GAME OVER!!! – GOODBYE AUSTRALIA !!

Yes, the Australian “game” is almost over... few hours and i’ll leave this land...
I have really strange and controversial feelings about this leaving. First of all, as always happens when you have a good time, i have the feeling these months flied!! I can’t believe that, it’s already time to come back to the usual life...

Anyway, as i told to some of you, leaving so far from Italy made me understand how much i love my country, with its good and bad sides... yeah, even if here in Australia the life quality is high, i missed Italy and so it will be nice to come back to my “bel paese”.

But, at the same time, i feel a bit sad in leaving this country, with its natural landscapes of a stunning beauty! There are places i saw that i will not ever forget!
If i could choose, i’d like Australia be my usual destination for my future vacation!! Yeah, to live in my Italy and to spend my vacations and to relax in Australia, that would be perfect! But to get to Australia is “a bloody long way”... so i just hope to be able to come back here one day... this place is a quite common spot for the honeymoons, and who knows...
so, goodbye Australia, goodbye Sydney...

In this way this blog gets to the end as well. It finished its task, to tell you something about my life in Australia. Thanks to all of you for the attention and see you in Italy!


P.S. In the map, circled with red colour, you see the main cities/places i’ve been.

some relax in the tropics

In a long white sand beach, with the palms all around, with the warm weather of northern Queensland, with long hair (well, the longest i have ever had in the last ten years) and not shaved... in this relaxing way i'm spending my last days downunder...

cheers

Meeting with the Dalai Lama

My staying in Australia is getting to to the end. Less than 3 weeks by now for the coming back.
Among the many beautiful memories of my months here downunder, I’ll keep the experience of yesterday, when i went to attend a public talking of the Dalai Lama.

I’ve always been very interested in this figure, I consider him one of the most prominent spiritual and moral leader of our time. And, as a student in the international relations field, i admire him for his peaceful, not-violent way of promoting the cause of its people and its land, the Tibet. Probably some of you remember I told them initially i was going to do my final thesis about the Tibet and its peaceful fight for the autonomy.

Anyway, the Dalai Lama confirmed me all the good feeling i had about him. He’s a very charismatic person, that stirs up a special “attraction” like only Karol Woityla (John Paul II) was able to do.
In the first part of the conference he had a sort of lecture about the purpose of life, that is to say how we should try to live to make our life really meaningful.
In the second part there was space for questions from the audience. Unluckily only few people had the privilege to ask him questions.
I could appreciate his words of wisdom, quietness and irony sometimes.
I suggest to know more about this man, i think many of you could remain fascinated! Quite “funny” that the Chinese government consider him a “dangerous” political subversive only because he wants the world knows what happens in Tibet and to the Tibetan people under the Chinese oppression!

Exams period...and Euro2008 time!

Ahlan uahsalan!
(= just a greeting in arabic)
The exam period started for me the last week! Three days ago i had my first final exam! It was Arabic! You can see my main exercise in the photo!
Yeah, i’m able, more or less, to read and translate it now!
No, that doesn’t mean i can read and translate everything in Arabic, only some basic sentences... Actually, in this course i just learnt the basis of Arabic, it’s a so complex language... but to be able to read it’s a great satisfaction! I hope to go on studying it when i come back home.
The next week i’ll have my second final exam, international relations.

But, besides my exams period, even the football European Championship started yesterday!
All of you know my passion for football and my love for my national team, so you can guess how much i want to watch the matches of Italy. But here the problems come...
First, they don’t broadcast the matches on the normal channels on tv here in Australia, but only in pay per view. That means i have to found a pub, a place to watch them. And i found a place. But, the other big problem is that the matches, most of them, are at 4.45 a.m. in the morning!!! That means i have to go in the heart of the night to the city and i have to do that by public transports...and i have to come back home at dawn... so, will be “our hero” able to watch the matches of Italia? I’ll tell you!!!
In the meantime, forza Italia!! (ora si può dire, no? Il partito del pagliaccio ha cambiato nome, giusto?)… and anyway, just remember that SIAMO CAMPIONI DEL MONDO, popopopopopopopooooo

A weekend in the tropics... or in the Paradise??

In the last 2 weeks, i’ve been quite busy with the study. The final exams are coming and the time to study seriously has arrived. But the last weekend I decided to “present” myself some relax, far from the books and the uni life.

In Italy when I’m tired or stressed from work and want some relax, i take my car and i go to visit my parents, my brother, some friend or just to enjoy some nice places not far from Rome.

Here in Australia, I took a flight and i was in the tropics!
Actually, we’re having a nice weather in Sydney, mostly sunny days, but it isn’t warm enough any more to go to the beach. But I found a cheap flight to go to the north of Australia, 2000 km more in the north than Sydney, and you know, i’m a bit crazy sometimes when it comes to travel, so I didn’t think twice and i decided to go and breath the tropical atmosphere, even only for a couple of days.
There the weather was perfect, of course! My main aim to go there was to visit the Whitsundays islands. It’s a popular tourist spot here in OZ and when for the first time i saw a picture of these islands, i told myself: i must go there!

I took a boat trip to see these islands and...well, take a look at the pictures!
I can assure you that’s true, it is not a postcard or any fake image...You know i’ve travelled a bit in my life so far, and i visited many beautiful places... but the view i took in this tour maybe reaches the first place in my personal list! The first photo is probably the most beautiful I’ve ever done! And the second one, look at that wonderful large white beach, the beautiful colour of the sea-water: simply breathless! “Senza parole”, to say it in italian. That place is so gorgeous, so amazing to seem “fake”... you wonder if you’re dreaming or it’s all true...

I even had the chance to do some snorkeling near these islands... it’s a pity i hadn’t a water-resistant camera, but believe me, there’s an awesome show underwater! Corals, fishes of many colours, sea plants, what a marvel!!
Once again, after NZ, I felt almost “touched” to have had the chance to enjoy such amazing natural beauties.

To all of you that dream about an unforgettable trip, take a note of this place: Whitsundays Islands, Queensland, East coast of Australia.

a night in the stadium

When someone asks me what i miss most from Italy, I always reply: apart my dear people, 1)my car; 2) the real italian pizza; 3) the football (or soccer, like they call it here) matches .

For as concerns the car, i have no other choice than waiting for driving it again when i come back! I couldn’t come to Australia with it like i did during the Erasmus in Spain!

For the pizza, here in Sydney there’s a little Italian quarter. It isn’t very close to where i live (actually every place in Sydney is far from where i live!), but anyway when i really want something similar to a real pizza, i go there and i find a passable pizza! I’d have never thought i could miss my Egyptian pizzaiolo near house in Rome!

For the soccer, well, it isn’t the most popular sport in Australia. Here the most loved sports are : 1)rugby; 2) australian football (something very similar to rugby); 3) cricket (one of the most boring sport i’ve ever seen! Just think that a match usually lasts 7/8 hours!!!).
Anyway they told me here the soccer has become more popular after the last World Cup, so every now and then you see people playing it and even some matches on TV. In fact i.e. they broadcasted the most important matches of the Champions League and I could even see the final Manchester-Chelsea. The big problem in that case is the difference of time zone: to watch a soccer match live from Europe means to wake up at 4.30 in the morning! You can understand it’s quite uncomfortable!

So my lack of soccer pushed me to go to the stadium to watch a real soccer match the last Thursday. It was a friendly match, Australia vs Ghana. I was quite surprised for the audience, almost 30000 people is a considerable number for a friendly match. Let me to say the Australians have still to learn how to see a soccer match!! They get to the stadium even many minutes later after the match has started and some people seem more interested in chatting and eating snacks than in seeing what happens in the field! Actually the match wasn’t so spectacular and it will not remain in the history of football!! 1-0 for Australia, if you care...
And no doubt, it wasn’t the same thing than when in Spain i could enjoy a match in the Santiago Bernabeu!!

primi appuntamenti italiani

"Portami dove mi devi portare Venere,Marte o altri locali

fammi vedere che cosa succede a viaggiare davvero

Sei sempre così il centro del mondo

il primo bengala sparato nel cielo quando mi perdo

sei sempre così il centro del mondo

ti prendi il mio tempo ti prendi il mio spazio ti prendi il mio meglio"

Beato te, Liga, che l'hai trovato il "centro del mondo"!

In attesa di capire quale sia il mio,

per ora l'appuntamento è x il 18 luglio, stadio Olimpico, Roma:

io ci sarò!