Bieremadova

Life in Padova is full of work and play. This post is about work. I have been teaching a masters class with my colleague and host here, Monica Fedeli, at one of U of Padova’s extension campuses in Rovigo. It is about a 40-minute drive from Padova.  The title of the course is: Organizational Culture.Teaching and Learning Methods. We are teaching it in an accelerated format during the month of March, although got immediately derailed from our schedule when the first two days were cancelled due to snow. We have doubled up days and managed to keep almost to the original schedule. This has meant some long days with all-day teaching sessions. The course is being taught in English as the students desire to develop their proficiency. This has made for some interesting and challenging moments for all of us as we seek to understand content and meaning and clarify things when words don’t translate very well. And, although I am trying to learn Italian, it would be disastrous for me to try t...

16 March 2018 The blog has been quiet and I have been busy! I have been settling into life in Padova, launching the master’s course with Monica, applying for my residency permit, developing a book proposal with Monica, welcoming Mark to Italy, and visiting Florence and Siena with Mark (more on that in another post). The view from my flat--yes you can see mountains on a clear day! New cultures bring unique experiences and challenges. One of them has been attaining my Padova Residency Permit. Thank goodness my generous and patient host, Monica Fedeli, has been able to help me with this task. There are several documents required to complete this process and our first stop was the remarkably resourceful University of Padova office that helped initiate the application, which had to be finished within the first 8 days as a resident (no pressure). Completing it required getting documents from my landlord that took a few days, and then we were ready to "hurry up ...

3-4 March 2018 Monica and Ed are fantastic hosts! Although we had hoped to go hiking on Saturday, the weather was terrible. I managed to get out of the flat for a long walk  in the rain  through the Prato della Valla Market http://www.padovanet.it/informazione/mercati-padova#217e   before we hit the road for the MASI winery in the Verona region http://www.masi.it/eng where we had a tour, tasting, and dinner. Today I have a photobiography for your viewing pleasure: Another snowy day with no view of the mountains at the MASI winery in Verona, Italy.  Ed and Monica bundled up for the tour.  Wine tasting--our reward for braving the snowy drive and cold tour of the unheated winery premises. Dinner was divine with a traditional dish, Amarone Risotto, paired with a wonderful Amarone wine (the one on the right).  Although I forgot to take a photo, here is one similar to ...