Here's some various things that have been going on since I've been in Milan:
Italian Class:
I have this every week day for 2 1/2 hours. It's pretty cool and we learn a lot, I feel decently comfortable ordering a bar (bars in Italy are for many things besides alcohol such as breakfast food or lunch food). One day we went in groups to Cattolica (the university) and had to ask Italian students (in Italian) various questions about themselves and about different Italian hand gestures.
I've also moved myself up when people ask me things in Italian outside of school from saying "non parlo italiano" (I don't speak Italian) to "non parlo italiano bene" (I don't speak Italian well). I think it's an improvement.
Wednesday, September 8th:
I went shopping for the first time! I discovered OVS which is a well priced, quality store that I've decided I love. I got two shirts, two sweaters, and a scarf to expand my wardrobe some since it's pretty small (I got here in one suitcase, remember?).
Thursday, September 9th:
It was Vogue's Fashion's Night Out in Milan so I headed to go see some of it. I only spent about an hour there and apparently we missed out on the awesome area, but the part we went to the stores were open later than usual and had DJs and other fun things going on. I ended up getting a bag for carrying books and such in at this place called Carpisa which I've seen a lot of women with. It's very well priced and I can say I bought something at Fashion's Night Out in Milan!
Friday, September 10th:
Well, you can read about Venice below, but I had my first horn lesson! My professor's name is Ermes Pecchinini and he seems very nice. He was complimentary about my playing and wants to work mostly on expression (which I expected since Italians are very expressive with music). I don't have another lesson for two weeks because of his traveling but I'm looking forward to it and am motivated to practice, particularly my expression.
Tuesday, September 14th:
My 4 euro for fruit last week was a rip off. I got two kilos of fruit (these yellow things I can't name and nectarines) for 3 euro! Yay!
Wednesday, September 15th:
I decided to culture myself and toured the Brera which is an art museum made mostly of Italian masters from the Renaissance to very early Impressionism. I enjoyed it a lot. They also have a small modern collection which was donated including a Picasso painting. I saw many Madonna con Bambino (Madonna and Child) and tried to count for my dad but, alas, I lost count. There had to be at least fifty and the museum wasn't tiny but it was a lot smaller than the Art Institute of Chicago.
We went out for aperitivo again. I love this tradition. Especially because we do it the student way where we stock up on lots of finger food/appetizers and count that for dinner. For a buffet of finger foods and a drink it was only 9 euro which is great since the drinks were 7 euro alone.
Thursday, September 16th:
Registered for classes! Yay! I have 4: horn lessons, Music Performance Workshop, Italian 100, and a literature class called Finding the Author: Italian Masterworks in Translation which I'm actually rather excited about. I'm also excited that I have no classes on Thursday and I'm done at 11am on Tuesdays. Time to explore Milan? I think so! I've already started my lists. If you've been to Milan before let me know what you liked and I'll try to get to it! Suggestions are always welcome!
~
Other observations about Milan:
-It is not touristy. After the visit to Venice I've realized how much I love that most people in Milan are Milanese. Of course, we do get tourists. Often times they come up to people in the program to help them get somewhere (they're normally really bad at the metro). But it's much more real here with the fewer amounts of tourists.
-Speaking of the metro...it's crowded. And, apparently prone to striking. Oh joy. At least they still operate during the morning and evening rush hour (I can't even imagine how crowded it will be then)
-Even though I know the euro is more than the dollar, things (at least food-wise) seem cheaper here. At the market especially (see above) but at the grocery story we go to there are really good prices on pretty quality food. I buy a lot of pasta. Good thing I walk a lot and always take the stairs.
-They LOVE their dogs. And I love them for it. I see golden retrievers sitting on the metro with us and on the way to Venice this long-haired dachshund had its own seat. It was rather adorable. However, I'm unsure if it's in good Italian manners for me to pet a dog if I happen to be near it. Right now I'm just hoping for a dog to approach me first so I don't feel weird. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to strike up a short conversation in Italian with the owner!
Showing posts with label aperitivo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aperitivo. Show all posts
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Orientation: Days 2-4
I figured I'm going to try and make fewer but longer posts, hoping it'll keep your interest (although, if you're my family you're almost obligated to at least pretend to be interested...)
TUESDAY:
Oh wow...lots of sitting. And people talking. However, they are not metal folding chairs like Blue Lake's orientation so that was at least nice.
We started the morning by going for a real Italian breakfast with our resident assistant Maria. She lives two floors up from us with five other girls in the program and helps us get around and such. I had a wonderful chocolate croissant (brioche) and un cappuccino. It was very yummy.
We have orientation meetings in a large meeting room at the Universita Cattolica (I cannot figure out how to do accents in this thing...) which is the main school associated with IES for those wanting to take either courses in Italian or English business courses (I think...). They also took us on a tour of the Cattolica. We all have student IDs for the school which is good because we can use their library. I learned that Italian libraries to check out a book you look it up, write down the number, and give it to the librarian. They go and get the book for you. I don't know if I'll get to try it but we'll see. We had lunch in the Cattolica cafeteria which was really good for cafeteria food. I had pasta with marinara, some type of fish, a roll, and a pear juice box.
After lunch is was more meetings. Most of us were pretty tired so it was kind of hard to sit through.
The best part of the day was in the evening. Our activity was to go to a spa called Terremilano which is a spa that believes in water doing the healing. They had pools and jacuzzis. There were these relaxation rooms that had different element themes so earth, fire, water, air (and I think I forgot one). Then the basement was what they called the "Wellness course." They had hydromassage jets in a jacuzzi (I really liked the ones that I could massage my feet with), this walk that goes through hot, then cold water to help circulation. There were also multiple saunas including one that smelled like lemon (very refeshing) and one that you took a handful of powdered soap in your hand, held it while sitting in the sauna for about five minutes, and then used the soap. It exfoliated and felt really good. Then you showered off. A lot of people thought that it would be lame but we all loved it, it was very relaxing and they had a "light dinner buffet" for us which was mostly fruit so I enjoyed that. Plus foccacia bread, and little chocolate cookies.
WEDNESDAY:
A bunch of us from the building (and our hard to pronounce street) made it to breakfast and to the Universita Cattolica all on our own without help from Maria (she had to wait for the electrician...I discovered we have two lights in the bathroom actually since he was here). We had more meetings but there were some more tailored meetings than yesterday. I got to attend the music meeting and learn that they have already contacted a horn teacher in Milan for me. He is currently out of Milan on a trip but will be back soon and then we will set up our first "appointment" as Walter refers to them. The music program here has many vocalists and only a few instrumentalists so our chamber groups will be pretty interesting. But I'm excited to start the music class.
In the afternoon we heard from one of the main people at the US Consulate in Milan and he talked about safety in Milan. Apparently Milan is much safer than most cities its size (Milan is a rather large city, it is actually bigger than Florence but Florence is more touristy since Milan is so north). The biggest problems are petty crimes such as pickpocketing and having bags taken when you're not look so he gave us some tips on that. Finally we got to find out our Italian language assignments. As I expected I am in Italian 100 but we have three classes of it since there are so many of us that know very little or no Italian knowledge. We have our first class on Friday and I am very excited to start learning. These next three week we will take Italian only. From 9-11:30 the first week and from 9-12 the third week.
The evening activity was part of what they call Milano "Tuttifrutti." It is generally a cultural experience in Milan and varies. We got to experience a very Milanese tradition of the aperitivo. It is basically a time before dinner that seems like a "happy hour." IES provided us all with finger food at this place called Noon and we each got one free drink. I enjoyed something called a spritza (that might be incorrect) which was prosecco (an Italian sparkling white wine) and something else that I forgot and nobody could translate into English for me. It was quite good. Then I went with a few girls for my first gelato of the trip...definitely two days too late. However it was wonderful and I think I remember where the store was. They had other chocolate fare as well which I must try. We saw them making a crepe with chocolate when we left. Yum!
THURSDAY:
We didn't have anything until 10 and my roommates were out late so I was the only one up when I decided I wanted breakfast so I successfully got my own breakfast ordering in Italian even. However, when I went to pay I didn't know how to say I wanted to pay and ended up saying it in the English. The guy kind of laughed and said a few things to me in English anyway.
At 10 we met at the Duomo for a tour of Milan. We saw the Duomo and the very fancy shopping area next to it. We saw the outside of La Scala and the old medieval meeting area which also used to be a market place. When then got very good Italian fast food which was called panzetta I believe. Mine was mozzarella and prosciutto. It was kind of like a sandwich but looked like a calzone. I enjoyed it very much.
We had a 2:30 tour of the music school so before that a bunch of us went and got gelato and went to one of the apartments that is much closer to the IES Center than mine is. I finally managed to figure out which gelato is dark chocolate and it was wonderful. Then we went to the music school which takes about half an hour to get there. We took the metro and then a streetcar and then walked. Luckily I don't think I'll actually be at the Academia because my lessons with probably be at IES. It is a beautiful building though. It was first someone's villa outside of Milan before Milan grew. Then the Nazi's used it for a base so it was bombed during WWII. The City of Milan (Comune di Milano) decided to rebuild it and they're actually working on the facade still so there is a large scaffolding all of it (so I didn't take pictures).
There was a tour at 4 of two of the oldest churches in Milan, however it took so long for the Academia tour and then getting to and from (plus we left late) that I wasn't able to make it. I will have to make it to the churches on my own (one is the one with The Last Supper but I don't believe they were actually going to see that part, the other is near the IES Center so I will have to stop in after Italian one day these next three weeks). So after I took the metro back to my apartment with two of my roommates to relax a little.
After relaxing I went with some girls in the building and we found the very cheap (yet good quality) grocery store we can get to on one of the streetcar things. I'm glad to finally have food in the apartment. We went back to the apartment upstairs and Maria made what they call "student pasta" which is pomodoro sauce (tomato), tuna, and pasta. It was so good. I never would have thought to put tuna in pasta but it's good. It's also very cheap, hence the name. We talked and had a lot of fun making and eating dinner, even if we didn't eat until 10:30. I'm still getting used to eating late, but hopefully I'll adjust.
If you don't have facebook I've posted the pictures on Google Picasa too. The link is on the sidebar, someone let me know if it doesn't work.
Next adventure: 1st Italian class!
TUESDAY:
Oh wow...lots of sitting. And people talking. However, they are not metal folding chairs like Blue Lake's orientation so that was at least nice.
We started the morning by going for a real Italian breakfast with our resident assistant Maria. She lives two floors up from us with five other girls in the program and helps us get around and such. I had a wonderful chocolate croissant (brioche) and un cappuccino. It was very yummy.
We have orientation meetings in a large meeting room at the Universita Cattolica (I cannot figure out how to do accents in this thing...) which is the main school associated with IES for those wanting to take either courses in Italian or English business courses (I think...). They also took us on a tour of the Cattolica. We all have student IDs for the school which is good because we can use their library. I learned that Italian libraries to check out a book you look it up, write down the number, and give it to the librarian. They go and get the book for you. I don't know if I'll get to try it but we'll see. We had lunch in the Cattolica cafeteria which was really good for cafeteria food. I had pasta with marinara, some type of fish, a roll, and a pear juice box.
After lunch is was more meetings. Most of us were pretty tired so it was kind of hard to sit through.
The best part of the day was in the evening. Our activity was to go to a spa called Terremilano which is a spa that believes in water doing the healing. They had pools and jacuzzis. There were these relaxation rooms that had different element themes so earth, fire, water, air (and I think I forgot one). Then the basement was what they called the "Wellness course." They had hydromassage jets in a jacuzzi (I really liked the ones that I could massage my feet with), this walk that goes through hot, then cold water to help circulation. There were also multiple saunas including one that smelled like lemon (very refeshing) and one that you took a handful of powdered soap in your hand, held it while sitting in the sauna for about five minutes, and then used the soap. It exfoliated and felt really good. Then you showered off. A lot of people thought that it would be lame but we all loved it, it was very relaxing and they had a "light dinner buffet" for us which was mostly fruit so I enjoyed that. Plus foccacia bread, and little chocolate cookies.
WEDNESDAY:
A bunch of us from the building (and our hard to pronounce street) made it to breakfast and to the Universita Cattolica all on our own without help from Maria (she had to wait for the electrician...I discovered we have two lights in the bathroom actually since he was here). We had more meetings but there were some more tailored meetings than yesterday. I got to attend the music meeting and learn that they have already contacted a horn teacher in Milan for me. He is currently out of Milan on a trip but will be back soon and then we will set up our first "appointment" as Walter refers to them. The music program here has many vocalists and only a few instrumentalists so our chamber groups will be pretty interesting. But I'm excited to start the music class.
In the afternoon we heard from one of the main people at the US Consulate in Milan and he talked about safety in Milan. Apparently Milan is much safer than most cities its size (Milan is a rather large city, it is actually bigger than Florence but Florence is more touristy since Milan is so north). The biggest problems are petty crimes such as pickpocketing and having bags taken when you're not look so he gave us some tips on that. Finally we got to find out our Italian language assignments. As I expected I am in Italian 100 but we have three classes of it since there are so many of us that know very little or no Italian knowledge. We have our first class on Friday and I am very excited to start learning. These next three week we will take Italian only. From 9-11:30 the first week and from 9-12 the third week.
The evening activity was part of what they call Milano "Tuttifrutti." It is generally a cultural experience in Milan and varies. We got to experience a very Milanese tradition of the aperitivo. It is basically a time before dinner that seems like a "happy hour." IES provided us all with finger food at this place called Noon and we each got one free drink. I enjoyed something called a spritza (that might be incorrect) which was prosecco (an Italian sparkling white wine) and something else that I forgot and nobody could translate into English for me. It was quite good. Then I went with a few girls for my first gelato of the trip...definitely two days too late. However it was wonderful and I think I remember where the store was. They had other chocolate fare as well which I must try. We saw them making a crepe with chocolate when we left. Yum!
THURSDAY:
We didn't have anything until 10 and my roommates were out late so I was the only one up when I decided I wanted breakfast so I successfully got my own breakfast ordering in Italian even. However, when I went to pay I didn't know how to say I wanted to pay and ended up saying it in the English. The guy kind of laughed and said a few things to me in English anyway.
At 10 we met at the Duomo for a tour of Milan. We saw the Duomo and the very fancy shopping area next to it. We saw the outside of La Scala and the old medieval meeting area which also used to be a market place. When then got very good Italian fast food which was called panzetta I believe. Mine was mozzarella and prosciutto. It was kind of like a sandwich but looked like a calzone. I enjoyed it very much.
We had a 2:30 tour of the music school so before that a bunch of us went and got gelato and went to one of the apartments that is much closer to the IES Center than mine is. I finally managed to figure out which gelato is dark chocolate and it was wonderful. Then we went to the music school which takes about half an hour to get there. We took the metro and then a streetcar and then walked. Luckily I don't think I'll actually be at the Academia because my lessons with probably be at IES. It is a beautiful building though. It was first someone's villa outside of Milan before Milan grew. Then the Nazi's used it for a base so it was bombed during WWII. The City of Milan (Comune di Milano) decided to rebuild it and they're actually working on the facade still so there is a large scaffolding all of it (so I didn't take pictures).
There was a tour at 4 of two of the oldest churches in Milan, however it took so long for the Academia tour and then getting to and from (plus we left late) that I wasn't able to make it. I will have to make it to the churches on my own (one is the one with The Last Supper but I don't believe they were actually going to see that part, the other is near the IES Center so I will have to stop in after Italian one day these next three weeks). So after I took the metro back to my apartment with two of my roommates to relax a little.
After relaxing I went with some girls in the building and we found the very cheap (yet good quality) grocery store we can get to on one of the streetcar things. I'm glad to finally have food in the apartment. We went back to the apartment upstairs and Maria made what they call "student pasta" which is pomodoro sauce (tomato), tuna, and pasta. It was so good. I never would have thought to put tuna in pasta but it's good. It's also very cheap, hence the name. We talked and had a lot of fun making and eating dinner, even if we didn't eat until 10:30. I'm still getting used to eating late, but hopefully I'll adjust.
If you don't have facebook I've posted the pictures on Google Picasa too. The link is on the sidebar, someone let me know if it doesn't work.
Next adventure: 1st Italian class!
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