That's Bologna!

Despite having a lot of work today, last week was actually pretty fun. Our big paper and second presentation was due on Friday, the last day of our International Marketing class. We got together in our group to work on it several times during the week. I was with four other friends in the group, and it's always a blast hanging out with them. A couple times we took our laptops, notes, and case papers to the cafes so we could enjoy aperitivo after class and work on our project. That is definitely one of the best ideas anyone ever had in the history of the planet. Nothing like beer and tons of food to help efficiently pound out a 15 page report. We spent another night working on the paper at the house of a friend. We had some homemade food and a bunch of beer, which I reiterate, really helped to speed along the process. One of the things I've noticed is how true the stereotype of 'Italian hospitality' really is. Once you're in, you're in... I've lost track of the number of times I've been over to friends' places for a homecooked meal, something that was pretty rare back home. Just a cultural difference, I guess - I think as American students we're just so much more used to working around dinner schedules, or grabbing a quick bite from somewhere; instead, here it's totally normal to take an hour+ break from the work and enjoy a real meal together. Along those lines, we spent a good portion of the evening sharing some cultural differences about TV shows we watched growing up. Turns out they had a lot more Japanese anime-style cartoons than we had growing up in the States (I think probably because they proliferated in the 80s due to their cheap cost to air and even cheaper production). When I showed them Legends of the Hidden Temple, they showed me this equally goofy pan-European gameshow they had in the 70s, 80s, and 90s:
Youtube: Giochi senza frontieri
Youtube: Giochi senza frontieri
Youtube: Giochi senza frontieri
That's good stuff right there.

So Friday we finally finished up with our paper and the presentation, and afterwards we all went as a class for a beer - and when I say class, I mean the WHOLE class, even the professor! Hah! I told you he was a pretty cool guy. We decided to keep the party going afterwards, and made our way to the house of one of our classmates. We stopped on the way to pick up some provisions, including a bunch of food to cook. We had another great homecooked meal of pesto penne with tomatoes and plenty of cheap red wine to back it up. Someone brought over their Nintendo Wii and we spent a good deal of the night having tournaments in golf, bowling, and tennis. I had fun regaling them with stories from back home about golf. Here, it is really just a sport for the super-rich, not like back home where we can walk 9-holes at Kenny Mac in Tempe for $6. After that, we ended up going to another classmate's place because his roommates were having a party that night. It was your average, low-key get together until the trouble-maker in our group decided to raid the kitchen looking for something to entertain ourselves with, and found some foil. Hilarity ensued.

Pre-hilarity

Group photo

Stole someone's glasses. But dang if I don't make 'em look good.

Being fitted...

That's a lot of foil...

Can't let good foil go to waste!

And somehow a giant afro-wig joins the party

Yarrrr

Meet Luca. He's a bit of a rubberface.

Needless to say, the night was a great success. I did absolutely nothing on Saturday, as you can imagine, but Sunday was actually a pretty nice day so I went out to have a stroll around town. Oh, and by nice day I mean 50 and sunny. How quickly we get brainwashed... Anyway, I snapped a few photos so here they are:

That is the new city hall back there, right outside my condo complex. And by new I mean not built in the 1300s.

Pretty cool looking little house not far from my place.

Bologna used to have dozens of towers in the city. You can see three still standing in the back here (note: none of these are the famous Two Towers)

There's a big memorial to Bologna's partisans from WWII in the town square.

A nice little piazza behind the cathedral. It gives you a good idea of the architecture here.

A back view of the cathedral that I thought looked cool

This is one of the old doors of the city that let people in through the ancient walls

Some cool decorations on this palazzo

You see these guys all over Europe. They are dressed like American Indians but they looked more Mayan to me. I really just took this pic because it reminded me of the South Park episode - in all fairness, I did not see any giant guinea pigs running around.

Once upon a time, Bologna had a bunch of canals running through it, a lot like Venice. Just a handful are still visible above ground, but there are tours available of Bo's underground canal network.

Our new classes started today. Mondays are really going to suck for the next month. It's classes from 8am til 1pm, a one hour break, then again from 2pm til 5pm. In the horribly uncomfortable room, too. Ugh. Tuesdays and Wednesdays will hardly be any better - straight through from 8am til 1pm again, but at least we're free after that, and no classes on Thursday and Friday. I expect I'll be spending those days in traction at home after a week like that. The teachers seem alright, but definitely a little on the eccentric side this quarter. I have such exciting topics as International Marketing Regulation, Business Intelligence, and International Accounting. I can hardly contain myself. There is something pretty cool though - the teacher for the Business Intelligence class actually works with... *drumroll*... ASU! He collaborates with professors in the Public Policy program at the WP Carey school. What are the odds?? Anyways, I had a quick chat with him after class, and found out he's been to Phoenix and Tempe a bunch of times. Small world, huh? Well, guess I'll sign off for now, since I've gotta be up and at'em early again tomorrow. Ciao!