My last (Satur)day on the throne

I am filled with nostalgia. I am a sentimental man today. An era is over. An assignment is finished. An identity is lost.

I spent most of the day at campus with my books. I had to reward myself every other hour with short breaks so that I could lie in the sun a few minutes. The weather has been absolutely amazing and I can't believe that it's happening in Sweden of all places. Damn, we haven't even entered June yet.

Anyway, I came to an understanding today, I am certainly going to miss all of this. The environment, the pressure, the heat, the conflicts (which made me stronger and more skillful) and naturally, the friends I made. I had a hard time getting up in the mornings earlier this year, but it's important to go through those passages as well, just to understand and be able to sense how beautiful life can be sometimes.

Nothing beats waking up as a newly crowned champion on a Monday morning

Reporter: How are you feeling?
- I have a funny, strange feeling.
Reporter: What is it?
- I think I am happy.

Christian Vieri

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It's been a typical Monday. You know, when it's difficult to step out of the bed in the morning, it feels uninspiring to leave the flat. It feels like there's a lifetime between now and the weekend.
But this morning I actually woke up with a fat smile on my face. The victory from yesterday meant a lot to me. It's been a long season and I've had to step up for my team when evil minds attacked the superiority of Internazionale, anno 2007/2008.

POW! It's like a punch in the face for all Milanisti, Romanisti, Laziali and Juventini.

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My favorite Iranian club Persepolis were also crowned champions the other day. They recruited the succesful former South Korean assistant manager Afshin Ghotbi before this season and he brought the cup back to Azadi after six years of drought. Next year we'll fight in the AFC Champions League and hopefully make it to the FIFA World Club Championship where the future UEFA Champions League champions (wow what a strange sentence) will participate. We'll know if it will be Manchester United or Chelsea on Wednesday night.

My only question is: what the hell is the mullah doing in Azadi stadium?

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It's less than two weeks left of my assignment now. I am writing a full report of my year and this (if I keep up as I currently am) ten-pages long report will be handed to my successor. I can't believe how one year just disappeared. Six months ago I was dreaming for an exit, a way out of the never ending stress and the conflicts I had to encounter during my work. It's no secret that I have had to fight for my opinions and my methods. I've had to fight for my principles, my way of doing things. I've had to step up and strike at the practice of the Jante law (see posts from late 2007 and early 2008). It feels sad to leave some of my friends behind, because we're all heading in different directions. The social aspects were the highlights of this trip, and of course, the huge amount of knowledge and experience that I've snapped up during this time.
I have a seminar tomorrow and I am not prepared for it. Later on I am going to meet with corporate people from one of the student association's main partners, one of Sweden's (if not northern Europe's) largest banks. An interesting encounter and hopefully also with possibilities to open doors in the future...

Campioni d'Italia 2007/2008, siamo noi!!

We are the champions! WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS. Last year's Scudetto was not as delightful as this one. We won when we really needed to, and the phenomenon, Ibra, stepped up and single handedly clinched the title for us. I won't deny that I had given up. Roma was ahead with 1-0 after only eight minutes and Inter was struggling in Parma in terrible conditions. I couldn't watch the game. I tried to stream it, I tried to find any kind of broadcast, without really caring if it was radio, TV, in Chinese or muted. I just wanted to follow my team.

It's a feeling of joy, a feeling of relief. It's been a loooong season and now it's finally over. I don't have to worry anymore about Ibra's absence. I don't need to worry about Cambiasso's injury. I don't need to worry about Roma, because here we are, champions of Italy!

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It's Sunday evening and it's been a rainy day. Monday morning is approaching and it feels bad. Fortunately I have no classes tomorrow but I have a lot of work to do anyway. I am slowly checking out and mentally I am already somewhere else...

Touched

I attended my last U9 conference yesterday. The JSA were the hosts this time, and I got the chance to see the beautiful city of Jönköping once again.

The meeting itself was like usual. The only difference was that we were four (out of 9) that are leaving the network as our assignments in our student boards are ending in a few weeks time. It was a sad feeling, and when I look back on my year within the U9 network I only see good things.

It began in Växjö, May 2007. A city in southern Sweden. It was my first conference and a place where I met some wonderful people. Växjö will always be a special place for me, despite their irritating accent.

It went on in the fall with Stockholm (nothing new here, this is usually what I call "home"), Umeå (a cold place in the north) and Uppsala (this is where I spent five years of my life). After the Christmas break we attended a conference in another southern Swedish city, Lund (probably the wildest conference and the wildest afterparty!). This place is known for its tradition and well known university. I even got the chance to arrange one of these conferences about a month ago, and the city of Linköping was unveiled for some of the attendants.

The last stop of this furiosly running train was Jönköping, and this was the end of the road. It was sad and it was emotional to say "good bye" to some of the people I've got to know over the last year. I am pretty sure that I might have seen some of them for the last time as they are leaving the academic world for another world. A cold and dark world called the real world. We are all heading in different directions, and personally I am probably leaving Sweden for a while.

I have some friends from "back home" who know reside in Jönköping, and I had the great luck to see them during my 12-hour visit. I was actually going to stay in Jönköping over the night, but an exam today stopped me from that.

Anyway, I'd like to thank you guys from "back home" for taking the time to come and see me during my short visit. It made me very glad to see you, and I know that you all have been busy with your own studies and lives. I am looking forward to see you "back home" again in a few weeks!

Thanks for reading.

Finally he is back.

Nerazzurri visits the Pope

Inter's official homepage published some interesting images yesterday. The Inter squad was in Rome because of the Coppa Italia fixture against Lazio last night, and the squad paid a visit to the Vatican and the Pope. PR stunt or not, it was a rare situation. I personally don't think that religion should be mixed up with other things. Religion is something exclusive and personal, and it should stay that way. In other words, save me from religion/politics and religion/sports mixtures.

Inter academy in Abu Dhabi - we are selling our souls

The Arabs are rich and we want their money.


Inter inaugurated its first academy outside Italy earlier today in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Where are we going? How far are we willing to go for the $$$? When did UAE ever provide the world with a decent footballer? This is a joke.