Italy – Page 21 – DU Abroad

hadleyway

After a few weeks of stumbling around Florence, I can safely say that I have adopted a routine—different given the day, but nonetheless a routine. Here’s a glimpse of my Mondays spent in Florence, Italy.

9 AM

I usually wake up around 8-9 a.m. without an alarm. Today, I slept in and started my day a little later. It was no problem; I still had hours before my first class. I got up around 9:30 and immediately started my laundry. In my apartment, we have the teeniest little washer and no dryer. It’s been difficult trying to time 8 different girls’ laundry and how long it takes to dry with no dryer. I started my laundry and got ready for the day.

10 AM

After a quick breakfast, Emily and I headed to the grocery store. Emily is my flat mate and goes to DU, but we never knew each other before abroad, and I am so thankful she’s in my life now—shout out, Emily! I grabbed some basics for this week and next. Between traveling, it’s hard trying to learn what I need week to week, so I try to get food that won’t go bad. As I stated in a previous blog, the grocery store has been my biggest struggle. I can’t read the labels & don’t know where products are, so it’s been a difficult obstacle. Luckily, I have been getting more comfortable and today I felt very confident and confident in my meals.

11 AM

After the grocery store, we headed back to the apartment to do some meal prep. This helps me plan my dinners and portions so it can last as long as I need it to. This week, I’ll be in Paris Thursday-Sunday, so I just had to prep for 3 days. I cooked my chicken and Emily’s chicken, then cleaned the kitchen a bit. Nothing super interesting, just having the company of my flatmates makes the mundane moments so special.

12-1 PM

After some meal prep, unpacking, and relaxing, I sat down to review my class notes. We have midterms next week and while it’s a pass/fail class, I am really enjoying my classes and hope to use this knowledge for my future career. Studying wine and being in a culture that appreciates it so much has really impacted my aspirations. I am taking a Wine Business & Marketing class and a Wine Culture class (as well as a cooking and art history class). These classes have really broadened my horizons regarding what I can do with my Hospitality Management degree.

2 PM

Around this time, I start to mentally prepare for class (yes, I still have an hour but I like getting prepared). I decided to treat myself with a little pick-me-up at my favorite cafe. I packed my bag and headed to Vintage Cafe – it’s about a 10-minute walk from my apartment and 5-minute walk from the Gastronomy building at LdM (where a majority of my classes are). I had a latte and read my book for a bit before heading to my favorite class!!

3-5:30 PM

Class time! I absolutely love this class – it’s my Wine Business and Marketing class. I wasn’t supposed to be in this class originally but added it right after schedules came out. I figured what better place to learn about the ins and outs of this interesting industry. Today we had a guest speaker and talked about our Midterm. The guest speaker was interesting, he discussed the importance of winemaking and his history of getting into the industry. I have no bad things to say about this class – even my professor is my favorite.

6 PM

After class, I headed to my favorite place in all of Florence – Giunti Odeon. If you’ve been following along on my Instagram, you’d know that I can’t go a few days without heading here. It is a huge building that consists of a cinema and a bookstore – my heaven. The cinema has very comfortable movie theatre seats and I tend to come here to read or do simple homework. They also have tables and chairs nearby, but they fill up quick. I did some more studying for my Wine Business midterm next week and caught up on texts from friends & family.

7 PM

Around 7, I headed back to my apartment for the night. I was exhausted. From traveling all day Sunday and getting caught up on Monday, I felt that I deserved an early night. I heated up my rice and chicken and cooked my brussel sprouts for dinner. YUM! This has been my favorite dinner I’ve made since being here. Everyone is finally back in Florence after traveling this week, so we had a lot of catching up to do. I chilled out for an hour or so, then I started doing more studying.

9 PM

I love to go to bed early, so I decided to call it a night. I finished up my work and got ready for bed – and got ready to read. I curled up in bed with my Kindle and Harry Potter. After a long and simple day of playing catch-up, it makes me realize how lucky I am to have this opportunity. My day-to-day routine looks a lot different here than in Denver or Kansas, but I am learning how to adapt and how to feel comfortable in my new little home. I know I’ll miss my favorite spots when I leave, so I won’t take the last 2 months here for granted.

Buona notte,

Hadley

https://www.instagram.com/p/DA22vzmILvU

I really mean it when I say that no tutorial could have prepared me for the way Italian instructors structure their lectures! Allow me to briefly explain the backdrop. Regardless of the course material, lecturers in the majority of the classes I’ve taken in the past rely a lot on student conversations. Different points of view are encouraged in both lab and more hands-on sessions, and the day is frequently divided into sections to aid in maintaining focus, particularly in lengthier classes.

Exclusive

But it’s been a whole different experience here in Italy. The adjustment has been surprising, but I wouldn’t say it’s been difficult. All of my lecturers have so far spent the entire two or two and a half hours giving lectures, without pause. It could be difficult to maintain concentration on the subject! Furthermore, because the teaching approach favors a specific viewpoint, I haven’t had the opportunity to discuss other points of view during lectures. Open debate is challenging because teachers like to reaffirm their stance as “better” if you raise your hand to criticize an idea or present an alternative viewpoint.

Performance

There is also a difference in the pressure to grade assignments. Although attendance is required, depending on the course, your mark is typically determined by a midterm, final, and maybe a project. This may appear to be a lot of weight based on a small number of evaluations.

Personally

I’ve discovered that when I wish to further question anything or correcting someone feels like going somewhere you really shouldn’t in Italian schools. Even if it’s not your aim, voicing a different viewpoint can come across as impolite. Since the test will ultimately be dependent on what you are learning, you often just wind up sitting there, taking in the information as it is, and working with it. Finally, keep in mind that instructors have the power to make or break a course, so when forming your class schedule look into course content and expectations and choose subjects that you are actually interested in. Alternatively, if you’re up for an adventure, enroll in a class that’s exclusive to your program!

To summarize, I strongly advise getting to know a minimum of two students in each class. Having classmates to study together really helps manage the more difficult subjects and lightens the workload. In addition to having more fruitfully weekends, below I have shared my favorite art from Prague castle located in Czech Republic, breath taking pieces that my friends and I got to witness together before coming back to class.

Ciao!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DAzIaszMVXw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Category: Italy

Spend a Day in the Life with Me!!

Thrive in a Different Style Classroom