After an entire semester, an eight hour flight, and an extremely heavy suitcase, we are finally settled into Milan. Now, being here, it is clear why this city is an excellent place to take our Corporate Social Responsibility class. The city is such a vibrant hub for a variety of companies and businesses, and also well highlights the differences between American and European culture, both in business and in general. Choosing my first Wall Street Journal entry was interesting. I felt like there were many stories that had many different underlying themes to delve into – it was almost difficult to pick one path to write about. However, although I wrote an article more about social ethics in business, I found it very interesting to read my classmates’ articles about sustainability. I think this topic sticks out even more when in Milan because the city’s emphasis on sustainability is much more prevalent and taken much more seriously than it is in the U.S.. This in particular has shown how the country considers its own social responsibility and holds itself accountable for certain values. I think it will be interesting to study how companies hold themselves accountable compared to this.
Today we had our first internship seminar with Professor Swain and Gupta. In this class we reviewed all of our individual internships, and shared our tasks and what is expected of us. We also discussed what we experienced in our first days of work, and how it differed and compared to interning in the United States. It was really interesting to hear about the significant social traditions of Italy, and how each custom holds different meanings. For example, we spent a lot of time talking about the importance of coffee. We learned that an offering of coffee is meant to be a show of hospitality and kindness, and it is actually impolite to decline the offer. It was fascinating to hear how different Italian business culture is from American business culture. I found it to be more relaxed and welcoming, which I enjoyed.
Today I also had my first day of my internship! With another intern from the (non-Lehigh) IES program I commuted an hour both ways to the home office of my host company, BoutiqueNB. This company is a rental management company that assists its clients in renting and maintaining their properties to outside guests. The company works mainly through Airbnb and Booking.com to communicate and coordinate reservations with travelers of all kinds, taking all responsibility and worry off of its clients. There are four people total currently working for the company, two of which are me and Sebastian (the other intern). Today we reviewed our tasks and expectations, a lot of which is communicating with clients and inputting client information for upcoming stays. We reviewed a lot of technical information about this type of business, which is new to Milan and faces many regulations. Overall, It was also interesting from an entrepreneurial standpoint to work with my boss and owner of the company, and to learn about the challenges she faces and her business strategies to move the company forward. I’m very excited to work with this company in the coming weeks here.
When arriving in Milan, the city was instantly busy and gorgeous. Immediately, you can feel Italian culture everywhere, in every little thing you do. There are instantly many little habits and customs you realize you do not know, but learned to pick up quickly (usually by doing the habit/custom wrong the first time). On first impressions, the coffee is fantastic, the language is pronounced very specifically, and independence and self-reliance is heavily emphasized. Overall, Milan-style city life is already a fun and unique experience. This past weekend, the whole IES program went on a day trip to Lake Maggiore, a beautiful lake that is adjacent to Lake Como and only an hour away. The entire trip was stunning, and I don’t think most people here have experienced anything like it before. After busing there, we were taken to three islands scattered in the middle of the lake. The islands had gorgeous, blooming gardens and big castles. On the first island, we were able to talk around the gardens and tour inside a beautiful house. On the second island, we had an amazing lunch outside and got to shop around at little kiosks and booths. On the third island, we took a tour of an enormous castle, and got to walk around the perfectly-kept gardens, which were unreal. Everywhere we went, we were surrounded by green mountains and beautiful water – the whole experience was very cool and unique.
