A pleasant and funny discussion around interests selected on the inputs that came from the members of our community. We discovered that a lot of us play an instrument or really like to sing. At this point, attendees of Saturday Chat Live are acquiring more confidence and evidence of this was a participant deciding to bring his grand-mother to the meeting. This episode proved that our community is very open and looking forward to broadening its knowledge also through different ages and perspectives. The audience was made up of 19 students half of which were Italian eager to expand their friendship spectrum in the whole world!  

We illustrated the Belbin Model (an innovative and inclusive approach to discover which is your precise identity in a team dynamic - Team roles at work, 1993, Butterworth-Heinemann) and explored the 3 different approaches within a team: Thinking-oriented, Action-driven and People-oriented. The 30 participants, divided into breaking rooms, were asked to find a common solution to a given problem: the sudden spread of a pandemic. The students could choose between two timeframes: either 1970 or 2021. All groups enhanced the importance of being realistic and found concrete solutions with serious action steps that could be followed. At the end of the meeting, we submitted a brief survey to ask which role they had recovered during the activity, and we had a very varied rose!

The agenda was basically focused on how we can build online communities. After a brief introduction, we asked all the participants (25, both international and Italian) to think about a topic that they would have liked to discuss in the following meetings. To produce a final output we split into different breakout rooms. Then each group had the chance to share with the whole community the main ideas that had been discussed separately. A lot of inputs were proposed: from book-clubs to comparison between different cultures, and little workshops to improve linguistic skills. Every single idea was noted and we decided to build the following meetings exactly on these inputs. We were pleased to notice that the dominant feeling in all participants was the need to find an instrument/pretext to create and keep contact with each other, and we think that the Padlet community is a good starting point, to go further then thanks to the participants initiative itself.

This special event was a balanced mix of institutional greetings and presentation of UniTrento, and peer-to-peer activities, that allowed students to have a first exchange among them. For this meeting, we also decided to share a Ted Talk, which you can also see here. It was a great way to explain how interesting it can be to disclose a bit of ourselves towards "strangers". The brainstorming we had, thanks to a word cloud later (figure in the photo gallery), confirmed that a lot of us experience biases when it comes to talking with strangers but that we are ready to overcome them, together! It was our huge pleasure to see that, despite the situation, students were eager to start this study experience in Trento. We really hope that our community will enlarge day by day, and we are glad to see the high participation of both students from abroad and Italian students. We will try our best to keep it growing.

The meeting was completely focused on the beauty of experiencing a period abroad (even if just virtually). We first listened to some students telling us some of the best things they have tried and learned during their semester at UniTrento, then we shared some learnings taken from different trips during COVID. The majority among us experienced for the first time a "solo-journey" but, despite some boring moments, we enjoyed them a lot since we had the chance to discover new places without a crowd and we acknowledged that, thanks to technology, it was not so difficult to keep in contact with people far from us. The meeting ended with a quick poll where everybody fulfilled a survey to understand which social media was used more, and the outcome was unsurprisingly Whatsapp and Instagram (figure in the photo gallery). Nevertheless, some social media we discussed were new to the majority of us, that is why we hope -at the end- to have left some interesting hints to our community. The meeting really participated: there were 38 people coming from all over the world (included many Italian students!), as you can see from the pie (figure1 in the photo gallery below). We hope that Saturday Chat Live will keep being a safe space where we can just chill after tough weeks and be ourselves.

Special event reserved to IMSISS/ICM students to create a specific network

29th January - Due to the pandemic, traveling is not as easy or safe as it used to be some time ago. All together we took a virtual tour of some of the most beautiful places of our countries. Favorite places, secrete spots...

22nd January - Italy is one but regional traditions are several and different. We have dived into local festivities all around Italy. But we were curious about your festivities and asked you to describe how you celebrate it in your family (presents, childhood memories, etc.).

15th January - We had a lot of fun together, shared our experiences (veterans vs newcomers), found old friends, and meet new ones so as to build your ICM contact network.

8th January - Too many cooks spoil the broth: proverbs and idioms from around the world We shared our ancestor's wisdom through some Italian proverbs and our origins through idioms. We were eager to hear your proverbs too and asked for some popular knowledge.

11th December - Social Rituals: Coffee and Tea as a social ritual The habit of drinking tea and coffee in Italy and around the globe and how this social phenomenon changed due to the pandemic.

04th December - Friday reading recommendations We talked about reading and some of our favorite writers, poets or cartoonist. We have exchanged tips for good reading for all eyes and tastes!

27th November - "Thanks. But no thanks" We talked about presents and the habit of gift-giving. We shared the best/worst/strangest/funniest present you have received and talked about the first present that was given to us all: our name (meaning, history, and etymology).

20th November - The Grand Tour of Italy Must-visit places in Italy, must-visit places in your country, cities Quiz! We learned a lot about Iran, India, and Vietnam! We are looking forward to getting familiar with more countries and sharing Italian hidden beauties with you!

6th November: we talked about theatre as a precious chance to force the boundaries of the comfort zone and to improve communication skills and self-confidence. A short overview of what's going on in Italian cinemas and theatres. Theatre experience at UniTrento. We performed some acting exercises and games!

30th October: we talked about sports, e-sports and... videogames! 23rd October: we talked about Tech, internet and privacy during the quarantine. We discussed social distancing apps, their use and some of their pros and cons. We talked about how technology helped to improve our quarantine. We explored the roots and the various meanings of the concepts of "Privacy" and "Anonymity". We talked about the possibility of an international "data collection" regulation and its implications.

16th October and 23rd November: we did not talk that much this time: we rather waved and laughed, trying to interpret Mattia's gestures, mouth sounds and body language (typical from Sicily). Something you cannot avoid learning when you come to Italy! Participants shared their most common gestures and in some cases, the same gesture might have very different meanings in a different country or situation. So beware of the possible misunderstandings!

9th October: we talked about street food in Italy and in the world: history and social aspects. Some countries prefer meat, some others are focussed on vegetarian specialties, but the habit and the aims are the same everywhere: a quick and cheap way to have a break or to console oneself after a hard day's work. We shared some pictures of the most popular foods you can find around the corner of our towns. That was a pity that we were not able to share nor to smell them! :(

2nd October: we talked about proverbs and Idioms. We saw the difference between sayings, Idioms and quotes. Explored the meaning and origins of some of the most used proverbs in Italy and found similarities and differences between Italian and other country idioms and their use. We compared some popular Italian and regional proverbs with similar ones from other countries and tried to find the counterpart for some of them. And remember, if in Sicily you should "attaccare ‘u scieccu unni voli ‘u patruni", "tie the donkey where its master wants", in India "if you're going to live by the river, you'll have to make friends with the crocodile".

25th September: we talked about Festivities and Habits. Explored some local festivities and events from all around Italy starting from the "Feste Vigiliane" in Trento to the Carnival of Venice, the Siena Palio, the "Infiorata" of Noto and much more. We talked about the Dà­a de los Muertos, its ancient origins and its importance not just as a holiday but as a precious cultural heritage. We talked about The Independence day of Bangladesh, an important national holiday in which Bengalis have parades, fairs, concerts and various public events celebrating the history and traditions of Bangladesh and honoring their Martyrs. We talked about the Bangla New Year and its colorful and rural cultural practices and delicacies such as the Doi Fuchka. Presentation and contributions in the useful links section

18th September: we talked about food. We explored the history of Italian cuisine and talked about the regional differences of its recipes, with a particular focus on one of its staples, pasta! We gave a couple of tips and tricks to master pasta cooking and shared some easy last-minute recipes. Talked about Indian cuisine and its many staple dishes and we considered cooking as a symbol of our own heritage and roots. Watched some videos of Italian grandma's making fun of Italo-American dishes.

11th September: we talked about the typical lifestyle of a university student in Italy, China, India and much more. We talked about Trento, its student's traditions, its university clubs and being a transfer student in Italy. We discussed studying habits and the benefits of joining study clubs, listening to Lo-fi music and white noises. We shared our most awkward moments in university and some of us shared their strange pre-exam good luck rituals and habits, others their professor's strange ones.

4th September: we talked about our experiences during the lockdown...shared our most critical and sometimes fun moments in quarantine, exploring its various consequences on socialization, health care and our habits. Talked about our hobbies and how being quarantined gave us new opportunities to explore them, some of us started cooking, someone learned to play a new instrument and even began giving music lessons online! Watched some Youtube videos in which, to fight loneliness while locked down under national quarantine, neighbors across Italy played music together on their balconies and found a connection in their improvised concerts amidst the Coronavirus pandemic. Saw some pictures on the photo collection "the Quarantine Museum" (Useful links), an interesting project organized by the Tridentino Diocesano Museum and had the opportunity to "donate" some of our snapshots to it. You are welcome to send your picture!