My first week in Italy has been far more than I ever could have imagined. This trip is the first time I have left America, and it is fascinating to see all of the differences compared to the US. Our group started our trip in Rome where we got to see many historic sites and then two days later, we began our trip to Florence where we will remain for most of our stay. Florence will be the place where we have our classes and get to learn about the Italian culture and businesses the most. Thus far, I’ve learned that Italian businesses tend to value personal relationships very much and often the services can be slow. Although this can be an adjustment, trying to understand their culture makes me appreciate their differences. I hope as time goes on, I will further embrace the way Italians do business and the way their homes are set up. There are several things inside and outside the apartments that I’ve had to get used to. There aren’t dryers in most apartments which means clothes have to be hung dried. The washer cycles can be extremely long and my first load of laundry in Italy took about 3 hours. Our apartment has air conditioning, but it can’t be left on all day. We also need to keep windows open to keep air flowing through the building. As far as the trash is concerned, it must be separated into different categories like plastics and metal, paper and cardboard, glass, organic, or non-recyclable. Instead of having a standard recycling bin and garbage can, there are several different ways to sort the garbage. Today, Monday June 9th, 2025, was the first day of class where we learned about international finance and business which was interesting to see how each topic differs from America. I hope to learn as much as possible over the remaining three weeks about how Italian businesses, finances, and cultures interact with each other.
