I am the god of...

G went home yesterday and with his departure came the return of the sunshine. He is now renamed 'G The God of Rain'. His visit was delightful and only Monday was slightly spoiled by some argy-bargy from my ex-boss over the final payment on my contract.

Good company, good food and good wine - what more could you want?

On Consideration...

Those of you who read my blog regularly may remember a post I published on 10th April entitled 'My Maria Problem' in which I detailed the problems I was having with my then boss. All of the information contained in that post was factual except the final paragraph (before the tagline) which contained my opinion of my ex-boss. She, via her partner, has found this blog and has been reading it diligently.

After a tussle about the final payment on my contract, she told me that a clause in the contract I signed (written in Italian) stated that I could not write about her, the organisation or the students. Now, it doesn't surprise me that there is a clause about not behaving in any way that might bring the organisation into disrepute (although no such thing was mentioned when I signed the contract) but I'm pretty sure that there is nothing in the contract regarding me writing about about my students, and, even if there was, nothing I have written could in any way be used to identify them individually.

On the point about not writing anything about my ex-boss - I'm pretty sure that's not covered in the contract. However, I am aware that, despite my not naming any names (not only of my ex-boss but also not of the organisation I worked for), it would be easy for someone here in Vigevano, especially one of my students, to identify either. It is out of respect for my students that I have decided to take that post down.

Moving out...

I have now finished. The final class has been taught, the register has been completed and the whiteboard has been wiped clean for the last time.

Today I have invited all my adult students to come to my place for farewell drinks and nibbles. After taking advice from Ch about timing, I told everyone that the 'event' was from 4pm to 7pm. This was so the attendees would have had enough time to digest their Sunday dinner but wouldn't run over into their evening meal - as I'm sure you know Italians have fairly fixed ideas about when to eat and what to eat at those times. So, taking this into account, what, do you think, has been the response? Well, most of them have said they'll arrive between 6:30 and 7pm! I give up. Some of my English-speaking friends and acquaintances are arriving during the afternoon and G is in the middle of his visit so I'm not worried, I'll have company.

Talking of G, I had warned him that there is very little to do here in Vigevano but I don't think he realised just how little there is. On top of that, the damned weather has had the cheek to misbehave - it has rained twice since he arrived. Luckily, it is still warm and sunny between the showers so, in between siestas, we've been out for walks and coffee, and spent a hell of a lot of time talking about everything under the sun.

One of the advantages of having G here is that he motivates me to actually get on and do things. With his prodding, I finally booked my ticket back to the UK last night. I leave on Wednesday 24th June and I won't be back except for holidays. Being the world traveller he is, G will be on his way back from another trip abroad so we'll meet up at the airport, go to his for the night (get your minds out of the gutter) and, with a bit of luck, my dad will pick me up the next day.

On a final note, highlighting the idiocy and incompetence of the Italian system (although I'm sure they have an explanation for it), I have just received the gas bill for January and February - yep that's right, January and February. More shocking is the size of the bill... 281 euros. I'm still breathless when I think about it.

Much as I love this country, it really is only good for holidays.