It’s still kind of crazy that I’m living in Italy for the next couple of months, and to be honest, there are a lot of emotions that come with it. A little over a week ago, I packed up my life into three bags and moved across the ocean, without knowing anyone on the other side. However, it is honestly one of the best decisions I have made.
Walking through that airport in the heat while sleep-deprived and knowing there was no AC or ice waiting for me when I got to my new home was definitely a rough experience. However, as soon as we arrived in Florence, I was so excited that I forgot to care about all of that. I met with my roommates, got to my new apartment, went over everything with my landlord, and settled in. Those first 72 hours were exhausting. I’m not a huge nap person, but trust and believe that I was taking a nap pretty much every day before school started.
As soon as classes started, I got on better footing with my jet lag. It’s so exciting to be meeting all of these new people again and learning bits and pieces of a new language. Not to brag, but I’ve figured out how to order in Italian, and multiple people have mistaken me for a local. (That is, until they hear me speak. whether they respond in Italian depends on their level of patience and kindness.) I will say, Italy is much more accepting of a bad American accent stumbling over their language than some other countries. Most people are very happy when I try to speak Italian to them, which goes to show how much the effort you put into being respectful can really make someone’s day. The first time I ordered pizza, the waitress smiled so widely when she heard our broken Italian that it gave me the confidence to use it more. Well, she either smiled because we tried, or because we sounded really bad. Either way, at least she got some joy out of it!
I am definitely taking advantage of my location and have already embarked on a little weekend trip to Monterosso. We have plenty of excursions and trips, some planned by the school and some that we have planned on our own, which will allow us to travel in a way that some people never get the opportunity to! For example, Rome is just a train ride away for me. I can take a short flight to get to Paris, and London isn’t much further. Because of the position I am in, I am extremely lucky to have the opportunity to venture to new places and add more countries to my ever-growing list.
Now, I have been talking about the abroad part of this experience, but I also have classes to attend. You would think that taking classes where 90 percent of the professors are Italian would be difficult, but everyone at my campus speaks English, and it is very easy to understand what they are saying. I am mostly taking elective courses this semester, so I get to take fun classes like Geography of Wine and Italian Cinema. So far, everything has been really great, and all of my professors are kind and more than willing to help us with any issues we may have.
The program I am in was very easy to find, and if you are at all interested in studying abroad, I would suggest looking at your school’s global education website to see what the options are. Ohio State doesn’t necessarily have a sister campus, but we have so many partnerships with third-party programs and other universities that there are plenty of options for where you want to go. For my program, I am a guest student at Kent State University because it has a sister campus in Florence. The program was very easy to find and apply to, and there are so many resources if you need help of any kind. I would seriously recommend just stopping by your global education office to see what they might suggest for you, because you never know what opportunities they might have in store for you. Take my advice, and go study abroad! It’s worth it, and it is such an amazing experience to immerse yourself in a different culture and language and learn more about practices and traditions you may be unfamiliar with. Open your worldview. Study abroad.