A letter from Alfonso (or How global is the life now)

Global World

It was about two weeks ago (yes I was very busy to not to have time to mention about this before).

I got a letter from Alfonso in reply to my letter I sent (i guess) in February. It is amazing actually to get a letter in Turkey from an Italian friend who lives in France, with whom we met in Holland :) How global is our lives nowadays! Another funny thing is; we know each other since we have a common friend, Kaustubh, who is Indian :)

We met many times in either in his place in Ceramplein (where he always performed cooking experiments for dinners, which, always turned out to be deliciious) or in my place at Funenpark (where he usually came with a bag of clothes to wash).

Alfonso, you mention in the letter that "experimental cooking is a little difficult" there "people are much more traditionalists". Then, I will say that they are not aware of what they miss by being traditionalist :)

Degree of Happiness in Amsterdam

It is nice to read in the letter that he was much more satisfied now with life in France than in Amsterdam:

"Don't get me wrong, Amsterdam was also a nice city. Now I understand that having a bad house and a not very-friendly work environment invluenced my staying in NL a lot" he says. Actually, the place they lived was a very old apartment with many missing things. And, both Alfonso and Kaustubh, never got a proper response to their complaints from the university or the housing company.

He also talks about how loose the work life is in France. "'to work' intended in french way" he says, "which means, arrive late; have nice time with colleagues; don't go home too late".

Alfonso; this, I would call Mediterranean style. We also have a very similar working style in state-based working places.

French

Alfonso, you say that your french gets better. I am sure! I am sure it is much better than the time you were trying to communicate with your Senegalese roommate during a dinner in my place :)

Also, if you "will have to turn the roulette again and will find a new position somewhere", I guess this will be a country with a different language (after Germany, Holland, and France) :). What about Turkey?:)

Hey, Maikel was here in Istanbul last week for few days; Kaustubh also joined us for 1 day. We have strolled through the city together, nice moments. You are also welcome!