Aside from the obvious things, such as eating pasta and drinking wine, studying abroad in Italy has improved quite a few aspects of my life. Some useful, some not as useful. Some skills I will be able to use in my life outside of Europe, and some I will never use again. Lets dive in.
1. Balancing on the metro
I was on the metro earlier when I realized that my balance has improved tremendously since arriving in Italy. My first trip on the metro included me falling left and right with every turn and stop the metro took. That’s how everyone knew I was new to town. I saw old men standing in the middle of the metro without even flinching when the metro screeched to a halt. Meanwhile I was clutching the handrails for dear life. Now? I am a pro. It’s quite fun watching tourists falling all over the place and pretending that I am Italian.
2. Staring at people
I have always been a good people watcher, and if there is one thing you should know about Italians before coming to Italy, it’s that they stare. A lot. It doesn’t mean they don’t like you or that you have something on your face. They are just very curious creatures. I used to be really self conscious about this, but now I just stare at them as their eyes make their way from my feet to my head and meet them with some lovely eye contact. Then I proceed to hold that eye contact until they get uncomfortable and look away. It’s kind of a new game I made. When I notice someone staring at me I just stare at them until they realize and watch them nervously walk away. Breaking social barriers is a necessary part of integrating into the European culture.
3. Pairing wines
This is something that I have learned here in Italy that I know will be beneficial in the future. Steak and potatoes? Red wine. Seafood fettuccine? White wine. Chocolate cake? Red sparkling wine less than 8% alcohol content. Night out on the town? 1.99 euro bottle of wine from the market down the street. It’s pretty easy and always fun to figure out.
4. Eating all of my food
This is not easy. At the beginning of my stay in Italy, I would struggle to finish my meals and pawn them off on my boyfriend. In Italy it is considered insulting to leave food on your plate, so I would always struggle with finishing food. I am a grazer; I like to eat a lot of snacks throughout the day instead of big meals. Now I am a food finishing champ. The first week we were in Italy we went to this amazing restaurant, and I couldn’t finish my shrimp and zucchini pasta (completely delicious and I will miss this restaurant so much). We just went back to that restaurant 3 months later and I finished my whole plate, with room for gelato. I was so excited.
5. “What kind of meat is this? Oh well”
Two words: pizza kebab. Italians are known for having pizza kebab shops on every corner, and they are disgustingly amazing. Basically it is a fast food place that sells pizza and kebabs with that meat that is on a rod that just kind of rotates and sweats, being heated by a light bulb. What kind of meat is it? I have no idea. but it is amazing. The closest thing I can compare it to is Pita Pit, only worse, but better. Everyone claims to “only eat kebabs when drunk,” but whenever I have been out until 3 am I have never seen a pizza kebab open (trust me I look). Suspicious? I think so.
6. Holding my pee
Public restrooms are a luxury, I have come to find. In the U.S we have the ability of going to a free bathroom in every grocery store and public park. I laughed to myself when I made the joke that this is probably because Americans are fattys who are just fumbling around drinking their Big Gulps needing bathrooms on every corner so they can releive themselves and keep on drinking their over-sized sodas. I laughed and then I was like wait I’m still American and still wish the McDonald’s here sold $1 large sodas. *Sips my small coke and fantasizes about being back in America*. Love you America, keep doing you.
But really, I wonder if Europeans always have to pee, or if they have figured out the system better than me. I always have to pee, and can never find a bathroom when I need it. I also don’t know the public urination laws here, so I walk a very fine line of having my bladder explode and being arrested for public indecency.
7. Finding WiFi, or going without
Europe… get your ish together. This is the 21st century, please pick up your WiFi game. I do not have WiFi in my apartment, and finding WiFi is not easy. I have WiFi at my school here in Italy, but it is the slowest and most frustrating connection I have ever experienced. At first I was pulling my hair out in frustration. Now, if my phone decides not to connect to the server, I will survive (hallelujah, am I right?). Regardless, I am still pretty damn good at finding WiFi. KFC, you da real homie *takes bite of chicken nugget and watches YouTube video*.
8. Wearing the same clothes every day
I packed very very light on my way here with the intention of buying trendy and fun clothes here in Torino. LOL. No, I screwed up. I came over with a 37 pound suitcase that was half filled, plenty of room for new clothes! Little did I know I would be scraping funds together in order to buy pizza kebab. I am so broke it is not even funny. So, I have gotten pretty good at wearing the same 5 shirts that I brought over here. All of my pants have holes, my vans are getting that annoying big-toe hole, and I look fabulous. I sew up the holes, put my pants on, flip my hair over my shoulder, push my $3 sunglasses up my nose and fabulously make my way to the metro.
9. Communicating via finger points and broken SpanTalian sentences
Spantalian. AKA Spanish Italian. AKA is “pollo” pronounced “po-lo” or “poy-yo” here? AKA i’ll just cough in the middle of the word so they can’t tell that I don’t know how to say chicken. It is really hard to half learn one language, then try to half learn another language, when they are both Latin based and way too similar. I like to just point to things and say word like “uno”, and “si”, and “per favore”.
However, I am on my second level of Italian and I just got a 97% on my last test…So I guess you could say I’m fluent. Do I know how to ask “can I pet your dog?” no, but I will sure as hell try to when you walk by without you noticing.
10. Accepting people for who they are
When you go abroad, you will meet all kinds of people. Trust me, I am not saying I like every single person I meet, I don’t. I just accept them for who they are. If you are the kind of person who is going to go out and get black-out drunk every day of the week, you do you. If you are the kind of person that brings maps on trips and has to plan every second of the day down to a tee, more power to ya. If you are the kind of person who is going to drink wine with every meal and eat enough pizza to put Italians to shame, call me, lets be friends. I have stopped trying to understand why people are the way they are, and just accepted that everyone is living their own lives the way they want to live, and who am I to say that way is wrong? Being abroad is hard, and it is important to be true to yourself, or you’ll go crazy.
1. Balancing on the metro
I was on the metro earlier when I realized that my balance has improved tremendously since arriving in Italy. My first trip on the metro included me falling left and right with every turn and stop the metro took. That’s how everyone knew I was new to town. I saw old men standing in the middle of the metro without even flinching when the metro screeched to a halt. Meanwhile I was clutching the handrails for dear life. Now? I am a pro. It’s quite fun watching tourists falling all over the place and pretending that I am Italian.
2. Staring at people
I have always been a good people watcher, and if there is one thing you should know about Italians before coming to Italy, it’s that they stare. A lot. It doesn’t mean they don’t like you or that you have something on your face. They are just very curious creatures. I used to be really self conscious about this, but now I just stare at them as their eyes make their way from my feet to my head and meet them with some lovely eye contact. Then I proceed to hold that eye contact until they get uncomfortable and look away. It’s kind of a new game I made. When I notice someone staring at me I just stare at them until they realize and watch them nervously walk away. Breaking social barriers is a necessary part of integrating into the European culture.
3. Pairing wines
This is something that I have learned here in Italy that I know will be beneficial in the future. Steak and potatoes? Red wine. Seafood fettuccine? White wine. Chocolate cake? Red sparkling wine less than 8% alcohol content. Night out on the town? 1.99 euro bottle of wine from the market down the street. It’s pretty easy and always fun to figure out.
4. Eating all of my food
This is not easy. At the beginning of my stay in Italy, I would struggle to finish my meals and pawn them off on my boyfriend. In Italy it is considered insulting to leave food on your plate, so I would always struggle with finishing food. I am a grazer; I like to eat a lot of snacks throughout the day instead of big meals. Now I am a food finishing champ. The first week we were in Italy we went to this amazing restaurant, and I couldn’t finish my shrimp and zucchini pasta (completely delicious and I will miss this restaurant so much). We just went back to that restaurant 3 months later and I finished my whole plate, with room for gelato. I was so excited.
5. “What kind of meat is this? Oh well”
Two words: pizza kebab. Italians are known for having pizza kebab shops on every corner, and they are disgustingly amazing. Basically it is a fast food place that sells pizza and kebabs with that meat that is on a rod that just kind of rotates and sweats, being heated by a light bulb. What kind of meat is it? I have no idea. but it is amazing. The closest thing I can compare it to is Pita Pit, only worse, but better. Everyone claims to “only eat kebabs when drunk,” but whenever I have been out until 3 am I have never seen a pizza kebab open (trust me I look). Suspicious? I think so.
6. Holding my pee
Public restrooms are a luxury, I have come to find. In the U.S we have the ability of going to a free bathroom in every grocery store and public park. I laughed to myself when I made the joke that this is probably because Americans are fattys who are just fumbling around drinking their Big Gulps needing bathrooms on every corner so they can releive themselves and keep on drinking their over-sized sodas. I laughed and then I was like wait I’m still American and still wish the McDonald’s here sold $1 large sodas. *Sips my small coke and fantasizes about being back in America*. Love you America, keep doing you.
But really, I wonder if Europeans always have to pee, or if they have figured out the system better than me. I always have to pee, and can never find a bathroom when I need it. I also don’t know the public urination laws here, so I walk a very fine line of having my bladder explode and being arrested for public indecency.
7. Finding WiFi, or going without
Europe… get your ish together. This is the 21st century, please pick up your WiFi game. I do not have WiFi in my apartment, and finding WiFi is not easy. I have WiFi at my school here in Italy, but it is the slowest and most frustrating connection I have ever experienced. At first I was pulling my hair out in frustration. Now, if my phone decides not to connect to the server, I will survive (hallelujah, am I right?). Regardless, I am still pretty damn good at finding WiFi. KFC, you da real homie *takes bite of chicken nugget and watches YouTube video*.
8. Wearing the same clothes every day
I packed very very light on my way here with the intention of buying trendy and fun clothes here in Torino. LOL. No, I screwed up. I came over with a 37 pound suitcase that was half filled, plenty of room for new clothes! Little did I know I would be scraping funds together in order to buy pizza kebab. I am so broke it is not even funny. So, I have gotten pretty good at wearing the same 5 shirts that I brought over here. All of my pants have holes, my vans are getting that annoying big-toe hole, and I look fabulous. I sew up the holes, put my pants on, flip my hair over my shoulder, push my $3 sunglasses up my nose and fabulously make my way to the metro.
9. Communicating via finger points and broken SpanTalian sentences
Spantalian. AKA Spanish Italian. AKA is “pollo” pronounced “po-lo” or “poy-yo” here? AKA i’ll just cough in the middle of the word so they can’t tell that I don’t know how to say chicken. It is really hard to half learn one language, then try to half learn another language, when they are both Latin based and way too similar. I like to just point to things and say word like “uno”, and “si”, and “per favore”.
However, I am on my second level of Italian and I just got a 97% on my last test…So I guess you could say I’m fluent. Do I know how to ask “can I pet your dog?” no, but I will sure as hell try to when you walk by without you noticing.
10. Accepting people for who they are
When you go abroad, you will meet all kinds of people. Trust me, I am not saying I like every single person I meet, I don’t. I just accept them for who they are. If you are the kind of person who is going to go out and get black-out drunk every day of the week, you do you. If you are the kind of person that brings maps on trips and has to plan every second of the day down to a tee, more power to ya. If you are the kind of person who is going to drink wine with every meal and eat enough pizza to put Italians to shame, call me, lets be friends. I have stopped trying to understand why people are the way they are, and just accepted that everyone is living their own lives the way they want to live, and who am I to say that way is wrong? Being abroad is hard, and it is important to be true to yourself, or you’ll go crazy.