My time in Florence has been nothing short of what I have expected. I expected different people, food, weather, and activities. What is slightly different from what I expected is the classes. I thought they would be boring and hindering me from exploring, but they have done the opposite. My first two IBUS classes weren’t in the classroom, they were in the heart of the city. We learned about awesome historical leaders at The Duomo, and git to see the places where civilization as we know it was developed while on our walking tour. The program does a great job of incorporating the history we are surrounded with into the lessons that we have to learn to be global leaders.
Italy is a lot warmer and busier than I expected. It is fast and slow paced at the same time, which is kind of nice because in the U.S. it is fast all of the time. The food is a smaller portion size than the U.S. and restaurants have a very different way of serving, waiters only see you about once. The car culture has also shocked me, almost no one has a car, but if they do, they are not waiting for you to get out of their way.
In the remainder of this trip, I hope to gain the skills to understand and appreciate different ways of living. I hope to gain a new perspective on the world and leaders as a whole and be able to apply my perspective to solving problems in more creative ways. I want to gain more confidence and independence in how I carry myself around unfamiliar, situations and develop skills to navigate them smoothly. I hope to become a more well-rounded individual and be able to interact with anyone I come into contact with and leave a positive impression on them.
