So I have been ranting and raving about all of the cool things in Italy in these blog posts; the sights, the food, the people. But I have received some questions about what it is like on a typical day on exchange. Surely every day can't be a great adventure? Well first off, it is. Even the most basic days are filled with new experiences and adventures, however mundane it may seem. Thats one of the great things about studying abroad! I feel like a little kid sometimes. Just getting on the right bus, or discovering a jar of peanut butter at a new grocery store can make my day! It's kind of an exciting way to live life, and I think it will really make me appreciate the simple things in life when I get back to the US. Given the fact that everyday is an adventure, I thought I would give you guys a play by play of what an average day in my life looks like. Here goes nothing..
8:30am: Wake up to the incessant sound of children crying through the very thin walls of my Italian apartment. (Advice: bring earplugs when you study abroad, then you can sleep anywhere) Even though the walls are thin, I have a room all to myself, that is surprisingly large for European standards so that is really nice.
8:50am: Make myself the best semblance of a breakfast I can put together with my limited cooking skills. Italians usually only have a cappuccino and a croissant for breakfast, which is very different from a large American breakfast, so I usually eat cold pasta or a granola bar on the way out the door, and look forward to lunch.
9:00am: Take the shuttle over to campus. One of the problems with living in a large city is that the school campus isn't all connected like it is at USC. If you have ever visited NYU or Northeastern, our campus is more like that. I live about a thirty minute walk from the building where my classes are, but luckily I live only about 10 minutes away from the political science and law campus, and the University offers a free shuttle from building to building. I have been exposed to a lot of Italian music from riding the shuttle!
9:30am-12:00pm: Class. I was warned many times that classes would be very different in Europe than in the US, but I am not sure that I fully heeded those warnings. They are not bad, or any harder, which I was worried about, they are just very different. First off, classes are extremely long. Like two and a half hours long. I have a huge problem paying attention that long, because I get very restless, but usually we get a 15 minute espresso/cigarette break during class, as that's a big part of Italian culture. Also, our classes are not nearly as interactive as classes in the US. Even if there are only 15 people in the class, the whole thing is a lecture. There is a big relationship gap between professors and students, and they are not nearly as conversational or casual as student-professor relationships are in the US. Finally, the last challenge is the language barrier. Even though my classes are in English, both my professors and classmates are Italian, so sometimes understanding what is going on can be really challenging. Overall, I still get to see a completely different perspective on education, and they have not been too difficult, so even though I would rather be traveling, class is not too bad.
12:00-1:30pm: Lunch. One of my favorite parts of the day. After not eating much breakfast and sitting through a long morning lecture, I really look forward to eating again. Our school canteen is really good and for only 2 euro you can have bread, fruit, a drink, pasta, a vegetable, a main course, and sometimes free pudding! We usually are confused about what exactly the foods are, because the lunch ladies do not speak English, but it doesn't really matter because the food never disappoints! You can't get anything for that good of a deal at restaurants around here, so we get really excited about this everyday. Also due to varying class schedules I get to eat lunch with different friends, both international and Italian students, everyday, so there is always good conversation.
2:00-4:00pm: Class #2. One thing that is also interesting about classes is that they have many different levels of credit hours so the length and frequency of my classes varies a lot. There is also no standard time that classes must be every day (i.e.: class begins at 8:05, 9:30, 10:45) but the professors can choose when they would like class to be. This leads to a lot of clashes when trying to schedule classes, but we figured it out pretty quickly. I also have many international friends that take clashing courses and just rotate which class that they have to skip 15 or 30 minutes of each day.
5:00pm: After taking the shuttle back to the law campus, I stop by the grocery on the way home. You can only buy as much as you can carry, so I have to go grocery shopping a lot more frequently than I do in the US, where I can load up my SUV at Publix every two weeks. The grocery stores are also very small, so there is much less variety of products offered. No Walmart superstores here, folks. Reading product labels has been a high challenge, because the label does not always make it clear what a food is, let alone the instructions of how to cook it. I often Google translate a lot before I leave the house/school (where I have wifi) so I can find what I am looking for.
6:00pm: After arriving home, I spend some time cooking dinner for my roommates and we all eat together. Due to the problems described above, most of our meals are just variations of pasta and sauce, but about once a week we try and make something a little more creative! Like chicken. Exciting, I know. The food isn't quite as good as the cafeteria, but I can always eat some Nutella or gelato for dessert which makes everything better.
7:00pm-8:00pm: I usually spend at least an hour a night Skyping with someone. My parents, my sister, my roommates, my friends. The 6 hour time difference makes this really tricky, because when it is nighttime for me, it is the middle of the afternoon back home. My parents have to come home from work early, and I have to stay up late often to find time that works. The good thing about college is that my friends have more flexible schedules so they can talk to me in the middle of the day!
9:00pm-???: My nighttime routine varies a little bit. Sometimes I have to study for class, sometimes I am planning my next trip, sometimes we go out and have dinner and meet up with friends, it just depends on the night!
It may not seem exciting to read through, but study abroad isn't all about visiting museums and partying around the world. Most of my days are spent more like the one described above, but with that comes many different challenges. Thinking about all the systems I have to figure out, all of the people I interact with everyday that don't speak English, it's a lot more overwhelming than you may imagine! The good news is it gets easier every day and soon these challenges are not challenges any more!
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