Where the Italians are
Two years ago I had little regrets about my semester abroad. I traveled all over Europe, learned a new language, rediscovered my passion for art, and found great friends who I’m still in touch with. However, my one regret is that other than my great host family, I didn’t find any real Italian friends, not even acquaintances. Sure, I met some creepers while I was out, but I didn’t feel like I bonded with any Italians my own age. By the end of the semester I gave up and blamed the Italians for not getting to know me. Oh well, their loss, I thought to myself. When I returned home, everyone would ask me; did you meet lots of friends? Yes, of course, I would explain. Then, the follow up question, were they Italian? No, I would respond, a bit embarrassed. As time went on I realized I had not made enough effort to really get to know Italians. They come across foreigners by the truck load every day of their life, so it was up to me to make an impression. I had to meet my Italian counterparts and build a (if brief) relationship. Before returning this past fall, I was determined to make the effort.
So, where did I go wrong the first time? I mean, I thought I immersed myself in the Italian culture. Well, I guess for starters I was constantly surrounded by Americans. They were my support system while I was here, I felt comfortable around them. However, it was finally about time to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. The first thing I decided to do was go to the conversation exchange at my school. Of course it was awkward at first, should we speak English or Italian? What should we talk about? But after the first couple times, I started seeing familiar faces and it became a welcoming environment. We began hanging out outside the classroom. We would grab apertivo, or go see an Italian movie. My next step was checking out language exchanges at the University of Florence. There are a lot of Italian students studying languages and would like to have a scambio linguistico as well as simply curious to get to know international students. They leave their name and contact on a bulletin board in the language lab of the university with their native language and the type of scambio they want (English, French, German, etc). I blindly picked a student, Chiara, a political science student and sent her an e-mail telling her about myself and suggesting maybe we could meet. She called me right away, and was very enthusiastic about practicing her English. We met for coffee and hit it off right away. Now I am meeting new Italian acquaintances every week, through friends of friends. I finally feel accepted by my Italian peers and have gained new experiences I didn’t get to my first time around.
My advice: put yourself out there, get to know Italian students, it will make your experience in Florence all the better! Start off with a language exchange. St. James Church sponsors one every Wednesday from 7-9. It’s only five dollars and includes a multi course dinner. Check it out!
by Susan D’Inverno