Ettore: When I first arrived to Dublin I was 25 years old.
Now, after moving to Lisbon I am 29.
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney…
Ettore : When I first arrived to Dublin I had to understand how to use Irish sheets. (They are like big sacks, and blankets need to go inside them: JUST IMPOSSIBLE)
Now, after moving to Lisbon I had to go back to the traditional south European sheets (I’m not used anymore. They go off too easily!!!! I only use the blanket now)
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney…
Ettore: When I first arrived to Dublin I got a permanent contract, and I needed to sign it once.
Now, after moving to Lisbon, I got a temporary contract, and I needed to sign it 17 times. (I’m serious)
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney…
Ettore : When I first arrived to Dublin the first English song I learnt was “American pie” of Don Mc lean.
Now, after moving to Lisbon the first Portuguese son I’ve learnt is “Todo isto è fado” of Amalia.
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney…
Ettore: When I first arrived to Dublin I learnt work related key concepts such as: Desk,aux,auto in, floor, ticket,log in,log out,canteen,badge,domain,forward etc etc etc
Now, after moving to Lisbon those words doesn’t exist anymoooreeee!!!!! Shit I lost my benchmarks!!!! I’m disoriented, scared. C’mooon a “Desk” is a “Desk” for fuck sake, you cannot call it “campanha!!!!” :-( Again, a “Ticket” is a “Ticket” cazzo!!!! There is a logic behind (The user needs the ticket number in order to track his case down into our database etc etc etc ) I just don’t get use to it…I cannot call a ticket “incidencia”.:-(
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney…
Ettore: When I first arrived to Dublin I realized it wasn’t the right Country for espresso coffee, and instead of switching to Tea (as would be normal doing in Ireland) I start to drink americano coffee. (Every morning for 3 years at my desk)
Now, after moving to Lisbon instead of drinking coffee (as would be normal doing in Portugal) I start to drink Tea (Every morning for 2 months so far, at my desk) A little curiosity: Portugal is the only Country in Europe where Tea is called “Cha”, which is the Chinese name (or better, the Chinese pronunciation). This is because of the antique Tea trades between China and Portugal. They kept the original name, “cha”.
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney…
Ettore: When I first arrived to Dublin I got used to awful food and good beer.
Now, after moving to Lisbon I’m getting used to great food and awful beer, the “superboch” (???)
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney…
Ettore: When I first arrived to Dublin I learnt that respecting the queues means to be civilized and polite.
Now, after moving to Lisbon I learnt that respecting the queues means to be fucked
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney…
Ettore: When I first arrived to Dublin I wasn’t sure of actually being able of learning English, some day.
Now, after moving to Lisbon I’m not sure of actually being able to learn Portuguese, some day.
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney…
Ettore: When I first arrived to Dublin I got astonished by the huge number of Spanish living there.
Now, after moving to Lisbon I am still astonished by the huge number of Spanish. (In return there are not so many French! Yuppyyyyyyy! :-P)
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney…
Ettore: When I first arrived to Dublin I was pleasantly surprised at how easy was pick girls up.
Now, after moving to Lisbon I’m happy enough if they return the greeting; I can’t expect too much.
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney…
Ettore: When I first arrived to Dublin I got the Luas. (The Dublin’s Tram line)
Now, after moving to Lisbon I get the eletrico. :-) (Lisbon’s tram line, which is actually, much more cooler. )
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney…
Ettore: When I first arrived to Dublin I start to deal with “Business users”.
Now, after moving to Lisbon I deal with “private users”. I must admit: Private users are definitely funnier. I mean…they ask you everything. There was a user last week (not joking) 75 years old, one eye blind, asking to set up on his pc “his previous internet”. Yes: “his previous internet”. What the user really meant was installing Internet Explorer 7.0. Of course he didn’t know that, so he came up with “my previous internet” .When my colleague start to explain to him how to do it, he said: “can you slow down? You know…I’m one eye blind”…
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney…
Ettore: When I first arrived to Dublin the Celtic tiger start to get sick and eventually died. The Irish government asked money to UE.
Now, after moving to Lisbon Portuguese economy gets a slump also and eventually asked money to UE too. Do I bring bad luck or what??!? :-(
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney…
Aeoulus side of the story - double interview
ReplyDeleteAeolus: When I first landed on Irish soil I was 25, now after 3 years like you I am 28...am I a wizard or are you miscalculating?! Loool just kidding ...BUDDY :-P
Aeolus: When I first arrived in Dublin I was used to the Irish bed sheets because in Germany they use the same ones, although I prefer the southern European style I am highly adaptable. Anyway in the 4 star hotel here I get the classic ones, soft, easy, tidy, fresh and lovely smelling ;-)
Aeolus: I signed just 3 times in Dublin: HP contract, Oracle contract for Ireland and Oracle contract for Australia :-)
Aeolus: I first song I heard in Dublin was the classic Irish folk song along the Liffey quay. The first song I heard in Australia was one of the Punkreas (I don't play guitar like my multitalented BUDDY Ettore)
Aeolus: I had to learn new words and new concepts too, same as Ettore, but luckily here they stayed the same. As already explained, only a few acronyms change but nothing more :-) That's because I decided to move to a decent country looool just kidding
Aeolus: Very interesting about the name of the tea in Portugal although I was already aware of it. I am the Italian exception for not drinking espresso, at least not regularly, so I kept my habits of drinking tea and juices...although in Ireland it was easy to find fresh orange juices and here apparently I went to the wrong places.... :-(
Aeolus: In Ireland I had maaany chances to taste the delicious Guinness and developed my limited kitchen skills. In the canteen at work in Ireland the quality was poor and the variety limited; here in Sydney I just need to cross the street and I can find Italian food, SUSHI, warm tasty dishes and so on. I personally don't know too much about Italian and other warm dishes because I only feed myself with SUSHI. About beers they got SuperBlonde and other 10 that I still have to taste...they seem OK to me although nothing compared to German beers of course...a propos: there is a Beck's exihibition this month in a museum...if they offer beer I might dedicate myself to the ...culture!! ;-)
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney…I learn the equation Portugal:Ireland = Ireland:Australia.
ReplyDeleteIn this country there are rules for everything, criminality is very low and will be pursued and harshly punished. Safety levels are extremely high. Last Saturday I was in a pub and you were not allowed to LEAN on the counter o-O The trains are very clean, stations quiet and safe, the city is huge but people behave like in a village, just as an example this morning I have been woken up the a guy CALLING the radio to report the sight of a group of female teenagers ranging from 12 till 16 to have reached the city center at 10pm... he was complaining and blaming the educators: “Where were their parents?!?” I mean, sure, I agree with him, but I would never think of calling the radio nor I would think possible for a radio to give space to these topics. Actually, this is the case here.
Aeolus: My english level on day 1 in Dublin was decent but not that good. I improved my english massively in that town. The problem is that the high percentage of foreign people makes it difficult to go beyond a certain level because people don't understand you any more so you need to speak pretty basic with the most common words. Here, the locals are the vast majority and my accent and my vocabulary will be challenged again.
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney… I met a group a spanish and south american people in a bar where I went with James, my International friend displayed below and they were all very pretty so....spanish welcome! ALMOST no French here... no comments in respect to my french friends ;-) just kidding
Aeolus: In Dublin the international community made people being open and friendly, so it is easier than in other places to get to know people ;-) Now, after moving to Sidney…it is still a bit too early to say. But the situation, although different, remains positive and with good outlooks to me.
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney…I am already an expert in taking the trains and the buses. Trains cover a fair amount of territory although they are not as widespread as I would wish. I still miss the monorail experience whose pic you saw below I think... that must be cool! It looks fabulous and futuristic!!
Aeolus: Now, after moving to Sidney…I am still talking to business users. Australians (after 2 days of calling I don't know how reliable this comment can be) seem pretty nice, although not all of them, not too talkative and very straightforward. We'll see :-)
Aeolus: when I arrived in Dublin the Celtic tiger was still roaring. When it started to collapse I already had my contract signed (once!)... but no worries, I am no genius, just a bit far-seeing and a lot of luck :-))