Landing at the Milan airport felt like any other flight, except this time I was not prepared for what the next 6 hours had in store. It was 9 am flight full of other Americans taking their holiday trips for the next week or so. For me, I was about to call Milan “home” for the next 4 and 1/2 months; and maybe longer as I had no return flight booked. Once I managed to go through customs rather easily, I hopped on the first of many many many public transport rides. This is when my first culture shocked happened. No one was talking above a whisper on the HOUR train ride into the central station. And on those conversations I could hear, not one person was speaking English. I think this is where it hit me, I am in another country for the first time in my life. Once arrived in the central station, it started to feel more like home once I spotted a McDonalds and Five Guys. A few more metros and trams later, I found my way to my apartment which is nestled just outside of the main portion of Milan.
The next few days, other than sleeping off my jet lag, I started to walk the city. The first coffee shop I stopped into, I attempted the small Italian I learned off Duolingo. Once the barista responded in perfect English, I threw out all my Italian knowledge as I knew English would be spoken almost all throughout the city. Rather than Milan feeling as a foreign town, I felt like I was walking through any larger American city with the additional of centuries old architecture and cathedrals alike.
Right as I met my first few new friends from Scotland, I knew this semester was about to be the best yet. As I met more people from all over the world, we clicked immediately as we were all ready to explore what this foreign land had in store. From the first aperitivo to the first walk by the Duomo, I had the feeling I would always remember this experience.
