“I’ve always been interested in Russian culture and literature”
Italy
University of Bergamo, Italy
Exchange Student and a Lecturer at Ural Federal University
I really like foreign languages, that’s why I decided to apply to the faculty of foreign languages. My choice has fallen onto Russian, since I’ve always been interested in Russian culture and literature.
However, I have many other interests: I love travelling, I am fond of opera and ballet, I enjoy listening to music, watching drama series and keeping fit, and recently have been practicing healthy lifestyle: I love experimenting while cooking and trying new receipts. I have got a lovely, smart cat, Penelope.
I chose to study Russian language and literature at UrFU for a semester as an exchange student; I was also supposed to teach Italian language to university students, and that’s why I decided to stay more and do my practice here. I have been living in Ekaterinburg for 8 months.
I took classes of Russian language for foreigners, Russian contemporary syntaxes and a Training Course on Business Communication, of course all these courses were in Russian. The course on syntaxes was the most challenging: really difficult but very interesting and useful; the training course was the most enjoyable and I really liked it, since it is closer to my qualification. But I should say that all the lecturers were great, and I really liked the way of teaching in Russian universities!
I think UrFU is a very good university. I had the possibility to meet qualified and interesting professors and lecturers, fond of their subjects and field of study. What I enjoyed most is the fact that professors combine both theoretical and practical moments; debates, presentations, projects, role-plays and other activities always accompany lessons.
Actually I didn’t know about UrFU. I won a grant to study and teach Italian language. I had to choose between two cities: Pushkin and Ekaterinburg. At first I decided to move to Pushkin: studying and living in the town where the greatest Russian poet studied (who I love, indeed), the author of Eugene Onegin, which inspired the subject of my dissertation, was such a dream! Then I thought: why not Ekaterinburg? Nearer to Asia, nearer to Siberia, farer from Europe! It’s not so easy to reach Ekaterinburg, especially from the south of Italy where I live, so I thought it would be more interesting and exciting to visit such a far place, with less tourists, and more ‘authentic’ beauties to discover. I was right!
I really wanted to spend some months in Russia to practice language, at the same time, I wanted to meet new people, hopefully in the business environment, to create new possibilities to find a job.
As I already mentioned I also worked as a lecturer of Italian at UrFU. My students were incredible! Not only from an academic point of view, but also on a personal level. They are very good and I admire the work carried out by their lecturers. My students are ambitious and persistent, curious and fond of Italy, and I am really proud of their achievements. Most of them became my friends: they were really polite and friendly, we often met together after lessons, arranged trips, organized parties and ‘posidel’ki’ and a couple of them even invited me to be their guest and introduced me to their families. We had fun together. I really miss them!
What did I know about Russia before I came? Well, in Italy people say that Russian girls are really pretty and always put their heels, even when they go to the supermarket. Well, it’s true! Another stereotype: Russians are crazy people! I mean… who dares to go on a camel ride, in the middle of a blizzard in -20°?! Yep, Russians are incredibly crazy, in a good way though! I think this is the most funny thing!
I have been living in Ekaterinburg for such a long time, I really love this city, so it’s difficult to me to sort out my memories. Well, the most irritating fact is the dirty roads; I really couldn’t stand it! But above all, above all my bad and good memories, all the wonderful places I visited, all the friendly and rude people I met, the most stunning memory is the love of so many Russian people for my country! It’s kind of strange. I mean many people in Russia love Italy, they are ready to go for a holiday to any Italian place, and they love all about it. It’s a kind of Wonderland to most of them. I have learned to see my country with their eyes, and now I love Italy more than before. I think this is also thanks to the pride and patriotism of Russian people for their own country; it’s a very strong feeling, something everyone should learn from!
Created / Updated: 24 December 2015 / 24 December 2015
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