I went to aperativo last night with few friends from my program – it was quite a classy aperativo and we shared a bottle of Chianti Classico (yes, on top of all the wine I had earlier this morning at Montalcino, which I will post about later). Aside from pleasant chit-chat and discussion, our conversation led me to a few conclusions I have now reached.
As Ellen stated, “don’t just be a passive study abroad, but an active” one. Don’t just go take photos and look at things, don’t just eat the food and look around, but DO something more. Don’t just learn the language so you can ask where the train station is or how much that leather purse costs, but strive to continuously improve and increase your knowledge of the language so you can talk to people and learn more that just a surface level experience.
Many people told me before I left “it will be the experience of a lifetime”. Yes, this is true, despite the cliché. But it is so much more than that I have discovered, if possible. You can never replicate this experience – even if you come back to live in the same place, it won’t be the same; you will have a different agenda. If I were to come back and live here, I would have many other concerns on my mind, like work and making money. Right now, my focus is solely on learning by immersing myself fully in the culture; but this learning is greater than simply learning at a university in the US because there is so much more to it.
For one, simply asking for directions will never again be such a challenge to me back home because here, I’m not only having to go up to random people for help, but at the same time trying to simply formulate the question. Understanding the response is an entirely different story all together.
One thing I constantly think about that is such a strange feeling to me is that when I return home, I only have to speak English. This idea is pretty strange to me now.
Basically, I am feeling more thankful and blessed than ever for everyone in my family who made this opportunity possible (namely, my parents and G-mom).
I know probably half of the things I learn and experience won’t even be explainable, just as a photograph is not as satisfying as the real thing, nor while I probably realize everything I have learned until maybe even a year or two from now. I know that everything I have learned and experienced thus far and have yet to learn and experience, I would not have had those opportunities during my time in college if I hadn’t come to live in Italy.