(May 10) “I recommend to everyone a working experience outside Italy.” So says Andrea Sanchini, twenty-eight biologist from Rome, who works in Berlin at the Robert Koch Institute. “I have a two-year contract with he European Centre of Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), based in Stockholm, but actually I work in Berlin as a collaborator on the entire European Union.” Andrea has not encountered particular difficulties in Germany,”The public transport is excellent, wages are higher than in Italy, life is inexpensive and the high rate of immigration makes Berlin a cosmopolitan city.” Only at the beginning of his experience he found a small issue, “The most difficult thing was to find a place to stay because in September, when the academic year opnes, it is very difficult to find a free room in Berlin and my cheap German didn’t help…” The language was another small obstacle because “It is true that the Germans speak English, but outside the workplace they prefer to speak their language.” In Rome, Andrea has left his family and friends and a scholarship at the Italian National Institute of Health. After graduation and some time spent in Lyon, the right opportunity came when he was asked to work for the ECDC in Berlin. Andrea is happy about the choice he made but doesn’t exclude to come back someday, hoping that in the meantime the situation in Italy will get better (CMA/Red)
