The purpose of this internship was to work with the Comune di Bologna and the office of Flashgiovani to inform the local community about the various events taking place in Bologna, help foreigners adjust to life in Italy, help students understand how to apply to UNIBO, and provide the community of Bologna with information on various schools and cultures from around the world. It also serves as a portal for various youth/school exchange programs.
My colleagues were mostly Italians who had either graduated from UNIBO or were still working on their degree. There were a few other foreign students/interns doing similar work as myself. By working with other Italians, I learned the rhythm of an Italian work day, improved my Italian, and began to understand parts of the working culture in Italy.
One of the most important things I have learned is to be confident in my writing and my ability to translate. I am the only person who proofread my work and therefore I had to be vigilant and efficient. I have learned to meet deadlines quickly and smoothly. My communication skills have grown drastically, both with my writing in English and my speaking in Italian. When I have a question it is perfectly normal to ask and then be helped, but all of my questions must be phrased in Italian, thus enhancing my technical vocabulary and my ease in speaking.
Part of the work day involved a routine coffee break and lunch hour. The importance of a coffee break as a time to pause and relax, discuss various articles and events is important to the flow of information. Many of us attend the events about which we wrote articles and so the coffee break was a time to reflect on the various events. They were also a time to pick up flyers or discover new events we may not have been aware were taking place.
Lunch hour was also a group event. It was a way to bound as a team of writers over a tasty, Italian meal. We often discussed current politics, current events, and current articles. The time was lively and fun and a way to come together as a team so everyone was aware of what the others were writing about.
Through this internship I have really understood the relaxed atmosphere of the Italian workplace. Though there are articles to write and events to discover, the calmness of the workplace is ever-present. A coffee break is never compromised to finish an article. A lunch is never skipped to work on editing the dimensions of a photo. Keeping the stress level down, the information level high, and the productivity level at its best is the most important part of the work day at flashgiovani. I highly appreciate the sense of personal drive that is required by this job. We are not given assignments as much as a frame of reference and then we are expected to use our own presence of mind to determine whether or not we should write an article on a certain subject. In this way I have become an independent and driven worker who is able to maintain the Italian ideal of a stress-free environment.
I found the dynamics of an Italian work place much different than what I expected. I was not prepared to be working along side an already established team. In this way, I found it hard to break the boundaries of the already functioning group and include myself as a part of the whole. Often, though the Italians were friendly, they did not make the extra effort to be inclusive. It seemed to be a difficult concept for them to understand that as a foreigner, speaking Italian as a second language, it is difficult to be outgoing, to join conversations, and to participate.
There was one girl from Poland who was also participating in an internship. She and I were able to become friends and talk frequently because we both understood the difficulty of speaking another language and making friends in another country. I think that both the girl from Poland and I came off as shy simply because it was hard to formulate responses to discussion quickly enough to join the conversation. Also, because we were the only foreign people in the office most days, when one of us did join the conversation, everyone would stop to look at you and listen to your point of view, as though you were somehow representing the entire opinion of Poland or America. Obviously, my opinion was specific to me, and hers to her, but sometimes it was as though we were some sort of exotic exhibit to be awed and gawked at. Luckily, this did not occur frequently, but it was enough to make participating in conversations rather intimidating. I do feel that by the end I managed to participate in conversations and did have the success of making a number of Italian friends.
I did notice, however, that as new Italian interns/workers joined the team, they were willing to include me in conversation and wanted to be included in conversation as much as myself. They were in as much desire to become a part of the team as I was when I first arrived. It was reassuring to see them go through the same trial that I went through. However, for them it was clearly not a language barrier as much as an already established ‘click’ that created the barrier. It was hard to leave after these new recruits came because I found it easier to participate in discussion and to communicate with the new group dynamic. This was also due to my ever-improving Italian.
When I first arrived in Bologna, I was certain I would not be able to make any Italian girl friends. The Italian women tend to be cold or aloof and thus incredibly intimidating. However, after working at Flashgiovani, I realized how utterly untrue this stereotype is. I was able to connect with the other Italian girl who was working on the English site. Though she was a type of supervisor, she was also a friend. She invited me to many group dinners, told many entertaining stories, slowed down to make sure I understood conversations, and was generally friendly. There was another girl, who unfortunately I did not get to work with frequently, who was absolutely amazingly friendly. She had no qualms explaining her studies, telling me about her past studies, her childhood—any topic was open for discussion and she welcomed the discussion with a big smile and a friendly attitude. Unfortunately, we did not have the chance to exchange contact information and so I have not had the opportunity to see her again. But, as brief as our relationship was, it was wonderful to know that there really are open Italians, and particularly open female Italians, and I was beginning to think did not exist.
I had not realized how rather stoic the Italian populace is until working with a large and divers group. Though my colleagues laugh and do find things funny, they do not tend to laugh or joke as freely as I often though the discussion topics merited. The way that many of my colleagues would laugh was not the kind that might give you an abb work out, or cause your cheeks to hurt, or bring tears to your eyes. It was a more simple type of laughing brought on by what appears to be a certain degree of reserve. As though they are afraid to really let loose and be comfortable enough to laugh as loud as they wished. It was almost as though there was a certain code about how free you can be with your emotions. something I found rather surprising. Because I have a tendency to laugh when I think something is funny, to wear a perpetual smile, and to simply be emotionally relaxed and free, exercising this kind of reserve was a strange and rather depressing sort of task. Every once in a while, we would get a good laugh out of a strange joke or an interesting comment, but in general, stoicism was the favoured emotion.
With the help of this internship, I feel as though I saw a side of the Italian culture I would never have had a chance to experience. I was unaware how easy it can be to be a diligent worker and yet still take time to really enjoy a coffee break or a lunch break. It was to my great dismay to learn just how hard it can be to enter another culture and really feel as though you have been accepted. I do feel that at the end I had made some progress becoming a team member and being accepted less as ‘the Californian’ and more as ‘Emily.’ I did not realize that making friends would be such a difficult process, one worth going through, but most certainly trying.
Probably the most discouraging aspect of Italian culture I discovered, was the sever lack of truly expressing one’s emotions. It appears that an Italian can actually be overly happy, something I had not realized was possible until working on a daily basis with Italians my age. However, the most pleasant surprise was learning that Italian girls are really not as cold and unfeeling as they appear to be when passed on the street or sitting in cafés. When in a familiar environment with established friends, they can be just as open and friendly as any Californian girl and just as willing to joke, talk, and laugh, as long as it is within the emotional range of an Italian. Through this internship I feel that I was able really participate in an Italian life, and though not completely accepted as an Italian, I was still very much working and living within their culture.
