Thursday, December 6, 2012

A Brazilian Traveller

 - living in Milano



Ornella is a Brazilian girl/yound woman who travels and smiles a lot. She currently has her basis in Milan. Not only does she love travelling, but she makes it a way of living. She shares impressions and images she gathers, in OriginalMileS travelling website, together with her mother and sister 
(in Brazilian).




Name:            Ornella Maggi
Age:               23
From:             Sao Paolo, Brazil
To:                 Milan, Italy
Initially for:      Erasmus
Currently for:  Bachelor Studies
Studies Field:  Communication &         
                                Marketing

Duomo, Milano
  1.  Your relation with Milan in climax.
    "Loved it since the beginning. As I already knew the city and the language it was easy to get adapted, but it's different when you are a tourist and when you are a citizen of a new place for you".
  2. The University and what you think is special about its function.
    "The University I graduated in Italy (IULM) actually didn't drive me crazy. What made me stay three and half years in Milan was the curiosity for the unknown and the adventure of living alone with no parents, where I learned a lot, in terms of personality and lifestyle".

  3. People in Milan in 3 words

    "In-a-hurry"


    Tasca

  4. Your favourite habit in the city.
    "The famous aperitivo time (normally from 6 to 9pm places usually serve a drink with some finger food or buffet) and walking around".


  5. The best place to go out.
    "Tasca, in Corso di Porta Ticinese, near to Colonne di San Lorenzo".

  6. The song linked to your life in Milan.
     "There are different songs for different periods of my life in Milan. I'd say:
                                        Sky and sand,   I follow you,
                        The hotel costes compilation,
                                       Drive by,     A fuego lento
    Park in Milan

                         Coming home,  Selfish love"

  7. The taste.
    "All kind of pasta"

  8. The reason you could stay for years and the reason you could not.
    "Why I could:   Freedom
    Why I could not: Family"

  9. What about the OriginalMiles website?
    "OriginalMiles is an idea that came up to me and my sister after 2 years living together in Milan. We would always look up for nice and cool places to go around the world, specially Europe and Italy and we would get business cards everywhere. These business cards ended up somewhere and we never did anything about it.       Then people (mostly friends) started asking us what to do, where to go, where to stay and we would write them e-mails.      At a certain point we decided to put it all up in one place: and this is the beginning of OriginalMileS".
    www.originalmiles.net
                     
    New York

  10. Your favourite city in the world.
    "New 
    York"


















    Matera


  11. The most impressive city you have visited. 
    "Matera, in Basilicata, south of Italy.
    Known as city of the rocks, breathtaking".

  12. An ideal city for going with friends.
    "In the summer: Mykonos or St. Tropez
    In the winter: Cortina D'Ampezzo
    All year long: Paris" 

  13. Pizza Italiana
       An ideal city for visiting as a couple.
    "Toscana, Italy"

  14.  Your favourite couisine.


    "Italian, definitely". 



  15. What is unique for you about Sao Paolo.
     "Friends and family. The city where you're born and grew up will always be your home. And at some point, you need to go back. These things will never change".

  16. Cortina D'Ampezzo
    What would make you stay in a city permanently.
    "Love".

  17. Moments of your journeys that remain always alive in your memory.
    "The thousands aperitivos with  friends in tasca
    The weekends in Cortina 
    Easter with Jachi's family
    The nights out at my place
    The graduation party
    The day I met Cami (my best italian friend) in University".





    18.  The most important thing you have gained as a traveller.
    "Knowledge and experience. they will be with me wherever I go".









    [Photos by Ornella, #OriginalMileS]

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Studying Music in Salzburg

Nefeli Mousoura. Piano Soloist.



Some people are just born to do or to become something specific. Like there is no other way than this. Nefeli carries the harmonies of music in her blood as if her veins are pentagrams.
                         Starting playing the piano from a very early age, she is now a soloist. Studying and performing classical music in the city of Mozart.





Age:   24
From: Piraeus, Greece
To :    Salzburg, Austria
For:    Bachelor of Piano 
       (concert pianist major)
     at the University “Mozarteum






1.      What makes you sure that the direction you followed in your life is your deepest desire?
"The feeling that I couldn’t live without it".

2.      Do you think that you were influenced by the musical background of your family?

"My  mom is a music-lover, and she was the one who introduced me to the classical music world, so I think yes, the family background was decisive".

 
3.      Your favourite artist.
"Maria Callas".


4. The most inspiring era of time.
"19th  century, I love romanticism! And of course, the greatest inspiration for me is always ancient Greece. Whatever it is, I always go back to this time of history".

5. What are the qualifications to enter your current school?  
   "A candidate needs to acquire already high level of piano performance, and one gets admitted after very demanding auditions…"



Salzburg
6. What is special about studying music in Austria
    "Its a really special feeling to study and live in a city where classical music was born. Here you understand so much the classical era of music, it’s the city itself, the buildings , the tradition, it’s the atmosphere, that inspires you so much, the  amazing feeling that you walk in the same streets, you see the same views, as Mozart did".


7. Your furtherst dream. 
   "To be able to transmitt  true feelings through my music,  to be able to create transcandental moments of  dreaming and true emotion. To be able to make just a bit more beautiful the life even of one person. Through Music".


8. What is missing form Austria?
 "Craziness  (but thank God musicians have more than enough!)".

9. The best thing to do with company in Salzburg
         "Making music!"


10. The best thing to do alone. 
      "Playing music, walking in the nature"





11. The people of Salzburg
       "Friendly and helpful".


 
12. The song linked to your life in this city.
"Music of Mozart".

13. The taste.
     "Chocolate!"


14. Your top moment of being a piano soloist. 
      "Every concert is different, and therefore a unique experience".



15. What you will keep forever.  
     "Memories full of emotions. Knowledge and wisdom that I got studing in this university and living in this city".

Mozarteum University






Sunday, October 14, 2012

Living in London


Imperial College master-student

<<Standing at the intersection between humanitites and science"



  Mark is simple and direct. Just like his answers. Knowing him personally, I could also say critical and “outright”. He lives in Camden Town, London, as a master-student. He has some impressive ideas that lie among technology, finance and culture. He lets his ambitions fly high, whereas he holds his feet  firmly on the ground.






Name:   Mark (Markos)
Age:     23
From:   Athens 
To:       London
For:     1. MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Imperial               
           2. MSc in Computing Science, Imperial.




1. Favourite area.
          "Parliament hill"

2. The best thing to do with company.
             "sit home, chill, talk"        
                   
3. The best thing to do alone in the city.
            "Starbucks - wi-fi - looking around ".     
  
4. What do you see from your window?
           "The street opposite to my entrance"

         5. The best thing about the education you get.
                              "The name".

Imperial College



6. Is there an “Imperial attitude”?
     "Quite the opposite. There’s nothing Imperial. It’s a geeky engineering school where people are usually proud  to be there but modest".

7. The architecture of the city.
           "Fancy nonsense most of the times".
Bagels

8. The song linked to your life in London.
            "You know my name – Chris cornell"

9. The taste linked to your life in London.
                "Bagels".

10. 3 to 5 words for people in London.
          "Cold but open-minded, boring sometimes".


11. 3 to 5 words for yourself living in London. 
                  "Productive, creative, often miserable..."


12. The hardest thing to get used to. 
            "Tube closes at 12. Give me a break".

13. Something that is just a rumor about London. 
            “ Full of culture “. People have no idea of real culture.

14. Something that you will keep forever.
            "The hard times and the effort. Being self- disciplined.









Thursday, October 4, 2012

Editorial - The idea



     The youth of our time is travelling around the world, mixing nationalities, cities and addresses. There are young people who do something out there. Or in here. Around us. There are young people who start something.  Who continue something. Who chase something. Who experience or risk following other ways. Who transform, change, uncover, reveal, reconsider, build, create, unravel...
    All this is a fiery core, a wave of evolution that keeps inflating. If that “wave” is this generation of people and ideas, then I am trying to “isolate” and highlight some of its drops. Starting from my socializing, associating circle.


                                                                                    


                                                  Gina

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Restart in Amsterdam


Master in the Netherlands



               Despina is a sweet person, who knows to try hard, to start responsibly from zero and be motivating  for friends and people around her. She decided to change her life, choosing Amsterdam for studies. So, for the first time in her life, she bought a one-way ticket.









Name:   Despina Christodoulou           
Age:      24
From:    Piraeus, Greece
To:       Amsterdam         
For:      Master in Human Resources & Internship














1.      Why Amsterdam?


"For studies. For the high educational level and the cheap tuition fees. Amsterdam is definitely a mosaic of nationalities. I love it".












2.      The best thing to do with company.

Picnic in the parks …when the weather is sunny… Amsterdam is a green city and has lovely parks like Vondel park or Amsterdamse Bos".





3.      The best thing to do alone in the city.

"Cycling and running at the parks!!!!"


4.      What do you see from your window?

“A canal, ducks and business buildings.”



5.      What did you find impressive about the courses in the University of Amsterdam.

“Interesting topics I have never done before like Diversity in Organizations or Cross Cultural Management.”



6.      The song linked to your life in Amsterdam.

Lost in Amsterdam-  Pavlov Stelar. It reminds me of my fist days in this city…”




7.      A taste you will remember.

  “Cheese pesto !




8.     A new habbit that you loved.

smoking in the rain


     9. 3 to 5 words for Amsterdam.

“Picturesque, wooden, humid, multicultural, the area of Jordaan”





10.      Yourself living in Amsterdam.

            “active, evolving



11.  Something that you will you keep for ever.

the change that I made in my life in this city”














Tuesday, August 28, 2012

ERASMUS in UTRECHT





    I was glad to meet Katerina in Utrecht. It is impressive how she sees everything as a discovery and a new experience. She seems to deeply understand and feel the substance of the motto "carpe diem". 



Name: Katerina 
Age:   23
From: Heraklion, Crete, Greece
To:      Utrecht, Netherlands                         Area: deUithof
For:    5 great months

 

  1. Why Utrecht?

I’ve always wanted to live for a while in the Netherlands, because when I was 13 I’ve visited Amsterdam which I really liked. And I've heard great comments from friends been in Utrecht before... 

  2. The best thing to do with company.

Cycling, chatting, drinking beer, laying on grass or having BBQs (whenever the weather is ok). 
There is always something new and exciting happening when being around interesting people J

  
3. The best thing to do alone in the city.

Wandering around. Cycling in the narrow streets.


4. What do you see from your window?

Trees and grasslands with small canals crossing them. As the days go by you can watch the seasonal changes of Nature’s colors.

5. What do you find impressive about the courses in the University of Utrecht.

A totally different philosophy of what we are used in Greece.
[Stroopwafel]


6. The/a song linked to your life in Utrecht.

Little talks – By Monsters and Men


7. A taste you will remember.

Stroopwafel, speculoos spread and all different kinds of cheese to which I was addicted. 


8. 3 to 5 things that became your favourite routine in Utrecht.

Using the bicycle to go everywhere no matter the distance or the weather conditions, meeting new people every single day, going to the lab (sometimes tiring but still one of my favourite routine), going to the flee market in the city center every Saturday...

 
9. 3 to 5 words for Utrecht.

Cute, friendly, multicultural, students & bicycles. 


10. 3 to 5 words for you living in Utrecht.

More open-minded, happy, excited, calm.


11. Something that you will take with you.

A new way of thinking and addresses/phone numbers of people that I will never forget.


 

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

God save the Queen's Parties




April, the 30th, 2012. Queen's Day. After Queen's Night. In Amsterdam.
















From Utrecht, we took the train to Amsterdam Zuid. Before getting on the train, before arriving at the train station, you could tell that today is a bright celebration. Queen’s day. Orange day. Believing in monarchy or not, it is a celebration. People just need opportunities to gather and celebrate after all… From how I felt it, it is not that much the Queen they celebrate. It is togetherness.




Almost everyone was dressed in orange. Orange-painted faces, painted little Dutch flags on chicks, girls with orange tights, orange T-shirts and orange mood…


In the market someone could find not exactly but he wanted, but things he would never thought of buying before… Among many precious, old, useful or not things, kids were selling home-made cup cakes, lemonades, orange-juices… The independence of the kids in this country is exceptional. You could admire the creativity and courage of little kids that had set their own performance in small places around the Vondelpark. A little girl dressed traditionally Spanish, was dancing flamenco. Some children were playing the violin. Each one alone. Two girls with afro-hair were dancing hip hop with a little stereo playing music. Some little girls had set up a puppet house. Little boys break-dancing. Trampolines. Drawings. Kid’s performances out in the park… I was thinking about all those children who don’t even dare to leave their mother’s hand…





Adults were like kids too. Same enthusiasm. Large companies sitting on the grass, playing various musical instruments, drinking, eating, laughing, dancing. An old couple was sitting next to each other smiling at the people passing. So adorably tender. Many couldn’t resist taking picture of them. People in balconies. People having lunch and playing music right out of their house door, in the street. Balloons.


Crossing the Vondelpark, towards the city center, there were parties all over. Improvised. On every bridge of the canals. In narrow or wide streets. On boats. Different musics popping up in every turn. Feeling lost in the crowd, the rhythms and the city was success. It was like time didn’t matter for a day. Nor ethnicity, age, maps, looks, work, stress, worries, debts, deadlines, exams… That’s togetherness.