Submitted by Breanna Phulesar on the 2017 winter session program in Italy sponsored by the Department of Psychology…
If you’ve taken a cultural psychology course it may be obvious to you that one thinks and behaves differently as a result of cultural differences. It’s no secret that Italian culture is different than American culture. But knowing that they are different and actually experiencing the differences are two completely different things. Since I’ve arrived in Rome, Italy, I’ve been shocked at the cultural differences and different aspects of life that are not the same in my part of the globe. There are some very minuscule differences that I never even imagined would be different. For example, on my first day here a group of us went to a pizzeria for lunch. Like the usual American practice, some of us planned to split a pizza because typically they are too big for one person to consume in one sitting then we learned that in some Italian restaurants they don’t allow people to share entrees like the pizza. We each had to order our own pizza and we all had left-overs for the next day. Another difference that shocked me was that the outlets need an adapter to fit our American appliances. Of course, I didn’t realize the importance of packing one and I’m grateful that my two roommates have allowed me to borrow theirs.
While I’m trying to adapt to the culture, I’ve been extremely aware of how American I really am. One morning, I was trying to ask a hotel staff member if they could clean the bathroom. She didn’t speak English. I don’t speak Italian. So it resulted in me gesturing her to the room and pointing at the bathroom. I felt very rude, but that was the only way that I could communicate in that moment and it worked out. It showed that even with a language barrier, we found the common ground of understanding each other. I’ve also made more of an attempt to learn their language now. Therefore, I’m proud to be an American in Italy because it has allowed me to be able to identify differences, find similarities, and make connections by understanding how cultures can interact and learn from each other.
In the following photo, I’m holding a Delaware quarter which I tossed into the historic Trevi Fountain in Rome. I did it in celebration of the collision of the two cultures I’m experiencing while abroad.