Academic Update

Week 9.5,
There have been a few people out there that have asked me to explain the word “Calcio”. Calcio is Italian for Soccer (USA), Football (the English speaking world), Futbol (Spanish), Futebol (Portuguese), Fußbal (German), футбол (Russian) and Voetbol (Dutch).

Academics…
This week I have had midterms. I have one more test tomorrow. My two Italian classes have been fun, because they have been active and interesting. My sociology/anthropology/history class has been rather boring. I have learned, or I should say heard, some interesting ideas and history regarding Milan and its foundations. I still need to study for this test. There have been a lot of dates mentioned and the material is rather dry. I have tried to participate as much as I can but even the strong Italian coffee does little to keep me alert in class. I just had my political science final on European Integration. The test consisted of 28 multiple-choice questions. No joke. I was done in 9 minutes and out of the room in less than 10 minutes. I enjoy this class a bit more as it consists of material that I am familiar with and there are fewer students in the class, which leads to interesting discussions at times.

Class efficiency
Overall I would describe the classes here as being very inefficient. The classes are 1 hour and 50 minutes long and I think they could be compressed into 60 minutes at most. I feel that the teachers are told to keep the students in the classroom for the whole class period even if they have nothing to say. It kills me. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to teach a class in your second language, so props to the teachers, but there is a lot of repeating in class. Each class has a powerpoint (excluding my Italian classes), which is emailed to us at the end of each week. This makes taking notes seem almost pointless. I manage to jot down some info regardless. The powerpoints are filled with fluff as well. I am missing the very structured classes of Wooster. I much prefer the intense 50 minutes of class.

I think that is all for this installment of the academic update. I will try and attach a picture of where I play calcio.

KR

study Abroad 2009: Karl in Milan-Week Nove

Week nove,

This past weekend I traveled to Sauze D’Oulx and Sestriere in Piemonte region of Northwest Italy. It was a 2.5 hour train ride from Milan stopping in Turin before arriving at the Oulx station. My hotel was located in Sauze d’Oulx but I skied in 2 other towns. The mountains were set up such that by going up the lift at Sauze d’Oulx one can ski down the backside into Cesana and then into Sestriere. All three mountains had prior Olympic runs of the 2006 Winter Games in Torino. Sestriere was one of the 3 Olympic villages. The men’s Olympic downhill course was on Sestriere and had some good snow so I skied that many times. I was surprised by the fact that there were so many old lifts on the mountain, primarily Poma lifts, which consist of a seat that you must grab and put between your legs. Since the Olympics were held there I would have thought there would have been a few more updated lifts, but it did not really matter, as the lines were not too long. A helicopter landed by the bottom of this lift at one point because there were 3 injured skiers on the run, one appeared to have a neck or back injury. They were lifted out. You don’t see that everyday. The snow was best on the top of the mountain where it was a bit colder. For most of the day I was overdressed with one thin jacket on and a t-shirt (Native American print which I bought in Rome). There was a surprising amount of British people visiting, I heard more English lads speaking than I did Italians actually.
All in all I enjoyed the skiing a lot and wish I could go skiing again but my economic council has urged me to decrease spending at the moment and save for the future. My next task is to find a safe method for earning money in Milan. I will have to ask my teachers if they know of anyone looking for a babysitter.

Calcio… I am unable to field for the team I am practicing with, as I am too old, but I could play for the older team although there would be a lot of paper work to sort out. So it looks like I will be a practice player for now.
I have not been to a Milan game in the past 2 weeks…I am going through withdrawal. They did smash Siena this past weekend 5-1, I had to settle for highlights on the Internet.

Pictures of the weekend…
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=254668479/a=157838589_157838589/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

Ciao.

Karl

Study Abroad 2009:Calcio Update,

Calcio Update,
Last night I had my first practice with an Italian club team. The club is called Polisportiva. I met Andrea, one of the players, at a train station 10 minutes from my apartment and then he drove me to the field. This was the first time I had been in a car since arriving in Italy. Andrea mentioned that for people living in Milan, it doesn’t make sense to drive because of all the traffic and the public transportation is really good. The players on the team are all 18 and 19 years old and go to a school near the training facility. When we arrived, Andrea introduced me to everyone including the coach, whom they call “Mister” (roll the ‘r’). Mister did not speak much English, phrases he knew included “It’s OK” and “Very good.” Mister and the guys were asking me questions before training, such as where I was from, who my favorite player is, how many times I can juggle, and so on. When Mister asked me a question in Italian and I could not understand he would laugh and then one of the players would try and translate it for me. They were all laughing at the situation, but were having fun testing their English on me. After the Q&A session, I was led into the locker room and we suited up. The field was something that I was not used to. The corners had patches of grass or what used to be grass. The center of the field was bumpy dirt speckled with rocks. Luckily it had rained a few days prior so the ground was not rock hard. During the training session I was partnered with Mister and we demonstrated the variations of the shooting drills. He would take me aside and explain what we were going to do in Italian, simple Italian, and then we demonstrated for the group. I got a few “wows” from the guys with a few of my shots. Then we scrimmaged, 7 on 7, using half of the field. I had a lot of trouble communicating with them because I don’t know the little phrases like “time”, “man on”, etc… I quickly found out that many of my teammates did not want to play defense, so I had to get back and play some center defender (I started as left midfield). There were 2 players that caught my eye, while the rest were consistent. I was impressed with their ability to play one touch keep away. Relating the Italian players to the equivalent in the US I would have to say that the Italians all have a better first touch. I had 2 of our teams 3 goals. After one of the goals in which I beat two players one of my teammates said, “Amore Chicago” or something along those lines. The team is currently 15 games into the season and sits in second to last place in the league. If I am allowed to play in the games I hope to help turn their season around. We shall see. Our next practice is Tomorrow. It is going to be an awesome adventure…

KR

study Abroad 2009: Karl in Milan-Week Otto

Roma weekend… 6-8 March.

Louis and I got on the fast train out of Milan at 2:15pm on Friday and arrived at Roma Termini at 5:45pm. We were lucky enough to have a crying baby sitting behind us. The baby enjoyed crying. We did not enjoy listening. We went to our friend’s apartment and dropped our bags off and set out on our first journey. We ate dinner in the Trastevere area. I paid 15 Euros for bruschetta con proscuitto, pasta a carbonara, a pizza, and a bottle of water. It was a good deal. Needless to say I was full. From there we walked to the Trevi Fountain and then to the Spanish steps. Both were as I remembered them, neat. We then walked back to home base to get some much-needed shuteye.
The next morning we were out of the apartment by 8:15am, had a cappuccino and a brioche and were in the Vatican by 9:10am. A quick 5-minute line and we were in the church. I took a few pictures, but they do not do it justice. It was awesome. We then went into the Vatican Museum and then climbed the cupola. We saw some cool views from the roof of the Vatican and then we were off to the Colosseum. It was as I remembered it, big and neat. From there we walked to the Forum and Palatine Hill. Then to Circus Maximus, which was rather weak. It had seen better days and is now a thin oval dirt track. After that we went to the Roma v Udinese soccer game at the Stadio Olimpico. The stadium had a different feel and looked beautiful. The game ended in a hard fought 1-1 draw. Outside the stadium was a memorial track that had statues of all the Olympic sports around it. See pictures. We then walked to Piazza Navona and ended up eating in the Trastevere area due to budget concerns. I passed out from exhaustion around 10:30pm.
Sunday we were out of the apartment buy 9:30am and walked to the Pantheon and then to Villa Borghese, which is similar to New York’s central park. Our feet were angry with us, but we had to push on. We arrived at the train station and departed for Milano at 2:15pm. Again we were lucky enough to be sitting next to a baby, this time he had two metal cars that he would bash together. If only I could understand why babies bash things together… I think when I become a father I am going to wrap all my child’s toys with bubble wrap and he/she can have fun bashing the toys together silently. That way everyone is happy.
Below is the link to my Roma pictures. Enjoy

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=254634639/a=157838589_157838589/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

This weekend I am off to Torino to ski at one of the mountains where the Olympics were held, just another boring trip...

Ciao,

KR

study Abroad 2009: Karl in Milan-Week 7

Feb 27/28 – Mar 1
Friday night I arrived in Firenze (Florence) and met up with some friends at their apartment. We all headed to an American pub call the Red Garter I believe. There was karaoke and a DJ. After that we headed to the “Secret Bakery” as my friends called it. It is secret because usually at this point in the night (3am) no one knows how to really get there, due to the drinks that they have consumed, but they can find the bakery because of the smell of pastries. We purchased delicious pastries for 1 Euro. I bought two and saved one for the morning. After returning to the apartment I made my self a bed on the ground by folding blankets. Needless to say it was not a comfortable sleep, but sleep it was.
Up by 8:45am Saturday ready to see what there was to see. I adventured out, before anyone was awake, and purchased a cappuccino and another pastry. I met up with some friends at the Duomo, and we headed to the Uffizi. We waited in line for a good hour or two before entering. The art was art. I particularly liked the sculptures. We saw the David after a nice quite lunch. It was majestic as I remembered it. It was a nice day and I enjoyed walking throughout the city. I did not purchase any jewelry on the Ponte Vecchio, though I was tempted to buy some bling. Saturday night we ate at a posh, up and coming restaurant. The prices were up and the dishes were petite. I thought Chef Boyardee could have done better. From there we went to a posh night club called YAB (You Are Beautiful). I found out that beauty was a loosely used term as there were some trans-gendered individuals dancing on tables wearing leather straps and chains (they were paid employees). That was not neat. The ceilings were low and the techno was high. I think my ears are yet to recover. The VIPs sat around the dance area in modern, black leather sofas. Another trip to the secret bakery and a gelateria after the dance party and the night was over.
Sunday morning I awoke around 10am. I went to the train station to get my return ticket and found out that I would not be able to leave until 7pm that night. Due to the poor weather I took a nap and relaxed at another friends apartment. The train ride was uneventful and we returned to our apartment around 11pm. I solid weekend overall.

Comparing this trip to Florence with my last trip, I would say that the city felt a lot smaller. This could be that I have grown or could be because I live in Milan. Italian was the second language. It was weird hearing English everywhere we went. I felt like I was at home, but not in a good way. I much prefer the language barrier in Milan.

Soccer update… I will be practicing with a team this Tuesday. I am excited.
AC Milan update… Milan were knocked out of the UEFA Cup (European Tournament) this week by Weder Bremer of Germany. I attended the game and was not happy. Just about all the fans voiced their displeasure after the game as well.

I am off to Rome in 2 hours. Ciao tutti!

Karl

Study Abroad 2009: Karl in Milan-Week 6

20-22 February 2009
Friday morning I left for Valdidentro (with 50 other IES students), located in the Alps in the Lombardy region of Italy. The bus ride was nice after we got out of Milan. The hills turned into mountains and before I knew it there was snow everywhere. We arrived at our hotel around 2pm. We had an excellent lunch at the hotel, meat and pasta, just my kind of food. Friday night I went to a spa, my first spa experience, I wouldn’t mind spa-ing more often though. I was the only dude to go, someone had to go with the 7 ladies, I volunteered. The water in the baths was filled with natural hot spring water. The first bath I went into was called the bat cave, because it was a cave (no bats). I went into a few saunas, all of which had panoramic views of the Alps. My favorite bath was one in which the water was lit up with crazy rave colors and when you submerged our ears underwater new age music could be heard (wood flutes, bells, drums, etc…). There was an outdoor bath with a view that must have been fake or so it seemed. I just couldn’t believe I was sitting in a hot spring bath in the Alps. I came back to the hotel in a state of relaxation never felt before. I was ready to go skiing the next day. Back at the hotel, I helped many people get fitted for ski boots and skis and then played cards.

The next morning we all left for Livigno. The views from the bus were only to be matched by actually standing on the mountain. After about an hour, we arrived and I went with another girl to rent some nicer skis than those that were provided by the hotel. We hit the slopes hard and stopped momentarily for lunch and then switched to a mountain on the other side of the valley. The snow was really nice above the tree line. No powder, but you can’t always get what you want.

Sunday was nothing special, I just walked around Valdidentro.

Our bus driver was hilarious, even though I did not know what he was saying 90% of the time. He had commentary for everything, most of it rated R. He got into a huge word battle with a man on the street and I thought there was going to be a fight. After the obscenities were shared by both sides, with the bus driver winning of course, our adult leader on the bus said “Bravo”. A popular quote from the bus driver was “Bastardo merda!” I’ll let you decide what that meant.

Pictures…
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=254565282/a=157838589_157838589/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

24 February 2009
Tonight Manchester United came to Milan to play Inter in the Champions League. The game ended in a 0-0 draw. On my way to a bar to watch the game there were 5 loud English lads (Manchester Fans) who were having a jolly time singing in front of the few Inter fans on the metro. It was funny to hear their songs. The bar was full of Inter fans that were hypercritical of there sub-par performing team. I thought Inter were lucky to come out of the match with a draw.

That’s all for now. I need to sleep.

Bye bye,

Karl

study Abroad 2009: Karl in Milan-Week 5

I have been busy lately with school, running, watching soccer, eating, and sleeping little… I have much to say in this e-mail as I have not written in quite a while…

14-15 February 2009
Early Saturday morning I left for Urbino with two friends. Our train went through Bologna (Southeast of Milan) and on to Pesaro (5 hours or so). We then took an hour bus ride directly West to Urbino. It is an old town has since broken out of the walls that once were its boundaries. The town is located high up on a set of rolling hills, which made walking everywhere a chore. One of my friends had studied there the previous summer and new of some parties going on Saturday night. Some facts… Raffaello was born in Urbino. There are some 40,000 students that live in or around the town, which made for some exciting parties… and that’s all I learned about the town. We went to two different bars where my friend was remembered and we were given VIP treatment. The night concluded around 4am and we were on a train back to Milan by 9:45am on Sunday.

Pictures…
They are currently loading, and I will send the link tomorrow.

15 February 2009
Milan Derby… I managed to get a ticket for the Inter Milan vs. AC Milan game online. Before coming to Italy this had been one of my life goals. This game is similar to Cubs vs. Sox or Yankees vs. Red Sox. The atmosphere was unbelievable. Outside the stadium was chaos. The streets were packed with cars, people and trams. My tram ride to the stadium was intense. I had run to catch the tram and as more and more people forced their way onto the tram I broke a sweat. Since it was cold outside I was wearing many layers, none of which would be taken off during the tram ride, because that would involve me elbowing someone in the face. Finally I arrived, took a second to cool off and then took in the sight that was before me. I got into the stadium as quick as I could. There were many chants before and during the game. During the course of the game flags were waved, flares were lit, cannons set off, and obscenities yelled (some of which I could understand, others I knew just sounded bad). The game ended 2-1 to the bad guys (Inter Milan). Milan now need a bit of luck if there are to win the championship this season. It was by far the best sporting event I have ever been to. I had goose bumps the whole game.

Pictures…
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=254564943/a=157838589_157838589/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

16-19 February 2009
School… classes are a bit boring due to the fact that the professors need to set the foundation for the class before getting into the interesting material.