Thursday, 30 March 2017

Going Home?! General Update

Non manca molto ai due mesi trascorsi qui a Cambridge e ormai penso di poter dire che ci sono, ce l'ho fatta. Mi trovo bene a vivere qui e mi sono praticamente abituato ai ritmi del lavoro e mi trovo molto bene al ristorante dove sto. Davvero, riconosco di essere stato molto fortunato in tutti i sensi, dalla velocità con cui ho trovato il posto al tipo di colleghi che mi sono capitati, tutte brave persone.

Tutto sta andando bene, di recente mi è persino arrivato il tanto sospirato NIN, il che significa che adesso sono legalmente inserito nel panorama lavorativo e, stando a quanto mi era stato detto non più di due settimane fa, ora ho tutti i requisiti necessari per aprire il dannato conto corrente e potermi atteggiare con la mia bellissima carta senza dovermi più fermare a contare le monetine ;-).

Ora non mi resta che imparare a gestire bene il mio tempo, in modo da poter utilizzare il giorno libero (e parte dei guadagni) per girare un po' e visitare qualche bel posto. Ovviamente non si potrà trattare di viaggi eccessivamente lunghi, non ne avrei il tempo. Per ora sto prendendo in considerazione mete raggiungibili facilmente da qui, come Norwich o Ely. Anche Canterbury mi interessa, non importa se ci vorrà più di qualche ora e vari mezzi per arrivarci ;-).

Ultimo aggiornamento: ho aggiunto gli Harry Potter studios alla mia lista, è tassativamente obbligatorio andarci (sono a Watford, che non dovrebbe essere troppo complicata da raggiungere, spero...;-) ) e passarci quanto più tempo possibile :-).

Per concludere in bellezza questo cortissimo post, la notizia più bella: tra circa 2 settimane torno a casa!! Non so come sono riuscito a strappare due giorni liberi oltre a Pasqua, ma ce l'ho fatta! Ovviamente, anche se mi sono svenato per farlo perchè Ryanair fa schifo/è pessima/sono dei ladri/meritano il peggio, ho preso subito i biglietti (vi dico che aggiungendo 100-150 euro al massimo mi facevo andata-ritorno a LA o a San Francisco) prima che qualcuno cambiasse idea e mi dicesse che devo stare a Cambridge. Saranno 3 giorni intensi, considerando che devo partire da qui alle 3.50 am del 14/04 e da Treviso ale 22.45 del 16/04, ma non importa perchè non vedo l'ora di incontrare tutti, parenti e amici. Ovviamente ne approfitterò per mangiare come si deve eh perchè, non importa quanto io sia bravo ad adattarmi ecc ecc, ma la cucina e i prodotti che trovi qui non reggono minimamente il confronto con quello che c'è a casa ;-).

Penso che questo sia tutto per ora, spero di avere tante altre cose di cui parlare molto presto!!

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By now, I have been living in Cambridge for almost two months (already!!! ;-) ) and I believe I can safely say I've made it. I do think I was right when I chose this -not so- small and yet lovely town, I think it has everything I could ask for, including a good strategic position to reach some bigger places, should the need arise ;-). Moreover, I have got accustomed to the work schedule and I have learnt a lot about the job itself, which is great. Speaking of which, I recognise being extremely lucky with everything, including obviously the incredibly short amount of time I needed to find a profession and the fact of sharing so much time with a bunch of lovely colleagues. That makes everything easier and definitely more bearable. No need to talk about how much I like living in my current house, my landlord is probably the best person I could've asked for as a housemate, really! :-)

Considering I finally got my -too much- long awaited NINo, everything is going way too well. Thanks to that, now I am finally legally authorized to work here, which is great I guess ;-). Now I should have everything I needed to open that bloody bank account and act cool with my brand new card when I need to pay sth instead of looking miserable and a tad pathetic while counting tons of coins ;-).

Now, besides the daytime being longer, I need to learn how to handle my own time in the most efficient and effective way, in order to make the most of my very few days off (and of part of the money I earn), hopefully by visiting some nice place and thus exploring the country at least a little bit. No need to point out I won't be able to organise too long trips due to the lack of time, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it at all! :-)

Right now, I'm currently keen on visiting Norwich and Ely, both of them easy to reach by coach/train within very few hours. Oh, I am definitely considering Canterbury as well, probably because of my mother's influence -the woman has been pushing me into going there ever since I left Italy you know ;-)- and obviously because I myself want to visit what seems to be a lovely place :-).

The very last thing I added to my to-visit list is a tour in the Harry Potter studios, which is totally mandatory, I'm not leaving England without going there! -fanboy mode on ;-)-

And last, but definitely not least, I'm going home!! Yes, I managed to get two days off besides Easter, which means I will have a whole weekend to spend with my beloved ones -be them family or friends- whom I am missing as never before. Obviously I bought the tickets right after getting this unexpected gift from my boss because you never know, she might change her mind. I am definitely pissed off at Ryanair though, I paid way too much (I'm telling you, I'd need to add just 100-150 euros to the money I paid to have a two way ticket to LA or San Francisco, which is insane!! :-( ).

Anyways, that's definitely going to be a heck of a trip, considering I'm finishing work at around 0.00 and the bus for Stansted leaves at 3.50. Moreover, two days later, on the 16th of April, the flight from Treviso takes off at 22.45. Nevertheless, I am super excited also to try this new night-ish way of travelling ;-). And obviously I will take the chance to eat some good food, which is something I'm missing so much (don't misunderstand, I'm doing fine, but the cuisine and the products I have here can't be a match for what I will find at home, I'll tell you that for sure ;-) ).

As I said, everything is going way too well now, I think I should probably expect and be ready for a sudden turn of events because it's not possible I'm going to get only the positive stuff!

I think this is it for now! I hope to have many more things to write about soon!! :-)



Oh, by the way, I'm quite happy also with the whole language thing: I'm noticing some slow and minute improvement in pronunciation and fluency, but I am not satisfied at all yet, even though this is somehow rewarding for me :-).







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