Ok, I realize this blog hasn't been the most active lately but I believe in quality and not quantity.
So, with this whole Casa Italia experience there was absolutely no way that it could run efficiently. Italy as a whole doesn't so why should one pocket in a foreign land be any different.
This Drama Diary is subtitled Part 1 because there is no way we're going to get through the rest of the month without a Part 2.
Here goes.
Today I picked up Alessandro the Enoteca Italiana rep. He had a very long flight day with several delays but was still very upbeat and excited about this experience. I took him from the airport to Casa Italia as he wanted to check in and meet the fellow who had arranged his accomodation for the next couple of weeks. His name was Stu.
We get to Casa Italia and it is chaos. I'm really not surprised by this. I've lived in Italy long enough to know how things work. Here's how Casa Italia is structured. The company Assistigroup is running the main show. Toni group is in charge of the restaurant and Enoteca Italiana the wine bar. While most of the other countries 'houses' are setting up in established restaurants and bars, Casa Italia is setting up in a community center. So they are essentially creating a restaurant and bar from scratch. So, this means, getting all the necessary permits. One of the first things I have to hear is that how ridiculous it is here and that being as Vancouver has invited the world, they should be a little more elastic with their rules. It wasn't this difficult in Beijing.
Really? Imagine that. The Chinese not following the rules. Nothing left to say on this subject.
So, after meeting various people and trying to figure out how this whole thing is going to work, along comes Stu.
Stu is about 25 and a realtor. He has forged an agreement to rent a 2 bedroom apartment to Assistigroup for the Toni Group for $11,000 for the month of February. He thinks he's renting to Casa Italia which as a corporation does not exist. This is also his own personal apartment that he's renting. And it's in North Vancouver. About an hour from the Casa Italia site on a good transit day. With a 6 block uphill walk from the sea-bus terminal. So for you non-Vancouverites, the people staying there would have to take the subway, then a boat, then walk a good 10 minutes uphill. All this after working until midnight. Good luck making the transit connections as Vancouver's transit does not run all night. Completely impractical.
In all fairness to Stu, and this is the only part he gets some fairness, he made this clear however, he's selling to someone from out-of-town who doesn't understand the city's logistics and who never took the time to see the property.
Ok. You now have background.
Stu arrived at Casa Italia to take Alessandro to the apartment (his apartment) where he is supposed to be staying during his time in Vancouver. Alessandro asked me to join him so we could go for dinner afterwards. With us was the lady from Toni Group who's staff was also supposed to be staying in this same apartment.
After a very interesting drive with Stu (he drives worse than Italians) we get to our destination. The apartment is lovely however it is completely inappropriate for their needs. Stu, sensing a problem, starts getting pissy. Well, pissy is being kind. He starts copping a major Tude. I pull him aside and start to explain the clients' concerns. Tude gets larger. I then tell him to get the Tude in check as it's not professional. Stu is now not listening to anything as the Tude has obviously impaired his hearing. He now starts behaving like the 25 year old spoiled brat that he is.
Well, it's all downhill from there. Stu, only has a verbal agreement with a rep from Assistigroup. He desperately wants someone to sign the contract but the person with us doesn't have the authorization to do so nor will she as the place does not meet their needs. Stu gets even more childlike. I am trying to get him to behave professionally and chill. But Stu just grabs the shovel and starts digging the hole that he will never be able to emerge from.
Like an episode of the Jersey Shore, Stu calls us names, and kicks us out of his apartment. Very dramatically by the way. I tell him that he is behaving unprofessionally and that he will not have success as a realtor if he doesn't change his behavior. I am told (by Stu) that he is already successful.
Right
So, down the hill we walk, to the seabus, then the skytrain to the Moda hotel where we found accomodation for poor Alessandro (who still has his suitcase in tow). Accomodations are still to be determined for the select Casa Italia staff but there was a 2 bedroom apartment available 2 blocks away from the Casa Italia site for $8,000 for the month. A bargain compared to Stu's offering and in contradiction to Stu's claims of not being able to find any other accomodation in the city at this late date.
This accomodation drama is yet from over. I was happy to have been there, as were my new Italian friends. They got to let me handle Stu (which I was told I handled more tactfully than they would have) and Stu can't claim that he didn't understand what the concerns were.
And I finally got something worthy to blog about.
Stay tuned.
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