Coming abroad has pushed me to grow and adapt in more ways than I was originally expecting. While I was aware the culture and way of life were different in Italy and Florence, I quickly learned that adapting was going to take more than knowing how to say Ciao and eating the food.
One of the biggest culture shocks was the different sense of time. I am very used to life being very quick and people always rushing to be at work or class and you see that on the sidewalks, streets, and even stores. I have seen that is not how people operate here. Florence feels much slower and more relaxed. People take their time with almost everything they do. My first couple of times out to eat dinner I was first surprised by how late all of the dinner restaurants open up. While the food has been amazing, the multiple course tradition here also caught me and my wallet off guard; however, the thing that shocked me the most was they do not rush you to pay your check. We were very confused as to why the waiter would not offer the check, we would have to ask. It was quite easy to adapt to this once I started letting my self not have such a strict schedule and learned to go with the flow in a sense.
While adapting outside of the classroom took a little time, inside of the classroom was not as bad. Most of my classes are very standard structured classes, we have lectures and then we take exams. Them being similar to classes back in the states made it very easy; however, in my sculpting class it was harder to learn how to succeed in it. We spend all class sculpting with clay, something I have never done, with very little instruction. It was hard in the beginning to see if I was doing well because I have never been in classroom environment where there was no lecture, I had to learn it myself. After a few weeks of class and help from the professor I found my grove and have been doing better with the class. One of my classes is cross-cultural psychology which has helped a lot with my interactions with locals on the street and in caffès. With my poor Italian speaking skills and being new in Florence, the interactions with locals at first was quite strange. I was not used to greeting someone every time you walk into a store and saying goodbye along with other things. My class has been extremely useful with learning these Italian mannerisms which have prepared me for these situations.
Overall, living in Florence has taught me that in order to be a successful student and traveler, you need to expand your understanding and habits. I thought I would need to change who I am but the key is just to be open minded to new things.
