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About us...in the Sicilian newspaper
Man6636 - Summer A, 2008 - The class
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Groups of students in class
Man6636 - Summer A, 2008 - The class again!
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Thank you Maurizio
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Etna Valley and Etna HiTech
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Professor Faraci doing a lecture
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Back to back - The class of Man6636 on SummerB 2007
Back to back - The class of Man6636 on SummerA 2006
Back to back - The class of Man6636 on SummerB 2005
Back to back - The class of Man6724 on SummerB 2005
University of Catania (Italy)
The School of Business Economics and Management
13 comments:
See this page on the Economist
http://www.economist.com/countries/Italy/
For me, the first impression of Italy is that there are a lot of luxury brands.It seems if you want to learn design or fashion, Italy is a good choice. Besides, Italian food is good. Not many western countries are famous for their food, but Italy is. (Most eastern countries are famous for their food, such as Chinese food, Japanese food…etc.)
My friend who studied in Italy before told me Italian people are usually very passionate. It reminds me a movie ‘under the Tuscan sun”, a woman who suffers from divorced pain goes to Italy and finds her new life. However, Italy is like China which has grand history hundred years ago, but they both are not the strongest countries in present. I really hope I can have a long time to stay in Italy to explore more historic culture and meet more people!
Under the Tuscan sun
Frances Mayes (Diane Lane) is a San Francisco writer whose seemingly perfect life has just taken an unexpected detour.
She finds out at a party that she's hosting, from a writer to whom she had given a bad review of his book, that her husband has been cheating on her.
Her recent divorce has left her depressed and with terminal writer's block, and her best friend Patti (Sandra Oh), a lesbian who is expecting a child, is beginning to think Frances might never recover.
Patti convinces her to take an Italian vacation, to Tuscany, but it's on a gay tour (Patti and her partner Grace (Kate Walsh) had booked it for themselves, but changed plans upon becoming pregnant). At first she refuses, but then after being in her new, gloomy apartment, she decides that it is a good idea to get away for a little while after all.
In Tuscany, while stopping in a small town she sees a notice about a villa for sale. Then while the passengers are back on the tour bus, the bus has to stop to let a herd of sheep pass, and Frances realizes that they've stopped in front of the very villa that she had seen for sale, and she believes it's a sign.
She has the driver stop and she gets off the bus. In a series of serendipitous events she becomes the owner of a lovely yet dilapidated villa in beautiful Tuscany. From this point her life begins anew with a variety of interesting characters and odd but gentle souls.
She assembles a crew of Polish immigrants to repair the house. Over time, Frances also befriends her Italian neighbors and develops relationships with her Polish workers, the realtor who sold her the villa, and Katherine, an eccentric, aging socialite.
Later, she welcomes to her home the pregnant Patti, who has arrived in Tuscany unexpectedly after being left by her partner. Frances even meets a romantic interest, Marcello. But things don't work out with Marcello, and Frances is about to give up on happiness when two young lovers come to her for help.
Eventually, she finds the fulfillment she was searching for in a wedding at the villa, where she also meets an American writer who is traveling in Tuscany. The movie ends with the possibility of a new love in her life.
I love the movie Under the Tuscan Sun! Diane Lane is so natural and beautiful; a perfect fit for the part.
May 2006 I went backpacking through Europe with my sister. We started in London, then on to Paris, Amsterdam, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. All in all we were traveling for a little over a month. Although skydiving and rock repelling in Interlaken were my most memorable adventures, Italy was my favorite country.
My sister and I visited Milan, Venice, Florence and Rome. Aside from all the typical "touristy" things we did, the best part was meeting people along the way. You could go out in America every night and never meet anyone new, but in Italy we traveled with a different group everyday.
Our best day in Italy was in Florence where we stopped by a local market and bought prosciutto, bread, cheese, and olive oil and had a picnic on the steps of the Duomo. We people watched all afternoon. Watching the gypsies and tourists interact in the square. We even saw a bridal party taking photos outside the Cathedral! That evening after dinner we went to the Spanish Steps where locals and tourists alike sat around drinking wine, singing and playing music. It was like our own mini concert. We met some locals and went dancing late into the night at some little place that we never would have found on our own.
I would love to return to Italy and see more of the countryside. Maybe even stay in a cottage like in the movie. I think the movie does represent Italy and the feeling you get while in another country and experiencing a completely different culture. It was certainly an escape from my real life!
I love the football (soccer) team and football culture in Italy. Roberto Baggio, Francesco Totti and so many players are all heroes to many chinese. I am a loyal fan of Italy during every FIFA World Cup. I still remembered the moment when Italy achieved the champonship in 2006 and one of the chinese sport reported lost his job because of getting too excited on TV.
I love Italy! Both my parents are from Palermo, so I've been there several times, but I was very young. I recently studied abroad in Florence, and that was a great experience. The city is absolutely beautiful, and there was so much to see. The only thing that bugged me a bit was the slow pace of service. I understand thats the culture there but when you only have a limited amount of time to see everything, I sometimes would mistake the slow pace with bad service. I also visited Milan, Rome, Rimini, San Giminiano, and Venice. Favorite things overall: The FOOD and the FASHION. I couldn't get enough of it!
I visited the North of Italy last year. One of my cousins was competing in an international sailing regatta on lake Garda and that was a perfect excuse for me to visit the country. I stayed in Riva del Garda for 5 days and loved the small city. The people are great and really enjoy life. The people in that area were very athletic too. Not only with sailing and windsurfing but also with cycling and hiking. There are beautiful mountains and steep cliffs at the lakes edge.
Meal time was often the highlight of the day and the great wine in the region has something to do with that. I also tried many new foods, horse meat being the most exotic. I drove through many grape and olive fields near Bardolino and on my way to Venice.
Venice was unlike any other city I had ever seen before and was the highlight of my trip. I was able to rent an apartment where many locals lived and felt like I got a very authentic experience. Shopping for food in the floating boat markets was unique to say the least.
Driving on the autostrada was also very different than driving in the U.S. The drivers may be aggressive but I feel they were much better than the average American driver from my experience. Merging lanes was quick and seamless where traffic would have come to a stop in Florida. The correct use of the left lane for passing was refreshing compared to what you find in the U.S.
Overall, the people and their lifestyles were what I liked best about Italy. I found there was an emphasis on enjoying time with family and friends as it should be.
I’ve been fortunate enough to visit Italy a couple of times. This past summer I went to Naples, Sicily and Rome. Naples was amazing. I went to visit Pompeii and was blown away at how advanced their culture was. (I also ate an entire pizza, it was so good!) In Sicily I went to see where the lava finally stopped as it moved down the mountain. Overall, the lifestyle seems so laid back. All except the driving, that is a scary experience! Rome was awe inspiring all except the Coliseum, I was expecting to see something similar to the movies and pictures but it turned out to be more of a patch work of all the mini fix-its that have occurred over the centuries. The people were all so friendly and seemed to be very happy with life. I do not know a lot about its business system or its social problems, but do know it is a fabulous country that I hope to visit again.
My grandfather from my father’s side came from Corsica to Puerto Rico, but the most Italian I learned was from my mother who always says: “L’italiano è la lingua più bella del mondo” (Italian is the most beautiful language in the world). I guess that always stuck with me, and when I first went to Italy I really believed it. The first time I could only go to Rome, Florence and Venice, but that was enough for me to know that I wanted to go again for a longer period of time; it was love at first sight! The next time I went it was for study abroad purposes. I stayed in Florence and it was when I truly fell in love with the country. I visited Rome and Venice again, and also went to many other places including: Ravenna, Lucca, Napoli, Pompeii, Ischia, Capri, Sorrento and Positano, among others. I have to say that although Florence will always hold a special place in my heart as the city that was my home for a few months, Positano was really breathtaking; especially the drive there from Sorrento! I would definitely recommend everyone to visit Positano, but get someone else to drive because you won’t want to miss the sights. As for what I enjoyed the most (other than the food), I like the Mediterranean lifestyle. It is one that reminds me of how it is back home with its laid-back attitude. In general, I have to say I loved my stay in Italy and can’t wait to go back again.
I have yet to go to Italy and even when I go to Italy briefly in a few weeks it will only be for a short time so any opinion will be slightly skewed. I do know that after visiting many European countries last summer and getting into the culture my impressions of the countries changed mostly favorably.
I do know of Italy that you cannot take a luxury rental car into Italy. When I go to Europe I always rent a car rather than the train and all the companies do not allow rental luxury cars into Italy and Eastern Europe. To me this means lots of car theft.
I do think of luxury and fancy products in Italy and I do not think of beer at all. I am not a fan of Peroni, sorry.
When I think of Itely..I think of Renaissance
movement, specially Leonardo da Vinci (seems like most intelligent man ever..a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer.),Don Vito Corleone from Godfather..best novel I have ever read,Yummy Macaroni & fusilli. By the way now benetton racing team belongs to Renault. Would definately like to visit.
Italy has so much history! The Roman Empire, The Renaissance. Now it has great food and luxury products. I have never been to Italy, but I would love to go for a visit in the near future. I think it would be an amazing experience.
Todd Allen
A lot of my immediate family comes from Italy and they are catholic which I know that most of Italians who live in Italy are catholic. I have never visited Italy but I hear it is absolutely break taking. I would actually love to visit the country side where I can have a real authentic, Italian dinner outside with a huge family. That is what I picture when I think of Italy. I just picture family being the utmost important thing, then comes business. My favorite food is Italian. I know that the Americanized Italian food is not the same. Italy is actually the one country I would love to visit and I feel that I would fit in well. I am just wondering if Italians who live in Italy are anything like the Italians that I know and have so much fun with. I would love to find out. I would also love to learn Italian because I think it is the most beautiful of the romantic languages.
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