Fall 2020 semester I studied abroad in Florence Italy.

This experience not only allowed

me to grow as a person, but it also allowed me to experience another culture. The classes I took
when I was abroad were much different than the classes I take at Bryant University. The courses
I took while abroad were: Elementary Italian, Women of the Medici, Quarters of Florence,
Nutrition Italian style cooking, and Intercultural Communication. The class that I got the most
out of was intercultural communication and this was because I not only got to compare my
culture to the Italian culture but also other cultures within Italy.
In intercultural communication we visited different places of worship such as churches,
synagogues, and mosques. Ones religion is a big part of the culture they associate with, so it was
interesting to learning about the diversity in worship in Florence. Another part of this class was
learning about the suburb or Florence called Prato. I got to visit Prato on a field trip for this class.
It was interesting to learn about the culture in Prato because it was completely different from
Florence. Prato is known for being heavily populated with Chinese immigrants, it is the second
largest Chinese population in Italy.
Aside from this course that I took my overall experience was a culture shock to me. From
the first day at orientation we learned nonverbal hand gestures that people in Italy use and what
they mean. I found this to be helpful because one hand gesture to us Americans could mean
something completely different in Italy. It is normal in the Italian culture for people to
communicate for hours at dinner and to spend quality time with one another. This is something
that took some getting used to when going out to eat because dinners typically took hours. I also
noticed that it is normal in Italy for people to yell and be loud. This does not mean they are in an
argument they could just be having a conversation.
This entire experience was eye opening to me to live in a different country and follow
their cultural norms. When it comes to communicating with locals in Italy they respected when
Americans would try to speak a little Italian. This showed that we were trying to be apart of their
culture rather than bring our culture to them. This experience made me see that the way that I do
things at home aren’t necessarily the best way and that being exposed to the Italian culture has
made me change the way I look at other cultures and my own.