Ciao! It is officially mid-term week here in Florence. Now that I have been here for a while, I have become more aware of what I struggle to adapt to and how to navigate those situations. The main challenge I have faced here is dealing with the time change and connecting with friends and family back home. Although this is not a cultural challenge, it changes a large part of my routine and can lead to some homesickness. However, I have adapted to calling my mom when she is on her way to work and I am coming home from classes, and I look forward to when my friends wake up and start texting during the middle of my day.
Culturally, I have noticed some differences that I have struggled to get used to. These include how people walk, slower paces of life, and cafe etiquette. As many people have mentioned, streets are narrow and people seem to move in clusters, walking wherever there is room, as opposed to my cultural norm of walking on the right. Additionally, navigating how coffee shops work has been an unexpected struggle for me. At a traditional cafe, or ‘bar’, you can see people gathering at the counter instead of forming lines. I have not quite figured out whether you are supposed to pay and order at the register, order first at the bar and pay when you are done, or wait for someone to come to your table. This has led to some confusion, but most people are very accommodating and willing to help me out. Additionally, it is hard to find a cafe where using your laptop or taking a table to study is acceptable – especially during lunch hours and weekends. Despite this small struggle, visiting new cafes is one of my favorite things to do on weekend mornings or in between classes!
In the classroom, my main struggle is adjusting to a less structured environment. At Pitt, I know exactly what to expect during class and most classes consist of sitting through a lecture and taking notes. Here, most of my classes consist of group work, interactive activities, and my professors often adjust what we are working on mid-class. Additionally, I have found that professors here are much more vague in their assignments where as Pitt professors tell you exactly what they are looking for and often have a detailed rubric or checklist. I have learned to communicate with my professors here much more than I usually would at Pitt and to be ready for active engagement during class.
Overall, I have had to make some adjustments to how I communicate with people back home and how I manage my classes, but my time here in Florence has been wonderful. I think that I have adjusted fairly well to living in a new country and I can’t believe we are already halfway through the semester. Ciao, a presto!!
