Introvert Abroad
Pushing Myself to Experience the World
They say that Culture Shock will really hit you when you study abroad, and boy were they right. Among the many things to adjust to, I’ve found walking out the front door to be one of the most challenging. If you’re anything like me, you A.) are not used to living in a city and B.) can’t navigate to save your life. Oh, and the C.) overthinking everything and D.) being nervous to talk to people. Those sure don’t help either. Even going out to do the simplest things that you don’t even have to think about at home are entire events in themselves here in Florence. There are so many things that I put off doing just because I had no idea where to go. Going grocery shopping, buying school supplies, and even taking out the trash was hard to do! I haven’t even been living in Florence for an entire week, but I think I’ve already figured out a few tips for surviving the world outside of my apartment building. 1. Don’t be afraid to use Google Maps or a paper map. Maybe it’s the pride in me, or maybe the urge to blend in and not look like the most lost tourist you’ve ever seen, but I did try to navigate the city without having my phone out for a while. My plan was to look up the directions beforehand and memorize the route by taking notes on the street names and such. Bad results included getting lost and being late to things. After swallowing my pride, I started walking around with my phone out and unabashedly turning around on the street when I went the wrong way. Good results included actually finding places and being on time. This might seem like common sense to some, but I definitely am the kind of person to be too embarrassed to turn around after realizing that I went the wrong way. I would just keep walking to try to find a block to turn around at, and I would end up even more lost than I was in the first place. Good life tip to remember: don’t worry what the people around you are thinking. Chances are, they’re more concerned with their own lives than yours. 2. Look around you. And I mean, really look around you. On the opposite spectrum, here’s the tip to look around and find familiar landmarks. Remember to look up and find that gelato store or that trattoria that you saw before. That neon sign, that fruit stand, that statue are all so useful in figuring out the way. Again, you might think this is common sense, but the Aries in me likes to work in extremes (special s/o to my astrology folks out there). I either wanted to stare at everything around me and get lost or keep my nose in my phone and only look up to make sure I was on the right street. Balance is key, and you’ll find your way so much more quickly in the end. 3. ASK SOMEONE FOR HELP. You may have noticed that this tip is in all caps. That’s because this was the thing I was the most afraid to do, but the thing that turned out the best for me in the end. The language barrier is so incredibly hard to cross, but as long as you study up on some basic Italian, use hand gestures, and really try, then everything will be alright. I promise, just the fact that you made an effort to try to speak any Italian will score you some major points with the locals. And better yet, you get to meet new people! For instance, I needed to buy art supplies for my painting class, and it was a struggle on my own. After finding the place, I spent about 20 minutes walking in circles around the tiny store trying to find all of the supplies. I finally got the courage to ask the man at the counter for some help. After asking the phrase I know best, “Parli Inglese?” (tr: “Do you speak English?”) he responded with, “Sí y también puedo hablar Español!” (tr: “Yes, and I can speak Spanish too!”) This made my little Latina heart sing, and from that point on we conversed around the store in this wonderful mixture of Spanish, English, and the occasional Italian word thrown in there. It was a great experience, and I’ll be sure to go back to that store for any future art supply needs! 4. Just take a walk! The final and most important tip is to find some time to just take a walk around the city. Not only are there beautiful things to see on every corner, but it’s a relaxing time to really absorb the life that the city breathes. Cultural and architectural beauty fill the streets, and it’s easy to find something beautiful in the smallest things. The colorful flowers on terraces, the loud signs for stores, the eclectic assortment of laundry hanging out of windows, the amazing mixture of languages spoken on the streets, oh and the myriad of famous monuments and architectural structures are pretty nice too. Sometimes when I sit in my room, I get overwhelmed by how different this world is from my home. I want to curl up in a ball, go to sleep, and wake up at my home university where I’m comfortable, everything is familiar, and my friends are there for me. But how can we grow at all if we don’t push ourselves to get a little uncomfortable? Or a lotta uncomfortable, you know? There are new friends to make, new places to see, and new things to experience when you go out into the world. So take it from somebody who was afraid to even go outside to throw away her trash, it’s going to be ok. Note: I found some trash bins on Via Medici, in case you were wondering. S/o to the guy on the street who helped me see that I had been standing right next to them for about 3 minutes.
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