Andiamo! A peek into my Italian exchange semester

By: Shriam Kaushik

At the beginning of my exchange semester, I received a bag with a quote on it, “ex(change) your life”. I smiled at it because I knew that was going to be true.

For my exchange, I chose to study in Italy. I wanted to experience the food, wine, culture, language, people, living in a big city like Milan. But more than that I wanted to experience the Erasmus life and learn at a university like Bocconi University.

In Milan, I lived in a student apartment near Navigli, with four other exchange students. The apartment was built in a 70s wooden style with hidden cabinets, throne-like chairs and renaissance-like paintings on the ceiling. We called it ‘the little wooden house’. The best thing though, was the view from my room – a life-size statue of ET (the alien from the movie ET). We also had a pizzeria with six-euro pizzas, right under our apartment with a bakery next to it. So, I’d say my apartment had a lot of personality.

The first few days in Milan were incredible but so exhausting. Milan is a big, extravagant city and moving to a new country is not easy. It made me feel small, but it also made me want to explore the city and take on new challenges. I had made it to Milan all on my own and I knew I had an adventure awaiting me.

I started by exploring Milan with my flatmates. We explored the Sempione, the castle, and Brera and in a blissful moment at Sempione Park, I found myself welcoming the new city.

At my first Erasmus meetup, I could feel the nervousness in my stomach while talking to so many people. It was overwhelming and exciting. I made my first friend that night. We talked about our dreams and even though we had just met, we decided to support each other with our goals. We ended that beautiful night at Navigli with gelato.

My first impression of Bocconi University was “big and daunting”, but it soon became the place where I learnt so much from my professors. I also found the most amazing group of friends and made the best memories at the university.

My professors at Bocconi were the best in their field. I looked forward to every class because they were so much fun. The classes were demanding and projects were tougher but I was learning so much.

My favourite course at Bocconi was called social movements, firms and markets. In every lecture our professor discussed a very relevant and recent case. He asked us questions, discussed possible solutions but something very interesting was that he never told us we were wrong. He would ask us questions about our ideas and make us go into detail to form a plan. By doing so we would realise the consequences of such a plan on our own. At the end of the course, he left us with a very valuable teaching that I think I’ll carry with me my entire life.  He told us not to think like typical managers and business owners, to go against the usual idea of what is taught at a business school. He told us to be good people first. I never thought I would hear that at a Business School.

Another subject that really changed my ways of looking at the world, was called Luxury companies in the global landscape. We had guest lectures in every class where people from Gucci, Cartier, Bottega Veneta presented us with new knowledge about their brand and the future of luxury. We had three projects for that course, the most out of all other courses I had. In one of those projects, we had to go to luxury stores and experience and analyse their customer service. I learnt the most in this course, out of all the others.

At the end of a long day at the university, my friends and I would go for Aperitivo at Navigli or shop near Duomo. On weekends we would party at our places or have a relaxing picnic. I also went to a Julia Jacklin concert with my friends and experienced the free shows of Milan fashion week.

During my time in Italy, I got the chance to travel to Genova, Cinque terre (we travelled through la Spezia, portovenere, liguria, riomaggiore, vernazza), Venice, Verona, Bergamo. These travels had some of my most memorable moments. My friends and I organised these travels on our own.

We experienced the true Genovian pesto pasta in Genova. I also swam in the ocean for the first time in my life and I was really bad at it.

The days in Cinque terre were straight out of a movie. I found the tastiest Italian food I’ve eaten yet, called Tagliolini with shrimp, arugula and white truffle. We had a night of drinks and playing card games at the beach of Portovenere with Abba music playing in the background, which then ended with night swims. At the beaches of Portovenere and Vernazza, I found little pockets of peace and serenity while staring at the sunsets. We did a road trip to return back to Milan from Portovenere, we ended up spending some time at every town we passed through.

I went to Verona with my sister when she came to visit me and got to live my dream of seeing the Juliet’s balcony from the movie “Letters to Juliet”. I also visited Venice with a friend of mine where we rode expensive Gondola rides. I felt like a princess in that boat. Finally, I got to look around Bergamo for a while when I had to catch a flight at the airport nearby.

I wanted to travel so much more but my workload as a master’s student didn’t allow me to have a lot of free time. My friends ended up travelling to Barcelona, Greece, Switzerland, Amsterdam, Rome and Amalfi coast.

Every few days, my flatmates and I would cook and drink wine together in our kitchen. We’d play songs, groove to the music and eat bread with olive oil while talking about our day. My flatmates ended up becoming some of my best friends and my greatest support in Milan. Those simple moments were my favourite memories in Milan.

My semester in Italy was only four months long but it was a rollercoaster ride. I experienced so much and met so many people through Erasmus. I forever grateful that a lot of them are now my closest friends. Even though we are not in the same countries now, and we don’t live similar lives, our friendships are still strong. Looking back on the sweet four months in Italy, I can clearly say “I changed my life”.