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)!

23rd September - Funny stuff: the hardest exam

Now that I am back in Italy I have not many pictures to put here... so I just write down some of the funniest emails I have received from the people I've met in Australia, just to have a laugh together with those who visit this blog! ;-)
This one comes from Mala... thank you!!!

ONE NIGHT 4 MBA STUDENTS WERE BOOZING TILL LATE NIGHT AND DIDN'T STUDY FOR THE TEST WHICH WAS SCHEDULED FOR THE NEXT DAY.

IN THE MORNING THEY THOUGHT OF A PLAN. THEY MADE THEMSELVES LOOK AS DIRTY AND WEIRD AS THEY COULD WITH GREASE AND DIRT.
THEY THEN WENT UP TO THE DEAN AND SAID THAT THEY HAD GONE OUT TO A WEDDING LAST NIGHT AND ON THEIR RETURN THE TYRE OF THEIR CAR BURST AND THEY HAD TO PUSH THE CAR ALL THE WAY BACK AND THAT THEY WERE IN NO CONDITION TO APPEAR FOR THE TEST.

THEN DEAN WAS A JUST PERSON SO HE SAID THAT YOU CAN HAVE THE RETEST AFTER 3 DAYS.

THEY SAID THEY WILL BE READY BY THAT TIME. ON THE THIRD DAY THEY APPEARED BEFORE THE DEAN. THE DEAN SAID THAT THIS WAS A SPECIAL CONDITION TEST.

ALL FOUR WERE REQUIRED TO SIT IN SEPARATE CLASSROOMS FOR THE TEST.
THEY ALL AGREED AS THEY HAD PREPARED WELL IN THE LAST THREE DAYS. THE TEST CONSISTED OF 2 QUESTIONS WITH TOTAL OF 100 MARKS.

Q.1. WRITE DOWN YOUR NAME -----(2 MARKS)

Q.2. WHICH TYRE BURST ?-------(98 MARKS)!!

Postato da: DexterH46 a 21:23 | link | commenti (8)
overseas

20th September - Australian Tourism Office

I report here an email that Tobi has sent me... absolutely hilarious!!! ;-) Thanks mate!

Whatever your knowledge about down under is, if there are any questions left, have a look to the answers of the Australian Tourism office below.
And don’t always believe what Aussies tell tourists. It’s black humour down here... ;)
The questions below about Australia are from potential visitorsThey were posted on an Australian Tourism Website and the answers are the actual responses by the website officials, who obviously have an excellent sense of humour.

Q: Does it ever get windy in Australia? I have never seen it rain on TV, how do the plants grow? (UK).
A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around watching them die.

Q: Will I be able to see kangaroos in the street? (USA)
A: Depends how much you've been drinking.

Q: I want to walk from Perth to Sydney - can I follow the railroad tracks? (Sweden)
A: Sure, it's only three thousand miles, take lots of water.

Q: Is it safe to run around in the bushes in Australia? (Sweden)
A: So it's true what they say about Swedes.

Q: Are there any ATMs (cash machines) in Australia? Can you send me a list of them in Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville and Hervey Bay? (UK)
A: What did your last slave die of?

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Australia? (USA)
A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Aus-tra-lia is that big island in the middle of the Pacific which does not.. oh forget it. ..... Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Kings Cross. Come naked.

Q: Which direction is North in Australia? (USA)
A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees. Contact us when you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Q: Can I bring cutlery into Australia? ( UK)
A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? (USA)
A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is...oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday night in Kings Cross, straight after the hippo races. Come naked.

Q: Can I wear high heels in Australia? ( UK )
A: You're a British politician, right?

Q: Are there supermarkets in Sydney and is milk available all year round? (Germany)
A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of vegan hunter/gatherers. Milk is illegal.

Q: Please send a list of all doctors in Australia who can dispense rattlesnake serum. (USA)
A: Rattlesnakes live in A-meri-ca which is where YOU come from. All Australian snakes are perfectly harmless, can be safely handled and make good pets.

Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Australia, but I forget its name. It's a kind of bear and lives in trees. (USA)
A: It's called a Drop Bear. They are so called because they drop out of Gum trees and eat the brains of anyone walking underneath them.

Q: Do you have perfume in Australia? ( France)
A: No, WE don't stink.

Q: I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Can you tell me where I can sell it in Australia? (USA)
A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

Q: Do you celebrate Christmas in Australia? (France)
A: Only at Christmas.

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? (USA)
A: Yes, but you'll have to learn it first

Postato da: DexterH46 a 23:08 | link | commenti
overseas

4th September – The Doctor 3 – UTS 1

On 4th September I collected the official transcripts from UTS.
They confirmed the unofficial marks I got in the late July from the internet. I did not want to trust them too much since UTS made mistakes more than once, but luckily this time there was no error.
Three marks increased my Italian average, one of them decreased it.
48663(Engineering) - Advanced Manufacturing – 82 – DISTINCTION.
25746(Business) - Financial Management: Concepts and Applications – 81 – DISTINCTION.
35140(Science) - Operations Research Modelling – 98 – HIGH DISTINCTION.
21797(Business) - Strategic Supply Chain Management – 76 – DISTINCTION.
My Italian average was something around 77/78, so I can say that three of these marks have increased it, while one has decreased it. On overall I should be now in a better position.
This result is for all those who believed in me. My heart for all of them.
Especially for two of them... the two to whom I promised I would have done my best.
My heart for Eva, the girl I declared all my love to and who asked me to do my best for her. Hope it has been enough.
And my heart for Piero,the friend I lost on the other side of the world, the legend who taught me how to take University life.

Postato da: DexterH46 a 22:19 | link | commenti (2)
unibo, uts , the battle of sydney

16th July – Souvenirs

“God Forgives, I do not”, is a popular sentence from a movie.
I must admit that sometimes it applies to me as well.
Everytime someone did something wrong, I added this place, company, or whatsoever in my black list.
And since I am a non-violent one, the only way for me to have something back was what Homer Simpson called in one of the sketches, “souvenir”. Please note that all the items shown here are "borrowed".

February – 333 Club (George St.):
Bouncer: “Wait, you can’t go upstairs”
Me: “Why? My friends are there, what’s wrong with me?”
B: “You can’t go with those shoes”
M: “Is it a matter of how I look like or a matter of my behaviour, being drunk or so, which I am not? Are you seriously saying it’s for my shoes, paid much more than any flip-flop wore by many girls upstairs?”
B: “Okay, you can go, enjoy your time”
M: “Thanks mate”.
This time I did not get anything... I still was too much good.

April – La Cita Club (Darling Harbour):
Bouncer: “Sorry man, you can’t get in”
Me: “What’s wrong with me?”
B: “There is a dress code here”
M: “Really? Last week I had exactly the same clothes, but I could get in. How comes?”
B: “It’s management decision”
M: “Okay, I am just asking why last week yes and today no, since I have got exactly the same stuff on. Tell me what’s the real problem, if any, and I go away”
B: “I can’t do anything, it’s management decision”
M: “Okay, let me speak with the manager, who will change idea if he/she wants some customers next week”
B: “Okay, get in, but next time don’t put me in trouble”
M: “It’s not my fault”.
This time I did not forgive. A glass as a souvenir. Deserved.

Then how could I forgive UTS and their jokes against me? Mugs mugs mugs... souvenirs! More than ten. I could not accept the sentence " Please provide official documentation to support your case (i.e. Death Certificate) within 3 working days" which I found outrageous. Here you are a mug, but I offered them as gifts to some friends as well. Deserved.
Finally the 2hours delay in KL made me missing the MotoGP race live. A pillow and a cover from my plane. Deserved.

Postato da: DexterH46 a 12:25 | link | commenti (2)
party, bureaucracy, sydney, announcements, journey/flight, the battle of sydney

15th July – Welcome Back Italy

I said goodbye to Jean quite before midnight, then I took the train to KLIA – Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
A bad surprise for me: Malaysia Airlines was implementing a new system for their check-in, so all the flights were delayed. Mine had a two hours delay, which meant that I would have arrived in Rome too late to catch the first two trains to Pesaro.
I was plenty of time, so I went shopping and bought some duty-free stuff to bring to Italy before che check-in, re-scheduled at 2AM.
On the plane I watched “Reign Over Me”. Yes, the same movie I watched in Sydney. Yes, that day. The only difference was that on the plane I thought back to that day in Sydney. And exactly at the same moment she lost a tear in Sydney, I lost one on the plane. It was an extremely touching moment, and I could not resist.
The flight went on normally for me. At the end I heard someone saying that it had been a bumpy flight for most of the time. Probably my mind was somewhere else since I did not realise anything.
When we were approaching Italy I met a man from Sicily, who spends 6 months in Italy and 6 in Australia, every year. The plane landed, I saw the man going away, then a nice family doing the same, then two nice Aussie girls as well. I did not want to get off the plane. I remained there, patiently, until everyone was out. Then I took my baggage and went down the stairs. I touched the ground, stopped, and said to myself “This is the end”.
I waited for more than a hour for my baggage (welcome back Italy!) then I run outside the airport to catch a train.
It was too late to be in time to see the MotoGP race, so I had to wait three more hours before catching a train from Rome Fiumicino Airport to central Rome, from where I would have caught another one to Pesaro.
In the meantime I found two tickets, I guessed not refundable but anyway still unused, to go from the airport to the city. Two girls either from Austria or Germany were queueing there and were in trouble. I gave them the tickets, without asking anything back, and went away to my platform. Basically they travelled for free.
On the train from the airport to the city some nomads got on the train. I went closer to the baggage area to prevent any theft of my stuff, but they surrounded me. One behind me, one on the front, and a girl on my left, asking me the time. I replied, in English, she asked it again. I replied, showing the watch. She asked it again. I understood something was going wrong, so quickly I pushed her arm away and found out that with the other she was picking up my wallet. I screamed loudly “police police”, but no one came. A nomad told me “be quiet”, but I was very angry. Luckily I discovered the attempt before it was too late, so I could save all my documents. In fact I was travelling without any money... “Roma ladrona” is known worldwide.
When the train stopped I told everything to the only man I could find of Trenitalia, the Italian train service. He told me “you shouldn’t speak to me, you should speak to the management... I have no power, and these situations happen every single day”. Congratulations shitty Trenitalia and shitty Train Police.
After approximately 4 hours on three different trains (I had to change in Foligno as well) I arrived in Falconara, where my brother picked me up and drove me home. I was there, from where everything began nearly 6 months before. “Good luck” turned to “Welcome Back”, and this was the writing on the door of my house. Everything passed so fast.

Postato da: DexterH46 a 14:38 | link | commenti
accomodation, journey/flight

14th July – KL Day Two: The Skytrex Adventure

The alarm rang quite early in the morning.
The time for a quick shower and I run downstairs where the breakfast was served. In fact, after the first night and the first breakfast I decided that, no matter it was more expensive than a hostel, but I would have spent there even the second night. The breakfast was including a lot of food: rice, pasta, cakes, fruit, vegetables, eggs, meat... everything! So I decided I would have had a massive breakfast that would have been enough even for lunch and, partially, for dinner.
Here you can see just some of the food I ate the second morning.

Postato da: DexterH46 a 23:55 | link | commenti
sport, holiday, malaysia, accomodation

13th July – KL Day One: The City

On the truly first day in KL Jean brought me nearly everywhere in the city with his former car, now belonging to Deepa, who I would have met the following day.
After a visit to the square where Malaysia was declared indipendent from the UK, we went in the popular Petronas Towers area and took some pictures there. The weather was not the best one ever, anyway it wasn’t so bad, having had a sunny day would have been tremendous since we were close to the equator.

Postato da: DexterH46 a 11:46 | link | commenti (2)
holiday, malaysia

12th July – Welcome to KL

After 8 hours on the plane, where I met a guy from Malaysia who was working in Australia, I landed in KL Airport, which actually is so far away from KL (= Kuala Lumpur) that it took me half an hour on a train to get into the Malaysian capital.
Luckily for me, my friend Jean from France was waiting for me at the airport.
Then we went for a hotel in the city. Since we were in Malaysia, everything was cheaper so Jean suggested me a hotel rather than a hostel and I agreed with him, for the first night at least.
We took a cab, then another one, and I finally ended in the Ancasa Hotel near Pasar Seni monorail station.

Postato da: DexterH46 a 22:32 | link | commenti
holiday, malaysia, accomodation, journey/flight