Change is gonna come

I'm in the midst of a week of major changes. In the last 36 hours I finished my co-op job (which I loved) and moved out of my apartment (probably the last dorm room I'll ever inhabit). I came home to NY, shopped for my trip and scheduled time to catch up, then immediately say goodbye to friends I've known since elementary school. In the next 36 hours I'll leave NY for Boston, where I'll spend 48 hours with friends catching up, then immediately saying goodbye. I'll sleep on multiple couches and eat too much take-out, then head to the airport for the longest flight I've ever been on.

I'm definitely going to miss Boston. I haven't left the city for this long since the summer after my freshman year. Even then, I was in New York City, an environment I had lived in before and was comfortable in. Rome is a total unknown for me. Will I be able to relax as much at the Trevi Fountain as I do so often at the Christian Science Center? Will gelateria's fulfill the same hot weather cold dessert craving as Jamba Juice or Pinkberry? I know I won't have any Yankees-Red Sox drama to hear about.

This whole situation is completely foreign to me.

I'm awful at goodbyes, so it's a good thing I'll only be gone for five weeks. When I say "see you soon," at least it's true. It will still be strange to be away from friends I've seen several times a week for years. I'll definitely miss them.

I'll also miss my family while I'm gone. My parents are stressing out about the trip. They're constantly telling me travel tips they've heard from other people and quizzing me on ways to stay safe while I'm abroad. I know they're excited for me, and jealous. Neither of them have ever been to Europe, I wish they could come visit. I look forward to skype chats with them. I'll probably only hear from my little brother when he wants something, but that will at least keep something normal in my life. I'll take what I can get.

I'm so thankful for technology. My parents tell me stories about their friends from college, who had no contact with anyone at home when they went abroad. I'll have e-mail, instant messenger, facebook, twitter, skype and this blog to keep in touch with the people I'm so far away from. I'm probably overly dependent on technology, but for the next five weeks I'm allowed to be.

I haven't had to make new friends in a long time. I'm a friendly person, making friends has never been very difficult for me. However, not having friends in a new location hasn't been a predicament I've faced in three years. I'm sure it will be fine, almost all of the other students at JCU are American, and nearly all will be in the same situation as me. I'm not that worried, but I'd love to meet others to travel with. I'm really excited to meet new people and learn about new places. I know that no matter who I meet and what we talk about I'll learn something I didn't know about or hear I view or perspective I hadn't considered before. I'll probably experience new relationships, behaviors and customs. The human aspect of the trip should be interesting to report on.

As excited as I am to show up in Italy and take it as it comes, I will miss everyone I'm leaving at home. Please keep in touch, and I'll do my best to do the same. (I don't know what my internet situation will be...) E-mails, aim chats, facebook posts, skype calls and blog comments will be appreciated. You can also send me texts (incoming texts will be free for me, but it's expensive to respond), but please don't call! It's super expensive, and I get charged the second my phone rings even if I don't pick it up. Eek!

I promise to update as frequently as I have time and internet access. See you in August!

Ciao!

Putting it in perspective

I've been told that being abroad gives you a different outlook on life, that you are able to see everyday occurrences from a very different perspective. I look forward to this aspect of being in another environment. I'm really interested to see how Europeans view America, especially how America is portrayed in the media (I'm a journalism geek...I can't help it!). I want to see for myself what Italians think of President Obama, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I look forward to seeing what news Italian media covers, if they care as much about gossip, kidnappings and storms, and what kind of stories their media fixate on. I'm not sure if I'll have a TV or not, but I'd definitely like to watch a newscast or two and see how their broadcast networks run, even if I have no idea what the reporters are saying. I find media exciting, and I look forward to learning about the Italian system even though I won't be taking any journalism classes.

I know that no matter what happens while I'm in Italy, I'll grow personally. Even if I hate it (which I'm not anticipating), hypothetically I’d learn what kind of place I don't like.

Since it's my first time abroad, I think doing a 5 week program is a smart way to get acquainted with traveling. I’d be more overwhelmed to go somewhere new for four or five months without knowing how I'd react to the new culture.

I plan to try to meet Italians, even if it's just introducing myself to my neighbors. I'll likely live in an apartment building with locals, but I won't know where or with whom until I get there. I want to immerse myself in Italian culture as much as possible in the five short weeks I'm there, so I’m excited about living in a neighborhood and not a dorm room.

I'm looking forward to meeting new people and getting out of life in Boston for awhile (though I do love all of you I'm leaving behind). Most other students at JCU will be from American schools all over the country. Just interacting with them will likely show me new perspectives and personalities I'd otherwise never come across.

I know the experience will help my career, by giving me a new way to view the world around me. Employers look for people with varied experiences to give fresh perspective to their business, studying abroad will be a resume bonus (though that’s not the reason I’m going).

I was nervous at first that I wouldn't find out my roommates until I arrived, but at this point it’s more exciting to just show up to the unknown. It will be like Real World, hopefully without the drama and with all the fun. We'll see. I'll be living in apartments with 3-7 other people, so even if I have a few terrible roommates, chances are one will be good. I don’t think I’m a difficult person to live with, and I’ve had enough bad roommates to know how to deal with unexpected situations. A friend of mine will be in Rome with me, I'm glad she'll be there to run to if I ever need a little bit of Husky spirit back in my life.

I hope to travel to at least one or two other Italian cities (Venice? Florence? Milan?) while I'm abroad. If it doesn't happen I've decided not to worry about it. Spending five weeks in the Eternal City, would be five full weeks in a new culture, lifestyle and environment. I don't leave Boston that often and I don't usually worry about it, there's no reason to stress out about not getting out of Rome. Pending major disaster (which I don't anticipate, but also hope I don't jinx), Europe will still be around for awhile to go back to visit.

Some work, some play.

I'm overly nervous about the language barrier. I've been told most Italians, especially Romans, speak English so I won't have a problem. But I also wish I wouldn’t look like a dazed American tourist with no regard for the culture of the people whose lives I am visiting. I hope to pick up a few Italian phrases before I leave, but I've been saying that for months and haven't done anything about it, though I have the best intentions.

I'll be taking Italian I while I'm in Rome, which I'm excited for. I know it will be extremely useful to know the basics, and I'm hoping I'll pick the language up easier while immersed in it. I’ve never been terrible at learning languages, but I’m definitely not the kind of person who can instantly pick up languages.

I'll be taking Italian II back at NU in the fall, I'm excited to learn about the culture, and continue my Italian language training after I leave. It will give me even more of an incentive to absorb all of the language I can while in the country.

The other class I'll be taking is Ancient Monuments of Rome. It's an architecture class, two mornings a week. Most days the class meets at a historic site, and we learn about the history and architecture of the monument we’ve already read up on. I'm really excited about it. I've never even thought about taking an architecture class before, I know absolutely nothing about the subject. If I'm going to learn about architecture, what better place to do it than Rome, right? I think seeing these sights with a professor will be a better way to learn about the history of the city than scanning a paragraph or two in my guidebook.

The calm before the storm

Ciao!

First blog posts are always the most awkward, so I'll just jump right into it, and we can just pretend this sentence never happened.

In just over a week I'll be heading to Rome for a 5-week study abroad program at John Cabot University, an American university in Rome. The only foreign country I've ever been to is Canada, and though I'm sure Canadians would disagree, I feel like I have never really traveled. I have never even left the east coast.

Italy is going to be a huge change for me. I'm nervous, because I don't know any Italian (though I'm hoping 5 years of Spanish will help me out) but I'm also looking forward pushing myself out of my comfort zone for a little while and experience something completely new and exciting.

I applied to the program on a whim. A friend mentioned a new program in Rome that would start Summer II, and after seeing the sparse Summer II class offerings at NU, I figured it was worth investigating. I'll probably never have another chance to drop everything and live in Italy for 5 weeks, so I applied. People around me (especially well-traveled adults) say it’s the best decision I could have made.

I’m not even there yet, but I sort of agree.