These past few days have been absolutely incredible! I have had little to no time to update or be in contact with anyone - it has been busy busy busy! Overall, I have been winging it the moment I stepped foot into the airport - and wouldn't have it any other way. The travel over here went very smoothly, and since I LOVE flying, it was all very exciting for me. I went from being on the biggest plane I have ever seen, to the smallest. Plane food: Not as bad a I thought it was going to be! A small group of us flew from Minneapolis to Amsterdam, from there to Venice, took a bus to the Mestre train station (might I add, not fun lugging 2 huge suitcases up and down stairs), took the train to Bassano Del Grappa (a larger nearby city) and then shuttled it to campus. It was amazing because throughout Venice and the smaller towns it was extremely foggy, ground to sky, but right when we entered Paderno the fog dissipated and the sun came out!
When arriving to campus, we got all settled in our rooms and headed to the local "sports bar" for happy hour. Pretty ironic that it is called that given it resembles a small, quiet cafe. It is off campus next to the gym, so pretty sure that's how it got its name, haha. A great find there is Prosecco, an italian sparkling white wine that is made in the Veneto region (the one I am currently in). Only .90 euro a glass! The rest of the night was filled with orientation and dinner. Dinner here is not served until 7 p.m., which means I have like 3 dinners, because frankly, I just can't wait that long!
Yesterday was the first day of classes. I am enrolled in International Marketing, Consumer Behavior, International Finance, Italian for Travelers, and Money and Banking. I am actually looking forward to the material in these classes and the teachers seem great - just not ready yet to start back up!
Since I arrived I......took a 2 hour walk to nearby towns with my lovely roommate, Yuliya; ate at the local pizzaria with some friends and paid 3.60 euro for a coke!; have been to a few leadership seminars for orientation; went to the Tabacchi (local store) for a wonderful Italian sandwich and a Coke "Light" (no diet here); spent much time at the local sports bar with students from other schools; had about 8 meals of "pasta red sauce" at the cafeteria; snacked endlessly on nutella and butter biscuits; took a shuttle with many other students to a mall in Crespano where Yuliya and I acted out every object we needed to find :]; and have just been going around taking pictures of the wonderful views here!!!
Pinch me! This all feels like a dream! I am having such a wonderful time; fun group of MinnesOtans and love the people here. Currently planning a trip with some friends to Milan this weekend! It's only 3 hours away, and thought we could see Duoma, some museums and hit up a Saldi (sales in the months of January and July)!
When arriving to campus, we got all settled in our rooms and headed to the local "sports bar" for happy hour. Pretty ironic that it is called that given it resembles a small, quiet cafe. It is off campus next to the gym, so pretty sure that's how it got its name, haha. A great find there is Prosecco, an italian sparkling white wine that is made in the Veneto region (the one I am currently in). Only .90 euro a glass! The rest of the night was filled with orientation and dinner. Dinner here is not served until 7 p.m., which means I have like 3 dinners, because frankly, I just can't wait that long!
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