tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3230710032083856022024-03-13T22:08:38.256+01:00Nihongo wakarimasenIn the land of 和 (wa) Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.comBlogger777125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-25183862039413348862020-12-13T14:58:00.000+01:002022-08-21T09:24:04.564+02:00Is 2020 over yetWe are nearing the end of a year that was destructive to put it mildly. There are no words left to comment on all the things that went wrong and that affected all sectors of life. People’s health was jeopardized, lives were lost which could have been saved, jobs sank, economies slumped, whole continents were shut, gone were the social activities, gone was the entertainment, gone were the hugs, Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-80707410371260867512020-09-07T22:45:00.003+02:002021-12-16T22:45:56.809+01:00Journal Editor In my previous post I said I discovered that I loved reviewing scientific papers and that I thought of making it a career choice. Although it is true that everyone should find their calling, it is also true that sometimes that calling doesn’t pay the bills. More often than not, in fact, becoming a scientific journal editor goes through a lot of volunteering, internships and the like. Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-14658518428072485342020-08-30T22:43:00.006+02:002021-12-16T22:52:34.785+01:00Long story made short Questioning past decision based on the present level of satisfaction, especially when the present is not as we had pictured it, is typical of human beings. I’ve understood there could be two ways to face the reality of what we perceive as a “failure” (which, by the way, it is not to be ever considered as such): deny that we failed and carry on by convincing ourselves it’s what we always Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-7880358753918034542020-08-26T16:07:00.002+02:002020-08-26T16:09:17.763+02:00Difference makes experienceI have been in England for about 5 weeks now, and my days are much different than those in Sicily. Not just because of the place, but also because of what I do during the day.In Sicily I was dedicating my time to work (to finish what I was doing in Japan), family, rest, job hunting, but most of everything I was either walking around the family property and pick fruits from trees or suntanning…Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-4079019309539457232020-07-30T17:07:00.001+02:002020-07-30T17:07:59.331+02:00On the moveThose who have time, don’t waste time. It is something we preach all the time, but practically never stick to it.I always find us humans tend to prioritize things in the wrong way, sometimes. Typical example: you probably know half of the world like the palm of your hand, but know very little about the country you’re born and lived in most of your life. Sounds familiar? Another typical example isMarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-77282297920474411782020-07-28T13:28:00.001+02:002020-07-28T13:28:30.593+02:00HinterlandI am amazed by my island, really. I am amazed by everything about Sicily, by everything that makes Sicily, be it a virtue or (sadly, more often) a flaw. Nature is extreme here, summers can be cruel, and yet the beauty of the landscape almost hurts. I notice it already from my parent’s house, which sits on top of a hill and has a super view over the land all around. But I notice it even more when Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-54944963412300397522020-07-23T11:54:00.001+02:002020-07-23T11:54:42.573+02:00Summertime BluesI don’t remember when the last time I spent my holidays in Sicily during the summer time was, but it’s been a while. This year, courtesy of COVID-19, I am living the best part of summer in Sicily, but instead of planning long vacations at the beach or traveling around, I stayed home…for obvious reasons.I was eventually convinced by a friend of mine to go away for the weekend, and I have to say itMarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-78255173064653162902020-07-08T14:54:00.001+02:002020-07-08T14:55:00.204+02:00PandemenzaThere hasn’t been much to do, and so not much to say about these past months. I am in Sicily, enjoying the peace and quiet of the family home, living the healthy life of a countryside girl with no worries.I have made it a rule to stay as much away from crowded places and people as possible, despite the disappointment this choice provokes in all my relatives and some friends. I can’t help it. In Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-84406096333524575982020-06-24T10:25:00.000+02:002020-06-24T10:25:07.859+02:00Touring habitsOne thing I like very much when I am in Sicily is the driving. I like it because the roads that take me out of my hometown are scenic, no matter where I go, they turn like they are hugging the hills, they gently follow the land’s ups and downs, they cut through the plain and the wheat fields, they run along the coastline and reveal picture-perfect spots all the time.At the beginning of summer allMarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-63476483876336405932020-06-20T13:58:00.001+02:002020-06-20T14:00:08.011+02:00The BasicsThe first thing I did upon returning was to reinstate my residency, and that was already an embarrassing delay on a very straightforward practice: employees at the ward office “didn’t know how” for people who resided in Japan..I mean, it’s basically declaring that the citizen who was living in place X lives here now. Regardless of where place X is. Should be simple.The second thing I attempted Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-43496803398386356042020-06-17T10:35:00.000+02:002020-06-17T10:35:04.908+02:00The DistanceFor the past 5 months I have been distancing from people, I did that while I was in Japan and I am doing it while in Sicily, so for me nothing has changed in this regard. I am more nervous now than when I was in Japan, though: Europe is opening back its internal borders, and everyone is so eager to gear up and behave like no virus is around that I am struggling with observing the distance Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-32171115719227996952020-06-08T14:48:00.001+02:002020-06-08T14:48:43.005+02:00A new realityI knew that leaving my job before having found a new one was a decision I could potentially regret, but fortunately I have not yet come to that. However, if I knew that a viral threat to global lives was to happen, I would have kept my job for one more year, obviously, despite my aversion to the work atmosphere and work environment that had led me eventually to resign. It would have given me an Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-35331374944401808102020-06-03T09:32:00.001+02:002020-06-03T09:32:20.338+02:00The swab
Have you ever gotten a nose/throat swab?
Because of the recent events, I bet the terms have become very familiar to everyone. Until last year they were the stuff we only saw in movies, when suspects have to give a biological sample to prove or disprove their involvement…but now we all know someone who has done the deed and who has told us of how uncomfortable the procedure is. I heard of Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-17337470726942421842020-05-27T15:43:00.002+02:002020-05-27T15:43:45.190+02:00Interim
When, in the past, I thought about leaving Japan, never would have I imagined that it happened the way it did. Even though I was planning every my move, in the end I had to just pack up and leave. Or at least, the choice to pack up and leave was the most logic and practical, given that we are dealing with a pandemic…
It’s been almost a month since I left the land of the rising sun, and yet I Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-8712650254011288312020-05-05T15:02:00.000+02:002020-05-05T15:02:01.560+02:00Travel odyssey part II
Another odyssey within the odyssey was the trip back home itself.
I remind you that I ended up purchasing three flight tickets from Japan to Italy, from three different airlines, as two of these trips were canceled due to the pandemic. My route: Tokyo-Rome via Frankfurt, then a separate flight Rome-Catania. Due to the massive reduction in the number of flights, a trip that would normally takeMarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-54268500378163583662020-05-03T11:07:00.000+02:002020-05-03T11:07:10.618+02:00Travel odyssey part I
The return odyssey, a modern take on an old classic…
I was, like many others, trying to get back to my own country, and not because I am running away worried, rather because I had already planned to leave Japan…what a perfect timing for a pandemic, uh.
I had planned to stay in Japan until the middle of April, when my visa would have expired, to sort out all that was left, travel within Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-61115430080871520882020-04-10T01:39:00.002+02:002020-04-10T01:39:35.893+02:00Serial Imbeciles on Social Media
A little break from the current events, I thought I could share some snippets of my (virtual) interactions with people wanting to buy my stuff. Because upon leaving Japan, whenever that will happen, I have to get rid of most of my furniture, belongings, and appliances, I have started to sell or give away what I don’t need anymore. To do that, I thought of using the social media platforms, simplyMarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-4896343851768654642020-04-04T05:35:00.000+02:002020-04-04T05:35:00.296+02:00The Worldwide Isolation Saga
Another predictable consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic is that my flight, like all others, was canceled. There are some flights departing from Tokyo, perhaps, but because of the hundreds restrictions in place everywhere, right now the one and only way to travel for those like me who are abroad is to return to our own country, possibly without overlays.
For now I don’t even know when I will Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-3007549979598749922020-03-29T05:20:00.001+02:002020-04-06T02:32:27.622+02:00Racconti dal fronte
It doesn’t come as a surprise that suddenly also Japan is recording an increasing number of infections of COVID-19….in fact, so far, thanks to a very nice spring weather, people have been going out and about, have been attending station opening ceremonies (here), celebrating with great enthusiasm, en masse, the arrival of the olympic torch, going to the parks on weekends to picnic and party, to Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-71796685947393439142020-03-16T04:01:00.002+01:002020-03-16T04:01:52.920+01:00Double standards
We did it, we can consider ourselves accomplished: the new threat to global health has been declared a pandemic and more nations around the world are forced to lock themselves in with the hope to slow the contagion.
Meanwhile, there are a lot of things that have happened and are happening in Tokyo metropolis and everywhere else, but it is hard to notice. I spend half of my days frantically Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-10644941210389345592020-03-10T11:06:00.002+01:002020-03-10T11:06:27.782+01:00Scene da un pandemonio
I have to say that the beginning of this year is far from what I had expected, envisioned, wished or hoped.
After having to rearrange my travel plans in Australia due to the wildfires emergency, I returned to Japan but on a tourist visa. Just after that, the news of a new virus started to circulate, and in a matter of weeks the very virus turned people’s lives upside-down and gifted the worldMarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-58462442778696550162020-02-20T07:47:00.001+01:002020-02-20T07:47:24.933+01:00The ultimate blossom experience
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I have to admit I have not paid as much attention to plum trees around here as I do to cherry trees instead. It’s probably because they are not as spread as cherry trees, which are literally everywhere, lining the roads, filling the parks, Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-20808424686954372902020-02-16T04:26:00.001+01:002020-02-16T04:26:52.002+01:00Sankei-en, a garden with history -- 三渓園
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I haven’t yet dedicated a full blog post to Sankei-en (三渓園), a beautiful Japanese style garden not too far from Yokohama. And I should. I thought about it because I recently returned to the place with Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-74076333317277325272020-02-05T08:48:00.001+01:002020-02-05T08:48:17.409+01:00North Stradbroke Island
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Taking a ferry to someplace, near or far, is like going on a trip. We embark, leave the land, get transported to another land, disembark and explore. Even when we already are on a trip, the ferry ride becomes a trip within the trip.
While Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323071003208385602.post-47307904882306215612020-02-03T03:00:00.001+01:002020-10-22T22:23:54.345+02:00Melbourne reunions
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Dear Melbourne, we meet again at last.
The main reasons I try and visit Melbourne often is because I want to see my relatives. The end of my Australian vacation, therefore, is dedicated to just family gatherings, which are not different than Marihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775067259975243891noreply@blogger.com0