My Erasmus 2014/2015

I have been on Erasmus in Milan a couple of years ago, during my Bachelor Degree but I want to share my experience, probably not much have changed since then.

I had an amazing time, maybe a bit because of living in a dorm and so many great people I have met there, but also because Milan is such a nice place to visit. Speaking about dorm: here you can see the first cultural differences. Firstly the rooms are shared and we were assigned to live 24h/day with strangers on less than 20 square meters. Nobody would think about it in Western countries ;P

Besides that you'll learn that typical Italian says that he/she speaks English but when you say something complicated to random people on the street, they are most likely to get confused, so my advice is: learn a bit of Italian or show what you want, as they are masters of gestures.

The city is beautiful, wih great location and connections to other cities, so it's worth going for short trips around northern part of Italy from there. Transportation is not too expensive but, on the other hand, in Italy nothing works on time and they never hurry, so don't be surprised if the bus stops in the middle of the street because someone parked their car there and left. I have seen many weird cases of drivers leaving their cars in random places or just honking at each other in the middle of the street.

The famous Italian cuisine is amazing, you can easily put on weight on all the pastas, pizzas, and gelatos. They have the best ice cream in the world, sold all year around as the weather isn't ever too cold. Italian pizza is not as we know from fast food places around the world and putting pineapple on it would be offensive for Italians but it's the real version and it's delicious. The only annoying thing is siesta, when even in the city center, most restaurants are closed for a couple of hours in the time when foreigners are used to eating dinner. So better go grocery shopping just in case. Food isn't too expensive and I would really recommend going for aperitivo in the evening - you can get "all you can eat" buffet and one drink just for a few Euros.

Italians are loud, there is always something going on in the city and parties in the clubs are held every day (check "International Week" each day there is a party in different club, you have to pay entrance fee but one or two coctails are usually included in the price). Also don't be surprised that southern characteristics are a bit different, so people come very close and talk to strangers in public places. Sometimes it doesn't feel safe, especially for women, so better go with a group after dark.The other disadvantage is that, as it is a big city, the streets are not always clean and there are some homeless people living on the streets.

But I would definitely recommend going to Milan and living there, even for a short time - the architecture is beautiful, people are nice (and a bit intimidating but that's Italian charm), and the food is delicious.