Perfect life: practice run!

Buondì.

Yesterday, I taught my last English class to Italian adults. Ever! One of whom bought me cakes from the finest pasticceria in the city, by way of thanks.

I don’t eat cakes, because I prefer my excess calories in liquid form, but my wife was pleased.

Then, late last night, today’s individual lesson got cancelled at the last minute.

So all that remains of my 30+ year career is tomorrow – a class of high school students, a break for a cup of tea and to check emails, then a small group of 7-9 year olds.

And I’ll be done!

It’s very exciting. I’ve been practising saying ‘Sorry, but I’ve quit!’

Today, now having nothing planned except this article, and boring stuff for the accountant, I thought I’d start putting into place a few provisional elements of my coming ‘perfect life’.

I expect it to include time to do things, a chance to choose what happens in my day, instead of working to someone else’s schedule, an obligatory after-lunch siesta (I’ve been practising), and hey, maybe even reading the newspapers?

Plus the freezer door won’t close any longer because of a buildup of ice (I suspect Roomie, who has learnt where the icecreams are kept but not to close the freezer door after exploring).

Also, we’re out of bread for my wife’s breakfast (the cakes are almost finished), so I need to put the bread machine on. It’ll be good to use up some of our pandemic stocks of wholemeal flour and dried yeast…

Principal no. 1 for my post-teaching routine is to NOT DO TOO MUCH!

The idea is to ensure there’s enough time to get bored, and so to begin doing all the things I’ve missed out on over the years – covering small children with kisses, reading books, drinking good wine in chic bars, and so on.

This morning, then, instead of starting one of the many exciting projects that have been popping into my head, I thought, hey, hold your horses Papà Daniel, don’t fill the day with stuff to do! Why not go buy a newspaper, instead?

So, throwing productivity to the wind, and while waiting for the iceberg to melt and flood the kitchen floor, I ambled around the corner, feeling for all the world like someone on holiday, and bought a copy of Domani (Tomorrow), for the princely sum of one euro fifty cents.

I’m assuming Italian newspapers are not available where you live, but if you take a look at the RaiNews.it site, which surely is, they have a handy little widget each day showing the front pages of the national press.

When Roomie refuses to wake up of a morning, I often flip through it, to see what Italians have been arguing about now.

Hence my choice of Domani, which I was unfamiliar with, and had an article about Turkey’s president that sparked my interest.

Use the handy little widget to pick a newspaper that you’d like to take a closer look at, then type the title into your usual search engine – that should turn up the newspaper’s website. If you’re using a smartphone or infernal iPad, there’s often an app in the app store, too.

N.b. Italian newspaper digital subscriptions, in my opinion, are way over-priced, and the websites usually have firewalls, so don’t expect too much. I’ve always found the RaiNews.it site, which is free, to be more than good enough to find out what’s happening.

But that’s up to you. I’ve paid for subscriptions to French and Spanish national newspaper apps (and am determined to get back to reading them, starting TODAY). Even having material you don’t always get around to using is way, way better than doing nothing at all.

Also, that feeling of something you’ve paid for going to waste can be very motivating…

A venerdì, allora.

P.S.

Not (yet) up to reading Italian newspaper articles?

Then you should read/listen to the thrice-weekly bulletins of ‘easy’ Italian news, which are delivered FOR FREE to your email inbox, each Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

They’re put together, by our team of cake-eaters, precisely for learners who want to transition from not reading/listening to Italian at all, to the point at which they have the confidence to begin with authentic materials.

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P.P.S.

And here’s a quick reminder about this week’s HALF-PRICE ‘eBook of the Week’, Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto, which is not free, but will set you back less than the price of a beer in a bar.

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The unnamed protagonist, a senior police officer and head of the homicide squad, murders his lover but then immediately sets out to leave as many clues as possible…

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Buy Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto, just £3.99! | Free Sample Chapter (.pdf) | Browse movie ebooks, page 1 | Browse movie ebooks, page 2 | Catalog

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