British Expats in Italy!

Late last year I joined a forum especially for British Expats from all over the world. The site is split into sub-forums by continent and then again by country. In Europe the most popular forum is for Spain and in the rest of the world, Australia and New Zealand.

It's been more like a chat room on there this week, with posts literally coming seconds after each other. For some reason everybody was really chatty! Everything from kids TV to sex was up for discussion - sometimes becoming lively as you can imagine!

The difference with going onto a forum solely for Brits is that you all know the country you came from, you know the cultural references, you know how to compare the different school systems, it goes on! When you have a mixed forum, sometimes references go completely over my head! It's also a really fun forum! Swearing is allowed and, as long as it doesn't go too far, you can have a good rant or even have a prod at another poster - someone will jump to their defence anyway or turn it into a joke, so it doesn't matter!

One thread this week got onto all the old sweets you used to be able to buy in the UK - mojo's, pear drops, shoelaces and stuff. Another one got into all the old kids shows we used to watch, well those of us of 40+ anyway! Dr. Who (before he was trendy!) Rainbow, Down By The River Bank, Bagpuss and Mr. Ben! Remember any of them?

Anyway if I've piqued your interest and you are a Brit, or just want to see how we Brits think, the address is www.britishexpats.com/forum then either have a look around or go on over the Italy forum.

linkin park

I just love these guys! Big family favourite.

Great for singing in the shower or in nice echoey Italian houses!!

Happy 13th to Alexander!

Luckily for him I've only got fairly recent photo's of him on my laptop - it will be Antonia who get the baby photo's thrown in too! Well today he is 13 and in the UK. Never thought I would miss one of his childhood birthdays, and his 13th to boot, but that's the way it is. Happy Birthday babe! Hope you have a great day!

Easter Holidays

I haven't posted for a while as my husband and my son, Alexander, have both been here. Antonia celebrated her 4th birthday - I'll post photo's directly to her blog- and we finally had a week's ski-ing holiday up in Courmayeur at the foot of Monte Bianco.

It's been busy for other reasons too. Alex has his exams at the beginning of May. If he passes he will be going to Winchester College in September, if not, he'll be back here at the International School. His heart is set on Winchester. Imagine our dismay then, on receiving his latest report, in discovering that his teachers are concerned with his efforts in some areas. Consequently, what should have been a nice relaxing 4 weeks, with some school work thrown in for good measure, turned into a boot camp and us nearly not going away. When we did, the work came too! As concerned as I am, my heart goes out to him and I really hope that this is what he wants! So far every long holiday has been disrupted by something - I can't wait for the long summer holiday when he is between schools and we can really kick back!!

The view from our apartment balcony. It was very clean and new looking and I would recommend it as a place to stay. They were called "Appartamente Ancien Casino".
At the top of the ski lift.
The three skiers!
Going home.
Alexander won't be here for his 13th birthday next week, so we celebrated a week early. I'm going to stick something in the post to school too, and try and arrange a cake for school. Note the watch on his wrist, that was his pressie!