And So It Continues…

My friends and I decided to finish off our Spring break in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The moment we settled in and explored the city, we noticed that Amsterdam is actually more expensive than we thought. Plus, we were already low on finances, considering we had been spending more than we accounted for the past week. Regardless, we made sure to visit the Anne Frank house, the Van Gogh Museum, the Heineken Brewery, and try some Netherland Pancakes. We did have other activities, including watching people play an extremely large game of street chess, but those were my favorite.

Before we began our first day, we had ourselves some Netherland Pancakes. Their “pancakes” look like crepes, but are still delicious. Since Anne Frank’s house was near, that is where we continued the day. Now, I have never read the Diary of Anne Frank. Being in her house was all a new and moving experience for me. One miniscule detail almost brought a tear. Seeing the pencilled growth marks of Anne and her sister on the wall really had me imagining their childhood. They were fairly tall. I pictured little girls when I heard anything about them, but they were my height (roughly 5’6-5’7)… and that surprised me. It’s one thing to hear or read about her and her family, but to actually stand where they once stood and see what they saw makes all the difference. They had glass walls protecting the original walls of their household, but you could still see every mark of age and deterioration. I felt like her diary was an appropriate souvenir to purchase from her house.

On a brighter note, visiting the Van Gogh Museum was worth the 14 euros. First of all, if anyone’s planning to visit this museum, don’t expect to finish all the exhibitions quickly, this place is huge! I loved seeing Van Gogh’s works from the start. Seeing the change and improvement in his art was inspiring. Although I have focused on drawing and charcoal media in the past, I love all types of art. With the inspiration of Van Gogh’s pieces and my current oil painting class, I will definitely add oil painting as a favorite.

Our Spring break carried on pretty smoothly, especially for being spontaneous most of the time. One of my housemates made a comment on our way home that she was surprised everything turned out so well. Within that moment, the rest of us were hoping that she did not just jinx the rest of the way home. Guess she did speak too soon, because long story short, in the next 28 hours from that comment, we took another sleeper car, 2 buses, a subway/tram, and 9 (yes…9) train transfers to get back to our apartment in Florence. The original plan only included 2 transfers. However, when we arrived in Zurich, Switzerland, we were notified of a landslide that would delay our travels. Because we were amongst a rather large group of travelers also in the same position, we basically followed the crowd to figure our way to the border. We did meet some interesting people on the way, including my bus buddy in Switzerland. He was in the Vatican’s Swiss Guard but from San Francisco. We were comparing the school systems of Switzerland and the US when he commented that he didn’t think it was right how Americans have to pay for their school loans for what seems like the rest of their life when Switzerland education is free. Our conversation definitely had me comparing America with Europe on another level. By the time we finally crossed the border into Milan, we still had troubles awaiting us. The woman at the information desk could barely understand us as we explained how we missed our original train because of the landslide. Eventually, we got it all worked out without having to pay an extra fee. She saw how stressed we were and gave us chocolate ladybugs. It was such an unexpected and cute little gesture that it actually made my day. A tiny chocolate ladybug made my day…talk about little things making all the difference.

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In the end, we had one heck of an experience. We were spontaneous and adventurous. Although there were times of frustration, we got back on our feet and felt back at home in the Florence train station. I arrived back in the apartment prepared for any trip to come, knowing that probably no other trip could end up as crazy as this past spring break. I have never been so happy to be back in Florence. We were home sweet home.

Backpacking to Change

 

John Lennon Wall

I started my third month abroad with my most eventful Spring break yet. In a little over a week, I learned so much about myself and about other parts of Europe. Whether intentional or not, I found myself in positions that I know would have never occurred if I stayed in the states. These personal tests rendered answers that definitely raised self-awareness and self-confidence. Usually, I am so set on itineraries and to-do lists, that developing this deeper sense of flexibility actually shocks me. If I could sum up my trip in one word, it would probably be the following: spontaneous.

My friends and I planned to go to Munich, Germany; Prague, Czech Republic; and Amsterdam, Netherlands for Spring break. In this post, I’ll cover the first two destinations. We decided to travel as our own group, backpacking style. The original plan was to leave first thing in the morning, but a member of the group found a night train last-minute. From the moment we arrived back in the apartment, we had two hours and counting until boarding. Two hours… I had several months to prepare for leaving America, and I had two hours to prepare to leave Italy for the first time. Two hours to pack and still finish fixing up my paper. With the clock ticking past the first half hour, I was pretty set on this last-minute decision not working out. After moments of freaking out, doubting myself, and the comforting support of my new friends, it did work out. I admit I did not do the best job of packing efficiently, but the deed was done and I was ready to head out to begin this new adventure.

These changes were all hanging on one factor: whether or not we can get the night train reserved. My best friend from back home was still in town and came to the train station with us just in case we did not get the sleeper car. Either way, I was prepared for both outcomes. Within minutes, I had to say my final goodbye to her and spent the remaining time in the train station’s McDonalds. I decided to finally try a frozen kiwi on a stick that I heard so much about, which was delicious by the way!  After conversing with other study abroad students from Georgetown, I eventually found myself in front of our sleeper car. It was pretty much a cubicle with 6 beds and a ladder. Not very spacious, but it does the job. It was basically a big sleepover between two of my friends and someone I literally had just met about an hour before. One thing we did plan out well in advance was a Eurail Pass. I ordered a 5-day pass that cost me over $300. I highly recommend this for those planning to travel Europe for an extended period of time! Just another tip to go along with that, don’t forget to validate (date stamp) the pass before boarding. My housemates lost a handful of euros because they forgot to include that last-minute information. Some of the trains we took throughout the trip did end up being really nice and probably would have been $300 alone, but I had my handy-dandy pass to rely on. We woke up in Munich and immediately walked into the Starbucks in the train station. We needed the Wifi spot to look up the hostel we wanted to stay at and send out my paper. At least that stress was done with. Surprisingly, I almost forgot I was in another country, sitting in Starbucks and drinking my usual Peppermint Mocha with Soymilk.

Since we didn’t have much time to prepare for all the adjustments, we were unable to book the hostel we wanted. Instead, we walked down the street and ended up satisfied with the random hostel we booked with no prior research. Since we arrived in Munich around 8AM, we took the next available train to the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles in Füssen. We got lunch at the discount grocery store and made our own budget sandwiches, which totaled up to be about 2-3 euros each for a pretty good meal. The castles were almost 3,000 feet higher than I’m used to back in the states. With this being said, it was no surprise that I had altitude sickness. We spent the rest of our days in Germany exploring Munich. Some street performers saw us approaching and began to play the theme song for Super Mario Bros, which was a pleasant surprise. I also witnessed a child drinking beer from his mother’s stein. I found it interesting that the beer culture of Germany resembles the wine culture of Italy: children grow up with alcohol at the dinner table. I also wasn’t expecting to see so many people to be casually walking or lounging around town in their fancy attire and hats. As if those differences weren’t enough, I also noticed that all their taxis were Mercedes Benz. I can’t forget to mention the best meal of my semester abroad thanks to the Hofbräuhaus brewery. For those of you who are curious, I ordered the pork steak. The food and people were amazing. I wasn’t expecting everyone to be so nice and helpful.

Our next stop was Prague. I did not have the best first impressions due to our first night. We were followed by someone who was trying to rush us to stay at his “hostel” and then ripped off by a taxi driver. This was our first and most unwise transaction with Czech money. We had no choice but to go with the driver due to availability. I wouldn’t describe his driving as…safe plus I was the only one who noticed that this taxi was not a real taxi. There was no meter… It looked as if he just painted the outside. Once we settled into our hostel, we noticed that he actually charged us over $50 for that ride. We had another friend joining us the next day, so at least we warned her about the scams. We tried to overlook that and focus on the bright side: we were in a brand new city with places waiting to be discovered. We stayed in a hostel that was walking distance to the castles. Right outside the castles, we found a cafe to try some Czech Pancakes. They kind of reminded me of donut looking funnel cakes, but very delicious! My friend and I also had an interesting moment waiting outside the castle for our other friends. Two large groups of students seemed to cheer for their homeland. The two of us were caught in the middle of cheers for Spain on our left and Italy on our right. It got so heated that the police actually showed up to make sure they calmed down. On a lighter note, we also saw the John Lennon wall, where I made a public contribution and literally made my mark, haha. One of my favorite moments was watching a violinist play in a candlelit area on the bridge. However, the description does not give him enough credit. It was so beautiful to hear and see his talent with a view of Prague’s reflections on the river. That scenario allowed me to take a moment to stop and recognize where I am and how I got there. I still can’t believe I’m studying abroad in Europe.

The Road Less Traveled…Seriously.

I finished my second month in Italy, in Rome. Boy, was this an experience. My best friend from Los Angeles came to visit me, so we decided to meet up in Rome to start her spring break together. I took a morning train out there alone. This was the first time I rode the train alone, and honestly it wasn’t too bad. I usually fall asleep quite easily and am hard to wake up, but on public transportation, or just traveling in general out here, I’ve become more sensitive when sleeping. I usually wake up every 10 minutes or so and sleep with my bags hooked onto my legs. That way if anyone tries anything, I’d have to wake up because they’d have to move me in some way. A good tip to keep in mind for fellow travelers!

I got there several hours before her and her friend from school arrived, and decided to be spontaneous and walk to the hotel, which was already noted to be an hour away walking distance, according to Google Maps. I figured this would give me a chance to roam around the city and learn my way around, plus visit some sites on the way. Sounded like a plan, right? Unfortunately, I got lost, and it definitely did not take me an hour. If anyone knows the layout of Rome, I walked from the train station and eventually to the point where I crossed the bridge. Supposedly, the hotel was about 4 miles away, but with my supposedly keen sense of direction, I’m pretty sure I walked almost double that. I eventually gave up after 4+ hours and called a cab. Turns out I was down the block…that was 4 euros down the drain and a confirmation of my sense of direction haha. I waited on a bench and to my surprise, I fell asleep with my two bags attached to my limbs in some way and one of my books and a highlighter on my lap. In terms of timing, it was the weekend before midterms began. Pretty unsafe, but that morning/afternoon was pretty exhausting. The rest of the stay went smoothly, especially with my newfound knowledge of the city. What made my weekend is one specific comment that my best friend’s classmate said to me. She told me that she felt like I have such a strong sense of direction and that I can handle myself in any situation. This is exactly what I was aiming for. I’m glad I’ve checked one of the boxes in my study abroad goals!

Surprisingly, being in Rome and visiting the Vatican and everything, I realized I’m glad I studied abroad in Florence. Rome felt so…globalized. It almost reminded me of LA or Chicago, it just wasn’t as different as I thought. There were even more tourists than I was expecting and people dressed so casually, I didn’t have to worry about “bella figura” anymore. With my best friend at my side, I almost felt like I was back home. The Vatican was very memorable. We were approached by a random person for a tour that would let us skip the line and enter the Vatican. She was rushing us and I just wasn’t getting a safe vibe from her. In the end, we decided to go for it, for 25 euros. Our main reasoning was because the line to get into the Vatican circled around and faded into the distance, so we knew it would take literally hours of waiting before we could get in. We took the risk and it turned out to be a pretty cool experience. Our tour guide was adorable and very informational. Her personality definitely made the experience more enjoyable. After spending a chunk of euros on rosaries blessed from the pope from the gift shop, I experienced the unexpected.

About to purchase my items, I noticed a familiar face. I was staring straight into my locker buddy’s face from my high school back in a suburb of LA. I had not seen her for years and of all places, I bump into her in the Vatican gift shop. Talk about a small world! We had our moment of “OMG” for a while until we got down to the basics of why we were both there. Turns out, she is studying abroad in France. Since then, we’ve kept in touch and are actually planning a trip to the Amalfi Coast during Easter weekend. On another exciting note, we’ll both be in Barcelona on exactly April 21st and staying there for a few days. We also decided to stick together for that trip too. This is good news for me because even though I am staying at a cousin’s place for a few days, the majority of my traveling was going to be solo. It’s one thing to bump into an old friend in another city or state, but another country??? Now that’s crazy.

I took a morning train out that Monday and arrived in Florence at 12:48PM, prepared for my 1:30PM Italian class and my first midterm that night. That week was quite stressful because my friends and I still hadn’t fully planned out our spring break itinerary for the following week. Later in the week, my friends eventually finished their spring break in Florence. Beforehand, my friend sent me her itinerary, so I had a chance to ask advice on what could save them time. After adjusting their itinerary, I marked the locations they wanted to visit on the map my program gave me. Along with their hotel and my apartment marked down, I attached a set of directions from the train station to their hotel. Since it was midterm week, I wasn’t able to spend as much time as I wanted with them, but I wanted to make their stay here as easy and comfortable as possible. I wanted them to love Florence just as much as I do. Showing them around one day, I got more compliments making the decision of studying abroad. They can see that I’m very well rounded and I had them wishing they had the same opportunity. Having that moment of “showing off” what I’ve learned and how I’ve changed since this opportunity began, I have never felt so proud of myself. Proud that I’m achieving my goals and becoming the person I’ve wanted to be because of studying abroad.

Point A to Point B

About 2-3 weeks. That’s all it really took to walk into, cope, and conquer the culture shock. From discreetly looking at the map (or what I thought was discreet) to now taking shortcuts or boldly taking new streets to get to my destinations, I’ve embraced and confirmed my new sense of independence. Part of my reasoning for studying abroad was, not to be cliché, but to find myself. To see where I stand and what’s important. Yeah, that’s pretty broad, but I’m currently a junior and I needed a wake up call before I come back for my last and final year of schooling as an undergraduate, hopefully, if all things go right!

Parts of that wake up call were caused by my anthropology class instructor. It states in every one of my syllabus that no laptops are permitted during class. She explained a little further and deepened my understanding for a rule I only understood skin deep. It’s not just to keep students from being distracted during class, but she introduced the concept of being unplugged. Unplugged… I never thought about it that way. At first, the idea that I should write my notes kind of confused me. A laptop is more convenient, its easier, and I’d feel more comfortable getting all the information down. She went on to say that this should be a break from our electronics because we’re in a different country and to live in the moment. She even offered to help us after class with notes that we missed because we got too in the moment, ha-ha.  This made me compare my classroom methods to when I’m at Purdue. Now don’t get me wrong, I love learning new things, but I can’t always help but have either tunnel vision or taking time for granted. Especially, since I’m about to be a senior, I’ll be having the internal case of senioritis hitting me soon. Yes, these classes probably aren’t as hard or demanding as the classes at Purdue, but I’ve developed that sense of enjoyment from learning again and reapplying what I’ve learned and analyzing its’ application to the world or to myself. It actually makes me miss school and excited to use everything I’ve learned here and see it’s effect back home.

It not only made me realize my learning methods, but the realization that I haven’t taken full advantage of the opportunities at  Purdue,  and I only have a year left!  The campus, the staff, the teachers, and even the students have so much to offer and yet they’ve been overlooked because I’m distracted with someone or something else. The idea that when I walk or take the bus around campus, it’s only to get from point A to point B.  Power to the people who go deeper than that. That still leaves me in Florence, however. Yes, there are trips planned and trips taken, but I feel like I still don’t have enough time to really get the most out of Florence. Spring break is approaching and my roommates and I have already settled on the locations we will be visiting: Amsterdam, Germany, and Prague. How is it that I’m already half way done…

Speaking of my limited time in Florence, I decided to stay here the past weekend to see what was going on in town. My roommates and I heard talk about the Chocolate Festival, so we decided to check it out for ourselves. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. They had just about everything: chocolate bars, hot chocolate, chocolate fountains, chocolate cakes and treats, and chocolate souvenirs like cameras, wrenches, and watches. It was such an experience seeing everything people from all over Italy had to offer and what creative ways they show it in. It wasn’t just the way the chocolate was presented, I tried new flavors of chocolate too: chocolate with chili pepper, violet (the flower), and melon were the most interesting to me. Talk about the little things that make your weekend!

Homework During Vacation?

Studying abroad has its perks about all the cool places you’ll be able to visit, the trips you’ll be able to plan, the discoveries you’ll be able to make, whether it’s intentional or not, and so on, but one thing that can’t be ignored is that you’re still in school.

I still feel like I’m on vacation. The first week of classes were basically like syllabus week at Purdue, where most of the time, it seems like little legitimate work is being assigned, but just getting to know the teacher and students. It’s the second week now and after looking at the bigger picture, the homework is beginning to pile up. Now, compared to Purdue, I still feel like it’s less work, but I feel more involved in my schoolwork in a way. For example, I’m learning so much more Italian and learning it much quicker just because I need this kind of knowledge to help me blend in and adjust better with the locals and city. Language classes here are taught in English, and I don’t know if it’s the way the class is taught, the teacher, or the practicality of the lessons, but it just clicks with me much better and faster than language courses I’ve taken before. Plus, one of the biggest things I love about this program is the faculty. I have Italian and American teachers, but some of my teachers radiate such enthusiasm for their subject, it’s literally just a pleasure to be in their presence. What I also love is the field trips! For some of my classes, we get to go to the bar, the supermarket, and all around the city. It’s just so refreshing having such hands on lessons, experiences, or a combination of both.

These field trips are not just fun and kind of touristy, considering we’re traveling as a class around the city with a teacher talking loud, explaining details to us on the way, but they’re also a chance for us to really get to know the culture better on a first-hand experience. So far, one of my field trips was to the local supermarket. For one thing, they allow dogs inside the store, which I found kind of weird since they’re not too far from the meat section. It also gave me a chance to not only be at a supermarket for the sole purpose of purchasing ingredients for my meals, but to really look at the people, the locals and tourists, and to look at their variety of foods. I did find Pringles and Ritz crackers here! And surprisingly, Nutella is found almost everywhere in containers of all sizes, while peanut butter is scarce. But it’s kind of weird to see American products cost so much here. I haven’t had any of these out here though, just for the sole purpose of trying new brands and types of foods out here. So far, I’ve had occasional regretful random picks. But with lessons learned, I’ve also discovered some pretty delicious stuff out here, including foods I would have avoided on a regular basis back home and items locals have personally suggested!

Now, it is kind of rough splitting my free time because I’d rather be planning weekend trips and imagining possible itineraries rather than reading some articles, but I think I manage it well. Plus, I have the whole city to lay around and work on homework. I’m not restricted to a specific campus. This is also one of the perks I enjoy. The fact that this program isn’t at an actual University is actually an advantage, because the city is basically my campus. It kind of sucks that it’s about a 30 minute walk to campus from where I live, but the walk is still beautiful regardless.

So far, my main concern is my comparing, which is normal for anyone traveling, for both short and long-term trips. Now, even though this aspect is educational, it’s also part of that wake up call that I wanted since it gives me a chance to really see what I have and what I take for granted. Some of which include my walk to classes, dorm food, and cell phones. It’s crazy how my cell phone has been off since I left the states. I’ve also compared school life, housing, foods, stores, and etc to back home, both in Purdue and in LA. Even though some were generalizations, I’m really starting to see how different my life here has been and how I’ve changed. I’ve had moments where I’m homesick and moments where I can’t stop smiling at how amazing it is to actually be here, going to school literally minutes from the Duomo. What’s even more amazing is all the things that I could now say I’ve done, like eat a sandwich from my favorite (yes, I have favorites now!) local sandwich shop and eat it on the steps of the Duomo. It’s literally unbelievable. Unbelievable and unforgettable.

First Impressions

My first week of classes here at CAPA’s program in Florence, Italy has come to an end and I’m about to start the next. Surprisingly, this week has not only passed by pretty fast, but it has also changed me. Now, I know that probably sounds like an exaggeration, but at this point, I believe that the first week or so does most of the changing, while the rest of the semester here will just be confirmation. But I guess I can’t know for sure until my final departure. Regardless, that’s just my theory for the moment. Now, I left the country on the Lufthansa Airlines. From my perspective, this flight was pretty nice, mind you, I’ve flown out of the country a couple of times to the Philippines several years ago and Dominican Republic, Singapore, Bali, and Bangkok just this past summer. Now I stopped in Frankfurt, Germany. If anyone ever stops here, don’t forget that when the plane lands, it’s one of those situations where you climb the stairs down and walk to a bus and the bus takes you to another part of the terminal. There you’d go through another screening before being able to get to your final terminal. There, you would take another bus to the plane. Complicated much, but thankfully I made it with barely a minute to spare, considering the bus started moving once i got on. There was a moment of terrible turbulence on the plane, which I am not sure if it was because of the time of year I am going or not, but it reached the point where stuff was falling off the cart and the flight attendant fell into an empty seat. Definitely one of the worst turbulence experiences I’ve had…

Landing in Florence, I needed to prep myself up. This is a new beginning for me. I chopped off more than a foot of my hair to donate to Beautiful Lengths, which is a partnership between Pantene and the American Cancer Society. Also with the new year starting and a new environment, I really needed to remind myself to not just stick in my comfort bubble, but to stay open-minded and branch out to people and opportunities. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and walked over to introduce myself to other students near the baggage claim talking about my program. And here it goes.

CAPA originally told us that we would have to take a taxi to the CAPA center and then the taxi ride to our apartments would be paid for. That didn’t happen and I’m thankful. Someone from CAPA had a sign for all incoming students, since apparently there was a huge group of us arriving at the same time. She then talked to the taxi drivers making sure they knew where to take us (straight to our apartments) and that CAPA would be responsible for paying. I took a cab with 2 of my roommates that I met at the airport. The drive was unbelievable, seeing the architecture of the buildings and the beauty all over, similar to being in the honeymoon stage.

Now I definitely had a slap in the face culture shock when I found myself blank in front of my landlord who doesn’t speak English! Now it might have been wrong of me to assume, but I kind of just assumed that since there were people before us, they might have picked up some english, but they didn’t. It got to the point where she handed me a dictionary to help me put together my question. Thank goodness one of my roommates actually speaks a little Italian, so she managed to get my point across. Whew!

Our apartment is adorable. It’s on Via Bixio, which is right next to this corner gelato store that is supposedly one of the best in Florence, according to reviews online and a local. We live on ground level with a cute, little garden outside our door. Nothing was surprising, except the bidets and the washing machine. Now if you guys were anything like me, I’ve heard of bidets, but never knew what they looked like. I just stared and asked what…is…that? One of my roommates had to explain to me that people use it to spray themselves, basically cleaning themselves after doing their business. So don’t be surprised if you end up seeing one out here! The half bathroom has the washing machine. For the first week, we had no idea how to drain out the water from our clothes so after hang drying them in the bathroom over the bathtub, it takes about 2-3 days to fully dry. The air here is a little more damp than I’m used to. Also, we’re supposed to open the windows for a period of time to prevent mold on the walls. Good to keep in mind! What I find kind of creepy, but for others, it might be cool, but there’s a deli slicer in the closet. None of the girls open the closet because we’re kind of scared to go in. There’s apparently more tools and gadgets in there, but I haven’t searched it out to elaborate haha. Overall though, the whole apartment is very cozy

Now in terms of heat, it was freezing cold here when we arrived! It felt like it was in the 20s… FAHRENHEIT. I guess it was because the heater hasn’t been used for a while so it still had to get adjusted. But let me explain in a more visual way: the first few nights, this is what I wore to bed: shirt, sweater, thick jacket, thick scarf, gym shorts under sweat pants, and socks. Our blankets are kinda thick, but the first few nights, it wasn’t enough, especially with all that amount of clothing I still found myself shivering.

To wrap it all up, I have a generally good first impression. I will admit I definitely had my moment with the culture shock, but who doesn’t when coming to such a different place for a couple of months!