Gregorio in Milano 2011

Quartely Blog Post

Well one thing I have learnt so far, is that I hate writing blog posts. But due to the many requests and strangely similar conversations, I decided to put down some quick notes on my time in exchange so far, half way into my experience in Italy.

I live on the east side of town, a 20 minute tram ride into uni, in an apartment with a russian spy and a italian bank mogul. I have a shopping centre and a gym close by so I’m as happy as can be. Haven’t been homesick yet which I am quite surprised about. The transition to self-sufficiency has been interesting. My culinary skills have improved even further, although the numerous setting for laundry perplexes me.

Classes here are quite similar except everyone dresses like a GAP model. I have found there is no upper limit to fashion in tertiary education. Navy officer jacket with yellow pants? Fine! Sunglasses while raining? Bellisomo! Half of my friends here are even doing a course called fashion management. The uni has got a wonderful feel to it though. It is surrounded by cafes, restaurants and pizzerias, and especially now in Spring it is really relaxing to have a shot of coffee alfresco on a couch before class. The lecturers however have got quite heavy accents, so sometimes understanding them is harder than the actual course work.

Shortly after arriving I spent my 22nd Birthday skiing in the Italian Alps with my cousins and luckily I survived injury free. Since then I’ve been slowly travelling around Italy on every other weekend. Venice was once again the highlight with the Carnevale Festival followed by a lewse party in Padova. For a friends birthday we went to Firenze which was a gorgeous place to practise haggling in the leather markets. The trip ended with a bang however I cant remember much due to the european flu I contracted which is nothing compared to the slight cough you get back in Australia, but waking up I found a wheelchair outside my bedroom so I assume fun was had by all. Not to leave out Milan itself, as a city, it is very industrial and not a very touristy place. However the night life is pretty killer. The night clubs are pretty extravagant (or maybe I’m still getting used to partying in Europe), but they do not open until after midnight which means you usually go to an aperitivo which is a drink and all you can eat buffet at a bar, then maybe to a house party, and then finaly you go to a club around 1am. This means everytime you go out, you usually dont coe home until 5 or 6 in the morning, everytime. Which is on a good week, 4-5/7 days.

I’ve met some pretty crazy people so far. Theres a big Australian presence here which is comforting. Being able to speak with the slang is a relief after trying to comunicate with with a poor cash lady in italian. First person I met after I flew in to Milan at 6am in the morning and went into uni was a german girl, Annie, followed closely by the guy who heard my accent (lol) Luca, an Australian guy from Melbourne. From then I came into contact with an absurd amount of people. Russia, Norway, Argentina, France, Canada, ‘Merica. The wolf pack was soon formed by a lone wolf Andreas. He was alone at first but then when he met us, he knew we were one of his own. A pack of wolves running around Milan looking for models and cheap cocktails.

Just finished my mid term exams, however I will be doing 2 100% finals which I would probably need to start studying for soon, but until then I’m going on holiday for a while. So far what I’ve got planned is:

Praha & Bratislava for 1 week.
Cinque Terre for Nadia’s Birthday
Amsterdam for Roderick’s Birthday
Sailing from Portovenere to Pisa on a 12m sailboat
Paris for macaroons

More trips to be planned further but havent decided on the locations yet, so little time. I am looking forward to catching up with Alex in Prague and Liz in Pamplona for the running of the bulls festival which should be amazing. I think thats its. For now. And probably ever.

Baccio e abbraccio

G