Il mio Overseas a Sydney, Australia (Gen-Lug 2007)... e il mio periodo di Tesi all'Estero a Rotterdam/Utrecht, Olanda (Ott 2007-Mar 2008)!

New Year's Eve in Rovereto

The visits during the weekend were not enough, so Rovereto became the base for New Year's Eve.
Where is the "Australian connection"? Easy... one of my guests was Max, met in Sydney. Another one was Andrea (aka Fio), a good friend of Silvia, a girl I met in Sydney as well.
The group, including me, reached 13 people.
Food and beverages (especially these ones) were surely enough! :)

Usually smoking was prohibited in my house, but the democracy suggested to dedicate a room to smoke. The decision went on the toilet, with the window on the top constantly open.
Music was played in the flat through the use of a computer, but another thing happened on that night: it began to snow, great opportunity for some snowball battles! :)
For the midnight we moved to Piazza Malfatti, in the city centre. It was still snowing, and in this picture I am with Fio.
The night went on... and on... and on... till the morning...

Postato da: DexterH46 a 23:28 | link | commenti
party, rovereto

Uni mates in Rovereto!

Another weekend, another group of guests!
This time we are going back to the University time... two of my very best friends came to visit me, together with their boyfriends, in a sunny and relaxed weekend, spent around Rovereto and Trento (where we went for the Christmas' markets)

Postato da: DexterH46 a 22:02 | link | commenti
unibo

Claudia in Rovereto

After a couple of months, some new guests decided to book the free accomodation in Rovereto. In early November it was time for Claudia to come at my place.
It has been good time... it was more than two years that I had not seen her!!!
Having an art guide with me was a good occasion to visit some places. We went to Manifesta7 (well, I still have to understand roughly 80% of the artistic stuff there, but at least che helped me in getting that remaining 20%) and then to the castle. It has nearly been a coincidence, walking in front of it we found out that the entrance was free. So why staying out?!?
After two "full" days we took the last pic before Claudia went back to her place, with the promise to meet again... but sooner than two years! :-)

Postato da: DexterH46 a 00:02 | link | commenti

More Aussies in Rovereto

Two weeks later (even if it took me months writing about it) two more "Aussie" friends came to visit me: a true Aussie and an Italian. Anson and Max lived in the same house for some time in Sydney and they met once again in Italy, thanks to the exchange programme Anson took in Hungary. Anson went to Naples, then up to Rome, Florence and Bologna, where they met before going visiting Jacopo in Ravenna. On Monday they came up to Rovereto, so the mafia clan finally rejoined!

For the occasion, Max called his cousin and his wife to join us so we went all together out for dinner in those two days. Unfortunately I had to work during the day so I couldn't go to the lake with Max and Anson, but anyway it has been great to know that they enjoyed a lot the place and the time there.

Postato da: DexterH46 a 15:08 | link | commenti
uts

Aussies in Rovereto

It took more than a year to see Pachi and Lida again. Do you remember them? They were in Australia at UTS...check it out! It took a bit less to see Zjenja again. Do you remember when I went to The Netherlands? A few months ago, and then we managed to meet again. Finally, Federica... well, it was easier, anyway it was a few weeks as well... so it was great to see all of them again, visiting me in the tiny Rovereto, having a walk together appreciating the nice views the hills around the city can offer!

Postato da: DexterH46 a 23:33 | link | commenti
uts

20/03/2008 – 3) The press conference

After the sparkling wine everybody moved to the room provided for the press conference. The end of a cycle, started right there in room 1.3 some years ago with the Calculus lesson taken by Professor Dore.
Some questions have been gathered in the weekend after the graduation, but are published here as well. (D = Doctor, J = Journalist).

J:”Next destination? Will you remain for some time in Italy and Bologna?”
D:”I definitely need a rest. First of all I have to fix some problems with my teeth. And check what’s wrong in my back”.
J:”Which girls do you prefer? English, Aussie or Dutch?”
D:”Eheh, you never miss a gossip question! Let’s say that it shouldn’t be a bad idea to know better the Dutch, very cute girls!”
J:”Job opportunities?Are you going back to The Netherlands?”
D:”I may go back to London, I have been asked to do so, but not immediately. I have a job interview next week (26/3, ndr) but I will withdraw it. It’s the place where my friend Elisa works, but I cannot accept the fact that she could not come for working reasons. Working to live is fine, living to work is not. It is a concept that people in Italy are forgetting. Tomorrow I will send my renounce, count on it, I have got other priorities in my life: feelings. In the meantime I will give private lessons and maybe I will bring some young boys and girls on studying holidays: meal and housing for free, nice time, possibility to see new places and you get even paid. If you are interested let me know...”
J:”Do you really think of going on this way for a long time? You have a Master in Management Engineering with the highest mark...”
D:”If I find a job that lets me having some time to celebrate my Friends or to stay with my imaginary girlfriend then I will quit with these “low profile jobs”. If I will earn less it will mean I will waste less, easy. I have learnt how to do many sacrifices in these last years. I am trustful and sure of doing well. In my opinion sacrifice, commitment and precision are a great point to start from. Furthermore it's important to be surrounded by nice people, and I have a good team around me".
J:”Other plans?”
D:”For sure from 1st to 4th August volunteering with Unitalsi. Actually I invite all my Friends to join this experience. Try it once, you will not regret it. Then some other event like concerts or motorbike races (soon the list of the possible events will be available, ndr), and maybe a holiday in Cotè Azùr, guest of a friend of mine on an island near St.Tropez”.
J:”No more studies?”
D:”Never say anymore. I regret some wasted time during my studies, I will miss the status of being a student. Who knows, maybe a bachelor not much hard, to learn some languages. Or a specialised course like the one organised in Rimini and San Marino on how to plan sport events. They may be interesting solutions".
J:”Girlfriends?None?”
D:”No, not now, it’s a choice... theirs! Let’s put it in this way: if within, let’s say, six months, I will not find a girlfriend, then I may go and look for her abroad! Single way ticket!”
J:”You have beaten your friends and some friends; only two 110 in your session, happy for this?”
D:”Hold on a moment. I didn’t have and don’t have any challenge with my brothers or my friends. Actually I wish them the best, and to get even the “laude”. If there was a challenge, it was with the people who never cooperate inside the University, with those who always kept everything for themselves, for those who have never been thankful, for those who passed some exams “mysteriously”. I have demonstrated that you can win even doing four experiences abroad, having a lot of friends and, above all, dedicating some time to the others. This is the most precious victory, not the mark itself”.
J:”But the result remains and is great. Some particular dedication?”
D:”You can’t be disappointed with a 110. If I think to some members of the team, my laude would have been outrageous in their respect, so I am more than happy. A particular mention to those who have been present on the 20th from the morning. And to Piero who contributed to stop me from giving up five years ago. He left us last year. An example for everybody, there are only a few like him, and for sure all of us have lost something”.
After the afternoon press conference The Doctor climbed San Luca without shoes. In the evening there have been the celebrations for the reached target, free drinks for everybody offered by The Doctor (in case some pictures will be published soon).

Postato da: DexterH46 a 17:04 | link | commenti (13)
unibo

20/03/2008 – 2) The after race

After the crowning, it was time for the sparkling wine to be opened.
But in the meantime it was necessary to dress like a true Doctor.
A suit taken (thanks to Chicco!) in Pesaro which maybe needed some work to look similar to a biker’s suit, a replica helmet of one used by Valentino and the English, Australian and Dutch flags.

A “thank you” goes to all those who have participated in some way with their wishes and congratulations.
A BIG “thank you” goes to those who sacrificed study, work and other duties to be there for my discussion, proclamation and/or podium ceremony.
Some of them are in the picture below, but not all of them unfortunately. So I list their names here: special thanks to: Andrea F., Andrea M., Arnaldo, Chiara G., Chiara L., Clarissa, Elia, Elisa, Fabio, Fabrizia, Federica, Francesca C., Francesca D.L., Giacomo, Luca, Lucia, Marco, Paolo. For sure I will not easily forget their presence. Promised.
In the evening I have then surely appreciated the “visits” from Elisa, Federica, Gabriel who joined the others. If I knew it before I would have invited for the whole day the three “guests” of the evening, so Anastasia, Francesco and Susanna, nice guests... it will be for the next time!

Postato da: DexterH46 a 13:53 | link | commenti
party, unibo

20/03/2008 – 1) The Doctor wins!

I started saying <<That is my objective. I will finish everything within March 2008>> a long time ago. Actually it was more than a year ago. It was so early that just a few were listening to me. Once in Australia I was telling the same to my Internationals friends, but it was such a far away day, nearly a year, and they met me only a few weeks before... The target looked close after the success in the exams taken in Sydney, but even tremendously uncertain after having failed in what had to be the last exam in December. But it was not a good idea to give up. So, gritting my teeth I came back Italy in January. In or out. Then the results, at the beginning of February, and even there still was a lot to work for the thesis, I started sending invitations one month before the great day. A time window that was enough in my opinion for many to ask for half day off or a whole day off, working a bit more the days before in case. But it seems that in Italy many people are under slavery, and so on the seats of the grey Engineering Faculty, supporting The Doctor, only a few came. Not so many but... certainly good ones! And I was there, man of word, keeping my promise of graduating within March 2008.
The proclamation may sound something like <<The committee has approved your examination with a score of 110 over 110. With the powers given to me by the Magnificent Rector I hereby declare you Doctor in Management Engineering – Masters Degree>>.

After the hand shake with both the President and my Supervisor, the elation towards the crowd and the dedication to the supporters there. In the meanwhile people were still clapping their hands both for me and for the other new “doctors”.
After the proclamations and the speech made by Professor Grandi, hugs with the teammates before going out to receive the crown by Chiara, for the occasion a podium girl!

Postato da: DexterH46 a 09:32 | link | commenti (3)
unibo

ARRIVAL project, I am in as well!

A week before my graduation, the annual ARRIVAL Project meeting has taken place in Rome.
The ARRIVAL Project is founded by the European Union and is a research project.
The acronym ARRIVAL stands for Algorithms for Robust and online Railway optimization: Improving the Validity and reliAbility of Large scale systems.
The main objective of this project is to study and develop algorithms able to provide solutions and valid answers to complex problems such as railway transportation.
More information about the project can be found on http://arrival.cti.gr/
However today, being more specific, I wanted to mention this meeting that has taken place in Rome. My graduation was scheduled for 20th March in Bologna. A week before, the results of my research were already shown in this international conference. And my name appeared next to those of some true experts of these problems. A strange sensation. Surely unexpected only four – five months ago when I have started working on my thesis. But if you look on Thursday 13th, a few minutes before 3pm, here it is my name. Iurij is here! The Doctor is here! Don’t you believe me? Here you are the program of the meeting...
http://www.diel.univaq.it/arrival/program.php

Postato da: DexterH46 a 21:11 | link | commenti (1)
unibo, utrecht

A stopover in Brussels/2

However, luckily, after a few minutes the rain gave us a break. Well, actually it was still raining, but at least not as heavily as before. So we could move to the central square. It must have been an amazing one, but unfortunately they were building up a stage for some show that would have probably taken place the following days. Consequently we could not appreciate the whole square but only the tall bell tower.

We also went to look for the girl who pisses (probably created to respect the right equality between males and females) and then the boy who does the same. The latter is much more popular and centrally located. It was even easier to take a picture of this sculpture, and I am sure you have already seen it.
It was then time to go home. We were absolutely hungry and decided to cook something for dinner (err... I must admit that Francesca cooked everything while I was having some rest... lazy boy!). However, before arriving home my attention was taken by a strange coloured building. Many lights were turning on and off hiding and showing this tall building in the centre of Brussels.
It was certainly not the luckiest day in the place where my friend lives, in fact there had been some theft in the morning when we were travelling from The Netherlands to Belgium. This was the most discussed topic at dinner time among the people who live there: boys and girls from Italy, Spain, Israel and so on, everyone trying to imagine how could it have been possible to happen. At around 11pm people went back to their rooms. Francesca had to work hard to convince Chiara to come out with us. Luckily Elisa was already convinced by herself.
They brought me to a pub where they have a lot of different beers. I cannot remember the exact number, but we are talking of more than 2000. Maybe even more than 3000. Not bad!
In the picture Elisa is the first on the left. She is from Parma and studies there. She is the PR of the group, according to what I have been told.
Second from the left is Chiara. She is from Pesaro, my city, but actually I’ve only met her in Bologna where she studies and is a coursemate of Francesca.
Third is Francesca, my lovely friend from Bologna who visited me in Rotterdam and housed me there. Lucky girls, all of them still doing the Erasmus exchange, while for me it was the night before finishing with my exchange programs at the University...
The next morning I had to catch my flight to Italy. I missed the coach to the airport for 2 minutes, but I was still on time to catch the next one and get there quite on time. Unfortunately the bus did not show so a man gathered 8 people, including me, for a cab. Everything seemed fine, even the same price as the bus... but after 5 kms the driver (not the same man who pushed us in the car) started to ask for 15Euros. Still fine for me, but not for everybody (some of them were not that in a hurry). A discussion and then... he turned back! Damn! Those moments were crazy. I told him in Italian that if he would have really brought me back at the train station (which would have implied me missing the flight for sure) I would have broken his car. After some bargain with some of the present, he decided to go to the airport turning on the taximetre. A man on the rear row was going to call the police otherwise. Later on we found out that he was a politician. Actually he has been the only one who paid 11Euros. All the others, including me, paid 15Euros. But I did have not any other choice to get that flight! Another last-minute move, but not as bad as the one in London 2006! On the flight I met a girl and her mum who were in the same mini-van to the airport and, incredibly, even a girl who was left at the bus stop when we left with the cab. Okay, she did not have to do the check in, but I would have never bet a cent on her managing to catch the flight.

Postato da: DexterH46 a 16:56 | link | commenti
holiday, brussels, journey/flight, belgium