Student of the Month

Visto che non ho capito perché, ma si sono scordati di intervistarmi per questo giornaletto, l'ho fatto da solo rispondendo alle domande dello studente del mese.

Creative Voices (CV): Tell us a little bit about your job at CERN.
Adriana Telesca (AT): I work for the ALICE experiment in the DAQ team. I have been working on the storage system testing and monitoring and currently I am taking care of some developments concerning the data quality monitoring of the data acquisition process.
Paolo Franchini (PF): Faccio turni durante i quali catturo le formiche sotto dei bicchieri. La sera quando nessuno mi vede le libero fuori dalla finestra. Una volta ne avevo cinque sotto un bicchiere e altre quattro sotto un altro.

CV: Where are you from?
AT: I am from the south of Italy, a town called Lecce (like “milk” in Spanish and at the bottom of the heel of the “boot” (the shape of Italy), I always say this to make people understand where I come from)
PF: Ravenna. Quando però all'estero me lo chiedono rispondo Berlusconi, oppure Mandolino.

CV: What is your position at CERN and how did you end up here?
AT: I am a Marie Curie fellow. I got here because a friend working at CERN told me how great it was, I decided to give it a try and apply.
PF: Principalmente nel campo del computing, poi ritiro i vassoi al Ristorante 1. Un mio amico me ne parlava malissimo, allora abbiamo scommesso...

CV: Who won?
PF: Indovina...

CV: Tell us one thing you like about CERN (or Geneva) which your country doesn’t have.
AT: I like that CERN is a place where different cultures meet and the feeling of being in a place where things happen. As for Geneva, I like the orderliness and the way things work perfectly (which of course, and unfortunately, is not the case in my country).
PF: Anche a me diverte vedere persone di diversa cultura e nazionalità rifiutarsi stizziti di lavare il vetro della mia macchina.

CV: And now something that you dislike about CERN (or Geneva)…
AT: About CERN, I don’t like the fact that too many people go away too fast, this makes relationships more difficult to be deeply established. As for Geneva , I don’t like the individuality of people.
PF: La gente a volte non va abbastanza di fretta, e dopo averti chiesto 'come va?' rimane ad aspettare una risposta.

CV: How would you describe CERN in 3 words?
AT: Stimulating, innovative, great
PF: Supercalifragilistichespiralidoso.

CV: It's just one word, you have 2 words left.
PF: Pisolo e mammolo?

CV: What would you like to see more around CERN? (Ice-cream? Secret pathway? Basketball court? Rabbits? Etc etc…?)
AT: An ice-cream shop (Italian one, of course) would be a good idea, but how about a place where people can practice some sport during lunch time.
PF: Sono indeciso tra un sexy-car-wash e quei distributori di pallette di plastica con dentro la sorpresa che trovavi negli anni '80 all'uscita dei bar.

CV: Please, make a decision...
PF: Le pallette.

CV: Is CERN how you imagined it to be or were there any surprises?
AT: Having read “Angels and Daemons” before coming to CERN, I was imagining it to be a very formal place, completely new architecture and crazy scientists around. I am still convinced about the last thing but I have been surprised by how it can be informal and productive at the same time and how room for new ideas are given. No comments about the architecture though.
PF: Prima di arrivare credevo fosse un posto grigio con edifici in stile Chernobyl disperso in una bellissima nazione piena di verde, montagne e mucche, all'interno del quale la gente mangiasse leggendo manuali del pc o si costituisse in club domenicali dei giochi di società.

CV: What was your best memory during your time at CERN?
AT: There are more than one. The IEEE Real Time conference in Beijing, the celebration after the exam in the CERN School of computing and the first collisions in ALICE.
PF: Quella volta che ho trovato dentro la macchinetta degli snack all'ostello un pacchetto di noccioline che qualcuno si era dimenticato di prendere.

CV: If you can bring something with you from CERN back to your home country, what would it be?
AT: The plant in my office, the coffee breaks with my group, the magnetic cutlery of Restaurant 1 and its cous cous. Seriously, I will bring the consciousness that the world is full of different cultures and that we should all make an effort to understand everyone’s point of view and all the things that I have learnt.
PF: Quelle noccioline, ma sono finite subito subito. A lei avanza qualche nocciolina?
CV: Well, no, really sorry...

CV: Tell us something that you have done since your arrival at CERN which you have never done before.
AT: Having dinner with people coming from 5 different continents.
PF: Usare la doccia come bidet.

CV: Where do imagine yourself to be in ten years time?
AT: I never imagine myself in a precise place, but I think somewhere in Europe.
PF: Principalmente spero non dentro una bara o un'urna.

CV: What was your dream job when you were 5? What changed (or didn’t change)?
AT: I wanted to be a singer. Now I still would like to be a singer, but, since nobody discovered my precious singing skills yet, I restrict myself to singing under the shower and in karaokes.
PF: Volevo guardare ragazze che cantavano sotto la doccia travestito da saponetta. No scherzo, volevo fare il benzinaio. No scherzo, volevo lavorare al CERN, ovvio.

CV: Where do you want yourself to be in ten years time?
AT: I want to be in any place that makes me feel at home.
PF: Nello spazio, a fare il benzinaio.

CV: In your opinion, what is the best place on earth and why?
AT: In my opinion, a best place in the world doesn’t exist. A perfect place with perfect people in the perfect mood, this is what I think can exist.
PF: Penso la maison di Hugh Hefner.

CV: Which do you believe in – reason or intuition?
AT: I believe that intuition is the preliminary step towards reason.
PF: Gesù.

CV: What is your greatest fear?
AT: To loose the ability to think.
PF: Si anche io, ballare le pizziche.

CV: Complete this sentence: Winter in Geneva is …
AT: A relaxing time, spaced out by moments on the mountains and with friends, waiting for the amazing spring and summer …
PF: Beh, credo che sia anche per loro una parola inglese...