Hi guys! Buongiorno from Roma. The past couple of months have been hectic. My summer was packed with NYC life. The Museums, the great food, the subway, the fast pace, the people! It was a great time and I now consider it as a place for me after graduation. Then, I spent some time with my family in Ohio, then back to Boston to finish packing/cleaning/getting ready for my study abroad.

So I'm finally here! I arrived last Wednesday and it's been a blast so far. It's a pretty laid back lifestyle in Rome. They have their "siestas" where businesses close mid-afternoon and the city practically shuts off. The people have been friendly and the food has been delicious. Classes started this past Monday, so I'm finally learning more Italian, which is very helpful because I can begin to communicate properly. Our host school, American University of Rome (AUR), has done a terrific job so far with setting up mini excursions for us to the beach, a local lounge, and a walking tour to the Colosseum. I'll post pictures up once I upload them from my camera.

A little bit about the process of studying abroad: My program was done through the College of Business Administration (CBA) at Northeastern. CBA's study abroad program was set up only recently and my group is one of the first to go to AUR. It's a terrific program because it allows students to take business courses while abroad. It's also convenient because, as a CBA student, I dealt directly with the coordinator who was very helpful and knowledgeable on my degree requirements and which courses were transferrable back to NU. If you're a business student, I highly suggest going through the CBA's program if you want to study abroad. It's very convenient knowing you don't have to use all your open electives in order to study abroad. They also have pre-approved courses, so you don't have to keep going back and forth with your advisor. The other alternative is to go through the traditional study abroad process, but the deadline is much earlier in the year and not every school allows you to take business courses. If you have any questions about study abroad, I can definitely try to answer some questions, or send you the right way.

More updates from Rome soon! Ciao!