This was the first week of the Lehigh in Milan program. While we have not yet had Professor Gupta’s class on corporate social responsibility we did our first Wall Street Journal entry. I decided to write about Boeing and their shortcomings regarding a legal case they encountered in 2021. I found it quite difficult to find the correct article that touched on the necessary topics which led me to search for hours until I found the right article. Ultimately, upon reading other articles as well as reading Professor Gupta’s feedback I have a much clearer understanding of what is expected in the future regarding these entries. I also believe that while it is important to pick an article of interest, most topics, if they are unpacked and explored properly, will relate to CSR and there is no correct answer. Despite not having class yet, we were introduced to the new IES center and were given a sufficient orientation regarding Italian culture, logistics of trips, and explanations on how class will occur with the absence of Professor Gupta in person.
Today marked the inaugural internship seminar class led by Professor Swain. Unfortunately, I was sick and unable to attend the class in person, but I got quite a bit of information from my peers. One thing that I have noticed from my internship which was also mentioned during the Swain internship seminar was the Italian inclination towards punctuating the workday with many breaks, a departure from the American norm of eating at your desk in order to cram in more working hours. Despite that difference, there is a similarity between Italian work culture and American; that is the Italians encourage and reward curiosity, a demonstration of capability before asserting oneself, and a proactive attitude and approach to work. While I did not get as much information from the class as I had hoped, I am eager in the upcoming weeks to learn more about the Italian workplace and enact the tools and strategies I learn within my internship.
Just this past Monday, I was able to meet the team of Tempo Casa which is where I will be interning for the rest of the summer. While a new transit system in a new city is always a challenge, Charlie, Jack, and myself were able to find the location with some ease. Once we arrived we were introduced to the team and almost immediately embarked on a coffee adventure with our coworkers. Once we arrived back from coffee after fun introductions, we were introduced to the contact database for the real estate agency. This is when fun, but tedious work began. We spent about two hours doing contact entries with many breaks and opportunities to ask questions to our team leader, Monica. The half day went by quickly and we said, “Ciao”. On the second day of the internship we unfortunately did not have a seamless adventure to the location of Temp Casa. The tram ride went smoothly, but we were met by a bus that said, “notturno” which sort of means the bus is nocturnal and therefore was not running. We adapted and took a brisk walk to the office. Upon arrival we once again got coffee and were tasked with listing a property on the website. This property had been listed in italian, but we had to change it to english. Since none of us know how to speak italian we enlisted the help of google translate and ChatGPT which helped us transcribe and find words in english most similar to the italian words that don’t exist in America. To conclude the day we did a bit more database entry and said goodbye.
There were many activities that I am eager to do now that I am in Italy. I arrived a couple of days early to Milan in the hopes that it would help me get over my jet lag faster. Warning, it did not. The first night I arrived in Italy, I decided to look up the restaurants with the best view. I randomly booked a seat at a restaurant called Da Giacamo. I had a delicious pasta and was seated directly beside the Duomo on the 4th floor. Unfortunately, due to being ill I was unable to partake in any weekend activities the first weekend here, but I am optimistic and planning many trips within Italy and all around Europe.
