From Milan

It's now in the midst of summer and how are you, everyone? My house which is about 30 minutes away by car from Milan city is located in a park surrounded by forest. In front of the house, there is a pedestrian path and cars are not allowed to go in. At weekends and holidays, families come for a walk and in the morning and at night, I often see people jogging. Because there is a horse riding club nearby, you can also see horses walking by there. This environment, quiet and fresh air, always makes me relaxed.

It is scenery seen ahead of my home. In this stroll road, the car is off-limits.

The door of my home is seen.

At our big garden, squirrels, birds and recently a family of rabbits come to play. Since I don't have a driver's license, I usually ride a bicycle to go through the forest to town for shopping. During the day, the temperature goes up over 30 degrees but the house which has a stone floor and high ceiling is very cool and without air conditioner, it is pleasant.

Bicycle that I love

Usually, when I stay at home, I write reports and teach Go on the internet so I mainly work with a computer. Also, students come to study Go so I am quite busy. Recently, my computer broke down so for this opportunity, I bought a big screen computer, 21 inches. It is more comfortable to do internet games and I love it.

My office

Thanks to the internet and computers, it is really a convenient time. Even in Italy, I can read Japanese newspapers every day on the internet and watch live games of professionals. If I use the internet phone, it is free to call everywhere in the world and reports and photos can be sent everywhere in an instant. But actually, I'm not good with machines so I always leave troublesome work to Ivan to do. I'm asked often who does the housework. If I tell you the truth, I hope Ivan does everything because he is good at cooking, cleaning up, ironing and everything compared to me but if Ivan does everything, my cooking wouldn't improve so I learn how to cook from Ivan and I think my cooking is much better. Because the start line was so low, I am thankfull that when I cook delicious dishes, he praises me. By the way, I love Italian meals but Ivan loves Japanese and he is happy if there is rice and miso soup, every day. Sometimes, we cook what we want to eat so what we have on our dining table looks strange. Cleaning houses in Italy is also different from Japan because of the different structure of house and I didn't know the knack of it at all. When I do it wrong, I make it worse and I often break things so Ivan cleans up in silence. I'm not speaking amorously of him but I think that is his logic that it's faster if he does it without complaining.

manma & pietro

At our house, there are 3 families, Mamma (mother in Italian), Ivan's sister and us. Since Ivan's father died more than 35 years ago, Mamma is a hard worker, who brought up her children by herself. And still, she works without rest the whole year doing needlework, making jam, growing vegetables and taking care of our big garden. Also, at the beginning, when I couldn't speak Italian, Mamma who only speaks Italian understood me the most. I love her who is strong and kind. At the weekend, we always gather at Mamma's house to have lunch together. Of course, the menu is always homemade Italian and that is my favorite time. 2 years ago, she got remarried to Pietro who had been her partner for 10 years and the number of our family increased. Since then, `Mamma's menu has changed' says Ivan with a bit of dissatisfaction but I think that she is more and more pretty and has brightened up since then.

Our big garden. The sweet herbs such as the tomato, the cucumber, Ingen, basil, and oregano are grown.

Our furniture is all things that were there before and Ivan's. Except from clothes, I have hardly anything but I have a lot of things that I was given as memory and souvenirs when I was away and each of them are my treasure. The alarm clock which wakes me up, in a fretful mood, every morning is one of my precious things. 9 years ago, when I left Japan, people from Nagoya, my hometown, gave it to me. On the alarm clock, called Tamago watch, which was made after Tamagocchi which was popular at that time, everyone signed and wrote `Wake up', `Good luck' and so on. It is dropped by me many times so it has cracks like eggs but it cannot be replaced.

Tamago watch

Go T-shirts which are given to me from various places are also my treasure. There are may be about 100 of them. In summer, I wear them in rotation. They are cool and comfortable and above all, they advertise Go so they are a two-birds-with-one-stone solution. Ivan as an Italian who is particular about fashion tells me `Even though they are Go T-shirts, throw away the old ones', but I can't do so anyhow. Besides, there are unique Go goods respectively in Europe and when I see them I buy to collect. There are 9X9 Go boards with cute little legs from Germany. It is a set with a Go book in a little box so it's good for Christmas presents, isn't it!

9X9 Go boards with cute little legs from Germany

The Go bowl that I use is made in Lithuania. It, the mosaic work like a puzzle, has weight and I can't pick it up by one hand and the lid is difficult to close and once I close it, it is hard to open but I like it because it has gentleness and warmth.

The Go bowl made in Lithuania

And the most important thing is my family. I think that I can be as I am because of Ivan and the family who watch and support me, busily running around freely. I feel quite embarrassed to say to them face to face but I thank them a lot in my heart every day. It will be hotter and hotter from now on so please take care of yourself, everyone. See you soon!

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