Common Sense Magazine

#17 Milanese Thursday

Today I did not have class until 12:30, so I slept in until 10 AM and did not get anything important done that morning. I had two classes today, another History of Economic Thought lecture, and my first class of Financial Markets. The financial markets class was interesting and I think I volunteered to speak and answer questions during class, but it’s hard to hesitate when I’m one of the few students in the lecture hall who knows what they are talking about. The fact that my Italian financial markets professor had a New Zealand accent. Also, based on an informal poll, there were just as many Americans as Italians in that class. During lunch, I ordered a slice of thin crust cheese pizza. The clerk did not understand my Italian or English so I ended up with a eggplant pizza which was exchanged for a thick crust pizza that I supposedly paid an extra 50 euro cents for ordering. This is just more proof confusion, stumbling around, and making a clown out of myself has become part of my daily life ever since i left the Anglosphere. I went to my other class which explained David Hume and the Physiocrats.

After class I tried to buy my books, but the bookstore would not accept my debit card for some reason. They said it had no money, even though I thousands of dollars in the account. I then checked all the dates of my midterms and finals to calibrate my schedule. I am actually left with a pretty large break in late October, since both of my midterms are in the second half of the two week midterm. So I planned another trip to a location to be announced later. I then watched a BS! with Penn and Teller about astrology that my mother should watch so she stops reading horoscopes and then went to wash my clothes. I accidentally put my money in the dryer while someone else’s clothes were in the washer. Fortunately, he didn’t want to put his clothes in the dryer and I found he was a fellow Nick, but from Bulgaria. My monetary economics class was canceled on Monday, but rescheduled for Friday, so I have tomorrow.

Here are few first impressions that I gained from being in class with Italian students. First, Italians dress up for class. They don’t walk around in suits, but students wear button up dress shirts or a sweater with a nice pair of slacks or jeans. I usually wear a t-shirt or polo to class and I tend to be the most casually dressed student in class. They also take their notes on graph paper notebooks instead of lined paper notebooks which I find a little odd. A thing that disappoints me about Europe is that there still a high rate of cigarette smoking. That is why people age quickly and look  ragged after their early thirties here.

Overall, I am starting to get more used to living in a foreign country. I withdrew plenty of cash for the next few months, so I do not have worry about FOREX as much. I have also gotten back to reading, finishing A Year o Living Biblically (best of the three), Glenn Beck’s Common Sense and A Creature of Jekyll Island. I have reestablished a routine and have been back to being productive with school work. Expect a new Wall Street University episode to come out tomorrow, but the time zone difference will temporarily make it a solo show.

Starting from this post, I would like to encourage feedback to my posts. I’m glad to take suggestions about how to improve my writing or make my journey more exciting. Even though Svensson had rather malicious things to say in commentary, at least he let his opinion known so I give him credit for that. Until next time, good night.