Lesson no.2: Something can make your life easier

DIGESTIVES: this is the first step to enjoy some great aspects of British food (it could sound incredible for someone, but it's absolutely true, trust me!). You can choose among "standard" digestives, dark chocolate digestives, milk chocolate digestives, chocolate chip digestives. Taste them with a cup of tea or coffee (and actually I think that instant coffee whit a drop of milk is not so bad) or just alone (as I'm doing now). An intense scent of chocolate hit my smell just opening packaging... that's marvellous!
A revelant advantage living in a English speaker country is public television broadcasts a lot of good movies you probably watched only on the cinema: DUBBING doesn't need here and it is really a big chance!
They are very TECHNOLOGIC: you can find websites that work as they have to, you can find how to contact a person you need to talk to, you can pay fines and local taxes by Internet, you can apply for joining the closest library, you can check if tube is working well and if not find an alternative way... Do you need more?
WI-FI BROADBAND connections are the rule and one of my housemate told me they are even free and you can work outside in the parks during summertime (I have to verify it).
SUPERMARKETS (again!) are open 7/7 and during the week from 7am to 11 pm.

To be continued...

Lesson no.1: The basic rules

As any good English course required, also living in London gives you step by step the basic rules you must know (to survive).
First of all, it's fundamental looking at your RIGHT side before crossing the road or, at least, read carefully the instructions written on the road surface: "Look right" or "Look left", as it needs (if you return late a book to the library, you have to pay...).
Always remember that British people are PRECISE: they know the rules, they respect them, they expect you do the same. If not, of course, you can discover there is a fine for everything wrong you do.
If you think British people are strict, arrogant and snob, in a few days they can show you are wrong. For instance, they have their sacred rules, but sometimes (and mainly if you are NEW) they can make an exception (it's true, it happened to me once I didn't touch out the Oyster card because tube station gates were opened). Many times they smile to you only why you give them your shopping trolley leaving the supermarket. Actually they are less gloomy you could imagine before coming here.
By the way, the OYSTER CARD is quite important to get about public transport: using it you can save some money (actually, till now I haven't discovered if it is more convenient buy a pass or pay as you go, but don't worry... that's matter for sparing people who try to live here avoiding to be in the red!).
About MONEY... London is quite expensive, but a bit less than I thought. Anyway you can console yourself thinking it is worth!
Inside a SUPERMARKET you can find everything you need (this is for Italian people who need pasta, tomato sauce and Italian coffee everywhere): don't worry! Leave at home your kilos of spaghetti, but it's better to take a good jacket and an umbrella. (Here it isn't Milan and there is no fog, but a lot of rain, of course, there is!).
ITALIANS OF LONDON: there are a lot, you can't feel alone (there is even an association with this name). But if you like you can enjoy the company of people from everywhere...
The WHEATER: well, nobody is perfect.

To be continued...

Let's start

Hi there!
I start writing this blog to tell about my new adventure in UK, but not only.
Actually, it's not the first time I write a blog: I have another one since 2005, written in Italian.
Now, 20 days after arriving in London, I thought it could be time starting an English blog.
There are two reasons: one is training my written skills, the other is (potentially) talk to everyone speaks this tongue.
First of all, I'm a journalist and I'm working as freelance for some italian newspapers at the moment.
Few months ago, after a chat with a workmate, I started thinking that know how to write in English could be useful for my work and mainly it could help me to clear the way for getting into what I call 'foreign news world'. That's my favourite field!
I like to know foreign language and countries. I think living abroad can give you a new angle from where you look at people and places. But you need a thing before: be helpful.
I'm interested also in international politics, human rights, NGO, charity and voluntary work, business, IT, sports and culture. Many topics, I know: probably for that now I'm looking for a sector into get specialized.
Honestly, I think I like journalism because it concerns on people's life and that's all.
Anyway, I'm here also to discover a city I didn't know, the biggest where I've never lived. To discover a 'new world', a new way of life, of thinking and writing.
My first feeling has been that London probably is not the most beautiful city in the world, but here you can find everything you want. Just think about something and you will find it somewhere.
About English, I think its best quality is being a lingua franca and even a flexible language that make people able to understand you even when you can't speak it well.
Well, let's start now!;-)