Ciao, Bella Italia!

Arriving back in the States yesterday marks the end of my adventure in Italy! Hard to believe that four and a half weeks or so passed so quickly. Italy is a country full of beautiful landscapes, delicious pasta, pizza, and gelato, and much more! There are various cultural differences between Italy and the United States from greetings to schooling. The common greeting in Italy is a kiss on one cheek or one on each cheek. In the United States, hugs are common for really good friends. Coffee is common all day long, oftentimes with meals and in between as well! I will miss the delicious cappuccinos and marroccinos (coffee with milk and cocoa powder). Eating in Italy is more emphasized as a social event. Getting together with friends and eating can lead to hours of talking. Rather here in the United States, eating is oftentimes seen as a necessity. Dinner also occurs very late in Italy, usually around 9 pm or later. Italy is full of dog-friendly areas. Dogs can be seen just about everywhere! Here, a majority of places do not allow dogs inside. The high school systems (as well as university) are also very different. In Italy the high schools offer certain "paths" such as science, languages, and math. The students choose a path and take courses related to such path. While completing undergraduate and master's degrees, students once again choose one course (double major is not a option as far as I know) and complete a very large dissertation paper to complete their degrees, In the United States, only master and above students complete a dissertation. Walking and public transportation are the most common ways of traveling within cities. In Nebraska public transportation is very scarce, and cars are more common due to the city being spread out. 

Despite cultural differences, Italy has a beautiful culture that I would love to explore more!

Until next time Italia!

No More IULM!

Just like that the UNK Milano program ended! The past three weeks (for the program), four for me, have really flown by. Courses we completed include: introductory Italian, cultural economics, and fashion and design. In the short week long courses we learned a ton! In my previous blog posts I discussed cultural economics and a bit about introductory Italian. Our fashion and design course was the last one at IULM, and it was very interesting! The faculty at IULM is all very qualified. This particular professor had worked with many companies and clients. He explained how important the perception of reality is in relation to fashion. Design is that which best endorses fashion. But there is also the product and brand identity. Brand identity starts with history to form reliability and authenticity. Next the stylistic identity is created through long term stylistic codes that belong to the brand. The last factor in the brand is visual identity, long term codes used for communication. The overall brand value is dependent on the product. The brand is the frame. Brands move past quality to quantity due to societal pressures. It all depends on the competency of execution, drawing upon clientele’s emotions for communication.Oftentimes the fundamental factors that comprise these are overlooked by the majority. We had the chance to apply directly what we had learned in class by analyzing an assigned brand by visiting the store, learning a bit about the history, and then presenting it to the class. I was assigned Moschino, and I absolutely loved it! The brand is so unique and fun.

Overall, all these courses were interesting and quite a bit of work! Ultimately we took two written exams, completed a journal-type entry for every day, and gave a presentation. In the end I learned a lot, and I wish I could stay at IULM for school! Now that the program has ended I shall continue traveling around Italy with my younger brother.

Ciao tutti!

Two Weeks in Italia!

It is hard to believe that it has already been about two weeks since I arrived in Italy! The first week I was traveling alone. I initially imagined I would feel lonely, but I really did not feel that way. I woke up every day, ate the breakfast provided by the hostel, and went on some adventures at my own pace. Breakfast consisted of bread, nutella, a dry bread/cracker type food, fruit jams, cookie-like biscuits, shortbread, fresh fruit, orange juice, coffee, and tea. Surprisingly the cracker-like bread was tasty with jam. I also enjoyed the fresh strawberries and nutella. One can never go wrong with nutella! I stayed at a hostel about twenty minutes from the Duomo area. My first day out, after sleeping a very long time, I explored Centrale mistakingly thinking it was the downtown area. The largest attraction in Centrale is the train station, which looks similar to Grand Central Station. After asking around, I headed towards the Duomo on the metro (very easy to navigate!). The Duomo, known as the Cathedral by locals, has been the center of Milan for a very long time due to its oftentimes religious influence. Around the Duomo there is a ton of shopping within the Galleria Vittorio II Emmanuelle and within the surrounding area, museums, Palazzo Reale (where the government officials once lived), Teatro da Scala, and much more! Of course I saw the Cathedral, opting for walking up to the terrace, going inside the Duomo, archeological site, and the museum that hosted items not put in the Duomo. I am not Catholic, but the church is beautiful! I returned to the Duomo area every day to check out the mall, Novecento museum, Il mondo da Davinci, Biccioni museum, Studio Azzurro, and in the process found some local places to eat! My favorite place by far was the Studio Azzurro, located in the Palazzo Reale. It was a pretty cool interactive museum. Turns out many museums have discounts for people under 25 or for students! It was very interesting to see how many devices Da Vinci created or improved. As our tour guide (once the UNK group arrived the week after), Da Vinci should be seen as an innovator who had an open mind used to improve and expand people's viewpoints, so children can imagine themselves as capable as Da Vinci. The most frustrating part of the first week was having limited wifi when at the hostel, besides that it was quite an adventure!

Last week, was the first official week of the UNK program. Everyone has become close, and we had our first week at IULM! Our Italian professors were great, and they taught us the basics of Italian. It is a bummer we only had one week of Italian! Ilaria, our "tutor", will hopefully continue to teach us Italian! I have become hooked on the delicious maroccinos (chocolate, coffee, and milk) and cappuccinos. Navilglio is a popping area located about twenty minutes (walking) from our hotel. Friday, there was an Italian "prom" hosted by an organization that helps European exchange students who go through the Erasmus program. Saturday, a wonderful guide showed us-sixteen or so students and Ilaria-around, to a castle in Cadorna, Duomo, Teatro da Scala (beautiful!), and a few other sites. Overall, it has been a busy week but tons of fun! My Italian is slowly improving, and I look forward to the next few weeks! 

Baci,

Cleo

Tre settemane

This marks about three weeks in Milan already! The time has really flown by. This past week at IULM we took cultural economics. Honestly, I was worried about the course since I have never taken an economic course nor had a large interest. But it turned out to be quite fun with our main professor Guido! We had a multitude of professors and different classes, related to cultural economics. Classes included material about gamification, music industry, cinema, and a bit about design (apart from economics). I actually quite enjoyed all of the courses, even economics! Our professor wanted to make it a bit more fun and hands-on, so he took us on two field trips during the week (aside from a tour of the IULM School of Polytechnic Design). Both trips occurred on the same day! We went to Montenapolene and Eataly. Montenapolene is the most famous fashion street in the world, considering we are in the fashion district of the world Milano! There are such stores such as Prada, Cartier, Pucci, etc. Guido encouraged us to walk into Armani, and I am so glad he did! We had a blast walking around, checking out things, and even trying on a few things for fun! Next, we all went to have some authentic Italian cuisine in Eataly. It was located a few stops away on the metro, located in the new Porto Nuovo area. I ordered a simple chicken and potato dish, and it was the most delicious chicken I have ever had. All their food is made fresh and is quite spectacular (and reasonably priced!). Eataly also has a great grocery store, cafe, gelateria, etc. It is definitely a place I will have to return to before leaving!

I also took the weekend to travel on my own to Florence (Firenze). It is so beautiful here! Of course I saw the famous David in the Academia and visited the Uffizi museum. Italians and people in general are even more friendly here. I am glad I took this trip and cannot wait to see how my Italian comes along and for the adventures to come!