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)!

The Rotterdam routine

So now if I have to go somewhere in Rotterdam... first choice is always the bicycle (even if it left me alone the second time I was using it... but then –as I’ve said- I’ve learnt how to use it!).

A couple of weeks before Christmas, exactly on the 5^th/6^th of December, it was Sinterklaas. If Christmas is –sadly- becoming often a commercial event to make presents, Sinterklaas is only a commercial event to make presents, with no meaning behind it.

We got from the NS a Dutch cake, which is very common on this day, when all young (and less young) people usually get presents from their parents... or from Sinterklaas (Santa Klaus) if you prefer!

A couple of days later, just to be able to “get something back from the expensive Sinterklaas period” (as Niels wrote in the invitation mail), a number of PhD students of the Erasmus University Rotterdam gathered to play Texas Hold’em. I am not a PhD student there, but since I am sharing the office with them, having lunch with them, and so on, I was invited as well. I have had calculated all the money I needed before going back Italy...without taking into account this invitation! And since we were playing 10€ each to make it more serious, I was really risking not to have enough money for my travel back to Italy! Anyway I got the third prize, exactly 10€, without making any gain or loss, and it was enough for me to have fun one night and enough money to get back to Pesaro one week later.

After our playing night we all went home at around 2pm (they accused me of slow playing... just excuses!) and on the way back I stopped and took a picture at a roundabout close to my house.

Postato da: DexterH46 a 22:09 | link | commenti (2)
sport, rotterdam, netherlands

17th November – An Italian supporter in Delft.

The same night I went to Delft to see the football match between Italy and Scotland, played in the United Kingdom. I met my Italian friend Luca who studies there, and with all his Italian friends we went to a pub to see the match. Netherlands was playing later in the night so we had the opportunity to conquer our room in the pub and watch the match (there was an horrible music instead of the commentary, but at least we had the images). Italy won 1-2 and assured the qualification for the next European Championship which will take place in Switzerland and Austria next summer.
After the match we went into the flat of Federica, one of the two girls who were there. We had a tasty dinner together and then started playing a drinking game. It was funny, but just for a while. After 5 minutes the girls were always making errors so they were the only ones always drinking, we had to make mistakes on purpose to drink some alcohol! :-)

After we finished both the food and the drinks I went with Luca and two friends of him (one Spanish, one Dutch) to Rotterdam to end the day clubbing somewhere in the centre.
I was quite tired but at least I was going out after two hard working weeks. And it had been nice until Luca has been kicked out because wearing a hat. This forced all of us to go out (we couldn’t leave our mate alone!), walk around looking for another place before heading back our homes at 4 am!

Postato da: DexterH46 a 20:04 | link | commenti (2)
sport, holiday, party, delft, netherlands

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

30th June – Missed Frisbee Competition

On the last day in June a frisbee competition was starting in Sydney.
I had given up playing in it when I understood that I had no chance to go to the trainings anymore, and I was really disappointed about it. So I couldn’t play, anyway I wanted to put in my blog some abilities and individual competitions in this sport, further than the team competition called “Ultimate Frisbee” where teams have to catch the disc inside a specified area to score a point.
For the individuals, here we go with a short explanation of each discipline:
ACCURACY -  Throw 28 times, 4 each from 7 different stations. Stations are from side angles and from straight away.  World record is 24/28
DOUBLE DISC COURT (DDC) - Is a court game with two players on each team. And two discs in play. The object is to land your throws in the opponents court and / or make them be in contact with both discs at the same time. Think of it as doubles tennis with frisbee!
DISTANCE - Throw it as far as you can. See the World Records link for all age divisions. Everyone can do it. Current Australian Record is 161 metres, World Record Stands at 250 m!
DISCATHON - Basically a race through an obstacle course. Your disc must pass the correct way through the course, but if you throw well, you can run a shorter distance. Course is a kilometer in length.
FREESTYLE - The “show” event. But also as rigorous and demanding as gymnastics. An enormous variety of throws, spinning moves, and amazing catches that will make you wonder how they did it.
DISC GOLF - One of the fastest growing disc sports. Disc golf courses are available around the world. Easy to start, hard to master. Just like the kind with a stick and a ball. Same basic rules: put the object in the target.
SELF-CAUGHT FLIGHT - Sounds easy. Throw the disc in the air, catch it in one hand. Two parts to the event: Maximum Time Aloft (MTA) - your throw is timed; then Throw, Run, Catch (TRC) - distance from throw to the catch is measured. World records? 16.72 seconds for MTA, 94.00 meters for SCF. Start running!

Postato da: DexterH46 a 11:17 | link | commenti
sport, holiday, sydney, uts

3rd April – The Bike

After two months from my arrival in Sydney, I gave up living without a bicycle. I always had it in Pesaro, I always had it in Bologna, and now I wanted it in Sydney (in Nottingham and London I didn’t have one because respectively Uni and my working place were stones away from my house). I couldn’t go on wasting my shoes and my feet as well. The shoes were new when I came to Australia and after two months had nearly lost all the bottom part, while for my feet... I even had an infection in one of them, maybe for the kilometers walked, maybe for something else, I don’t know, I just know I had it and I wanted to go back riding a bicycle, up and down the hills, pushing hard when possible, saving time if late, saving money when the alternative would have been either a bus or a taxi.

So I invested slightly more than one dollar to take a train to Mortdale, where a legendary man took a hundred bicycles in the backyard of his house. He was a kind of mechanic, always working on them, and when I choose a mountain bike he checked that everything was working properly, changing the back wheel because some radius where broken.

He worked on the bike for two hours. Only for this he deserved $30. When it was time to pay he asked me $30 for the bicycle, without taking into consideration all the work he did. I said “come on, at leats 40 as you said at the beginning”, but he wanted only $30, and he even offered a lift back to the city on his van, bringing me back to Redfern, so I even saved the money for the train back (smartly I did not buy a return ticket to come back from there... haha!).

So finally I had my mountain bike (then I would have bought a lock for it shortly after), well working and good to go around, having even 21 speeds.

Postato da: DexterH46 a 09:47 | link | commenti
sport, sydney

1st April – The end of Swimming World Championships

The following day I wanted to be virtually still in touch with Melbourne, and so I watched the last competitions, of course supporting the Italian swimmers as always. Some good results, some not really, but the astonishing event of the night was another world record made by the United States swimmer Phelps. He had been absolutely the real ruler of the event, and crowned everything with another performance that put him in front of everyone in one more speciality. Absolutely amazing.

Postato da: DexterH46 a 06:52 | link | commenti
sport

31st March – Around Melbourne / 2 Afternoon

Straight after our “lunch” we tried for good luck for the last time at the Crowne Plaza Hotel to see if we could meet the two times in a row 100m freestyle swimming world champion Filippo Magnini.

We waited on the armchairs at the entrance and after five minutes I see on the other side of the ground floor a familiar face. I called “Filo” “Filo”. The guy stopped… yes I was right, he was Pippo Magnini! He came to me and Piergiorgio and started to chat with us. We took a picture together and when he saw the flag he said “So I was right... it seemed to me that there was an Italian flag coming from Pesaro but I thougt it was just my imagination after such an exhausting contest!”.

We talked for a few minutes and he gave me the appointment for the Italian competition which will be probably hold in August in our own city, Pesaro.

After the succesful mission we strolled happier than ever around the sunny Melbourne.

We headed to the National Gallery, and while we were going there we could stop into the nice Alexandra Gardens, from which I wanted to take a picture of Melbourne CBD to compare it with Sydney CBD. You can compare ‘em as well since I have posted a picture of both of them!

After our walk through the nature we entered into the National Gallery, and first of all we ate some food at its cafè since we were really starving. Then we started our cultural visit. We saw sculptures, photos and paintings (I would say copies of paintings), I just put one of them, which is also from one of my favourite artists, here. Try to guess who is the artist and put his/her name into the comments!You may get some points and who scores more points at the end of the adventure will receive a gift! Let’s try, it’s free!

At around half past four we came out because it was time for me to head back to the hostel to meet Balaji, one of my former flatmates in Sydney to whom I brought some stuff he couldn’t bring to Melbourne when he moved there. Of course I have done it for free, friends are friends!

Anyway on our way we could admire one more time the stunning St.Paul’s Cathedral, in the heart of Melbourne, and appreciate it from outside.

The clock was then saying something like 5PM. So it was time to say goodbye to Piergiorgio, but we gave each other our email addresses, promising to remain in touch.

Postato da: DexterH46 a 03:59 | link | commenti
sport, holiday, melbourne

29th March – The night after the gold medal

Postato da: DexterH46 a 10:59 | link | commenti (2)
sport, holiday, melbourne

29th March – Filippo Magnini 100m free World Champ

Just the time to have some food and then a two-hours rest in the hostel, and I was ready to go to the Rod Laver Arena. I checked ten times I had everything I needed: papers, flag, camera, then I left the hostel, but not before booking a day-trip for the following day to the Great Ocean Road.

I took a tram (yes, a real tram, Melbourne is lovely from this point of view) and stop after stop athletes coming from many nations were getting into the bus.

After a couple of stops I also noticed a familiar girl. She looked at me, I looked at her. A sight eye to eye and yes, she was Laura, the one who offered a place in her house for me to stay! What a coincidence! We had a 5 minutes chat, just the time I got to the Arena, and then we had to say each other goodbye, promising to meet again one of the following days.

Outside the arena, while I was taking some free stuff offered to the attendants, I met another Italian, Piergiorgio, who stopped me after seeing my flag. We became friends in a few seconds, and decided to stay together inside the building to be heard by our Italian athletes.

We entered into the building, with our lowest-class tickets. We were allocated into bad seats, but since it wasn’t wold out, we tried to gain a better position. While we were checking the availability of some seats, we met Ornella Rosolino, the aunt of the popular swimmer, Max. She knew I would have been there thanks to Juls and Là, two Italian girls who founded the Filippo Magnini FanClub and gave her the fanclub flag, sealing a good friendship between the two clubs (further than the already existing friendship between Max and Pippo).

Around 8pm it was time of the competition I was waiting for, 100m freestyle, where my friend Filippo had to defend the World title won in Montreal (Canada) in 2005.

The finalists were, from lane 1 to 8, Cielo (Bra), Sullivan (Aus), Van Den Hoogenband (Ned), Lezak (USA), Magnini (Ita), Hayden (Can), Neethling (RSA), Schoeman (RSA). The presentation, then the whistle, and then silence. The “beep” of the starter, the competition had begun! After the first 50 metres Magnini was 7^th, but didn’t give up. Started to come back, passing one, then one more, then a further one. His progression was marvellous, I started to scream his name pushing him to the end of the lane together with the other Italian supporters. Just a few seconds and all the swimmers were arrived, very close, hard to say who had won without the help of a computer. Then the names of both Hayden and Magnini appeared with a number 1 on their left. YEEEESSSS!!!! You can see from my video that in that very moment I went crazy, screaming and jumping madly! He was World Champion, one more time, two in a row, unusual in the 100m freestyle! You can check the results clicking --> here

After a few minutes I still had to recover, but the protagonists were back for the victory ceremony. The display was clear, and the flags as well, same time made by both Hayden and Magnini, two world champions, but it didn’t matter, my friend was there, on the highest step of the podium. In these situations you can really see “the best in the world”.

The Canadian national hymn has been the first to be played, then it has been the time for the Italian one. I started to sing with all the voice I had left, with the Aussies around me that initially encouraged me to sing louder and louder, and then joined the rhytm of our hymn together with all the people in the Rod Laver Arena, literally bewitched by the music.

Then the guys took a walk around the pool, and when Filippo saw the flag with the name of his city “Pesaro c’è”, he was astonished. I was there.

Other competitions took place the same night, we saw Phelps improving a world record and other tough contests, with the Aussie crowd going mad for their medals. But not as much as me!

Before going out me and Piergiorgio met Mauro and Lisa, a young couple coming from Italy (Piergiorgio lived in Melbourne), and we became friends, scheduling a meeting for the summer Italian Championships in case they would have taken place in Pesaro. I texted a couple of friends, and hoped my International friends watched the competition on the tv.

Postato da: DexterH46 a 12:17 | link | commenti
sport, holiday, melbourne

28th March – Night before the new adventure

And so on Wednesday night I was still texting my two friends in Melbourne. Unfortunately one of them had to go to a trip with her Uni on those days, so I could only rely on another one who invited me at her place for Thursday night, but since we couldn’t meet before the swimming competition, I suddenly decided to book a hostel. At 10.30pm I opened my Lonely Planet guide and started to make my phone calls. First, full. Second, vacancy. Got it. In the meantime I prepared my paper sheets to bring into the Rod Laver Arena together with my Italian flag and the necessary tickets.

Prepared the case until 2am (in the meantime Federica came into my room and we chatted about Melbourne, trips, friends in Sydney, ...) and then went to bed. Don’t think it has been easy... I had to wake up at 5am to catch the bus to the airport!

Postato da: DexterH46 a 08:15 | link | commenti
sport, sydney