about us - Behind the Scenes

Amie Louie
Editor-in-Chief & Co-Founder

One fine day in Milan... not long ago, I decided to count how many jobs, internships and volunteer positions I had gone through in little over a decade. Then I went on to count the number of places I lived in and finally, the number of countries I had visited. The numbers that emerged shocked my Italian friends. For each one of them, the count of all three categories combined fitted on both hands. Ok, maybe I'm not the most adventurous and well-travelled person in town, but I am surely familiar with change and adjusting to a new environment. Then why was I having such a difficult time finding my way in Milan? Less than a week later, Aaron and I found ourselves brainstorming with the idea of starting a magazine for fellow expats living in Milan. It had to be an instrument that would connect the community, something which was much needed but did not yet exist. Since that day, I knew Easy Milano was going to change my perspective of the city. Now 60 issues after its launch, I am still discovering new services, products and having great fun doing it!

Easy Milano stepped abruptly into my life, a few months after my return to Milan, where I had spent all of my childhood. After close to one decade of living abroad, enjoyably spent studying and working, surrounded by expats and "home lost" individuals, upon my return to Milan, I was expecting to fall comfortably into a slot, that in my mind, was supposed to await me. Much to my surprise I discovered that there had never been such a slot in my home town and in a matter of weeks I started hunting out all the individuals and all gatherings of expats and foreigners in general, in the search of people who shared similar experiences. As I pursued my search for "familiar faces", it became apparent to me that the international city of Milan had a very fragmented foreign community, and had no cohesive mean of communication common to all members. When in the days that followed I met with Amie Louie, and discussed with her the possibility putting together a magazine especially conceived to cater English-speaking expats living in Milan, the project became palpable. It took only a few minutes for her to realize that the project had great potential, and in the minutes that followed we were jotting down the first guidelines to what was going to become our business plan.

Bintou Sy
Office Assitant

Moving to Milan has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Like many expats I tried my best to settle down and find my way. However, this task became more and more difficult as I tried to do things on my own, until I ran across a copy of Easy Milano. I was surprised and relieved to see that there were so many services geared towards English speaking expats. When it came time to find a job I turned to the one place I knew wouldn’t let me down. I am fortunate to be a member of the Easy Milano staff. Providing a service to my community in a way that allows me to be creative is satisfying on both a professional and personal level.

Bethany Fehlinger
Contibutor

I never expected the culture shock I received in the first few weeks after arriving in Milan. Daily language interactions were different than prepared conversations in my language classes at Penn State University, whether buying food at the supermarkets, finding the correct train or chatting with someone at the tram stop. Easy Milano is filled with practical information, however, working here has improved my skills by allowing me to explore the city better. This experience of both living and working in Milan will enhance my abilities for the future.

Jodie Hurwitz
Copy Editor & Writer

Taking care of the "People About Town" feature is a pleasant challenge for me. Profiling members of the community has been great. There are so many interesting stories that illustrate how differently people cope with living abroad and the opportunities out there for all of us. Thanks to all of the good sports out there who have shared their experiences with us. Proof-reading the magazine is also a lot of fun and quite useful as it gives me a head-start on any good offers or items.

Efrain Alberca Placencia
Distributor

Distributing Easy Milano isn't always an easy job. Delivering copies to 120 distribution points in 24 hrs with Milan's traffic and adverse weather conditions may be challenging. Luckily, the copies receives a warm welcome. Sometimes readers are so eager, they take a copy from my hands before I get to put them in the plastic display racks. It's good to know my job is appreciated.

Over
Mascot

My name is Over. I am the egg who lives on the pages of Easy. My job is to repeat over and over the deadline dates. My colleagues tease me, they call me "Egg over easy!" ... isn't that mean!

Special Thanks to:
Piergiorgio Chiarini, Simona Belotti, Gregorio Piraccini & Clark Roth