Cultural Awereness Session September, 15th 2017
Goals To help you to enjoy your experience in Milan, and to get the most by studying at the Politecnico of Milan To share with you some knowledge and tools, thus you can speed up your integration process in Italy, and to overcome any possible critical moments abroad
Agenda 9:30 10:45 AM 10:45 12:30 PM Discovering the Italian Culture Exploring your reasons why Discovering the Italian Culture What do you know about Italy? Tips & Tools for integration Ready, Set Wait! How to integrate My integration Journey Tips and tools
Exploring your reasons why Italy & The Politecnico of Milan
Discovering the Italian Culture What do you know about Italy?
Discovering the Italian Culture Italy is bordered by all the following countries EXCEPT... a. Slovenia. b. France. c. Austria. d. Hungary
Discovering the Italian Culture The capital of Italy is... a. Milan. b. Rome. c. Venice. d. Florence.
Discovering the Italian Culture The colors of the Italian flag are... a. green, white and red. b. green, yellow and red. c. green, red and yellow. d. green, white and blue.
Discovering the Italian Culture The independent Vatican City State was established in... a. 1900. b. 1919. c. 1929. d. 1939.
Discovering the Italian Culture The population of Italy is approximately... a. 45 million. b. 60 million. c. 73 million. d. 88 million.
Discovering the Italian Culture The majority of the population in Italy is... a. Catholic. b. Protestant (Lutheran). c. atheist. d. (a) and (b).
Discovering the Italian Culture In Italy, the full-course main meal of the day is typically... a. breakfast (la prima colazione). b. lunch (il pranzo). c. dinner (la cena). d. none of the above; there is no main meal of the day.
Discovering the Italian Culture Italian is Italy's official language, although... a. Dialects differ from city to city. b. There are significant French and German-speaking minorities. c. English is spoken by many business people. d. All of the above.
Discovering the Italian Culture The head of the government in Italy is... a. the President. b. the Prime Minister. c. the Chamber of Deputies. d. the Cordata.
Discovering the Italian Culture In Italy men and women... a. have the same rights and duties. b. can both work and taking care of their children. c. can kiss each other in public. d. can decide to spend their life with a person of the same sex. e. all of the above.
Discovering the Italian Culture Bella Figura refers to... a. A flowery, humanist-oriented style of painting developed in Firenze during the Renaissance. b. The typically Italian notion of "face", of always "looking good", of doing things in a certain, correct and somewhat prideful way. c. A good-looking bank account, usually the result of furbizia on the part of a real faccendiere. d. The nickname of a famous underground female leader of the Risorgimento.
Ready, Set Wait! How do I feel?
Language Should not be a problem I already speak it, more or less! Don t expect it to be a problem, although I don t really know it. My inability with the language may keep me from making friends and necessary contacts. I am terrified of not being able to do even the simplest of things because I cannot speak or read the language.
Building Personal & Professional Relations This is definitely NOT a problem: I make friends everywhere I go. It may not happen so quickly, but that s OK I can get along on my own until I meet some nice people. Making friends is very important to me, and I am concerned that I do not know how they do it over there. I ll never make any friends, and this worries me a great deal I don t want to be alone.
What about the food? I eat absolutely anything this will not be a problem, even if I cannot find what I want. I am concerned about where I go to find the kind of food that my family and I like. I don t think I will like the food they have there it will be too. I am sure I will lose weight, because I will not be able to buy or eat anything I like.
Where am I going to live? I am delighted with my housing arrangements everything is perfect, just like home, maybe even a little better! Even though the arrangements have not yet been completed, I feel sure things will turn out OK. I am concerned that I don t know much about the neighborhood, the size of my apartment, how to buy a kitchen, the electricity, air conditioning and heat, rent terms, how to get a phone, all those little but important things The housing issue is a major problem for me I am very worried about it.
Will I be safe & secure? Absolutely, in fact, probably safer than at home! I guess it s as safe as home, but I do have some concerns about how to behave on the street, when alone, being in a car, etc. I am seriously concerned about safety and security, for myself and for my family. This is a major problem do I go outside ever at all? How do I deal with all these risks?
Will I be healthy? Of course as healthy as I have been. I need more information on doctors, hospitals, the health system, dentists, dealing with emergencies, and such. I am worried about the health risks I have heard about. Can I even drink the water? Health is my greatest concern because.
How will I stay busy? Everything will be intriguing and interesting this is definitely not going to be a problem. I have thought about this quite a lot maybe language lessons, travel, volunteer, school course, maybe additional work? I worry about this a lot and I am not sure how to go about getting the information I need on what is available for me. I am going to be terribly bored and/or frustrated this is a real problem.
Adjusting to differences I expect to fit right in I ve got a great sense of humor, and I am not a very judgmental person; I expect an easy adjustment. Even though I am excited about the differences, I am afraid I might have a hard time adjusting to them all. I am afraid adjusting to things I don t understand will be hard, and that I will be homesick and blue for familiar things back home. I am going to be very depressed: I don t plan to go out much, and will somehow try to carry on as best I can.
What about returning home? Don t even want to think about this right now; after all when it s time to come home, I ll be enlivened and enriched; this won t be a problem at all. I wonder how I will fit in again back home. I worry about re-connecting at work and with friends. It s going to be another adjustment ordeal that I do not look forward to.
How to integrate Different modalities
The Cultural Adjustment Process
My Integration Journey Action Plan
My Action Plan WHAT HOW WITH WHOM WHEN Friendship (old one) Socializing (new friendship) Family Partner Religion Hobbies & passtimes Sports Travels Volunteer Work..
Tips & Tools Keep your home contacts, with your family and with your friends Social networks help But create also new contacts and new friends: with your schoolmates, through your hobbies, your religion community, attempting the activities that your Ambassy or Consulate organize Furthermore the international community in Milan is bigger than you might expect: «Internations.org», «Passport», «MeetUp», Italians are very hospital but Milan is a busy city and in order to make local friends, you need to make efforts it might not happen authomatically Italy is a very variegate countries, full of wonderful big and small cities to visit there cultural places, sea, lakes, mountains, Take a map or a guide book about Italy and explore it on the weekends Find the way to give continuity to your own personal hobbies it will give continuity to your own personal identity! Milan is a very expencive city: You might want to work few hours or days a week, in order to have some extra money to spend. It can be difficult but still possible Voluntaree service in local community is possible: there are plenty of associations that might need you, and you can get to know local people by serving the local community
Travelling in Italy Trenord http://www.trenord.it/it/home.aspx Ferrovie delle Stato - http://www.trenitalia.com Italo - http://www.italotreno.it/it Emergency number (health) Ambulance 118 Guardia Medica +39 02 34567 Dentist - Hospital Stomatologico - http://www.isimilano.eu/it/ Voluntaring http://www.volontariatoamilano.it/ http://www.comune.milano.it/wps/portal/ist/s t/pagine_giovani/fare_volontariato/il+volontari ato+a+milano Courses/Hobbies (any kind) Umanitaria - http://www.umanitaria.it/humaniter Informagiovani - https://www.comune.milano.it/wps/portal/ist/st/ Pagine_Giovani/ https://www.facebook.com/informagiovani/ http://www.milanotoday.it/guida/giovani/informa giovani-milano-sedi-e-orari-apertura-pubblico.html Free Language Courses Comune di Milano http://www.lingueincomune.it/ Cultural Events What s going on in Milan http://www.timeout.com/milan/features/125/f estivals-events-in-milan http://www.wheremilan.com/events/
Maura Di Mauro Intercultural Trainer, Coach & Consultant maura.dimauro@libero.it www.mauradimauro.weebly.com Mob. +39 340 3238701 Skype: maura.di.mauro