Where are you working from?

@Gabi Amaral - it’s downright tropical here in Ottawa right now.. I am still board shorts, flip flops and coffee t-shirts! 

@Paulo - I think we are all looking forward to this winter break. I took advantage of a break between tasks to catch a little rest outside this afternoon 

working on my tan… 

HAHAHAHA @john.desborough meanwhile in Canada indeed! Minus temperatures...oh my god, this is the only thing I don't miss about Canada! The folks in Australia must be going to the beach at the moment!  @belinda_long @TFJunkie @Kosta 

Here in Porto it's fine, right now, it's 14 C! Pretty good for the Winter! Getting excited for the festivities! 

@Liz - looks great and you did it right - had other people cook for you! lol.. 

yeah, that does look like me .. a lot .. or it did lol.. greyer hair now… 

maybe i will try for a recreation of that this afternoon.. lol

NOT!

cheers everyone!

Oooh @Liz, I'm happy it's sunny in Rome now! I did have a lot of wine in the last days but I completely forgot to take photos! Everything is closed here with the restrictions so I'm only staying at home, eating, watching movies and that's pretty much it! Can't complain because I'm having a lot of fun with my family! 
I'll head to Lisbon tonight and I'll make sure to take some photos of NYE to share over here. 

@Michaela Love the theme "Cats" and the Christmas tree is also amazing! Did you have a nice Christmas? What are the foods you usually eat on this period? This question is to you as well, @john.desborough and @belinda_long! I'm always curious about food! 

Hiii @Liz! I watched "Don't look up" as well and although I appreciate the message, I didn't like it! It's weird! Thing to remember: Don't trust movies with a lot of famous actors, they're always weird/bad! 

Oh, I watched "Encanto" these days and I looooove it! It's about the family Madrigal from Colombia. Super cute! I also watched "Cruella" with Emma Stone and it was nice but still not my favorite! Hehehe.

Well, if the weather is bad, at least you're in Italy so you can always eat amazing pasta!  Loooove amatriciana sauce! And how are your plans for NYE? Anything interesting going on? Btw and how are the restrictions in Rome? 

@Gabi Amaral @Liz - Encanto has been watched 6 no 7 times in the last 3 days as part of the “daddy, come here and watch with me” marathon. 

Raya and the Last Dragon was also on the list, as well as Over the Moon, Coco,  most of the old Disney catalogue.. 

NYE - snowshoeing in the evening with the ladies, hot chocolate and gingerbread cookies, then after the rest of the house is asleep by 11, i will be able to watch the festivities and drink a nice quiet glass of whisky. quietly.. lol.. (that’s we old folks do… lol)

Hey Community! I'm very excited for 2022 and I already have some ideas of places I want to visit this year! So, hopefully this thread will be very active (hopefully, will be working from a lot of different places!). 

I have some countries on my list such as: Brazil, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Greece, Australia (my sister who lives there is pregnant so I'll be an auntie! Need to plan my visit to meet my nephew!). What about you? Any ideas of where to travel this year? @Liz @john.desborough @Paulo @Michaela @belinda_long @Olgasolo @TFJunkie   

@Gabi Amaral @Liz - welcome back to the working world lol

Snow: nope.. didn’t get it over the weekend. They were calling for 10cm last night but it seemed to go around us .. i was awake at 3 am and watching the stars in a clear cold sky. Hopefully some more snow this week but it is just showing flurries so far. sigh

Travel: hah! At this point, I would like to be able to travel 2 hours away to Montreal to visit the spawn lol. Will likely be another quiet, stay-put first 6 months of the year - also hamstrung by school year lol. Plans right now are to visit the Rockies with Mikaela this summer and see a little more of Canada.. 

But I am trying to plan a sneak-away on my own to Barcelona in the fall… 

Passing by to tell you all that I'm back in Barcelona! Cold but sunny but I'll be home most of the times these next weeks! It seems everyone in the world got covid so I want to make sure to be safe! 

Wishing you all a great weekend! 

@Gabi Amaral - um.. well.. er…. i travel from the office on the lower floor to the dining room table to sit beside my daughter during online kindergarten.. and back again.. does that count??

We are back on/still in restricted travel motions due to omicron. but that should resolve itself in a year or two. 

lol

also the joys of having a soon to be 6 yr old - tied to school year (mostly) for the next millenium

Hahaha ofc that counts, @john.desborough!  Oh, yes, restriction are back! Btw, have you got the booster shot?

​​​Ah @Paulo, I understand. But I thought you had the Japanese citizenship! How does it work to get it by naturalization?  
 

@Gabi Amaral Nope! I have the Permanent Residence Visa, but not the citizenship. Naturalization in pretty difficult, as you need to be proficient in reading/writing Japanese characters along with a long list of requisite. That would not be a problem for me now, but if you weigh all the work to get the citizenship against the benefits, it’s not worth the effort.

@Liz It took me 2 years to learn the basics, and another 5 years to become fluent at a native level. However, the reading/writing is a never ending learning process. Now I can read/write about 4,000 characters, which is about the same a college student would learn, but you are never really done when it comes to learn the Japanese characters.

Looking forward to the oysters photos!