1° Maggio, work, play and party

This past weekend, Italy celebrated the first of May, which is Italian labor day- and as with most long weekends, Milan emptied out as if mandatory.

I went to Rome, because, as in previous posts, I can’t get enough of that city. Despite having lived there for a collective 2 years, which should arguably be enough to satisfy my dream- I find myself on that same after work Eurostar from Milano Centrale to Roma Termini every few weeks (which reminds me, I should sign up for the Trenitalia frequent “flyer” miles …I keep forgetting). I couldn’t not go down- as my friends in Rome reminded me Wednesday night on Messenger prompting me to buy a ticket for first thing Thursday morning.

Anyway, I got to Rome just in time for the last million hours of the May 1st free concert at San Paolo which was fun although a bit crowded with an estimated 700,000 people crammed into a piazza. However, the event also had a big political aspect to it, every once and a while having speakers come in and talk about the right Italians have to a secure job and on-site mobbing (what in Insurance can be covered with an Employment Practices Liability policy, it should be said that the company I work for is the only one to offer said coverage in the Italian market right now).

Now, what bothers me about this event, is that, like most mass gatherings of college age students here, there was a strong communist presence involving lots of flag waving. This bothers me on a few levels (and I will explain why leaving my personal politics out of it, although my personal opinions are clearly right), which I will break down as follows:

Communists in general: I don’t think I’ve ever seen one communist who was, lets just say, 45 and worked in a bank. Why is it that people who are generally “against the man” are usually people who have never actually tried to work WITH the man? I’m sure its lovely to be a communist when you’re 28, still the Italian equivalent of a college sophomore and have never paid taxes. Sure you want everyone to be on equal footing- but these are the people who once they get into the real world- start complaining about how high their taxes are because we have to financially support a universal health system that incorporates even the Roma Gypsies who live in tents outside of Tiburtina station (fyi- there are about 80 camps in Rome alone).

Communists, I can assume, are not well versed in history: I have spoken to many people, who I would consider smart and well educated, here in Italy and they all agree on one overwhelming point. Italy, and Europe at large, owes an ENORMOUS debt of thanks to the United States of America (I write out for emphasis) for the Marshall Plan. For those of you scratching your heads, the Marshall plan was an economic recovery program in Post-World War II Europe that essentially helped everyone recoup beyond pre war levels while simultaneously preventing the spread of communism. (Who said that History major would never come in handy??) Essentially this is how Europe enjoys freedom today. Additionally, I can assume that none of these Italian communists have ever noticed that the sustainability of a communist government is dependent on repression of freedoms they claim to be seeking and that communist governments tend to fall after things like bloody revolutions (Think Monty Python: “Come and see the violence inherit in the system- Help, Help I’m being oppressed!).

Recent Election Results: Based on the recent election results, in which Berlusconi (a great ally to the US) won quite easily, it is fair to say a good part of those flag waving communists actually voted for the Right.

So, in summary, 19 year old Italian communists bother me.

Thank you.

Quote Quote Quote Softball

Santo cielo what a week ragazzi! I had another crazy week at work that I’ll summarize as follows:

Monday: Check email and be boggled at the fact that I received a few sent on a Sunday (the pope is crying somewhere), quote, quote, quote, Lunch, quote, quote, quote, call to Paris (our European Headquarter) for approval to…quote, quote.

Tuesday: Run all over Milan trying to find at ATM that wasn’t out of service, almost miss my train to Padova, broker visit, broker visit, Lunch, broker visit, broker visit, Train to Milan- nap.

Wednesday: Cry when I see 87 unread messages (none of them being fun ones), of which about 75% had those completely annoying red exclamation points with the word “URGENTE” in the subject line, quote, quote, quote, lunch, quote, quote, call it a day because I was clearly about to die.

Thursday: see Monday

Friday: after an emotionally exhausting week of, ummm, quoting, I decided to take a nice easy morning (we only work til 12:30 on Fridays. Got to love these National contracts!), so I read msnbc.com for a while, checked my email and called it a day early, so I could go to softball practice. It almost felt like high school with a salary!

Anyway, this weekend we had a Springtime Tournament hosted by my team BSC Milano, and I must say, I rocked some socks. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve lost a good bit of weight on my diet of Mozzarella di Bufala, espresso and gelato or maybe its just because I’m American and genetics came through for me- but I have been pitching really well.

That being said, I have never seen a circus like the tournament this past weekend. While I’ve seen some legitimately good players (many coming from Cuba and the Dominican Republic), most of the teams are fairly new to the game. I have NEVER, EVER seen so many people ready to throw down and rumble though! It was like West Side Story meets a League of Their Own.

This for me all culminated in the 2nd of 3 games I pitched, where one of their players bunted in a way that was technically incorrect (incorrect, pronounced: stu-pid) and turned into the ball. Now, he turned into the pitch, which hit the bat before bouncing up and striking the player.

The sound of the pitch striking the bat was like the shot heard round the world, but his coach insisted he had been hit by the pitch (difference being, I threw a strike whereas the coach wanted him to take a base). When the umpire called a strike, the coach flipped out, claiming I hit him on purpose. First, it is incredibly insulting to suggest that I’m that nasty, dirty (and mind reading- I clearly should have foretold that he would turn into the pitch after I had released it) player. Second, I was taken back when not three seconds after a gang war broke out on the field because of what he said, he says “You do that again, and I’m coming out on the field”. WHAT!!! In the course of three seconds it went from being a fun game to World War III. Of course, a guy like this wouldn’t settle for anything but “putting me in my place” and so came up to bat in the next inning with an aggression in his eyes that I don’t think I’ve ever seen in another human being. I soundly sent him back to the dug out in four pitches, fairly humiliated to be taken down so swiftly, and by an American Girl nonetheless. Then to round out his day of unsportsmanlike conduct, he refused to attend the (as my Mom calls it) “handshake of peace” at the end of the game. What a winner.

So loyal readers of experience.com…come down to Milan this weekend- I need emotional support at Sunday’s game!

The previous post was a response to the following question:
What advice would you offer for those who want to eventually work abroad, specifically in Italy ?- Evan, Bloomington, IL

Hi Evan,
The real lengthy reply is below, but for those who don’t want to read the doctoral thesis/”War and Peace”/Complete history of Italy abridged below, here is some advice I would offer:

1- Know how you can stay in Italy and not have to hide from immigration. It is not quite as simple as walking up to your nearest consulate (for you Evan, that’s Chicago) and declaring that you want to live in Italy (MAGARI!)

2- Do some market research into the sector that you want to work in. Like in the states, a lot of the interview process involves selling yourself- but a company will definitely want to know why they should hire you over an Italian (heres a hint: I speak Native English goes over VERY well).

3- Do some research on the area of Italy you would like to move to: Milan is the capital of finance and fashion, Rome provides great opportunities for government work, banking and tourism, Florence is a good city to teach English or (again) tourism, and Puglia is beautiful if you want to be a farmer.

4- Learn Italian- maybe this doesn’t need to be said, but I was in Rome two weeks ago and I ran into this girl from Minnesota who spoke such terrible Italian, I was tempted to punch her. I give credit to people who try, but her Italian was so terrible and she was so cocky about how great it was, that about 90% of the piazza was on board with the whole “me kicking her thing.”

5- Be Persistent. The old saying “where theres a will, theres a way” really holds true during a lot of the administrative work that goes into moving across an ocean. Stay focused, and don’t be afraid to call the consulate every five minutes if you have to. I was on hold with the Consulate in NY for most of 2006…

I love the questions though! Keep them coming!