errata-of-the-stars - Tumblr blog

errata-of-the-stars · 1 year

Text

Daily Life and Adjustments

Ciao! Day 25 here in Milan brings me to this post today. After some quiet time to adjust, I finally feel settled enough to make another posting!

Apartment Life

The apartment here has sure come with some, hm, less than desirable quirks, but these kind of things 'build character,' right? Many of our doorknobs fall off when you use them, doors are broken to the porch, lightswitches only work for certain bulbs, and the showers aren't quite right... but that's all part of living in an old building. It's been almost fun trying to figure out how to deal with all of these issues alongside my two roommates.

Academia

I have now finished my two-week-pre-session intensive course on the Italian language! It was quite a landslide, but now that it's over, I can get more involved in my regular international courses offered at Cattolica. My courses are formally called, Leadership Coaching for Business, Creative Italian Storytelling, and Mentoring for Success- though I will refer to them as Leadership Coaching, Storytelling, and the Internship class.

After missing the very first session of the internship class (Mentoring for Success) I was absolutely terrified to go into class on Monday morning with the same professor. All sorts of awful scenarios came to mind. What if he berated me in front of the class? Called me out in the middle of the session? Purposefully gave me the hardest assignments and tasks the entire semester? Walking in that door took all of the courage I could muster.

Inside, I was welcomed with a smiling face, a positive attitude, and a very cheerful 'Good morning! Welcome to the party!' This class' first impression on me was exactly the pick-me-up I needed after a long and daunting two weeks of intensive courses.

My next course was Creative Italian Storytelling, taught by two women who have the most impressive resumes, all filled out by their jobs within the film and tv industry. In this course, we were made aware that we would be writing both a short story and creating a screenplay adaptation of our short story in a group as our final project. I think that a test of skills in application is really the best way to have projects and examinations in any sort of class, especially one like this.

Adventures

My roommate and I decided it was about time that we leave the apartment, leave the city, and get out to see the rest of the country. Alongside one of my classmates, we set off on a 12 euro train ride to the city of Como at the edge of Lake Como.

The water, undoubtedly, was beautiful. Our study abroad advisor gave us a tip on a small villa we could sit at and relax at with a water access point and a garden of sculptures.

Fashion Week

As was expected, fashion week is just beginning in full force. Last night, I was able to attend a moving conversation with Pierre Alexis Dumas of Hermes. I had never seen luxury goods in such a light before and I feel that I have been truly changed by my experience there. More fashion week updates to come!

#day 25 #apartment life #academia #fashion week

0 notes

errata-of-the-stars · 1 year

Text

First Days in Milano!

Hello all! As of now, I have been in Milano for five days just settling in, meeting housemates, attending orientation for classes upcoming, and exploring the city. It has been a great time learning about the different histories and cultures in the surrounding area and being able to freely walk and take transit everywhere.

Day 0

When I landed on Day 0, I was definitely overwhelmed. Getting off the plane around noon here, I was filled with adrenaline that had staved off feelings of jetlag for a few days. I was immediately taken on a tour around my apartment building where I learned about the meticulous trash sorting system, and saw all of those little quirks of being in an older building like this one. For starters, the door handle inside the apartment entirely broke and fell off when my guide unlocked the door for the first time. There are a few other small inconveniences that have yet to be fixed like the dishwasher being out of use for now, one of the patio doors being entirely broken and permenantly locked, the creaking floors, thin walls, and cabinets that will never quite close correctly.

Being the first person in this apartment, I was able to settle in at my own pace, unpack my bags without added stress or time restriction, and rest from the long flight in a peaceful environment.

After much needed rest, I met one of the other girls from the other apartment being taken care of by my study abroad company. She had come with her mom two weeks prior and had explored parts of the city already, so they showed me to the local supermarket and explained how things like transit worked in the city.

Day 1

First day in Milan, I would say it went pretty well. I met the rest of the girls from the other apartment to travel to the study abroad office together. For my first time riding transit in this city, it was easier than I expected to be able to get around. Our study abroad team gave us a short orientation introduction and then took us to see the top of the Duomo, the large church in the city. The views there were incredible, and the detail and scale of everything was so pristine- you could really tell that the people of the city really cared about its upkeep and appearance.

After the Duomo, we returned to the study abroad office to wait out the rain until lunch. The rain here sure is something else. It comes and goes quickly and harshly.

Lunch was at Slow Sud, serving appetizers, main course, and dessert based in Southern Italian cuisine. The food, though delicious, had lots of eggplant that wasn't cooked to the texture I prefer. The meal was ended off with delicious cannoli, so all was well. We headed off to run errands afterward and then to rest for the afternoon in our apartments.

We all met later that night to play games and finish our leftovers. It was a great time getting to know all of the girls!

Day 2

I had my first day of orientation at Cattolica this day, and it was a long day of touring the campus, routing to buildings, and learning a lot about my upcoming semester!

Later this night, I went with the girls to a Japanese Brazilian fusion restaurant for dinner and then to walk along the canal to people watch.

Day 3

Second day of orientation- oh boy, I realized just how intensive that this two week pre-session intensive course would be. I've got 3.5-5 hours of learning italian for these two week starting on Monday, 9am to 1:30pm.

After that stressful day, I took a long rest, staying home for the night, ordering pizza, and watching Earwig and the Witch on Italian Netflix. (The movie is pretty good, and the music in it is even better- by the way)

Day 4

Today is a sorting out day for me. Sorting out little problems, sorting out classes, sorting out my room. I hope to maybe take some time to find a fun shop or at least walk around a while.

See you all again soon!

#day 4

0 notes