I got a letter from my amazing-best-grandma-in-the-world yesterday. She told me how she loved reading my blog and hearing about my adventures, but was wondering how classes were going (you know...if I actually have time to LEARN between backpacking to different countries in Europe). Well. Fun fact. Classes are kind of a joke. In my mind. I mean, I love learning, I love classes, but let's be real. Homework? I don't have time for that. I have literally never been less academically stressed in my life. I was more stressed out about my classes in middle school than I am here. I have this theory here: DO THE WORK. GET IT DONE. DO WELL. NO STRESS. I'm only taking four classes, two of which I think are SO AWESOME and SO FUN that they don't even feel like real work. The other two...we just won't talk about them. The truth is, I came to Italy to be in Italy and to explore Europe, not to study. None of my classes count for my major or my minor...or really any of my gen eds. I could have graduated in three and a half years, but I decided to spend a semester abroad instead and graduate on time with all of my friends. And it was literally the best decision of my life.
But, for the sake of "STUDY abroad," I'll write a little bit about my classes. It's good timing, actually, because I just finished my first final! It was my Italian final (my all-time favorite class here, not surprising) and it went really well. I love learning the Italian language, my professor Barbara is AWESOME, and I've done really, really well in the class. Being here has made me realize how much I love learning other languages, and hopefully in the future I'll be able to continue with Italian and Spanish...maybe even be fluent one day. :) There's no doubt in my mind that I want to be able to come back to Italy one day and still be able to get by with the language I already know...plus even maybe be able to have conversations and get to know Italians better because of being even more conversationally-fluent! Hahah! We'll see.
My other favorite class is Roman Empire. The Roman Empire is SO SO SO SO cool. SO cool. And my professor, Giampiero, is like an expert on it. (Side note: another thing i love about Italy is having professors/friends named Giampiero and Francesco, etc...AWESOME.) We took a field trip last week to Rome with our class and did a tour of the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, and the Caracala baths. I wrote two papers for that class (yeah, seriously, that's it) and both were about the emperor Domitian. I actually really enjoyed writing the papers...I've never enjoyed history so much. I have my final next Tuesday though...its going to be a doozy. Maybe I'll start studying soon...probably not. I'm in Italy, Perugia is decorated for Christmas, and my friends want to party on the steps under the lights. Who can say no to that?
Psych and Lit are are my other classes. I have a lot to do for them still...I have to study for my psych final and write my lit paper...I'll get it done. Later. The main thing I learned in psych: Cultural shock happens. Immersing yourself into a culture helps you to become culturally competent and accepting as a person, and that's incredibly important. It's important to see other cultures as independent entities, not in comparison to your own culture. When you drop the comparisons, and just accept it for how it is, that's when you can see the beauty in the new culture. And this has been so important while living in Italy, because Italy is SO DIFFERENT from America. It's maybe not visible when you're visiting big, tourist cities like Rome, Florence, Venice or Naples...but living in Perugia it is so clear. The lifestyle is just SO different. If you try to compare it to the US, you just get homesick. But if you relax and appreciate it for what it is, it's beautiful. Adjusting to the Italian lifestyle has really changed who I am as a person...there are so many lifestyle changes that I've made without even realizing it while living in Italy, and I hope to bring them back to America with me.
So all in all, classes are good, I'm doing well, glad to be done. Not glad to be done with Italy, though. No. I'll be back. No doubt in my mind.
Here are a few pictures of things I've been doing in Italy while NOT doing homework or studying (hahahha):
But, for the sake of "STUDY abroad," I'll write a little bit about my classes. It's good timing, actually, because I just finished my first final! It was my Italian final (my all-time favorite class here, not surprising) and it went really well. I love learning the Italian language, my professor Barbara is AWESOME, and I've done really, really well in the class. Being here has made me realize how much I love learning other languages, and hopefully in the future I'll be able to continue with Italian and Spanish...maybe even be fluent one day. :) There's no doubt in my mind that I want to be able to come back to Italy one day and still be able to get by with the language I already know...plus even maybe be able to have conversations and get to know Italians better because of being even more conversationally-fluent! Hahah! We'll see.
My other favorite class is Roman Empire. The Roman Empire is SO SO SO SO cool. SO cool. And my professor, Giampiero, is like an expert on it. (Side note: another thing i love about Italy is having professors/friends named Giampiero and Francesco, etc...AWESOME.) We took a field trip last week to Rome with our class and did a tour of the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, and the Caracala baths. I wrote two papers for that class (yeah, seriously, that's it) and both were about the emperor Domitian. I actually really enjoyed writing the papers...I've never enjoyed history so much. I have my final next Tuesday though...its going to be a doozy. Maybe I'll start studying soon...probably not. I'm in Italy, Perugia is decorated for Christmas, and my friends want to party on the steps under the lights. Who can say no to that?
Psych and Lit are are my other classes. I have a lot to do for them still...I have to study for my psych final and write my lit paper...I'll get it done. Later. The main thing I learned in psych: Cultural shock happens. Immersing yourself into a culture helps you to become culturally competent and accepting as a person, and that's incredibly important. It's important to see other cultures as independent entities, not in comparison to your own culture. When you drop the comparisons, and just accept it for how it is, that's when you can see the beauty in the new culture. And this has been so important while living in Italy, because Italy is SO DIFFERENT from America. It's maybe not visible when you're visiting big, tourist cities like Rome, Florence, Venice or Naples...but living in Perugia it is so clear. The lifestyle is just SO different. If you try to compare it to the US, you just get homesick. But if you relax and appreciate it for what it is, it's beautiful. Adjusting to the Italian lifestyle has really changed who I am as a person...there are so many lifestyle changes that I've made without even realizing it while living in Italy, and I hope to bring them back to America with me.
So all in all, classes are good, I'm doing well, glad to be done. Not glad to be done with Italy, though. No. I'll be back. No doubt in my mind.
Here are a few pictures of things I've been doing in Italy while NOT doing homework or studying (hahahha):
Goofing around with my roommates, especially my roommate Crystal because she is CRAZY and I LOVE HER.
(This was "Perugia Pigtail Day" because Crystal was pissed that we weren't home for Thanksgiving AND didn't get school off on Thanksgiving....so she decided we would make our own holiday? She'll do anything for a laugh. Hahahahhaha.)
Thanksgiving Dinner with my beautiful roommates in Perugia, Italy. It wasn't half bad, but nothing compared to the good old home-cooking of my vegetarian mother. :)
Reading travel books and drinking wine in my bed, all while dressed to go out.
Taking angsty photos with my friends. They've caught on.
Going to the bars to spend time with my amazing new friends from this semester!
We had a huge American Christmas party for all of my school at our favorite bar...it was SO fun.
Back to studying for finals (kind of)!!
America countdown: 6 days. WOOF. Who knows if I'm ready to leave this incredible place, but I cannot WAIT to see my family.
Comments