Summary Post

I've written four posts on my blog thus far, but they do very little to describe what exactly I'm doing here. In case you're curious...

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Arrival
I arrived in Milan on September 1st. I had about a hundred pounds of baggage without wheels that I dragged everywhere. I made my first friend in airport - another exchange student from the States who looked just as lost as I did. Turns out we were staying in the same dorm, so we found our way to it, settled in, and then found our first of many aperitivi. What a great idea - drink and unlimited food for a modest fixed cost.

Money
As many people already know (since I whine a lot), I had a variety of logistical difficulties my first few weeks. Probably the worst was the expiration of my checking card literally the day I arrived. I had no cash or travelers' checks (probably would have been a good idea in hindsight), so I had to do with a lot of begging, borrowing, and being content without. I ordered another card, but it never arrived, so my parents sent me money from my account at home via Western Union, which I collected yesterday. They will bring me a new checking card (and a camera! among other things) when they come visit me next week.

The City
The city of Milan is absolutely enchanting. Cobblestone streets seem mystically laid out as haphazardly as they would have been (and likely were) hundreds of years ago. Architecture is standard European fare - a feast for the eyes of a California not used to seeing buildings ten year old. The heart of the city can be found at Piazza Duomo, a spectacular city plaza with the third largest church in the world and the world-famous fashion districts just blocks away. I walked down one understated street and peered through humble windows into minimalist interior design with the latest from Armani, Prada, and Versace on display. About a kilometer away is a majestic medieval castle with ceilings painted by Da Vinci and Michalengelo's unfinished Pieta on display. Just to the south is a network of navigli, canals ages old that give the feel I'd expect out of Venice. I love walking the city, getting lost on purpose, wandering the streets thinking, "Am I really here?"

The People
As beautiful as the inanimate city is, the people shine brighter. The women are angels. Every time I see a DSI (dark-skinned Italian) pass by me in the streets, I think I melt into the sidewalk and fall in love just a little bit. Everybody is dressed so nicely - I feel self-conscious walking around in public. I've seen more sharp suits on businessmen here than I have my whole life in the United States. The women always cover their shoulders, stomach, and knees, and honestly, it makes the look even hotter (take note American fashion). The Milanese speak with such a clean accent and are more than happy to entertain my feeble attempts to speak Italian. When a beautiful DSI speaks, the Sirens do not compare.

Friends
Oh, gosh, sooo many people that I've met. To early to tell who my good friends are going to be. I feel very spread thin relationally, so I hope that doesn't prevent me from getting to know people well. Since I am in international student housing, I have met people from dozens of different countries. However, I've met surprisingly few Italians. Everybody in my Italian crash course were really cool. I have a good group of guy friends from Brazil named Vini, Pedro, Andrew, Bruno, and others with whom I play football and basketball. I have a Turk friend from Santa Monica who speaks Spanish that loves to surf and ski. I'm planning on also traveling a lot with a friend from Peru named Diego, who also helped me get tickets to the Milan-Inter game. I haven't made good friends with any girls so much, it seems. Jordan Reagan connected me with a friend named Annie from North Dakota who's really cool (and now famous thanks to my previous post). There were two chill Hungarian girls from my crash course, Rita and Katica, that I usually sat next to and caught lunch with. There was a big group of Spanish girls that I toured the city with, but unfortunately I haven't seen them much lately. In general, you just meet a lot of people and can chill out with anybody and it don't matter. There's a good amount of just chilling, talking, and sharing culture. A lot of late-night hangouts-turned-parties with drunken singing/campfire-style guitar.

Church
I found a small but awesome fellowship called the International Church of Milan. The pastor is a personable, solid, Bible-teaching, self-professed redneck who loves God. Everybody at the church is very friendly and speaks English, the two most important requirements. I even have the opportunity to play piano for them some Sundays. The Young Adults leader, Adam, is really cool and goes out of his way to get to each member personally.

Work
When I wasn't in my surprisingly ineffective Italian crash-course, I spent time look for and later training for work. Now I have a really sweet job teaching English for Berlitz Language Center right next to the Duomo. I just finished training, and start working next week, hopefully as much as 20 hours a week. I think most of my students will be businessmen and other professionals looking to refine their English. I now give you permission to start laughing.

School
Oh, yeah, that's why I'm here. Bocconi as a campus is butt-ugly, not to mention a 30 minute tram ride away from my dorm. The Italian student culture seems a little distant and self-contained - the international students definitely travel in packs. Some have told me that Bocconi is considered the Wharton of continental Europe, and it definitely has career services that would compare with Wharton's. However, the rest of the administration is not very user friendly. Regular students all take the same courses at the same time - exchange students don't have a clue about courses until first lecture and cannot drop or add. My courses seem like they are going to be a nice breather from my biology/finance intensive Penn workload:

- International Demography
- Economics of Globalization
- Economics History
- Art and Culture (design section)

Travel
Between school, work, church, and friends, I have a lot going on in Milan. Because of this and money constraints, I might not be able to do as ambitious weekend travel as I once dreamed. This is probably a good thing (see my first post). However, there are a few things outside Milan that I don't want to miss! (hopefully my boss understands)

October 4-6 Oktoberfest!
October 10-12 Trip to Tuscany (Florence, Siena, Pisa)
October 16-19 Surfing trip to Iberia (Barcelona, Northern Spain, Lisbon)
October 26 Chargers vs. Saints in London!
December 5-8 Skiing in the Dolomites

These are activities that I have dates for. I also really want to make it Rome and Venice sometime during the semester. After school gets out, I want to make a quick trip to Monaco and hopefully ski in the French Alps. Then I plan on backpacking for a couple weeks through Switzerland. Hopefully I'll find a way to make all this work.

I love...
aperitivo!
il calcio (the real football, Rossoneri!)
just chilling around Duomo
non-American girls
Italian fashion
that cafe just off the tram-stop
my dorm/room
my job (I get paid to talk)

I could do without...
Nutella! (gosh, it's everywhere here)
Italian bureaucracy
blue-shirt transport officers
PNC (yeah, I know, they're in America, but they deserve to die)
Italian crash course
exchange rate
foreign transaction surcharges

I miss...
California burritos (Rico's, Roberto's, Kotija Jr., etc.)
In-N-Out
PEANUT BUTTER!!! (see my second post)
American girls
American football (GO CHARGERS!!!)
surfing
San Diego sunsets
food carts
Wawa, Qdoba, Greek Lady, etc.
Mexican beer (Sol, Negra Modelo)
Reese's
the guyz house
the girls house
Penn Students for Christ
WPS, swing dancing
Glee Club, singing
piano/guitar
Penn
you

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I think that covers most of the essentials. Hopefully many exciting, funny stories to follow! Let me know if there's anything else you want to know about. God bless!