My experience abroad was one that I will never forget, but it definitely came with shocking adjustments and changes that ended up being a great learning experience and adventure. I did not realize certain things about the culture even when I did extensive research to prepare myself. There were definitely some things that I had to learn as the time went by. One that I found was that public transportation etiquette is quite different from one in America. I remember there being a few instances where I would rest my feet on the empty seat in front of me or put my feet up on the back of the seat. This got the Italians around me intensely angry. They went out of their way to start to yell in Italian, and even though I was taking Italian classes I could not understand. I would begin to interact with others through understanding their hand movements. This is a laid back American culture where Americans would not typically care for this or ever go and yell at someone when they do this, but in Italy it seems to really bother them and I had to pay extra attention to my habit. This is just one of a few instances where I had to adjust to their culture.
I think the experience in general though was just amazing and I would do it all over again if I could. I made the most amazing friends from all around the world and saw so many incredible things that I would probably have never seen if I didn’t go abroad. There were times where I would get frustrated, but being surrounded by American students who are going through the same things puts myself at ease. Traveling to different countries on the weekends was definitely my favorite part and made me so happy. It’s sad to reflect on the experience being over, but I would encourage all my friends to go if they have the opportunity to.
I think someone from my host culture would view my experience as very exciting and luxurious from the outside, but I don’t think the cultural struggles are seen as prominent to their outside perspective. It’s hard to explain the culture shock unless they were in that position because I don’t think anyone can prepare you for spending 4 months in a different country unless you were actually to experience it. My advice would be to keep an open mind and don’t let the little things interfere with your day to day attitude.
Ultimately, my experience abroad will help me with understanding that each culture has a different way of doing things and that is completely valid. I now will approach cultural misunderstandings with learning lessons instead of frustrations, and my open mind that I have learned abroad only excites me to learn from different cultures.