This series is a collection of my immediate thoughts on what I saw and lived through in Italy, where I moved for work in September 2025. Sometimes it's diary entries, sometimes it's poetry, sometimes just runts about everything and nothing. Enjoy.
Missed Logs 21-31? Read them here. ;)
LOG 31
They/them.
They had to correct me about their gender and preferred pronouns.
I hadn’t even thought about asking them.
I want to blame the lack of exposure,
But it’s more likely my own ignorance.
23-9-25 – Undisclosed town near Bergamo
LOG 32
My inner clock is all mixed up.
In my last job, when I got home from work,
It felt like the day just started.
Nowadays when I get home from work it is 8:30 PM.
All I can do is go to bed.
23-9-25 – Undisclosed town near Bergamo
LOG 33
- The weather turned from 28 degrees to 13 degrees in just a few days.
- Rain and thunderstorms are daily bread.
- Some parts of Lombardy have problems with flash floods.
- The persisting cloud of smelly air dissuades me from morning jogging.
25-9-25 – Undisclosed town near Bergamo
LOG 34
‘So should I ask them how to pronounce it?’ my student asks me.
‘If you are not sure how to pronounce their name correctly, you can politely ask about the pronunciation. It’s better than to mispronounce it. But try to research the name first.’
This is how it went when my business English student asked me about pronunciation of foreign clients’ names.
But then I thought about it.
I would ask about the correct pronunciation, but I have no idea what the business code of conduct says. I don’t have the background.
God damn it.
My student is a CEO with 30 years of experience.
Who am I to tell him what to do?
26-9-25 – Undisclosed town near Bergamo
LOG 35
‘I don’t smell anything,’ says our colleague, when we have a little ‘get to know you’ lunch session after work.
‘Really? It’s like… really bad in the mornings.’ I say and my flatmate is also surprised that it’s possible to miss it.
‘Could it be just our part of the town then?’ I’m thinking out loud.
‘I lived in Chiang Mai, which during the burning season is one of the most polluted places in Thailand, so I guess my smell isn’t that sensitive anymore.’
Well that really puts things into perspective.
27-9-25 – Undisclosed town near Bergamo
LOG 36
It’s Saturday afternoon and I can officially declare that I survived my first week at work.
It was tough.
New course book, new students, new levels to teach, last minute cancellations, last minute changes and a bit of a general chaos. But I survived and looking at my schedule for the upcoming week, I think it will get much easier.
I’m still not sure how I feel about doing only one-to-one lessons and eighty percent of that online.
My students are lovely, but I miss the variety of opinions and lively discussions of my B2 level group classes in Malta. I miss walking around the classroom, giving feedback and supporting weaker students. I miss joking around with them and being challenged by them.
I have ideas for new lessons and discussion topics, but I know that I won’t be able to test them with elementary and pre-intermediate students.
Well, I guess I’m doing quite well if I have time to miss the extensive lesson preparation those lessons used to take.
27-9-25 – Undisclosed town near Bergamo
LOG 37
The peaks of the alps on the horizon
have turned white.
The air is cold and finally fresh.
28-9-25 – On a train to Milan
LOG 38
Milano Centrale train station is grandiose, to use the right word.
I exit the train and follow the crowd to the departure hall with marble arches and glass ceilings. I’m in awe of the architecture.
As I continue to another hall and yet another hall, all three of them incredibly high and elegant, I imagine how it must have looked in the 1930, when they opened it.
The interiors of the Central station were truly made to impress.
28-9-25 – Milan
LOG 39
Piazza del Duomo is already full of people and it only just chimed 9 AM a few minutes ago. It’s like everyone had the same idea as me — get there early enough to avoid the crowds.
Well, that didn’t work.
It strikes me as a funny opposite to Lausanne, which on Sundays, is still asleep around 11 AM.
28-9-25 – Milan
LOG 40
Looking from the cathedral square, Duomo di Milano seems much smaller than I imagined. Either photos make it look bigger or I had seen too many cathedrals during my art history studies.
But what catches my attention though is the main door. The images depict the life of Virgin Mary and the style evokes one word in my mind: Melodrama.
The bronze figures come forward to create sharp contrast with the background. It makes them look like they’re surfacing from the shadows. Very melodramatic.
28-9-25 – Milan
Photos from 28th September in Milan:
More photos in HQ in Italy through my lens: Lombardy and Veneto.
