This week put my whole experience abroad into perspective. I decided to book one last trip to Italy with a couple of friends from my dorm as some people were finishing up their internships this past week. My coworkers gave me the go-ahead to take off on Friday so I would have an extra day there, and so we left Friday morning for Rome. The sightseeing in Rome was everything I had imagined – the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Vatican, etc. – it was a great first day spent Lime scootering all around the city and finished off with one of the best meals I have had in my life. We then took a train to Florence around noon, and spent the afternoon seeing the Duomo, the Statue of David, as well as a tour through the Uffizi Gallery. It was an amazing experience seeing paintings from famous artists that I had only ever seen online or in books. We also got the famous Florentine steaks and a delicious set of antipasti that night, which made choosing which dinner was my favorite between the two cities a lasting difficulty.
The weekend finished off with a small tour of Bologna on Sunday that included a great lunch and a little bit of sightseeing. However, Sunday was a series of unfortunate events as we were all completely drained from the extreme heat and many of the sights were closed anyway. We ended up deciding to just get to the airport early, which was a mistake as our flight got delayed almost two hours and left us there for what felt like eternity. Regardless, we got back to Prague safely, just a little bit late (midnight), which is all that matters.
If there is any trip that made me realize the communication differences that I have been exposed to during my experience, it was Italy. Although Italian is commonly spoken, given the global popularity of cities like Rome and Florence there was much more of a natural expectation for English to be the main language spoken. With the Czech Republic being closer to a low-context culture, the main thing that I have noticed is the culture’s reservedness. It is a lot more an individualistic society, and so it seems at first that everyone is less friendly and may not want to engage in conversation. Moreover, this leads to a lot more direct communication – for example, waiters consistently getting straight to the point of what you would like to have at dinner only a couple minutes after sitting down. In my work environment, this shows in my coworkers giving me a task and not giving much follow-up or feedback but rather waiting for me to finish and give them a direct brief on what it is I completed.
In terms of miscommunication experiences, there have been a few, but it is more a lack of communication and surrounding detail that usually trips me up. Things such as a waiter not fully explaining how a meal is priced or how the menu works. Moreover, shopping everywhere is different, as caloric information is all labeled in 100g serving sizes and not based on the size of the product. At Lucent, it is also a very similar situation day-to-day. Certain tasks that I am given are not always highlighted in detail and it is sometimes tough to figure out what is expected of me when completing my work. The main difference would be the lack of buffer detail and step-by-step instruction. Usually, it is common courtesy for me to begin what I am working on and send it when I am finished along with a message asking if that is what they were asking for. A main example would be my flagship project, as it was designed by my supervisor to span the entirety of my experience, and has been a side task on top of the everyday work that I have been helping my coworkers with.