Since I have been in Arezzo for a little over a month, I think that my initial surprise and excitement has not necessarily gone down, but things do not shock me as much as they might have when I first arrived. For example, the driving here really surprised me, at least in Arezzo, cars speed down these narrow streets right past pedestrians. Now I have become acclimated to it and do not even turn around when I hear a car coming from behind me, just move to the side a bit and keep walking.
Although I will say that I have definitely become more adjusted to life in Italy, there are still several things that I notice in contrast to life in the states. One of the more interesting things for me to get used to was how curious, yet reserved some Italians as a whole appear to be. As an American, I think Italians have a stigma for being boisterous and warm. I find that many Italians seem to show either no regard to you or stare intrusively at you when you walk to class. Either way I have gotten used to it while living here. It's interesting how perspectives change over time and experience. I also am still adjusting to the public transportation system, which is a learning process. To ensure that I make the bus stop on time, without getting horribly out of breath, I set multiple alarms and reminders that the "L15 bus" leaves at a certain time... So far it has helped a lot! I have yet to get passed by a bus driver. When I show up to my internship I do not really talk to my coworkers, since I am busy focusing on calling United States companies. However, I do overhear and pick up on different tones and words that my boss and his wife say in passing, or on the phone. One common word that I hear them say on the phone a lot is “pronto”. Pronto according to Google Translate means “soon”. I know that my boss, his wife and my other co worker do not automatically say “soon, soon” when they answer the phone; they use slang making it a little hard to fully understand what they are talking about but I can usually tell how urgent a phone call is by how fast and the tone of voice that they speak. One key phrase that I wish I would have known before coming to my internship in the beginning is: "Ha la password per la connessione wifi" and "Lo faccio subito". I say only mention these because, since I do not have unlimited data on my phone, and take the bus, it was nice in the beginning to be able to maps where I needed to go or text a friend to let them know I made it safely to work. Since I am completing projects in a timely manner, I need to be able to say the second expression more often! One idiomatic expression that my boss told me a couple weeks ago, well I’m not sure if it’s an idiomatic expression, but he noticed that I am left handed. So he told me that it is a thing amongst Italians that, “left handed people are touched by God”. I found that interesting because in America I had never heard that nor found it super interesting that I am left handed. Overall I am enjoying my internship, today I called UK companies and could totally tell a difference between American companies and how they deal with telemarketing versus in the UK. The UK so far has been a little more friendly!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Kristin GilesMy thoughts and experiences while interning in Arezzo, Italy Archives
April 2018
Categories |