About three weeks ago, with nerves, excitement and an excessive amount of luggage in hand, I boarded a plane to Italy to study abroad for the semester. With absolutely no idea what the next three and a half months had in store for me, I waved goodbye to my friends and family and greeted Rome with open arms (and an open stomach.)
I’m studying in Rome through Temple University. The campus is a beautiful building right on the Tiber River, and just a short bus ride away from our more than spacious apartments. Our campus is also a short walk from Piazza del Popolo, which is surrounded by great places to shop, better places to eat and the best views of the city. Basically, they hooked us up.
When I’m not exploring the city or struggling to ask for diretions in Italian, I actually have to go to class. However, classes abroad aren’t exactly what I’m used to back in the US. To help you understand, here is a list of all the official courses I’m taking this semester and what they actually require of me (all FU approved):
1.) Fundamentals of International Business: A course required for my major where we talk about different cultures.
2.) International Marketing: Another GSB required course where we talk about how funny it can be when advertisements don’t translate directly into another language. Ex.) A Pepsi ad that reads: “Come alive with Pepsi!” translates into: “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead!” in Chinese.
3.) Art History – Inside Italian Design: Go to Italian museums and neighborhoods, take a bunch of pictures.
4.) Images of the City in Popular Culture: Watch a bunch of movies, go to where they filmed them, take more pictures.
5.) Geography and Urban Studies – Exploring Neighborhoods: Go explore Rome unsupervised and come back next week with even more pictures.
Aside from these unrealistically amazing classes, Rome is pretty great. And by pretty great, I mean it’s the most amazing place I’ve ever been and I feel like I should apologize to my parents in advance for not coming back in December like I’m supposed to. The food is delicious, every view belongs on a post card, the people are naturally cooler than I’ll ever be, and it’s totally legal for me to drink wine here (sorry mom). Also, pizza. Until next time, I’ll leave you with a few more pictures of my Eurpean adventures to drool over. Ciao.