At least when I was in Australia I was surrounded by Australians who showed me what Australians cared about, thought about, fought about and were completely perverted about. They introduced a new sense of humor and a multitude of new vocabulary.
While I'm increasing my vocabulary here in Italy, for the most part I'm a foreigner among foreigners. Sure the Americans take up half the school, but the other half is mostly Romanians, then volunteers from all around the world (Mexico, Sweden, Argentina...). There's about four actual Italian students here that I see on a regular basis. In a school of 50 students, sometimes the Italians must feel like the foreigners.
And sure, I usually hang out with the Italians or the Romanians or the Spanish speakers, and all of the Americans are learning heaps about the Italian culture....it's just obviously not the same kind of education. Not better or worse, more like comparing a car engine with a motorcycle's gear shifting. Completely different playing fields.
So I suppose I must embrace the fact that I'm learning more about the world and all of Europe, not just submersion into an Italian mindset. I sing German, Italian, Latin and French with the choir. I hear Romanian, Italian, English and Spanish at lunch. I will be able to tell the difference between the latin languages even if I can't pinpoint which one is being spoken.
And I will learn about the world from all the rest of the foreigners...even the ones who've always lived in Italia.
3 comments:
i completely understand what you mean. it's the exact same here. in the theology program there's exactly ONE actual spaniard. the rest are romanians, peruvians, portugese, brazilian, american, etc. the high school has more actual spaniards but you don't see much of them.
but i almost like it better that way. like you said, you still get the local culture but then you have a bunch of extras thrown in as well. for example, i've learned a little romanian and a little portugese now and who know? maybe i'll come back tri- or tetra-lingual at the end of the year instead of just bilingual.
Right now, it's as confusing as anything you will have to retain. And some of it will seem absolutely useless....Then 5 years from now, you will look back and wonder how you could ever have gotten by without this experience that you have had....This is life shapeing stuff girls....you just don't know it yet....But definately enjoy the ride...
jo--yeah, i keep telling people came expecting to learn Italian, and will leave speaking five other languages. :P
dad--don't worry. i'm definitely not regretting coming. even when it's cold and rainy...i've got this killer view of the sunset every night. :)
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