Germany and Italy meet each other

The Erasmus program is a really life-changing experience for those students that decide to take part in it. For some of them the change might not be so huge and for others will, what is sure is that after one or two semesters studying far from your home country, you will not be the same person as when you left it.

Being myself an Erasmus student, I decided to be accompanied by one of the so called “buddies”. That is how I met Eva. 
I obviously knew my buddy was going to be someone from Germany, but the casualty where we found each other is that, before meeting her for the first time I still did not know that next semester she will also participate to Erasmus but in my home country, Italy. We started sharing cultural aspects about our respective nations and being one in the country of the other has definitely strengthened our friendship.

Hello Eva, first ice-breaking question: how did you discover the field of Communication and what has attracted you about it?
I discovered it through searching for bachelors programs that I would like and I really thought it might have been good for me. Now that I am studying Communication, I really like that you can work in a lot of different fields and it is very widely spread.

Why did you choose to be part of the Erasmus program?
I wanted to be part of this program because I like the cultural exchange that comes with it, I love meeting new people from all over the world and I also like to learn more about different parts of the world. My biggest passion ever is traveling and what I think is beautiful about Erasmus is that you not only get to travel, but you really live in another place for a long time and that brings you in a deeper experience.

What are your first memories that you have when thinking about Italy? Do you have some background stories you would like to share?
The first thing that comes to my mind is Italian food, because it is my favorite cuisine, but I also think about holidays I did with my family: one time we did a road trip through Italy, actually up until your city, Ancona. One other thing that keeps me connected to Italy is that in school I used to do Italian lessons and it was my favorite lesson ever. The teacher we had was very sweet and she always used to make us laugh and brought us a lot of food. It was definitely a good combination!

In which way being my buddy here at LMU makes you appreciate your experience more and the cultural differences between Germany and Italy?
Being an LMU buddy is not only about being present when there are possible questions or doubts and it is way more than just learning about another culture. By being a buddy I am also able to show my own culture and represent my country. This is beautiful because when I will be in Italy the situation will be upside down and I will be the one learning.

Which are your expectations and fears, if you have them?
Hopefully I will have a lot of fun by meeting new people from all over the world and I will achieve my goal of learning the Italian language fluently. The language barrier is also one of my biggest fears, because my little knowledge does not allow me to express myself at the fullest. 

What can the experience of Erasmus give you for yourself, your studies and your future plans?
Erasmus means for me stepping out of your comfort zone: this will lead me to experience things I have not done before. It is all about growing for yourself and your personality. For my studies I am still not quite sure yet about what I will do in Rome, but I think that in Communication especially soft skills are very important and being in another country and having to do a lot of things for the first time can make me grow a lot. In the future I would love to live abroad for a longer time and I am thinking about it for my master, in this way it is also useful to have had this experience before choosing.

The cinnamon roll that made Germany and Italy meet <3