Enter stage left: Joshua, the Italiano

             I’m very excited for my trip to Italy!  I’m a little nervous, but mostly just excited to learn and experience new things.  My biggest confidence-booster is that I already have a good grasp of Italian.  I need not fear every inexperienced tourist’s worst nightmare: that I end up lost and stranded, at a place where no one speaks English, with a desperate need to go to the bathroom.  I’ll always be able to express myself on a basic level, and at the least ask  “Dové il bagno?”  I know how to order food, ask for directions, and do most other simple yet essential tasks required for survival.

                 Of course, I am nervous about some things.  I think everyone is at least a little nervous some random disaster will happen, like missing a plane, or somehow getting totally separated from the group.  Getting hit by a car is also a legitimate worry, since, as rumor has it, Italian drivers are insane.  A friend of mine actually got hit by a taxi driver in Florence a few years ago, and got 21 stitches.  I hope I don’t suffer this fate as well.  However, if I do, at least I will be able to ask someone to take me to the hospital.

                 I have some more realistic fears as well.  My biggest one is that I won’t like my host family.  They could be stubborn and mean.  They could feed me nothing but squash or Brussels sprouts, and be upset if I don’t eat it. They could require that I go to bed at 8:00 every night (or should I say 20:00).  They could have little children that cry and keep me awake late into the night.  I realize I’m getting ridiculous here, but I still am worried that we could simply not get along.

                   However, I find it better to think about the positive.  There are countless ways this trip could be a great experience with no Brussels sprouts in sight.  My host family could be kind, flexible and helpful.  They could live in a beautiful villa, near picturesque vineyards and gardens.  They could have sons or daughters, close to my age, with whom I could become good friends.  They could live close to the heart of Florence, so I would have infinite opportunities to explore and discover new things.

                   In addition to getting along with my host family, I hope that I will make many friends.  Another area of uncertainty, however, is how close I will become with other students within this study abroad program.  Will we just be classmates, attending the same school, but then going home to different families every afternoon?  Or will we quickly become best friends? Will we do things together, like study, go on trips, and hang out, until we know each other like family?   Will we just see each other at school, or will we meet afterwards, and hang out in the city or at each other’s host houses? Obviously, I hope to develop close relationships with my fellow study abroad students. One of my hopes is that AYUSA Study Abroad will facilitate this as much as possible.

               Finally, I hope to become fluent in Italian.  I’m already conversational, but I hope to be able to say whatever I want to say, and to sound like a native.  I want to be able to make friends with not only American kids, but Italians too.  My grandma, who grew up in Russia and lived there for most of her life, always told me about a Russian saying, which, roughly translated, states that however many languages you can speak is how many people you are.  This summer, I hope to fulfill that new identity within me.  By experiencing the Italian language and culture, I will nurture a fascinating and as of yet undiscovered part of myself: the Italian.

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