Ciao!
My first few days in Milan have been filled with meeting new people, learning new things, and experiencing different cultures. The first things I noticed upon my arrival to Italy were the buildings. Everything has so much character and it was surreal to walk through the streets that Olive Garden tries to imitate. Milan itself is different than I expected, but not in a bad way. Being up north, the stereotypical rolling hills and small cottages are not present, but instead, Milan is a modern city bustling with people. The Duomo in the center of town is the most beautiful building I have seen, and almost every other building is unique in some way. I haven’t been able to explore much more of Italy yet, but something I’ve appreciated is how easy their public transport system is to use.
I began classes at Bocconi last week and have been very impressed so far. Located close to the center of town, the campus is a mixture of cool old buildings and sleek, modern cylinders. The classrooms are nice, and the professors have done a great job of getting us used to how things are done over here.
From a cultural point of view. Italy is definitely different from the United States in some ways. One of the most obvious ones is that people are more relaxed and less obsessed with profits/work/getting ahead. The other A&M students and I encountered this first hand when we tried to get some food on one of our first days. Our residence is pretty far from the more touristy city center, so when we went walking around looking for food in the middle of the afternoon, every place we passed was closed. After figuring this out, we’ve become much more in tune with the schedules here, but it was definitely a shock!
I’m excited to continue my journey over here and immerse myself deeper into the Italian way of life!
