My second week in Milan has proven to be even more informative and eye-opening than the first. Our Corporate Social Responsibility class has really kicked in to gear as we dived deeper into the morality of business and the idea of externalities. We spent time watching a documentary called “Corporations” which uncovered the truth about how companies remain profitable through cheap exported labor, and more often time than not end up ruining whole communities. Furthermore, although businesses are ultimately responsible for their actions, the people who make up said company are able to justify it as a means to an end. Personally, I found their depiction of the petrochemical industry very interesting, and how the quick development of products due to capitalism and forced growth can have unforeseen consequences. It is quite scary how quickly the world adapted some of these products which now are now known carcinogens and poisonous.

At Here Fashion my fellow inters and I have been developing our list of comparable companies and financial indicators that best represent our financial analysis plan. Sean and I have been speaking with our boss, Filippo, and looking at venture capital backed startups that have been successful in ours and comparable industries   It is interesting to look through the eyes of a start up, looking to see how other companies fund themselves, leverage debt, and ultimately stay in business. Our time in the office is amazing due to the kind and down to earth nature of our coworkers. They care a lot about our insights and do not take any offense to advice. The office is so different from my personally experiences in the United States, and is much more relaxed. My boss seems more for encouragement and guidance, rather than just reprimanding and delegation.

Last weekend six of my friends and I travelled to Zurich, Switzerland. The culture there was very different from Italy. The most interesting aspect was the stark decline of casual social interaction. In Italy, I have found that brief passing by conversations are common. With greetings and goodbyes being so prevalent and integrated in their language, it was surprising to see that their northern neighbor’s mostly kept to themselves. It was much quieter, and people hardly ever greeted each other. This weekend I traveled to Nice, France. It was by far the best part of the trip as far as leisure. It was a very western city that had a great coastal feel as well. The populous was also much more diverse, but very similar otherwise. The social scene seemed very similar to Italy, and people were incredibly friendly