Addio Ventures Abroad...

Hi Loyal Experience readers,

This is my last ventures abroad blog. Don’t cry, oh flock of the faithful, there may be others- one day, but for now I’ll take you on a brief panoramic view of what my living abroad experience is and has been like.

I am currently trying to move home, back to New York, largely for professional reasons. Fundamentally, I have found that even being the head Italian office (read- only REAL Italian office of my company), the possibility for upward mobility isn’t nearly as broad as a career in New York could afford me- or anybody. Recent national trends, across all industries, suggest that a good part of Italian college graduates are seeking work overseas, primarily in England because of higher salaries and future potential.

Despite the fact that I am trying to leave, I view these past 2 years as an absolutely valuable experience- and since the scope of this entire website is “experience”, I will explain.

1- We, whether you realize it or not in your day to day activity, all work and live in an international marketplace (just think about how you magically can get peaches even when they are out of season in the US). Especially for those of us in Financial Services, we need to realize that the movements in the American market are felt all over the world, either because foreign countries invest in US securities or because, as in my situation, most large US companies will have overseas offices. Our actions, especially in the US, will have consequences for the entire world, and so having a greater understanding of not just lets say, NYSE, but also FTSE, and the Borsa Italiana is very helpful and allows you to demonstrate a wider understanding of the world.

2- US companies love, love, love to see their young “talent” willing to take risks by leaving the comfort of home. It shows dedication to the company as well as an overall willingness to expand your horizons. Plus it helps the regional offices learn something about business too- for example, I approach some risks differently than my Italian colleagues- meaning I learn from them, and hopefully they can take something away from my experiences.

3- Who doesn’t want to see the world- especially when there is so much to see! In my spare time, I’ve spent the past 2 years exploring every inch of Italy. Then there are people like my brother, who took advantage of the terrible job conditions in New York right now, and decided to backpack throughout India, Nepal and South East Asia. He may not have closed a big deal this year- but what other 23 year olds can talk about the adventures he has had in the past 3 months? Not many I’d bet, and frankly, I’m prouder (and more jealous) of him than he’ll ever know for taking this leap.

4- Living abroad provides the opportunity to learn not just about other places, but more about yourself than you may realize. Living in a new country, especially one where English is not spoken, provides you with a daily way to surprise yourself about what you can accomplish, or overcome, or just simply, learn.

So readers of this blog (or Mom)- the world holds limitless possibilities. Take that “calculated” risk and try a few years overseas!

Ferragosto- my heart's devotion- MAY IT FALL INTO THE OCEAN

I hate August. For those of you repulsed by that statement because August is a nice hot summer-y month, let me explain.

1- I hate August because my birthday is officially over (a completely selfish reason I’ll give you that- but I’m allowing it).
2- Ferragosto. I hate working during Ferragosto.

For those of you who don’t know, Ferragosto is the August holiday. It is a bank holiday that is technically ONE day. However, the majority of Italy has interpreted Ferragosto as being an entire month long and so most of the city is now closed down as the Italians flock to their beachside meccas (Sardegna, Barcelona and Sicily are the big ones). My department at work has magically been reduced from 15 to 3 all of a sudden too- meaning, outside of catching up on old paperwork (which I have in abundance)- I am bored out of my skull.

This is all aggravated by a few facts:
1- I have nothing to eat in my house. Yesterday I had a plum for breakfast, with coffee- followed by a plum with water for lunch and a plum with bread for dinner. Why? BECAUSE ALL THE SUPERMARKETS ARE CLOSED!!!! I’m pretty sure that if I don’t find something open, I’m going to starve to death before heading down to my family in Basilicata on Wednesday night. I clearly could have done some pre-emptive shopping, but I turn a little banana sandwiches in the supermarket sometimes and forget what I need. So usually after an hour of circulating I’ll go home with like, an orange and Coca-cola light.

2- My roommates are all gone for vacation, as are my close friends (I was supposed to go with them to- well, Barcelona, but got stuck at work). This means outside the fact that I had no one to talk to this weekend and became mildly schizophrenic while watching some Olympic basketball (GO USA by the way)- I got absolutely no sleep last night because I was convinced that some mad-man was going to break into the apartment.

3- I am taking a weekend trip to go to BEAUTIFUL Basilicata, in a town called Grassano, where my Grandfather’s family is located. Grassano, as I have mentioned, is my favorite place on earth. If I could move there tomorrow and open an Insurance company, I would. The magical part about Grassano, isn’t even the town itself which has a strange mysticism that seeps into your soul- making you feel like you always have to, and want to return- but the wonderful people who live there. But I digress- I ‘m aggravated because Milan being so stupidly far north- I have to take a bus about 14 hours to get there. When I did this at Easter I wound up sitting next to the ONLY morbidly obese Italian lady ever- who ate potato chips at 3 am.

Ah well- for those of you wanting to make a trip to Italy in August- DON’T! The Italians aren’t going to be there! (and for those counting, the title is a reference to West Side Story- free travel advice to anyone who gets the reference)

Training in Paris- Part 2

So, as promised, here is the second part of my blog series about Paris and Training and Training in Paris.

The Training part was fantastic. For those of you who’ve forgotten what I’m actually doing here as I write about pasta, I work in the Financial Lines division of a major multinational insurance company. This means that we write Directors and Officers Insurance, Employers Practices Liability Insurance, Professional Liability and Crime/Fidelity Insurance, which are all coverages that indemnify for financial losses brought on by errors where a higher level of care is expected (like, legal malpractice, failure to supervise for D&O, discrimination for EPLI, etc.)

It was two weeks of solid information, but unlike a lot of basic training courses, this was an in depth and up to date training- because as you can imagine with Subprime, D&O insurance has become much riskier- and therefore more sought after (its what we refer to as Adverse Selection- the notion that those most likely to have claims are those most likely to purchase insurance).

But I won’t bore you any more with the details of Financial Lines Insurance. The most wonderful part of the training for me, is that there were representatives from almost all of our major European offices. I was one of two underwriters sent from Milan, but there was also a nice girl from Athens, about a dozen from the various UK offices, Madrid, Zurich, Hamburg and Frankfurt (so a Hamburger and a Frankfurter- hehehehehe), and even Johannesburg, South Africa.

This was so much more than the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of our underwriting lines- it was also the opportunity to learn about other cultures and what the market is like in other countries- which is one of the reasons I left NY for Milan in the first place. Additionally, we got some good “face time” with some of the major heads of the EU offices.

So the advice I pass on to you- NEVER say no to training!

Paris and Work- Part 1

Hey all! Sorry I didn't blog last week but I was in Paris for work as I think I may have mentioned about 900 times. Anyway, this blog will be a two part piece. The first (this one as per the title) will be about Paris- (ah beautiful Paris!) and the second about working IN Paris.
Okay, here we go.

My company, not shirking away from hefty price tags put us right on the Champs Elyesse. It was beautiful and right in the center of Paris (fyi- it is pretty awesome to have the Arc du Triomphe down the block. I had been to Paris before and so decided to skip the trip up the Eiffel Tower and the Lovre ((although I did walk to see it and walked through the Lovre Gardens)).

After a day of exhausting training, it was usually a good time to break into groups and explore various neighborhoods for dinner. Eating in the Brasseries were best as it offered real French fare at decent prices. I had a plethora of lovely dishes over 2 weeks, including Foie Gras, Duck, Snails and Crepes! I also found a fantastic Sorbet place with my friend Helene (a Parisian) near Hotel De Ville.

Go to the Musee D'Orsay too! The fifth floor has paintings from every influential artist I've ever heard of- from Van Gogh to Monet to Whistler! It was a whirlwind tour of European greats and from the fifth floor there is a fantastic view of Sacre Cuore.

The St Pauls neighborhood is great too- especially with Place des Vosges. But nothing, NOTHING beat a weekend trip to Versailles. We just don't have this kind of history in the states! Not even a bit! Residences as far as the eye can see- then Marie Antoniette's personal farm (where they used to polish the eggs for her in the morning- so she could collect them- but not get dirty). Then the fountains! OHHHH the fountains and the gardens! It seemed that you could spend a whole day just wandering around there- or a whole lifetime. The perfect representation of what royalty should be- or the abuses of power that result in heads rolling...
Paris is beautiful! GO SEE IT!