I absolutely loved Italy—the people, the food, the classes, the traveling, all of it,but I found myself finding more and more annoyances throughout my time in Florence. Theywere largely minor: the lack of a sense of personal space, incredibly reduced operating hours ofmost businesses, slow walking, and poor customer service, to name a few. None of them mademe dislike my time by any means, but they made me realize that I appreciated the nuances ofAmerican culture I hadn’t seen before. I came to identify more as an American in a way that Idid not think I would. This association and homesickness made me excited to return home whenthe time came. This self-realization manifested in many other ways throughout the trip, and Ibelieve I am better equipped to handle future situations where I am a “fish out of water,” or haveto solve problems in ambiguous situations. I became more patient as I dealt with the slow pace ofItalian life, and most importantly for me, I learned how to be kinder to myself as I struggled withthe fast pace of the intense language classes
I absolutely loved Italy—the people, the food, the classes, the traveling, all of it. The annoyances were largely minor and none of them made me dislike my time. Rather, they made me appreciate the nuances of American culture that I hadn't seen before. I came to identify as an American in a way I did not think I would. I am better equipped to handle future situations where I am a "fish out of water" or solve ambiguous problems.