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Published: February 19th 2008
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Fondue in Hong KongHello everyone!
So I've been here for almost a month and thought I'd write and let you know a bit about my life in Bologna! The tearful farewell back in January turned out to be an anti-climax because a suicidal bird decided to fly into our plane’s engine, delaying our plane for three hours. Upon arriving in Hong Kong we discovered we’d missed our flight to Munich. So after a great day in Hong Kong, we left for Paris, and after getting kicked off a plane from Paris to Bologna, we were allowed on another one and finally made it to Bologna on Saturday, 66 hours after leaving Sydney.
House hunting!
Looking for accomodation was a great way to learn about the city. Bologna is a gorgeous but tiny city enclosed in a wall (it only takes half an hour to walk from one side to the other). Because it's so tiny, it only takes a few minutes to get from a “nice” area to a “dodgy” area. Not yet knowing what were the “dodgy” areas, Kayla, Liv and I eagerly began searching for a home. One of the first was Flavio. His manky cast, the lice-ridden and toilet
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The markets in Hong Kong that didn’t flush turned us off pretty quickly, however it was the scary dolls heads scattered around the apartment that REALLY made us run for cover.
Claudio the lisper was another winner. With a hooker and a nonna as potential housemates, we explored the kitchen with its overflowing bins and week old dinners soaking in cooking tins. “It’th a little dirty” Claudio lisped. “Un po” I replied, trying not to laugh. This place didn’t even have location going for it, as was proved by the fact that we were chased down the street by a scary homeless man as we made our way back to our hotel for the night.
All of it was worth it though as I have now found a gorgeous apartment with three lovely Italian girls. I am in the “nice” area, close to all the important shops like Versace, Dolce and Gabbana and Hermes and also about 500m from the home of the current Italian President. I am also in one of the few streets that is not covered in dog poo. People in Bologna think it is perfectly acceptable to let your dog poo all over the footpath, and also to let
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Eating pizza - a daily event your dog come into shops with you. It’s disgusting!
Life in Bologna
So now that I’ve settled in, my life in Bologna pretty much includes eating, eating and more eating (Bologna is known as "La Citta' Grassa" which means "The Fat City") The food here is AMAZING! My Italian has improved a bit, more thanks to my housemates than the classes I go to three times a week!
Australia Day was a fantastic day. With the nine Aussies we climbed the 4km hill to San Luca, a gorgeous church overlooking Bologna and had a lovely picnic. At night we had our first taste of the great Bologna night-life we’d heard about. We've since had many great nights out as there are many parties organised for exchange students here - sleep is not a priority in my new lifestyle!
The next Saturday we went to Carnevale in Venice which was just amazing, and also hilarious, particularly when a boy dressed up as a Hawaiian bear proposed to me.
We are commonly mistaken for Americans which is kind of good for when we do stupid things, but all the locals are very helpful when we get lost
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Piazza Maggiore or struggle with the language. We went skiing the other day which was great, and I've started uni which is not so great cos I don't have a clue what's going on and the teachers just drone on and on for two hours. I'm studying history of modern art though, so at least I have some pretty pictures to look at! I've joined a soccer team, in which I've met some lovely Dutch girls, but I don't think I'll make it to practice very much: I missed practice on the weekend to go to Florence, but when it's only an hour away, why wouldn't you?
Hope everyone at home is good! Miss you all! Write to me, I love news from home!
Ciao ciao,
Baci baci
Laur xxx
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James Woogs
non-member comment
jealous!
see comment title!