This means that the students have been friends for a very long time, starting in younger grades and lasting into college. While this did create a small barrier for me getting to know students, I’ve made friends with the graduate students, more of whom tend to come from cities outside of Perugia (like my friend David, for example).
The physical layout of universities is also different, with each department having their own separate building. The physics department is located next to the mathematics building. Along my way to work, I walk by the chemistry and biology buildings, and I live by the literature department and library.
The academic semester is also vastly different from what I am used to at home. I took several courses last semester, which started in October and ended in December. These classes met twice a week for two hours at a time. I was not used to this length of class time, as my classes in college at home would typically last 50 minutes, meeting three times a week. My longest college lessons were 90 minutes, but we only met twice a week. Students have a month for finals, compared to only two weeks for my finals back home. In fact, students are still studying, and the second semester starts at the end of February.
