like this....



or that....



... but in my opinion the beauty of simple things always wins...

During the second week of my holiday, I mostly... worked... yeah, I worked as a translator/interpreter during the International Nature Film Festival that is held every other year in my city. It's a great honour and pleasure for me to be invited to work there.

And that's all for me. I'm back. I'm happy, relaxed and ready to move on. But now I need to catch up with all your blogs!!! : )))

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