{"id":3484,"date":"2015-11-02T11:24:33","date_gmt":"2015-11-02T18:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuabroad\/?p=3484"},"modified":"2015-11-02T11:27:03","modified_gmt":"2015-11-02T18:27:03","slug":"abroad-friends-and-sunsets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuabroad\/abroad-friends-and-sunsets\/","title":{"rendered":"Abroad, Friends and Sunsets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Graham DiNicola is a International Ambassador<\/a> in the Office of Global Opportunities<\/a>\u00a0and a civil engineering major through the College of Engineering<\/a>.\u00a0Last winter and spring term, he studied abroad in Florence, Italy<\/a> through API<\/a>. In this entry, he shares some of his favorite memories from being abroad. Read on to learn more about the authentic Italian experience!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Face_Picture\"<\/a>\u201cThere are some days when no matter what I say it feels like I\u2019m far away in another country and whoever is doing the translating has had too much to drink.\u201d \u2013 Brian Andreas<\/p>\n

Nearly everyone has those days dreaming about being far away from reality, but how many actually experience this dream where translating is necessary? Let me start by saying that based on firsthand experience, even if whoever is doing the translating is as sober as Sister Maria, there is nothing more that will stress you out than being yelled at by Italians. As you quickly learn, it is not the path you take that gets you yelled at, but the adventure (even if you do get lost) \u2013 and this journey is certainly one that will not be easily forgotten.<\/p>\n

Embarking on a new scene in life is intimidating \u2013 looking at two bags, traveling to a new country with no familiar faces \u2013 now that is\u2026. Let’s just say an experience that not many get. Traveling was nothing new to me, but accepting a new home in Florence, Italy \u2013 that was something I could never fathom, only dream about and it turned into reality.<\/p>\n

People may say that study abroad opens up your eyes, and it certainly does; but living and studying in a new place does more than this. You become a new person, picking up on cultural aspects that many are often too blind to admire or take for granted. These realizations often come about from the people that surround you on this abroad experience.<\/p>\n

Ian Bickerton was an older Australian Professor who wore two different socks that he claimed represented the Democratic and Republican parties and did this to demonstrate the contradiction that he is. Mix this in with his dry sense of humor, a colorful ascot, and his liberal view of the world; I was bound to learn more than just Globalization from Professor Bickerton.<\/p>\n

Professor Bickerton was a man full of life lessons, many applicable to Florence. The first, flights are scheduled to be missed. Because of this, seeing Eisbach (the wave people surf in Munich, Germany), and enjoying a meal in Marienplatz in the shadow of Neues Rathaus became realities \u2013 did I miss my plane? No, but I was the last to board it.<\/p>\n

\"Architecture_Picture\"<\/a>The second, I should wake up every morning and go to a bar (Italian – coffee shop) and read. If by the third morning the barista does not have my order memorized, I should find a new bar. This lead to the biggest realization that the Italian culture is focused on quality \u2013 their attire, food, wine, city (the list could be an entire blog itself). It purely is the Florentine way of life.<\/p>\n

This quality was something that I was longing to return to even when visiting other cities and countries such as Venice, Rome, Cinque Terre, Greece, Switzerland, Germany, France, and Ireland \u2013 it was the glow of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (The Duomo) that greeted me home. The Duomo is something so ornate and colossal that started construction over 600 years ago \u2013 and is still being completed to this day.<\/p>\n

That is one thing about Italians; they love the slow pace of life \u2013 even if it takes 600+ years to complete a task. Getting your day started at 8am, working at your own leisure, afternoon naps, two-hour dinners, and gathering in the plazas scattered about the city \u2013 this lifestyle is centered around enjoyment and happiness, something I got very used to. When the nights engulfed the streets of Florence, families would emerge, children would play in the plaza while the parents enjoyed a bottle of wine and the company of others \u2013 this gateway to darkness \"Sunset_Picture\"<\/a>was so beautiful, it can never be put into words.<\/p>\n

Our nights would often start with live music, a glass of wine, and a view of the entire city of Florence at the Plaza De Michelangelo. These sunsets were so perfect that pictures could never embrace the full beauty. It was a reminder of the untouched beauty such a place and culture hold \u2013 for it was here that I felt humbled and the happiest in my life. This was quality at its finest \u2013 from structures to sunsets, it was this slow pace, fineness of quality, and recognition\u00a0of the importance of\u00a0happiness in that solidified the Italian culture.<\/p>\n

\"Food\"<\/a>This finesse in the Italian culture carried over to the best dinners I have ever experienced. Sitting down with the actual owner of Trattoria La Burrasca \u2013 where the menu was hand written every day based on what was available fresh from the Mercato Centrale \u2013 was an experience in itself. The meal over fresh caprese salad, gnocchi, and Florentine steak is something that one cannot simply arrange. It was an adventure that we stumbled upon \u2013 and from it gained a weekly dinner with an even better friend.<\/p>\n

It was these types of experience that made me realize that study abroad was not just traveling and studying, but finding a new home \u2013 for when the tourist season arose, I was just as fed up with the amount of people that had flooded the city as an actual Italian. For over the course of a semester, I had learned more than I ever could have imagined \u2013 about myself, about academics, and about the world we live in \u2013 with one aspect shining through \u2013 the most important things in life can only be experienced firsthand, not taught or read about \u2013 only experienced.<\/p>\n

To learn more about the international opportunities at Oregon State University, click here!<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Graham DiNicola is a International Ambassador in the Office of Global Opportunities\u00a0and a civil engineering major through the College of Engineering.\u00a0Last winter and spring term, he studied abroad in Florence, Italy through API. In this entry, he shares some of his favorite memories from being abroad. Read on to learn more about the authentic Italian… Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1163965,1163953,1163972,1163959,1163946,1],"tags":[3150,1264,140605,1573,1046],"class_list":["post-3484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-api","category-college-of-engineering","category-italy","category-returnee","category-study-abroad","category-uncategorized","tag-api","tag-college-of-engineering","tag-italy","tag-returnee","tag-study-abroad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6805"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3484"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3500,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3484\/revisions\/3500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}