If You Ever Feel Lonely

Residing right by the lake Como, the guesthouse is above a bar & restaurant. The day of arrival, I dragged my gigantic luggage over 40kg, with enormous noise the wheels were making, walking pass by people sitting at this al fresco bar in a small alley. It was embarrassing… but well, what could I do. I have no idea what I was going to do with this humongous suitcase if it wasn’t for all the kind people I’ve met on the way, especially the English family taking the same train and helping me walking around looking for the guesthouse even though they were in danger of missing the last train to their mount-top-villa, I was so touched. Anyway, the guesthouse is sweet: tidy and clean, with an 'Italian window' to a small balcony, like we saw in movies all the time, which made me excited for a minute when I saw it; breakfast buffet is pretty awesome: beef pastramis and assorted hams whose names I couldn’t recite, cheese, and whole tomatoes are going to make a nice sandwich all by yourself, a few kind of fruit juices, freshly brewed coffee, choices of teas… in short, the freshness and quality of food are very appetiting and it's obvious that this is a place where people care about culinary culture. Sipping a cup of coffee after a satisfying ham and cheese sandwich, sitting at al fresco in the cool morning breeze and rising sun, it’s hard not to start falling in love with this place.

It’s a shame that I don’t have the luxury to enjoy more coffee and morning breeze, but I have to get started with my tasks. Influenced by the relaxed sensation of Como, I only left half an hour on travelling without knowing exactly the destination and transportation method. People are generally helpful and friendly, though it’s very easy to encounter the situation that you are actually asking some foreign tourists for information, Italians speak English much better than I expected. The traffic is great in this city. For the whole day I haven’t seen a single jam which is nightmare in almost all cities I’ve been in recent years, plus the city, or rather the town, is small, I should say public transportation is pretty efficient to get around. The school is located outside the old town. Different from our asian stereotype, here the old town is really the beautiful and prosperous part. And campus is also different from what we are used to in Asia or North America: two big buildings form this sub-campus of Politecnico di Milano. I almost spend the whole days running around, preparing for all sorts of documents. It’s a hassle but still, people were nice to talk to; and on the way of running around, the old town started to grow in me.

 

It doesn’t have to make an effort to like Italy. It has its problems, but who doesn’t, and probably the problems are cute, or funny, or simply: ‘Italian’. When I just stepped out of the plane at Malpensa airport, the very first thing I saw on this country’s soil, was two people working for airport hugging and whispering in each other’s ears, totally neglecting passengers passing by. How to interpret such event is totally subjective but I couldn’t help laughing for a second, it was the first time ever that I saw anything like that. It was totally dark outside when I was taking the train to Como, but I still saw a few groups of teens playing soccer along the way. I liked to see that.
Pascal once joked that compare to the frustration of not being able to boss people around, the very rare French workaholic felt so great about this working in Singapore. Well, that’s not just French. Remember we used to argue and fight for a lunch break, just for being able to take turns to go for a proper lunch for an hour. In contrast, offices could be totally closed for up to two hours during lunch time, thus it gave me two hours to wander around. Of course, I picked to stroll by the lake first. There are benches all along the place, on which sit people, old and young, men and women, having their packed lunch, chatting, or just staring beyond the lake. On the grass, people were lying in the beautiful sunlight, reading or napping. Not to mention the numerous exotic al fresco cafés or bistros with exquisite decoration. Probably only the chefs and waiters of those cafés weren’t quite having a time of their lives. It has something to offer to everyone here. Though people may all get out from their offices during this time but it wasn’t crowded at all. Absolute peace could even be found: I walked on a pier that went far into the lake. There were a few men fishing, staring still at the water. There was a business man, maybe also wanted to kill off some time quietly like me, also wandering on the pier, and sometimes staring at the water: there were numerous fish babies swimming there in the clear water, or a couple of ducks playing with water… it cleanses one’s mind.
If you step a bit further away from lake and a bit further into the old town, it’s lovely as the same. There’re buildings that attract attention with their grandeurs, like its duomo. The carving on the stones are so beautiful that I just stood there looking up at it for a long time. Some lines or angles of sculptures nearer to the ground are blurring probably because of people’s touches through centuries but not only that it doesn’t affect its exterior, but also gives the duomo some kind of aged solemn. Well I couldn't imagine what words I could use to describe the Duomo in Milan cause I already feel that I don't use them good enough to describe this one. There’re also other buildings that aren’t big, that aren’t tall, however for some reason you couldn’t get your eyes off them. Those rocking stone walls; small balconies with plants all over it; downstairs the cafés and bars whose patio furniture is occupying half of the alley; small shops with big names and so many bookstores around the corner... it's so different yet you don't have to adjust, you just blend in... Again, it’s so hard not to love such a place.

Recently I was 'forced' to have watched this girls singing competition. I'm never convinced by the quality of this competition through years but failed to hide from its overwhelming popularity this time. After three episodes and numerous criticism, there's something I desperately need to get out of my chest, to that very special girl. I feel so sorry for her because it was a very wrong stage she went to. If I could ever bother to text the TV station who's hosting it I would say to her that she's a terrible singer that's true, but she could be a better respected musician that any of the other girls because it's the creation that makes a good musician. The ones sing the song may live their lives, but the song lives forever. Forget about the stupid contest but learn your lesson from it that you belong to somewhere else which is profound and appreciates your talent. This one doesn't deserve you, your fellow competitors don't deserve you and these audiences don't deserve you.

 

Stick to your own way, if others don't understand, who cares!

 

And hereby, my respects for those who dare to be different.