Even though our CSR class has not officially begun yet, just thinking about the idea has made me more observant of things Italy does to help out. One of them being the use of more electric or smart cars along with smaller cars in general that give off less emissions. Walking down the street, I was amazed to see Fiat after Fiat parked on the side of the road. I was originally caught off guard, but then realized that the use of these cars is much better for the environment. All of my learning has still come from the WSJ so far, and this week I read an article about how hackers are using AI and that the government and corporations are having to put more into their defenses against hackers using AI themselves. As cybersecurity is a large part of a company’s CSR, I found this article super interesting and it has made me more aware of the dangers of some possibly sketchy websites.
In the Internship Seminar Class this week, we discussed a lot about the “Cultural Analysis Toolkit”. I found this activity to be very interesting as it gave me a chance to learn more about myself and how my personal cultural ideals can vary from others even when we come from the same country. There were 8 different attributes with an extreme on either side and we had to rate ourselves on the scale. The attribute that I was furthest in one direction had to deal with being very schedule oriented or more go with the flow. I tend to be extremely go with the flow, as even when I make a schedule, I don’t even follow it. There are definitely pros and cons to this, however, Professor Swain stated that Italians tend to be more go with the flow, so I might be in good shape!
After completing my first week at my internship, I feel I have already learned a ton. It still amazes me how the first thing we do every morning when I arrive at the office is get coffee and breakfast, but it has given me a chance to build a relationship with my fellow interns and coworkers, along with meeting new people. As for actual work, Charlie, Su, and I have been working on reorganizing and creating a larger database for real estate and people in the area, along with helping TempoCasa target more foreign, English speaking customers. As the demand for real estate can fluctuate, my work on a weekly basis may be different. Even now it feels like I am doing something different every day and I am very excited for whatever is thrown at me throughout the rest of the 7 weeks.
This weekend, I attended the Hiking in the Alps Trip with IES. I have always seen pictures of the Alps online, but seeing these mountains in real life was breathtaking, and many of the pictures I have taken do not even look real! Although the ride was very far, the day in the mountains was a ton of fun and an unforgettable experience. Back in Milan, I have been doing my best to embrace Italian culture. This week we had an aperitivo with IES that was at a super cool venue with a tower that brought us all the way up to see Milan from above. I have also been trying my best to use the Italian I learned in the Italian Bootcamp class, however, the locals say its not up to par just yet. I am hoping to continue working on my Italian to really immerse myself in the culture and to get to know some of the locals on each trip I take.
