Here's a little cultural difference I experience all the time. I am running something like 35 seconds late and I write a message to my appointment saying "Gosh, so sorry, I may be a little late. Get there as fast as I can." The reply is always a curt "OK." There is never any added "Take your time, no problem, I'm in the office anyway" or "No worries, me too." Then I get to the appointment and the other person is like 10 minutes later than me and there is no explanation and certainly no apology upon arriving.
What is up with that?
This is in the same category as the crazy advice I got from an Italian client a few years ago who said "Never say you're sorry, for ANYTHING. The other person will always want a discount."
It's as if saying you are sorry or admitting you are late is also admitting that you are weak or you are giving your power up. Here is another example. 4 out of 5 people in a class tell me they can't make it to our last class, which is a makeup class and which is also a party. So I decide to reschedule it when more people can come.
I send the message. Here's what I get for an answer:
"OK."
And I think, how about a THANK YOU! THAT'S SO THOUGHTFUL or GREAT, HAVE A NICE EASTER!
Not so much. Well, one of them did say Happy Easter.
I will put that in my joy box.
Monday, March 26, 2018
Monday, March 12, 2018
Trail Running for Dummies
I could write that book because I am the Dummy.
Chapter 1 working title: "Sign up for an impossible run in the mountains and hope that your fear will make you run again."
The content would explain how to have your husband (who is in much better shape than you because he has a running group he runs with every weekend) sign you up for a SKY RACE (yes, that means exactly what it sounds like: RUNNING IN THE GD SKY, as in UP A FRIGGIN' MOUNTAIN for 12 kilometers and down for two!!) that will take place exactly MUCH sooner than any decent training plan can prepare you for (especially if you have done essentially no running since about, say, 2014).
Chapter 2. Run for Two Weeks and then Have Someone in the Family (not you) Catch the Flu and then Use that as a Convenient Excuse to Stop Running again COMPLETELY.
No content here, the title says it all. (Don't mention the fact that the Flu Sufferer started training again as soon as the fever went down-- besides the point).
Chapter 3. (Guilt sets in,we must have full disclosure) Flu Sufferer Goes Back to Training, but NOT YOU!
Chapter 4. Race Day
Learn an hour before the start that the trail is completely covered in snow and that you will have to BUY and WEAR metal spikes that stretch over your running shoes or you will do the entire downhill part of the race on your BUTT.
Chapter 5. Starting place.
The group of participants is actually small enough and professional-looking enough that you will most probably finish last (which is your destiny you big fat loser!!). This is what true mountain people/ultra marathon habitués look like. Enjoy the view and get ready to fake an injury before the starting gun.
Chapter 6. Find Out They Won't Give you that Kick Ass Race Pack Unless you Actually Start the Race.
Don't play dead just yet.
Chapter 7. You May not Finish Last After All, but Please Finish!
There are a couple of slow pokes you can easily pass on the way up (walking mostly with no energy for deep complaining). The man with the prosthetic leg is ahead of you, but clearly he is an incredible athlete, so just get over it.
Chapter 8. Mountains Scare you and That is OK!
Get to the top, down some shitty cookies, slam a hot tea and start going down. Go mostly sideways, make a little squeak/scream with every slip/step. Admit that you are a flatlander, let the phony slowpokes pass you. Eat their snowy dust. Don't let it get to you.
Chapter 9. Don't Listen to the Kilometer Marker Dudes.
They always say You're Almost There!! They are totally lying. Tune them out.
Chapter 10. Finish the Damn Thing,
Get the hell out of town and hope you never see these people again. Take 3 ibuprofen before your legs (which have not been communicating with your brain for about 5 kilometers) even feel the pain.
Chapter 11. Take a Red-Faced Selfie and Facebook it like you Won it!!
The End.
Chapter 1 working title: "Sign up for an impossible run in the mountains and hope that your fear will make you run again."
The content would explain how to have your husband (who is in much better shape than you because he has a running group he runs with every weekend) sign you up for a SKY RACE (yes, that means exactly what it sounds like: RUNNING IN THE GD SKY, as in UP A FRIGGIN' MOUNTAIN for 12 kilometers and down for two!!) that will take place exactly MUCH sooner than any decent training plan can prepare you for (especially if you have done essentially no running since about, say, 2014).
Chapter 2. Run for Two Weeks and then Have Someone in the Family (not you) Catch the Flu and then Use that as a Convenient Excuse to Stop Running again COMPLETELY.
No content here, the title says it all. (Don't mention the fact that the Flu Sufferer started training again as soon as the fever went down-- besides the point).
Chapter 3. (Guilt sets in,we must have full disclosure) Flu Sufferer Goes Back to Training, but NOT YOU!
Chapter 4. Race Day
Learn an hour before the start that the trail is completely covered in snow and that you will have to BUY and WEAR metal spikes that stretch over your running shoes or you will do the entire downhill part of the race on your BUTT.
Chapter 5. Starting place.
The group of participants is actually small enough and professional-looking enough that you will most probably finish last (which is your destiny you big fat loser!!). This is what true mountain people/ultra marathon habitués look like. Enjoy the view and get ready to fake an injury before the starting gun.
Chapter 6. Find Out They Won't Give you that Kick Ass Race Pack Unless you Actually Start the Race.
Don't play dead just yet.
Chapter 7. You May not Finish Last After All, but Please Finish!
There are a couple of slow pokes you can easily pass on the way up (walking mostly with no energy for deep complaining). The man with the prosthetic leg is ahead of you, but clearly he is an incredible athlete, so just get over it.
Chapter 8. Mountains Scare you and That is OK!
Get to the top, down some shitty cookies, slam a hot tea and start going down. Go mostly sideways, make a little squeak/scream with every slip/step. Admit that you are a flatlander, let the phony slowpokes pass you. Eat their snowy dust. Don't let it get to you.
Chapter 9. Don't Listen to the Kilometer Marker Dudes.
They always say You're Almost There!! They are totally lying. Tune them out.
Chapter 10. Finish the Damn Thing,
Get the hell out of town and hope you never see these people again. Take 3 ibuprofen before your legs (which have not been communicating with your brain for about 5 kilometers) even feel the pain.
Chapter 11. Take a Red-Faced Selfie and Facebook it like you Won it!!
The End.
Monday, March 5, 2018
Lunch and "Due Passi in Yugo"
The weekend has passed and no doubt if you are lucky enough to live in Trieste, you probably went out for lunch on Sunday in Slovenia and then out for do Passi afterwards.
It is a curious tradition that the Triestini preserve. It goes back to times before the fall of the Iron Curtain, which is evident in the language used to describe the phenomenon.
The invitation (in Trestino) sounds something like this:
A: Femo qualcossa in weekend per star assieme?
B: Volentieri. Demo fora maniar qualcossa in Yugo?
A: Va ben. Poi femo do passi.
Eating out "in Yugo" as in: the country formerly known as Yugoslavia, with friends and/or family on the weekend is going to involve some negotiation to 1) choose the right restaurant and 2) decide which border between Italy and Slovenia to meet at to be close to the destination. You will caravan together on the big day.
Choice of location is based on two things: 1) the ratio of price to quality and 2) how popular it is with Triestini. There is a direct correlation between the two. A gostilna has the best quality/price ratio as long as it is somewhat new and caters to the Italian palate yet remains unknown to the mainstream. Once too many Triestini start going (popularity is based on word of mouth), prices go up and portions go down. The trick is to get there "in time" before this happens. Curiously, once the place becomes truly popular, the Triestini no longer go there. They will have found a new place by then. Popular restaurants in Slovenia are much like free illegal parking places where you don't get ticketed in downtown Trieste, they change once too many people know about them. When the Triestini no longer go, the restaurants start to do really well. The "foreigners" keep them alive. First the people from the Veneto start coming (thanks to Tripadvisor), then the Milanesi, and finally the Germans as they pass through on their way to Croatia in the summer.
The "do passi" after lunch should not be confused with an actual healthy hike. It is short and sweet, just enough to say you went for a walk, especially since lunches in Slovenia tend to be a good excuse to stuff oneself with all forms of heavy comfort food. Actually, the smart Triestini meet 10 minutes earlier than usual for their walk so they can "earn" the gnocchi with goulash and follow it with a Lubljanska and a couple of homemade beers without feeling guilty.
If you haven't been privy to this practice and would like to start, feel free to adapt the above dialogue to fit your needs. Here is some more insight into the vocabulary you will use most often. Remember, when in Trieste, speak like the Triestini!
1. Stare assieme: Hang out and be together
2. Magnar tanto pagar poco= Poca spesa tanta resa: Cheap place with big portions/more bang for your buck
3. Far do passi= go for a walk (literally make two steps)
4. Volentieri: Gladly (in the dialogue above). Can also mean: would love to give you what you are asking for but we don't have it. Bad news if you are at a store...
Dober tek!
It is a curious tradition that the Triestini preserve. It goes back to times before the fall of the Iron Curtain, which is evident in the language used to describe the phenomenon.
The invitation (in Trestino) sounds something like this:
A: Femo qualcossa in weekend per star assieme?
B: Volentieri. Demo fora maniar qualcossa in Yugo?
A: Va ben. Poi femo do passi.
Eating out "in Yugo" as in: the country formerly known as Yugoslavia, with friends and/or family on the weekend is going to involve some negotiation to 1) choose the right restaurant and 2) decide which border between Italy and Slovenia to meet at to be close to the destination. You will caravan together on the big day.
Choice of location is based on two things: 1) the ratio of price to quality and 2) how popular it is with Triestini. There is a direct correlation between the two. A gostilna has the best quality/price ratio as long as it is somewhat new and caters to the Italian palate yet remains unknown to the mainstream. Once too many Triestini start going (popularity is based on word of mouth), prices go up and portions go down. The trick is to get there "in time" before this happens. Curiously, once the place becomes truly popular, the Triestini no longer go there. They will have found a new place by then. Popular restaurants in Slovenia are much like free illegal parking places where you don't get ticketed in downtown Trieste, they change once too many people know about them. When the Triestini no longer go, the restaurants start to do really well. The "foreigners" keep them alive. First the people from the Veneto start coming (thanks to Tripadvisor), then the Milanesi, and finally the Germans as they pass through on their way to Croatia in the summer.
The "do passi" after lunch should not be confused with an actual healthy hike. It is short and sweet, just enough to say you went for a walk, especially since lunches in Slovenia tend to be a good excuse to stuff oneself with all forms of heavy comfort food. Actually, the smart Triestini meet 10 minutes earlier than usual for their walk so they can "earn" the gnocchi with goulash and follow it with a Lubljanska and a couple of homemade beers without feeling guilty.
If you haven't been privy to this practice and would like to start, feel free to adapt the above dialogue to fit your needs. Here is some more insight into the vocabulary you will use most often. Remember, when in Trieste, speak like the Triestini!
1. Stare assieme: Hang out and be together
2. Magnar tanto pagar poco= Poca spesa tanta resa: Cheap place with big portions/more bang for your buck
3. Far do passi= go for a walk (literally make two steps)
4. Volentieri: Gladly (in the dialogue above). Can also mean: would love to give you what you are asking for but we don't have it. Bad news if you are at a store...
Dober tek!
Friday, March 2, 2018
You call THAT a Blizzard?
Even Rome did a better job than we did. The best WE could do was a couple of sad snowmen that didn't even have time to come to life because they melted before they could even get a hat on!
The only thing that gave me a TINY bit of solace was when my neighbor at the bus stop this morning asked me how I got home yesterday (I got a ride) because the bus back UP to San Giuseppe STOPPED RUNNING after 10:30am. At least that!
Meno male!!
The only thing that gave me a TINY bit of solace was when my neighbor at the bus stop this morning asked me how I got home yesterday (I got a ride) because the bus back UP to San Giuseppe STOPPED RUNNING after 10:30am. At least that!
Meno male!!
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