I thoroughly enjoyed my last placement and upon applying for placements I was pleased to find out that I wasn't restricted to just one and now it's time for my second placement to begin. I am based in a town named 'Terranova da Sibari': a traditional Italian town located upon a hill in the Calabria region. I work for a company called Alteredu (created by Future Digital) which sells online courses to consumers and creates promotional digital material to sell to other companies. Unlike Amsterdam, Terranova is much more remote, but unlike Bookingpetz, Alteredu under the support of Future Digital is a more established company.
Moving away from the city life I was of course nervous about how my first week would be here in Terranova, especially in a place where there is a much stronger language barrier. Alteredu does however promotes itself as an Erasmus internship so basic English is a necessity, but that doesn't mean to say that I won't learn Italian myself. In my first week, I was greeted by my very friendly co-founders and interns. They all took great interest getting to know me and my skills and I was intrigued to know more about the other interns, the co-founders and the company itself. The office was organised and had a professional appeal so my impression is that my office is a good working environment.
Immediately my skills were put to the test for an important task for I was to design 'Thank You' cards for local Italian companies that are to be provided when a product is purchased. The basic structure was for the front to thank the customer and for the back to provide instructions as to how to get support if something went wrong and how to leave a review. The companies were called 'Assistenza Tecnica Berardi' & 'Preziosità '. The task also required the language to be in Italian so I had to do the best translation I possibly could. With my designs in Adobe Illustrator and with help of the co-founders' translation wise I was able to complete two cards that pleased Alteredu within the first week. These will later be sold to 'Assistenza Tecnica Berardi' & 'Preziosità ' to use in the future.
It was a good feeling having been given the chance to prove my skills and to earn the trust of Alteredu. The co-founders were also very good in giving me advice as to how to settle into Terranova and to get the best out of Southern Italy. There is much I need to learn about living in an Italian town but many others have been in my position and have thrived come the end of their internship in Terranova. I feel once I get used to shopping, the transport, the work structure and co-operating with the other interns, I too can thrive here.
I can overall reflect positively upon my first impression of Terranova da Sibari and Alteredu. Whilst I am here, I will pursue to improve my spoken Italian as much as I can, input 100% effort into my projects for Alteredu and try to explore more of Southern Italy! I have already been told that I will help as part of a major Valentine's Day marketing project so I look forward as to what that will entail.
