They now know my name!

Ciao ragazzi e ragazze

Saturday saw a momentous breakthrough when the staff at Lepre learned my name! It is now even better, as they say "ciao Michael" while pouring my gin. I feel so included, or as an Italian might say: "è un simpatico belissimo!"

Thursday was the staff night out, which was fun. We went for some pizza, and then as predicted Stevie, Simone and I went to La Lepre. The other teachers are nice, but you rarely see them, as most classes are outside school, so we're all buzzing about Genova. I say 'we' like I'm working alot. This could not be further from the truth. Following last weeks gruelling 6.5 hours, I get a rest this week with a far more sedate 3.5 hours.

In lieu of my light workload, I'm going to ditch my 'travel to Milan plan' and replace it with the less-catchily titled 'travel to Florence plan'. I've asked around, and Milan is apparently fairly unspectacular, while Florence is compact and beautiful, which sounds much better. It's an extra hour on the train, but it's not like I'm rushing home to watch Neighbours in the evening. Expect some thrilling pictures of Florence next time, architecture fans!

In the meantime, here are some pictures of Genoa, Aranzano, a snake, and brilliantly, a shoeshop called 'Spam':

On Tuesday night Stevie and I went for an apperitivo (a drink), which rather inevitably ended up as apperitivi (drinks, plural). I had a lesson Wednesday morning, so getting up wasn't particularly pleasant, and to compound it I caught 'myself' in the zip of my trousers. I did it with such reckless force that I managed to draw blood. Needless to say, not my finest moment, so thinking about it, I'm not sure why I would document it on t'internet.......but your sympathy is appreciated. So, the moral is: drink and wake up with a hangover, but be careful with your fly. Step aside Plato.

I finally saw a ticket inspector on the bus t'other day. As of the past few weeks, I've not paid once, so they would have been able to write me a fine, but thankfully I got on at the same stop as them. I was so smug that I'd kind of beaten the system. I think I'm an honourary Italian for that now. No doubt I'll get caught in the next week, and my smugness will disappear like Liverpool's title chances (i.e. quickly).

I think that's all folks, so until next time, take care of yourself, and each other.

Michael