Etiquette, Eating & Excursions Abroad
Written by John Burley February 27, 2018
Coming into CIMBA and studying abroad I would not have considered myself a very polite eater at dinner. However, things changed when all of us had the opportunity to attend an Etiquette seminar hosted by Dr. Al Ringleb. Here, we learned all the must-knows for European dining, such as silverware placement, allowing the host to order and eat first, and how specific rules differ from country to country. For example, Italians place their wrists on the table, for the entire meal, to allow themselves to speak with their hands whereas the French only place their fingertips.
Following this seminar all of us piled into a bus heading to Castelfranco, a neighboring town of PDG, to celebrate our first couple weeks with our first gourmet dinners. This will be our first of three dinners this semester.
At dinner, we practiced our newly learned etiquette and shared cherished memories from the first two weeks together. For me, it was the best part of the program so far, so many smiles, so many laughs and so much food. It was really nice to see the group truly coming together.
The meal consisted of 6 courses, starting around 8 pm which was difficult to comprehend coming from the American culture. The first couple of courses were mainly aperitifs and finger foods. I know my section of the table was already full when the first courses arrived; however, we knew we had to power through because this meal was special. We ended the dinner with a delicious dessert. After the final plates were cleaned, we looked at each other in relief, still shocked we were able to consume so many courses.
After the first 3 weeks and our dinner, we had our first travel weekend.
I packed up my small bag and headed to the bus station in Venice. Got on the FlixBus and headed north for Munich, Germany. Upon my arrival to Germany, I got to tour Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. This really hit home for me because my Grandpa was directly involved in liberating the inmates there during WWII.
Throughout the rest of time in Munich, we were able to see a variety of different areas. Including the Olympic park where the 1972 games were hosted. Being a huge sports fan this was a must-see for me. Some of you may have heard Munich Massacre where some of the Israeli players were taken as hostages and killed during these games. I was fortunate to also see the location of this tragic piece of history.
CIMBA was well represented during this first travel weekend in many different countries. Some experienced Morocco while some went chocolate making in Switzerland. Furthermore, a handful of students ended their travel weekend by celebrating Carnival in Venice. From what I heard, they all had a blast and were able to purchase some pretty cool masks.
As the semester keeps moving forward, we are now approaching our 10 day, travel week. Beforehand, we have to finish our academic week strong because it is crowded with many midterms and presentations. Can’t wait to share some of the travel experiences everyone is going to have on this break!
Ciao for now,
John
