Now that it has been 2 months since going abroad, I am able to come to terms with my new lifestyle and temporary home. The culture shock and ecstatic enthusiasm has drifted, and I understand now more than ever what they mean by facing cultural frustrations. I miss the simple things back in America like my iced chai lattes, or dunkin donuts. I find myself missing the things that we don’t think twice about as luxuries in America; like heat or a dryer. There are also some cultural differences that took a bit to get used to. Some examples of this are that Romans will not stop for you on the road. They will hit you and they do not care. Whether you are on a crosswalk or not, if a car is driving through, you better run or get out of their way. In America, people often stop and wave to let you pass because that is the courteous thing to do, but that is not the culture here. Italians will also start yelling at you in Italian for things that we find okay in America. I had my feet up on an empty seat in the tram and this guy came up to me and started screaming in italian for a whole minute until I was finally able to get a breath out and say “no italiano.” When things like this happen, I just try to learn from it and not do it again because it is a part of their culture and we must be respectful of that. If someone is screaming at you in Italian, it also is kind of funny because they have no idea that you have no idea what they are saying until you are able to say something. I like to try to find some humor in these situations because I don’t want to take anything too personally. I want to maximize my abroad experience and sulking over the little things will not help that. I just learn from it and move on:)
