Victoria Aghasyan, PF student, about her internship at Ca'Foscari University of Venice

When I learned that I was to go on an internship to the Ca'Foscari University of Venice, I was on cloud nine – It was my dream. It took me a couple of months to prepare the documents and apply for a visa, and, having collected my things and said goodbye to family and friends, I flew off on my first long trip.

As soon as I landed and got off the plane, thanks to MSLU and my knowledge of the language, I came across kind Italians who helped a lonely student with a bunch of luggage and drove her home. This is how my Italian dolce vita began.

I hope I might give a couple of tips to those who go on an internship to Italy. First of all, while still in Russia, see to your accommodation, as if your university is large, there probably will be no places for you in its dormitories. But be careful, there are a lot of scammers who rent out non-existent housing: be sure to ask for the owner's document (Carta d'identità will do) and an agreement drawn up for you (you will also need it to get a visa). As soon as you get seated in a new place, go to the nearest post office and ask for a kit postale per il permesso di soggiorno (you can say just kit, they will understand you), fill in the modulo and bollettino (for 70.46 euro), do not forget to buy marca da bollo in the nearest "tobacco" for 16 euro (payment only in cash), enclose a copy of your passport and visa page, and send the whole set through the post office. Now you`ll have to wait for an appointment at the local Ministry of Internal Affairs (questura), where they will take your fingerprints and ask for confirmation of enrollment in a university, medical insurance and a rental contract (the set of documents may differ depending on the region). Those who will stay in the country for more than 90 days need to go through this, you have 8 days from the moment of entry into the EU.

If restrictions due to Covid-19 are still in place during your trip, you will need to make an appointment for a vaccination at the nearest vaccination point in order to receive a Green Pass, which will allow you to move freely.

Then you have the most exciting part - acquaintance with the university and students! I was very lucky, as my university had a very well-developed “support service”, they answered all questions promptly and tried to help with everything. Everything was automatized as much as possible, we ourselves chose the subjects that we wanted to attend, all assignments, notes, lesson recordings (due to the coronavirus, we had classes via zoom) could be found on Moodle. After passing the exams, you will also be sent a transcript of records with your grades (in Italy, there is a 30-point system, the minimum for passing is 18 points). This was an incredibly happy time for me, full of emotions and events, travel, dating, new people, language practice, friends and much more! I am very grateful to the university for this opportunity, for the experience of living in another country, for the friends I made there, and for the emotions I lived through.