Submitted by Isabella Bruno on the 2019 winter session program in Italy sponsored by the Department of Finance and the Department of English…
As my first week here in Italy comes to an end, I reflect on all of the amazing experiences that I have had and the new friends that I have shared them with. Throughout the past week, I have put myself out there by getting on a plane alone, making new friends and trying to converse with the locals; all while attempting to adjust to the Italian culture. Before the start of this program, I did not expect to experience much culture shock. I come from a family of Italians, and so throughout my childhood I have always been introduced to different parts of the culture. I am very familiar with many of the different foods and cultural differences between Americans and Italians. I was overjoyed once I found out that I was accepted into this program back in the spring because this would give me a chance to finally see what the Italian culture was first hand and experience Europe for my very first time. I prepared for the experience by watching many of Rick Steves videos on Italy, researching more about the cultural differences and talking with many of my relatives that have been to the country numerous times to get insight from them. I set off on my journey last Monday, January 7th. Once I arrived in Italy, it was very similar to what I expected it to be. The people are all very genuine and everyone has a true passion for food and family.
The first campus that we are on is in Volterra, Italy. This is a hillside town in the northern portion of the Tuscany region. The campus that we are staying on is about 2 miles down the mountain from the center of Volterra. This was originally a hard adjustment for me and many of the other students because we are all used to merrily walking a few steps to get to Main Street back in Newark, DE. Another aspect that took me by surprise was how affected I was by the time difference. Italy is 6 hours ahead and so it has been rather difficult for me to find time to contact my family and friends back home. The last bit of culture shock that I have experienced has been the language barrier. I find it difficult to speak with the locals when out in the city center because I am never sure if they are able to speak English or not. I want to be able to have conversations and ask them questions, but it is not very easy to do so. I think that no matter how much a student prepares themselves beforehand, they will most likely always experience a bit of culture shock.
