Italy Cannot Afford Toilet Rolls and Paint

Our son started primary school in Italy this year, and he seems to be loving it.  Our six year old’s appetite for knowledge seems insatiable, I’m happy to say.  His progress has been, well, one could say, ‘colourful’.

In fact he seems to be demolishing coloured pencils at an alarming rate.  If I were a tree, I’d be afraid, very afraid.

Every evening his pencil case comes out, and either mother or father spends ten minutes in the intimate company of a pencil sharpener.

The wee one has only been at school for a sum total of two months, but I hate to think just how many pencils have been literally whittled away to nothing.  Incredible it is.  Still, he certainly seems to be colouring his way towards knowledge, and his teachers seem to be willing too, which is good.

So what has Italy’s inability to afford toilet rolls and paint got to do with my son’s first few steps in school? Be patient, I’ll come to this.  Actually, before whining, let me say that Italian primary schools, and their staff – when they are not striking, that is – seem to be excellent.  The nursery school was very well run too.

There are, however, a couple of aspects of Italian primary schools which I find weird. Yes, here come the toilet rolls, and the paint.

… Continue Reading

To PEC or Not To PEC

Although it may sound from the title of this post that I’m about to talk about birds, this is not the case, no.  PEC stands for ‘Posta Elettronica Certificata’, which is the Italian for ‘certified electronic mail’.

Basically, PEC is supposed to replace, or at least offer, a legally valid equivalent to, regular recorded delivery surface mail.  In other words, the letters and packages you have to sign for.

Yesterday, whilst browsing around a computer store here in Milan, I noticed a poster telling me that having a PEC email account is now a legal requirement for all businesses in Italy, including those, like me, who are registered for VAT (IVA)  in Italy.  Oh dear, I don’t have a PEC account.

Today, I looked into getting one, and came away feeling a little confused.  Why? … Continue Reading

How to Post things to Italy

You might think that mailing something to Italy would be as simple as popping it in a letter box.  You would be wrong though, for this is often when the trouble starts.

I’ve lost count of the number of stories I’ve heard from expats in Italy who have lost things in the post here.  More often than not it is items sent to Italy which tend to disappear into the ether.  I know, I have had direct experience of this.  Two things which stick in my mind are a Christmas card which never arrived, and a few humble pairs of Marks and Spencer’s socks which my mum sent to me a few years back.  Said socks never made it to my house in Italy.  Yes, I know that these items were not life threateningly important, but losing them was annoying, and others have lost much more valuable items.

Other more costly items which I have heard of that have gone astray include a watch, and a Play Station, plus many other things which simply never arrived at their destinations in Italy.

It’s not just sending things to Italy which can be haphazard, but also sending items out of Italy.  Whether or not the letters, packs and parcels reach their destination tends to be down to chance.  I cannot say whether it is Italian postal workers who take a shine to whatever people are sending to one another, or whether it is the postal people in the countries through which the post passes, but I have my suspicions with regard to Italy’s post people.

This how-to post, if you’ll excuse the postal pun, may help you avoid losing things to Italy’s rather erratic postal system. … Continue Reading

Surreal Legal Writing

Yes, I know it’s odd to say it, but today’s (it was still ‘today’ when I started writing this!) encounter with the advocates was a little bit on the surreal side.

Would you believe that an examination of the language relating to liquidated damages, lept towards kangaroos, enduro and dirt bikes, with a small dose of equity thrown in for good measure?  No, and neither would I, if it hadn’t been for the fact that it happened!

Yes, it was a mite surreal.  I remember asking myself if it really was happening.

The lawyers I’ve been teaching to write and translate are quite a fun bunch, it has to be said. … Continue Reading

Good Weekend, Bad Weekend

Ah, spring is in the air.  It’s almost feeling balmy in Milan at the moment, as winter starts to drift definitively away.

The 442 Pub, Milan

And I wish the problems with my hosting service would drift away definitively too. I did not manage to post anything to this blog at the weekend.  Partially because of family stuff, and partially because my dear old hosting company has been having some major problems, which meant visitors would have been greeted with a cold message saying something about the server, which many would not have understood anyway.

For the moment, even if the server problems still have not been resolved, it looks as though I can write, though for how long, I have no idea.  Actually, I have no idea whether anyone will even see this post, but I’ll write it anyway, on the off-chance that someone does.  And I have not written about Milan’s  good old 442 pub in a while either. … Continue Reading

Dining With Anarchists

Anarchy symbol

Seeing as I find myself home alone dog sitting during the remnants of the Christmas holidays, our hospitable neighbour and fine cook invited me over to dine with a group of her friends last night, even though I do not have a beard.

What she did not mention was that this group of friends formed part of a movement.  Indeed, the first I was aware was when I overheard the word ‘movement’ mentioned and seeing as I had been embroiled in another conversation, I asked just what movement was being talked about – ‘We’re a group of anarchists’, came the somewhat unexpected reply from the artist anarchist sitting to my right.

Interesting, I thought, as I had never met someone who was prepared to admit to being a practising anarchist.   Italy though is a fun and varied place which is littered with pockets of activists from just about all political persuasions.  So, you may be wondering, how was this bunch of extremists?  And did I escape alive? … Continue Reading