This last week wasn't quite as exciting as the previous. School is kicking into gear and I'm keeping occupied with about 6 hours of classes Tues-Weds-Thurs, and another 3 on Friday. I'm still trying to get used to the Italian student's way of life. It's quite different from what I experienced at ASU.Classes are structured to be centered around theory. There's an awful lot of reading but almost nothing in the way of homework, projects, quizzes, etc. The Italian system favors one big test at the end of the course instead of periodic exams and projects, like a typical class at ASU. So the students tend to spend a lot of time reading at the library.
Also, from what I've observed, Saturday doesn't really seem to be considered part of the weekend in Italy (stores list hours, for example, as Mon-Sat, 9-7, and Sun 12-6), and many of the students I've encountered don't really go crazy on a Friday night - they like to *study* on a Saturday morning.
This concept is the epitome of 'foreign' for me.
So, Friday night wasn't quite the debaucherous evening it would have been back home. I did end up going out with my roommate Maria and some of her friends. The most exciting thing was that I found out some of her friends play football - AMERICAN football! Needless to say I stuck to these guys like glue for the rest of the evening, asking them all about it. They told me there are 3 teams in Bologna, and they play 9 players to a side. They asked me if I'd like to play with them sometime (!!!) but they all live and play at a field in Imola, which is a city about 15 miles away. Fail! Still, it's good to know for future reference. They were all very excited to find out I was from Arizona - the first thing they said was 'Oh, CARDINALS!'. I couldn't believe it! That is kind of par for the course though - Bologna is big on basketball (even other Italians call it 'Basketball town'), so whenever I meet someone and say I'm from Phoenix they say 'Oh, the Suns! Charles Barkley!' Cracks me up every time.
Saturday was pretty relaxed. Some of the students from class decided we should meet up at Piazza Santo Stefano for a drink that night, at 11. I was going there by myself to meet up, and I tried to account for Italian time by arriving around 1120. However, I underestimated and I was still too early for Italian time. There wasn't anybody at the square yet and when I called my mates they all said 'oh yeah, we'll be there in like 20 minutes!' So, I walked around for a bit. There was a big to-do in the piazza in front of the Two Towers, a light/video show, interpretive dancers, people dressed in historical costume doing something. It was all very avant garde, and I needed a beer, so I kept walking. Eventually some classmates started trickling in to the area and we met up, had some drinks, wandered the city. We ended up at an Irish pub off the main drag and some other friends of one of my classmates showed up, one of them wearing an old school Charlotte Hornets tshirt, so I immediately started talking to him about Grandmama and Mugsy Bogues. The evening went fairly quietly as well, since we all had plans together the next day for a class picnic in the park.
The park, Giardini Margherita (like the pizza - both named after Italy's queen), is a huge expanse of greenery in the southern part of the city. About a dozen of us from class got together, brought snacks and drinks and some balls to hit around, and just had a lovely day in the park. I've never seen so many people in a park before - granted, it's usually 105 with cancer inducing levels of sunshine in the parks at home. But it was fun to see tons of families outdoors, each with their own little stake of land. We sat around chatting about everything - classes, sports, what it's like back home --- the program I'm following, International Management, unsurprisingly lends itself to an international class of students. Just at our little picnic were representatives from Estonia, Russia, Ukraine, Denmark, Lebanon, and of course myself. Once the sun set, our mini United Nations packed up and went home, and I had a relaxing end to the weekend trying to figure out how to get Skype to work for my parents, from 6000 miles away (kudos to Dad for figuring it out!) If anyone else wants to find me on Skype, my username is akamillertime.
Watch later for some pics of our picnic!
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Now, just a minute. It was Mom that actually got us to the page where we could put you in as the contact. Before that, it kept rejecting our password. I had to download the entire thing again, and start over. All Dad figured out was how to make the sound work from here to your end.
ReplyDeleteSo, a little credit to Mom, too, thank you very much.
It sure is amazing that we can actually see you and talk to you at the same time. We really miss you, and it made us feel better to see you and know you were OK.
Is that picture at the top part of that park? Looks beautiful. Will be looking for the other pictures.
How about some pics of your new friends from school?
Love and miss you, Mom
Oh yeah. And when they mention Phoenix and the Suns in one breath (esp. Barkley), remind them that the only Phoenix pro basketball team that has ever won a championship is the Mercury -- twice! Celebration was tonight and I am a bit tipsy after bellinis at Oregano's. :-)
ReplyDeleteLove, Mom
Charles Barkley? Muggsy Bogues and 'Grandmama'? Apparently Bologna is living in an early-1990's time warp.
ReplyDeleteEnjoying your reports and enthusiasm for life in Bologna. Keep adventuring! Looked briefly at Skype. Would be another technical challenge for me, too. Will consider it.
ReplyDeleteIs your course work interesting/do you enjoy all the reading? Is the reading all assigned or do you have to do independent research? Or, supplement it to grasp the concepts?
It may have changed, but it seems to me that ASU Graduate School only had a final test as well.
Law school was the same. It was an adjustment for Paul as well. The first semester was the worst. The others still required a lot of effort. "Keep your eye on the prize."
You're in our thoughts.
Love you!!!
AJ
Yes sis, you are right. Some Italians are still living in the 90s. You only have to look at the haircuts to realize it.
ReplyDeleteJill - the coursework isn't too terribly interesting. I am taking 2 required classes (both in Economics) and 2 electives (1 in accounting, 1 in marketing). The only class I really like so far is the marketing one; it is taught by someone from the industry, not a true professor, and he is both a blast to listen to and has a lot of practical experience to offer. The reading is mostly just from the books assigned by the professors, which is an interesting segment of Italian student culture; no one actually *buys* the book; what happens is someone checks out a copy from the library, and it's totally legit (meaning it's illegal but the police don't care, which is a very Italian cultural attribute) to copy the book and distribute it to the other students. But I don't know which is worse, listening to 12 hours of lectures on economics every week or trying to read the book afterwards.
I'm definitely 'keeping my eye on the prize'. But it's strange to think there is still such a long way to go!
Love you all,
-Justin