Isn't life strange? Just as I make a decision to go on to a 4 day week to concentrate more on music, commit myself to doing the singing Diploma this December (...ulp!), meet a load of great new friends at the Forum Concert, get embroiled in all sorts of other local singing ventures...

I get a call out of the blue inviting me to interview at a European research institute in north Italy

To cut a long story short, they liked me and after Christmas my man and I pack our bags for 2 years to live on the shores of Lake Maggiore. (i just can't find a smilie that conveys terrified gibbering interspersed with woopeee feelings about this).

So to those of you I met at the concert, I'll try to get along to the next one, but please forgive me if I don't...I'll stay in touch through the forums though there may be the odd long gap (as I go on crash course in Italian, for example).

At least it stops me worrying about the Diploma...

I think you need a combo of and probably! Wow! Good luck, and keep us up to date!

I'm really pleased for you. I hope it works out, and would love to hear you sing again at the next concert if you can make it. Good luck.

Wow have fun!

What a great opportunity! You must be over the moon. But so soon - we've only just met!!
Seriously - good luck with your preparations and let us know how it all goes.

Is that the remote sensing institute or something similar?

I knew someone who worked at a place by L. Maggiore - they lived in Sesto Calende (spelling may be off) juts outside Milan. I went to a wedding there once and remember thinking "what a fantastic place to live" and wondering if there were any jobs for pharmacologists!!!!

Well done!!!

Organise a concert there!!!

Maybe we can have the next forum concert in Lugano???

YAY!!!

Well in the home of bel canto, you can't go wrong surely!

Congratulations and best wishes.

Amber and I will practise while you're away so that we're ready for when you come back to sing with us!

Cheers

Katyjay

Wow, what an opportunity! Enjoy it, and keep us posted

David and I are so pleased for you, and hope that you have a fantastic time. It would be lovely to see you again before you shoot off, but having done the expat thing ourselves a couple of times, I know just how frantic the weeks will be for you leading up to it.

So...... if we can just get an airline to sponsor us and give us free tickets, would you be up for organising a Forum Users Concert on the banks of Lake Maggiore?



Amber
x

Yes, a great opportunity - well done for getting the job. I can sympathise with your mixed feelings! I go along with the idea of you organising a forums concert there. Good luck with your new venture.

Thats a fantastic opportunity! Good luck.

Good luck!

Car Expert

Incredible! I hope that all your needs and wants come true. Good luck!

Thouston,

They'll probably put you up in the Foresteria for a year. Make sure you let the accommodation service know you're coming - in plenty of time! These apartments are 5 minutes from the JRC, well positioned for other activities and are great for people on short contracts and with small children.


Okay, the good news re. your music. The European school in Varese has an excellent music dept and this year, they've got permission to hold the ABRSM exams there as well as in Milano.

In Ispra, you are 45 mins from Switzerland, 2 hours from France and you have 4 airports, all within 2 hours drive. Skiing is approx 2 hours away, Milano 1 hour by train/car. Ispra is out in the 'sticks' so really good shops are at least 30-50 minutes drive. But you have the lake!

Italian lessons start again in January. The bad news is the system is as beaurocratic as ###### and you need to have your name down by mid-November.

Just by coincidence, we're getting together a list of people who play instrument + kids.

I've been here 4 years now and will gladly answer any questions. Obviously, on a public forum, I won't bore everyone with details.
If you want, you can email me and I'll give whatever info you need.

Ciao,
Steve

I'd just like to thank everybody for their good wishes and encouragement - especially to stevensfo for the practical advice. We're now going through the boring paperwork phase so not a lot will happen for a month or two.

...A Forums Concert on the shores of Lake Maggiore...? H'mm, we'll have to see...