1. Air Conditioning: It is funny how much I took this for granted in
the US. It is rare to go someplace and not find A/C! In Rome, it is
exactly the opposite. My apartment does not have A/C or fans and it is
about 97 degrees outside right now. Because we live on the first floor
of our complex and our windows back up to an alley and don’t bring in
much light, it is cooler than other apartments I have been to without
A/C. Only one of my friends has air conditioning in her apartment and
that is because it is brand new. Even in the places where you find air
conditioning (like my classrooms) it rarely works. We still have to open
the windows to get air in since we cannot tell that the air is on. I
have also realized that it is not that bad to not have air conditioning.
I hardly miss it anymore, but it will be nice to have when I get home
so that I don’t have to use a bag of frozen peas to cool myself down
after coming home from a long walk.
2. Living on the same continent as my parents: This one is a big one. Before coming here, I had toyed around with the idea of living in Europe for a year or possibly longer after graduation. After being here, I realize that I want to be closer to my parents. The 7 hour time difference is not ideal for being able to talk to them and while I can deal with it for a month, I don’t think that I could for a year plus. I am now a firm believer in that home is where your family is and living in cool places far away from your family makes the places seem a lot less “cool.”
3. Fitted Sheets: I never thought that the day would come where I would long to fold up a fitted sheet. Seriously. In my apartment here, I have two regular sheets. One to tuck under the mattress and use as a fitted sheet and the other as a regular sheet. Since my mattress is smaller than my bed frame, it moves around when I’m sleeping at night (I’m a wild sleeper). This movement causes my bottom sheet to come off of the bed and I wake up on top of the bare mattress. I am not a germaphobe, but there is something about waking up on top of a mattress that is stained and has cuts in it so that the filling is seeping out that makes me cringe. Let’s just say that I am more than ready to have my own bed when I get home with fitted sheets.
4. Dryers: We just have a washer here with no drier. Since our apartment backs up to an alley, we cannot hang things outside since they would probably get stolen and there’s not enough of a breeze to dry our clothes. Luckily, we have two clothes racks: one fixed to the bathroom wall and one that can move around. For the first couple of days, we had the one you could move around stationed in the bath tub as to not take up more space in our apartment. We found that the steam from our showers caused the clothes to take 3 or 4 days to dry and quickly moved the rack out into a nook in the hallway where it still sits. Now, it only takes about 2 or so days to dry most things and a little longer to dry heavier things like towels. On laundry day (which is pretty much every day since 4 of us live here) you can usually find sheets hanging on anything and everything ( I’m talking chairs, TV’s, curtain rods, shower doors, and bedroom doors). The first thing I’m doing when I get home is throwing some towels in the dryer for 20 minutes then pulling them out to get the warm, fuzzy towel feeling (it’s crazy what you crave when you haven’t had it for a while).
5. Dishwashers: We do not have a dishwasher in the apartment (other than our own hands of course) and therefore do all dishes by hand. It’s not too bad since the only thing we can really cook with the limited grocery store selection is pasta. This brings me to my next item…
6. Walmart: I know you’re probably thinking, “IS SHE CRAZY???” (especially my mom), but I really do miss Walmart. I miss being able to find anything and everything there and having a consistent variety of groceries. Here, I’m lucky if I can find apples at the mini-marts. It is definitely an American thing to have a freestanding grocery store, and I never fully appreciated having the options that Walmart has until now. One time here I wanted to make Alfredo (because they strangely don’t have any in this country) and to do that I needed heavy cream. We looked everywhere and we could not find it anywhere, so I had to figure out how to make heavy cream which took about 2 days to do in total. I am glad that it all worked out, but there is definitely less of a selection for groceries in Europe.
7. Absence of language barriers: This is another big one. In Sperlonga this past weekend, almost nobody spoke English. Most people in Rome speak English, which is nice, but there is still a language barrier present. I miss being able to read street signs, and while I have picked up some Italian, it is nice to know in America that almost everyone speaks English.
8. Safety: While I rarely feel wildly unsafe here, there are definitely more people and more pickpockets than in Oklahoma or Arkansas. You can definitely encounter the same issue in NYC or Chicago or any big city in the US, but I truly do miss being able to put my phone in my back pocket while I walk around and not have to worry about someone taking it from me. I don’t think that the pickpockets are as bad here as everyone says they are, but that could just be because I am careful with my stuff. I always have one hand on the zipper of my bag and I never carry anything in my pockets. Additionally, I always lock my backpack to make it harder to take anything from it.
9. Free water: I have only encountered free water in Spain and even then it took some explaining to get tap water. Water is not crazy expensive, but it makes you think twice about how much water you drink (which is bad because it is so hot here) and I really miss ordering a water and not being charged for it.
10. Ice: I have found ice in one place: Spain. It seems that most things I miss I can find a little part of in Spain, but not in Italy. Even in Spain it was just at one place and it was one huge ice cube, not regular ice. On Sunday, July 3, you can count on finding me in two places: bed and Sonic getting ice.
11. Unrestricted phone capabilities: Everyone already knows this, but phones are expensive to use overseas. I have a $30 “Passport” plan from AT&T that allows me to do the basic things. I have unlimited texting, calling at $1 per minute, and 120 MB of data. I have already used all of my data and my plan ends on June 29, so after that I will not be able to send text messages without wifi. I definitely miss being able to check social media (I’m addicted) or call my mom without having to be on wifi. I 100% have become much less attached to my phone since being here, but it is nice to know that if you get lost in the US, you have enough data to be able to find your way home.
12. Driving: I never thought I would say it, but I miss driving. For those of you who know me well, you know that I hate driving. For those of you who don’t, you know now. I don’t exactly miss the feeling of being behind the wheel itself, I just miss not having to rely on public transportation. Public transportation here is pretty cheap, but it is also wildly unreliable. My friends have waited for 35 minutes to get a bus before (the most I have waited is 20 luckily) and I’ve been on a bus that has broken down before. It is nice at home to be able to not have to leave an hour early in order to make it somewhere on time.
13. Culture similarities: Last but definitely not least, I miss having the same cultural standards as the people around me. Please watch this video below before you read the rest of what I have to say because it is so incredibly accurate and hilarious. You can also think of the EU as America because they are more similar to us than Italy. Honestly, after watching this video I’m surprised that Britain left the EU and not Italy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxqwXNfYmOQ
I told you it was funny! The things I find particularly accurate are
the lines, buses, and anything having to do with driving. Let’s start
by talking about the lines. As shown in the video, every sane country
(represented by the EU flag) lines up according to the order in which
they got there. Italian lines are literally just huge clumps. The
strongest evidence of this is at gelato shops. Literally nobody cares
about when you got there, it’s just about how bold you are and when you
get up to the front of the line. The description of buses was also
extremely accurate. Like I mentioned above, you can wait for 2 minutes
or 2 hours for a bus and you have no clue which you will get before the
bus shows up.
This past weekend when going to Termini train station we waited for 20 minutes and no buses were showing up. Finally, we saw one bus round the corner (sadly not ours) and then immediately after that 5 different buses followed!!! I am not kidding here for 20 minutes not a single bus showed up and then finally they all came in a line like they were just waiting on each other. I don’t know how they do it but it is crazy.
Finally, the depiction of the driving was accurate. The drivers here will drive like there are 5 lanes when there’s really only 3. Then, when you try to cross (even when you have a protected walk sign and waited for it for 10 minutes) they will still run red lights like crazy and nearly hit you!! I have learned to just run as fast as I can through cross walks in order not to be hit. Also, there are so many smart cars here that if there is a parallel parking spot, they don’t park in it like it’s meant to be parked in, they back into the parallel spot and then 3 cars fit into one spot. I would never attempt driving here and I can’t help but wonder what their driver’s tests are like.
As you can tell, I have learned a lot about what I really miss in America from living here in Italy. You probably cannot tell from this post, but I am truly enjoying my time here in Italy. I hope this gave you some insight as to the differences of the cultures of different countries. I also hope you have enjoyed reading about my time here.
Ciao!
Taylor
2. Living on the same continent as my parents: This one is a big one. Before coming here, I had toyed around with the idea of living in Europe for a year or possibly longer after graduation. After being here, I realize that I want to be closer to my parents. The 7 hour time difference is not ideal for being able to talk to them and while I can deal with it for a month, I don’t think that I could for a year plus. I am now a firm believer in that home is where your family is and living in cool places far away from your family makes the places seem a lot less “cool.”
3. Fitted Sheets: I never thought that the day would come where I would long to fold up a fitted sheet. Seriously. In my apartment here, I have two regular sheets. One to tuck under the mattress and use as a fitted sheet and the other as a regular sheet. Since my mattress is smaller than my bed frame, it moves around when I’m sleeping at night (I’m a wild sleeper). This movement causes my bottom sheet to come off of the bed and I wake up on top of the bare mattress. I am not a germaphobe, but there is something about waking up on top of a mattress that is stained and has cuts in it so that the filling is seeping out that makes me cringe. Let’s just say that I am more than ready to have my own bed when I get home with fitted sheets.
4. Dryers: We just have a washer here with no drier. Since our apartment backs up to an alley, we cannot hang things outside since they would probably get stolen and there’s not enough of a breeze to dry our clothes. Luckily, we have two clothes racks: one fixed to the bathroom wall and one that can move around. For the first couple of days, we had the one you could move around stationed in the bath tub as to not take up more space in our apartment. We found that the steam from our showers caused the clothes to take 3 or 4 days to dry and quickly moved the rack out into a nook in the hallway where it still sits. Now, it only takes about 2 or so days to dry most things and a little longer to dry heavier things like towels. On laundry day (which is pretty much every day since 4 of us live here) you can usually find sheets hanging on anything and everything ( I’m talking chairs, TV’s, curtain rods, shower doors, and bedroom doors). The first thing I’m doing when I get home is throwing some towels in the dryer for 20 minutes then pulling them out to get the warm, fuzzy towel feeling (it’s crazy what you crave when you haven’t had it for a while).
5. Dishwashers: We do not have a dishwasher in the apartment (other than our own hands of course) and therefore do all dishes by hand. It’s not too bad since the only thing we can really cook with the limited grocery store selection is pasta. This brings me to my next item…
6. Walmart: I know you’re probably thinking, “IS SHE CRAZY???” (especially my mom), but I really do miss Walmart. I miss being able to find anything and everything there and having a consistent variety of groceries. Here, I’m lucky if I can find apples at the mini-marts. It is definitely an American thing to have a freestanding grocery store, and I never fully appreciated having the options that Walmart has until now. One time here I wanted to make Alfredo (because they strangely don’t have any in this country) and to do that I needed heavy cream. We looked everywhere and we could not find it anywhere, so I had to figure out how to make heavy cream which took about 2 days to do in total. I am glad that it all worked out, but there is definitely less of a selection for groceries in Europe.
7. Absence of language barriers: This is another big one. In Sperlonga this past weekend, almost nobody spoke English. Most people in Rome speak English, which is nice, but there is still a language barrier present. I miss being able to read street signs, and while I have picked up some Italian, it is nice to know in America that almost everyone speaks English.
8. Safety: While I rarely feel wildly unsafe here, there are definitely more people and more pickpockets than in Oklahoma or Arkansas. You can definitely encounter the same issue in NYC or Chicago or any big city in the US, but I truly do miss being able to put my phone in my back pocket while I walk around and not have to worry about someone taking it from me. I don’t think that the pickpockets are as bad here as everyone says they are, but that could just be because I am careful with my stuff. I always have one hand on the zipper of my bag and I never carry anything in my pockets. Additionally, I always lock my backpack to make it harder to take anything from it.
9. Free water: I have only encountered free water in Spain and even then it took some explaining to get tap water. Water is not crazy expensive, but it makes you think twice about how much water you drink (which is bad because it is so hot here) and I really miss ordering a water and not being charged for it.
10. Ice: I have found ice in one place: Spain. It seems that most things I miss I can find a little part of in Spain, but not in Italy. Even in Spain it was just at one place and it was one huge ice cube, not regular ice. On Sunday, July 3, you can count on finding me in two places: bed and Sonic getting ice.
11. Unrestricted phone capabilities: Everyone already knows this, but phones are expensive to use overseas. I have a $30 “Passport” plan from AT&T that allows me to do the basic things. I have unlimited texting, calling at $1 per minute, and 120 MB of data. I have already used all of my data and my plan ends on June 29, so after that I will not be able to send text messages without wifi. I definitely miss being able to check social media (I’m addicted) or call my mom without having to be on wifi. I 100% have become much less attached to my phone since being here, but it is nice to know that if you get lost in the US, you have enough data to be able to find your way home.
12. Driving: I never thought I would say it, but I miss driving. For those of you who know me well, you know that I hate driving. For those of you who don’t, you know now. I don’t exactly miss the feeling of being behind the wheel itself, I just miss not having to rely on public transportation. Public transportation here is pretty cheap, but it is also wildly unreliable. My friends have waited for 35 minutes to get a bus before (the most I have waited is 20 luckily) and I’ve been on a bus that has broken down before. It is nice at home to be able to not have to leave an hour early in order to make it somewhere on time.
13. Culture similarities: Last but definitely not least, I miss having the same cultural standards as the people around me. Please watch this video below before you read the rest of what I have to say because it is so incredibly accurate and hilarious. You can also think of the EU as America because they are more similar to us than Italy. Honestly, after watching this video I’m surprised that Britain left the EU and not Italy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxqwXNfYmOQ
This past weekend when going to Termini train station we waited for 20 minutes and no buses were showing up. Finally, we saw one bus round the corner (sadly not ours) and then immediately after that 5 different buses followed!!! I am not kidding here for 20 minutes not a single bus showed up and then finally they all came in a line like they were just waiting on each other. I don’t know how they do it but it is crazy.
Finally, the depiction of the driving was accurate. The drivers here will drive like there are 5 lanes when there’s really only 3. Then, when you try to cross (even when you have a protected walk sign and waited for it for 10 minutes) they will still run red lights like crazy and nearly hit you!! I have learned to just run as fast as I can through cross walks in order not to be hit. Also, there are so many smart cars here that if there is a parallel parking spot, they don’t park in it like it’s meant to be parked in, they back into the parallel spot and then 3 cars fit into one spot. I would never attempt driving here and I can’t help but wonder what their driver’s tests are like.
As you can tell, I have learned a lot about what I really miss in America from living here in Italy. You probably cannot tell from this post, but I am truly enjoying my time here in Italy. I hope this gave you some insight as to the differences of the cultures of different countries. I also hope you have enjoyed reading about my time here.
Ciao!
Taylor
Read more from Taylor at https://taylorsitalianavventura.wordpress.com/
Check out http://studyabroad.uark.edu/romecampus for more information on the U of A Rome Center: Summer Campus.