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Published: January 19th 2011
Beginning of Classes
Today started the first day of actual classes. Yesterday we had orientations all day and time to catch up on our sleep from all the traveling we all have had the past few days. We went to the mall yesterday in Castelfranco, which was a lot like an American mall. First thing anyone did was go for food because the portions here aren't the greatest but the food is pretty good. Chicken and Pasta is always an option for a meal. It will just take us some time to get used to. The funny thing with this mall experience was that everyone ran to Burger King. I think it was a bit of a way to feel like being back home, something everyones sort of missing at this point but that is just due to the large amount of change that has happened over everyone's past few days. I ordered a numero sette, which is a double-cheeseburger meal. It was very similar to a Burger King at home. The one thing that shocked me was that the menu was mostly in English. Everything in Italy is 30% off, apparently it is like their huge post-Christmas sale. I went into a JC Penney's/Kohl's-like store but for Italians. The clothes there were fairly cheap but all the clothes were of the highest fashion. It was pretty neat to see all the argyle sweater vests and the puffy shiny coats. The thing I have noticed with the fellow Italian students that attend the private high school on campus is that they all wear high-top nikes, tight jeans and puffy shiny coats. Thats too much fashion talk for my own liking but I found it kind of interesting.
So back to classes, I started today at 8:25 AM (or 1:25 local Madison time haha) after a simple coffee and pastry breakfast in my Operations Management class. The professor is an Italian who got his masters degree from the Cimba Masters program and has studied in the UK and US. He is a very enjoyable person to listen to because he is a part-time professor part-time CEO at his company here in Italy. It is a grape juice company, something that is not common at all in Europe due to the large demand for Wine. All the grape juice here is fermented to wine. When I walked into his class he had some music playing of jam type bands, a great way to start the morning. My second class was right after in the same room and it was Intro to Management. The professor is a former Oxford professor who married an Italian, thus moved to Italy and became a Cimba Professor. He is a very interesting professor and very good at teaching judging by the first day of class. My third and last class of the day was Intro to Financial Management with an American Professor from Portland State University. He is a man of about 60 years old with an interesting sense of humor. One of his jokes went along like this: we were talking about buying financial calculators and shipping them here. He said that we should let him know when we ship it from America so he could buy Fed-Ex stock. This is because there is a considerable amount of fees that go along with that. He's one of those guys who says it when no one sees it coming. A fun way to learn. He also said that the way we as Americans think of making money is by expansion, which is very true. But Italians think of their business as a way to employ people. The Tabacci (general store that sells everything from deodorant to sandwiches) across the street from the campus is packed at lunch time and if they were interested could expand and make more money, but that isn't something that Italians want to do. They are satisfied with what they have and don't feel the need to expand. It is mostly family run businesses here, something very different from the US. Also, It is very easy to start up conversations here with fellow students because all you have to ask is where do you want to travel while in Europe and boom there's something everyone wants to talk about. The one thing I worry about now that I am all settled in to my new home is that I hope this whole experience doesn't go too fast, which is something that is good to worry about, it just shows that even on my second full day here I am really enjoying it.
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Joanne Huston
non-member comment
LOVE your writing!!
Hi Sean, Your dad just sent this link. I immediately connected and am delighted to read your first two entries. Thank you so much for sharing your impressions and thoughts. I already learned more than I ever knew about Italy and about business! What is the weather like there? You mentioned cold, and we just got 5 ins. of snow the other day. Is there snow? Can't wait to see a few pics, but no pressure!! (ha ha). Have a great time, and experience all you can. It won't go too fast, and your keeping a blog will let you revisit the experience anytime in the future, if you save it. Arrivederci! (sp) and Buon Jorno! (sp) and Amore! Aunt Jo