Italian Ways

Culture shock, something I never really got affected by much. However, I must say that the adjustment to the Italian way of conservation has been a bit of a shock. If America and Italy were in a debate against who was better with conservation, Italy would surly win. Yes, as an American I do my part and recycle...and sometimes turn out my bedroom light when I'm not in it...and try to remember not to leave the water running while I brush my teeth, but coming to Italy has put me to shame. When I first arrived and stayed at my first hotel in Rome, it took me a minute to figure out how the lights worked! They were engineered in such a way where it took more effort to leave the lights on than it did to have them turned off. Let me explain, in the Rome hotel I stayed at my first night, there were no light switches. There was a little key card slot in the wall where you would slide in your card. If you slid in your card and then took it out the lights would stay on for only about 3 minutes...

Through my week long travel in Rome as well as the three days I have been in Florence, I have picked up on some Italian behavior. I have been mainly in the crowded cities of Italy and therefore have been able to observe the general public's display of behavior compared to the behavior of those back home in Indiana. There is a constant flow of people going to one place or another, and in Italy this is widely understood. People are only trying to get to their destinations, so if they bump into you on their trek, with out saying "scusa" it is not taken as an offense. As an American, if someone bumped into me back home without saying, "excuse me" I would most likely look back at the person expecting some sort of apology, and upon not getting one would rule them as a rude individual. My mindset has changed since being in Italy, the more you are surrounded by the flow of the culture, the more you get used to their daily behavior. Although I still try to stay out of ev...

Me, a student from Indiana State University travels 4,711 miles to study abroad in Italy, and I get lost on my way to class. I am so used to the organized layout of Indiana, which is designed like a grid, to make travel  easy, even for those directionally challenged. Italy is in fact not organized in such a luxurious way. It seems as though there is really no organized manner to the streets in Italy at all. They seem to be just put where ever they want whenever they were made. It is more about remembering and memorizing where everything is rather than being able to calculate where you are and the comforting fact that if you get lost, you can always drive around in a circle and find a familiar road again. So much simpler. So yes, I got lost today on the way to class. The day before I did also, as well as the day before that. So all together 3 days in a row have I had to ask for directions by some non English speaking Italians which I managed by using gestures and pointing to my map ...

The United State of American-where food portions are big, cities are new and improved, and cars are used to get everywhere. What an interesting change it has  been indeed then for myself, an American, to have made this journey from the USA to Italy. Before the departure I had an idealist thought process of how my experience would go. In fact my perspective has changed from my ideal thoughts in my little room in the USA from actually experiencing the adventure and coming to the realization that I had no idea what the experience would actually make me come to realize. For one, I have never felt so much like a foreigner. I have been to Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji, places from far away that seem to be a culture change. In fact this is false, perhaps not completely but from my point of view at least. Everyone in Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji all spoke English. Although I was in a new and unfamiliar area from what I was used to, I was able to, in a way, keep in c...