Ah, Amsterdam. The jumble of bicycles everywhere you turn was marvelous. I love the organized chaos, the repeating lines of them all together. Trying to pick one bicycle, one focal point out of many, was a fun exercise. What do you think, did I succeed with this one?
The Lessons of Language and Culture
Living in another country is like walking in the fog. At times you have no idea where you are, at times you can make out shapes in the distance. At times, you can see what is right in front of you but you may not recognize anything else in the landscape.
Every time I think things are going well here in Italy, I am reminded again that culture and language is such an essential part of who you are and how you behave and react that it gets us into trouble.
Just for a moment, I would like you to pause and answer this question: What does the phrase “extremely tough” mean to you?
To me, it means it may be hard but is possible. It may be doable. We will have to work at it but could make it happen. So when we discussed a proposal at work and I got this answer, I thought that it would be difficult but was open to discussion.
To my Italian colleague, it meant no. It meant it was not possible to do, they would never agree to it, we were wasting our time. So it came out this week that he was extremely angry with me about the fact that I went forward with the proposal through formal channels at work, because he thought I was completey disregarding his feedback and intentionally causing delays. And I was frustrated when the formal channels completely, flat out rejected the proposal without discussion, feeling they had strung me along and were just delaying things. Both completely normal responses, given our understanding of the situation. And both completely wrong.
All because he said “extremely tough,” meaning “no” and I heard “maybe.”
The layers and layers of language and culture are all around us, are part of us. You don’t realize how fundamental they are, how much we operate on assumptions in every day life, until they are challenged. This is my cultural lesson for the week. Maybe you can learn from it too. Even in our home country, in our home language, we make assumptions all of the time about meaning and intention. Next time you are frustrated by a situation, check and validate your assumptions and look at it again. Those assumptions may be the problem.
Portals to Another World
Strange to go from such vibrant color recently to black and white, but this is where I go today. I like the idea of portals to another place. Doors and gates that are a threshold to something different. I often think about this view as I walk over to Parco di Monza and see this gate and the view through it. A portal to a place of peace and nature amidst the busy, crowded surroundings of Italian city life. Everything just feels different on the other side. Keep your eye out for these portals, you encounter them here or there, and they are special places.
Patterns
Everywhere there are patterns. In our behaviors, our preferences and in the world around us. This is one thing I’ve always loved about engineering, finding the patterns so that you can solve the problem.
This kind of brickwork is a very common European pattern. I love how the individual squares are used to create these arcs. This image is of Patrick and Brandon’s shadows on a street in Bolzano.
Love at the Sea
This heart art was found at an overlook of the Mediterranean sea, it Boccadassee (a little fishing village that is part of Genova). These little overlooks or benches in public parks are often places that young lovers will meet for a bit of privacy. It’s not really private exactly, but when so many people live in such close contact it’s all relative I guess. You will often find “love” graffiti in little spots like this.
Graffiti or Urban Art?
Occasionally we run across something on a building that is more art than graffiti. I wonder, was it intended to be there? Or did it just come out so cool that it became art and was left alone? This urban “heart” art is in Amsterdam. I love to convert these images to black and white except for the graffiti, it really makes it pop!