This week in Professor Gupta’s class we listened to a podcast about capitalism, debated the importance of corporate social responsibility, and finished the film, “The Corporation”. While it was clear that the side of the debate that argued that companies should incorporate CSR was easier to debate I think those arguing the other side did a good job and were able to come up with a good amount of content. The documentary we watched continued to shock me with all of the negative aspects of corporations. The aspects of child labor, the privatization of water including rainwater, and the drugs used on animals that produce items humans consume were all brought up and it made me sad this is our world now.
During our internship seminar this week we talked about different stereotypes that Italians have about Americans, our communication styles, and how ethnocentric we think we are. We talked about bella/brutta figura which is kind of like how someone is perceived and their etiquette. Some stereotypes that Italians think about Americans are that we drink too much and that we don’t dress for the weather. We filled out multiple activities to find out how ethnocentric we are and where we would fall on a scale from denial to fully immersed in the other culture. I put myself in the acceptance category because while I realize and respect our cultures have differences it is hard for me to assimilate.
At my internship this week I got to go to my first apartment photoshoot which was very cool. I watched them stage the apartment with table settings and flowers for the pictures which will then be put on the listing for the apartment. Me and sophia’s boss also gave us some feedback on the presentations we have been working on. He gave us slideshows on the companies competitors which had previous information on them and asked us to add stuff based on what we are doing in school (finance and marketing). Even though we have been emailing them to him for the past 3 weeks he just looked at them today and told us they were unorganized even though that is how they were given to us. He then asked us to remake the presentations completely and add another marketing presentation including all of the companies which was a little frustrating because he could have told us this weeks ago if he had bothered to look at our work.
As for culture this week, we visited Nice which was absolutely beautiful and I want to go back already. The food in Nice was delicious and the water was so blue and not that cold. I wasn’t a huge fan of the rocky beaches because they hurt my feet alot. My brother came to visit along with two of my best friends from home so I got to show them around Milan a little bit and show them my favorite spots. My brother and I also took a cooking class which was very fun and it was delicious. Meals are a lot more enjoyable when you are the one that has put in the hard work to make the food.
