Submitted by Danielle Leppo on the 2016 spring semester program in Rome, Italy…
It has been one week since I arrived in Rome, Italy and I can honestly say I am incredibly surprised with myself. For the few months prior to my departure I was stressing out to the max and my anxiety was at such high levels I almost convinced myself I didn’t want to go to Italy at all. I had so many concerns about the program; some were reasonable concerns and others were just ridiculous. At the time though, all my concerns were completely real and serious for me. I was going to a place where I did not know the language, I knew no one else going on the program and I was anxious about not being able to make friends. Perhaps, I did enough stressing out before my program that when I actually got here I was almost completely at ease. I immediately made a new friend, Sam, in the shuttle from the airport to our apartments. We got along so well that we spent almost that entire evening exploring the surrounding areas and eating our first real Italian cuisine.
Even though I only know about five basic words in Italian, I am getting along just fine. This is such an incredible city and the food is AMAZING. Having new friends to explore and cook with, wonderful roommates and learning about the surrounding areas quickly made my transition much smoother than I ever would have imagined possible. Before coming to Rome, I was positive I would be hit by culture shock super hard and I would fall into a deep depression and ache to return home. I cannot believe how wrong I was. My transition has been incredibly smooth and quick. I am excited for every opportunity I am presented with every day. If you are able to truly immerse yourself into the culture and explore with some great people, it really is possible to skip culture shock. I think this will be a lot more fun and perhaps easier to figure out than I originally thought.