This trip has been nothing short of amazing. From trying new foods to new places to new transportation I have plenty more experiences now than I ever thought possible. All of this “new” has helped me to recognize that I am very capable of adjusting to new situations and can be flexible to new environments. Although I enjoy creating plans and intent to follow them, having lived and traveled abroad I am far more comfortable now knowing how to adjust to follow Plan B or even Plan C. I learned how to handle train delays and strikes, as well as missed connections and sold out tickets. Being able to still enjoy the areas around me even if I couldn’t execute what I initially planned has been a confidence booster helping me know that I can handle any challenges thrown at me. If there was a day where I didn’t have any plans set out, I learned how to find events around me, or see another layer of the city I thought I knew well so that I could still have a unique experience. 

Although I expected lots of new things, one thing that surprised me most was how I found more similarities between cultures than I expected. I couldn’t speak Italian well, but since Florence has so many English-speaking tourists, many service workers could easily switch to English to help me throughout my semester. This welcoming attitude reminded me of being welcomed into restaurants at home since I could still perfectly navigate. Even if I attempted to speak Italian, the servers and other customers I interacted with would let me and they continued in Italian, only after the message was conveyed would they give me tips on how to further improve. As I stuck around Florence, I saw how students gathered around schools and held performances for each other. I also found smaller events like performances of operas in more personal venues that allowed me to find the local charm in a bustling tourist city. Just like in Pittsburgh, people want to connect in personal ways and gather around their own familiar landmarks regardless of what culture or how many tourists are around them. 

Noting these similarities, I hope to bring my increased cultural awareness and understanding to future opportunities. Even if people come from different backgrounds, we largely have similar goals like connecting with others and wanting to be happy. Recognizing that goals are very similar and even the way we as people do that can be similar across cultures, I want to ensure that I listen more closely to people’s stories to better understand their unique perspectives. It is these slight differences and their outlooks that really make someone’s story theirs. I also hope that by experiencing a different way of life for a few months, I will now make less assumptions about what someone may have experienced. Even if the largest lessons can still be learned, the fine details of how can vary so differently across cultures.