#learningabroad

I will write about my experience on exchange in Jönköping, Sweden in the hopes that I inspire or convince whoever reads this to consider doing an exchange or something similar in their life. I only have up to 500 words, so it will be short. 

Hands down, this was the best decision I have ever made and one of the greatest experiences I have had. Key things I take away from my experience are the life-long friends I made, the amount of culture I learned about, the travel opportunities and the future benefits this could add to my career.

“Uh, I’m ok,” I say as my friend urges me to come meet her friends. I’m reluctant to go, but I introduce myself anyway. Meeting new people means I have to actually talk. My friend ignores my silent resistance as she drags me closer to the large, intimidating group. The circle opens up as we approach, and a happy burst of energy exudes from the group. I’m uneasy. Sweaty palms, dry throat, and trying to muster up a smile. I could hear the heartbeat in my ears. They start greeting me, and I greet them back the best I can. My face feels hot, and it felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. I felt pathetic.

(My mind is in a constant limbo)

I was officially diagnosed with social anxiety around the age of 18. As a child, I was stamped as, “oh, she’s just shy,” or “it’s just a phase, she’ll grow out of it.” I could feel the anxiety even as a young child. I never invited friends over for birthday parties, because I hated being the center of attention. At school, I grew a habit of averting my eyes whenever the teacher asked for an answer to a question. Unlike most people, I favored group projects, because then at least I could present in front of the room with three other members.

(Looking at the uncertainty from the inside, out)

My confidence rose a little in high school. I still felt judged no matter where I went or who I talked to, but an inner voice would tell me it was silly to worry about things like that. My freshman year of college was tough. I was staying in a dorm with five other girls and the amount of college work was overwhelming. Everywhere I went, a constant, “It’s ok” looped over and over in my head. Even in my classes with over 70 people, I worried about them judging me. Was I sitting weird? Why were they staring? My suitemates didn’t help the situation. They would invite friends over every other night, and when I opened the door, I could feel my face turn red even though I knew they weren’t looking at me.

(The rest of the world vs me)

Hi, I’m Carly and I study Business Administration at Camosun and did my exchange at UAB in Barcelona. While on my exchange I lived in a studio suite right in the city in a district called “El Born”.

Hello!

My name is Julia Friedrichsen and I’m just your average run-of-the-mill college student with an absurd amount of homework and a blog that gets more attention than it probably should. 

Psh, millennials. Am I right? 

Anywho, I’m in my second year of pre-architectural studies at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. As many of you know, I just returned from my semester abroad in Volterra, Italy. Now I’m not one for clichés, but studying abroad was truly a life changing experience. Over the last three months, I’ve noticed that I have more confidence in my style, better time management skills, and all together a newfound affirmation that architecture is what I’m being called to do at this point in my lifetime. By learning abroad, I also made some close friends and got to visit places I had always dreamt of seeing. It’s some pretty rad stuff, really.

Last week I talked about “culture shock,” which is a concept people ask me about all the time moving between two drastically different places. This week I’d like to do something similar and answer another very popular question I’ve received since I’ve been home. 

“Julia, what was the average day like for you in Volterra?”

This question actually fits really well with the social systems I’ve been exploring  in my blogs lately because many of them can be exhibited by a look into my daily routine while I was abroad. Allow me to lay out one of my typical days for you and then we can highlight some of these moments.

7:15-8:30 - Run through the town/workout

I used to run the bare minimum while working out and I most certainly did not run on inclines. I’ve also never considered myself an athlete and I have often found myself stressing at the gym because of it. However, after considering the beautiful views and petiteness of Volterra, I decided to give it a go. To my surprise, I found relief as I ran up and down the hills of the town. The peaceful atmosphere gave me time to reflect and prepare for what my day would hold. I also found that running through the streets brought me closer to some of the locals. People at cafes would wave at me and other runners would encourage me to keep going and pushing myself.

Disclaimer: People weren’t usually out when I ran super early. I definitely encountered more social interactions running at about 9:00 or so.

9:00-1:30- Studio

This was a class just like any other one offered at a university. In this course, each of us spent the semester designing a Montessori school that was going to be constructed in a site of old church ruins located just down the street from our villa. This part of the day for me was pretty student-typical. As for the rest of the town, this period of time during the day is when they open and run their shops. 

1:30-3:00- Lunch

It’s very likely that you’re sick of hearing me talk about the significance of Italian food, but guys, I cannot stress enough how important meal times are to Italians. The prolonged meals support the Italian values for maintaining good physical, mental/emotional, and social health.

***Sidenote: Siesta starts at about 1:30 and lasts until about 4:30. Siesta is a period of time that happens each day where most shops will close up and take a break until evening time.***

Disclaimer: Mealtimes are important, but I will say that I skipped lunch a number of time to give myself extra homework time.

3:00-4:30 Italian Language and Culture

This course was exactly what its title states. Although, there was a hidden lesson I learned while we went on class field trips to some of Volterra’s hidden gems: “Slow down.” Our professor for the class strongly encouraged us to walk slower and look around. There are so many things to see in an old city like Volterra and if you only go about your day heading from place to place, you’ll miss the details that make the place unique.

4:30-8:00 Homework

This was my prime time to work on homework during the day. I’m not exactly sure why, but a pretty common encounter I’ve had is that people develop the misconception that students who study abroad don’t actually take classes or have homework. I’m here to tell you that is absolutely false and that this is one of the hardest semesters of college I’ve had yet. Studying abroad isn’t a vacation, but rather education in a different light and setting. As wacky as it may sound, I’m just another student.

8:00-9:45 Dinner

Dinner was arguably the most important time of day. In Italian culture, dinner is the time to share news with your friends and family. It’s the time to relax and have a glass (or bottle) of wine. This meal is the time to indulge and fill your stomach after a long day’s work. 

Dinner is everything.

9:45-12:30 Homework

This is the period of time in my days that was most like school back home: late night homework. This semester I learned how to push through the wall of tiredness one experiences after a hearty two-course Italian dinner. My method? Candy and plenty of hard rock. Works like a charm.

Hello! 

My name is Julia Friedrichsen and this is my blog! Just a friendly reminder for those who may not know me personally, I’m a second year pre-architectural studies student at the University of Utah and I just recently returned from my semester abroad in Volterra, Italy. A little bit more about me is that I have some mad Christmas baking skills and my favorite way to celebrate the season is by wearing my earrings that are penguins wearing scarves. Cute, I know.

What I’d like to share with you today is a topic that I’ve been asked to cover by a number of people, especially since I’ve been back here in the States. This blog will be over my experiences with the concept of “culture shock.”

Culture shock is “the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes.”

The first time I had been informed of the official term was during orientation for my learning abroad trip. I was told that I should expect to feel a little out of place and maybe even disoriented when I first arrived in Europe. Aside from a new sleep schedule, many people struggle with a change in diet, social structure, language, and religion. Culture shock can cause a multiplicity of emotions, but also stress, which can ultimately lead to anxiety and/or depression. 

Culture shock is unfortunately inevitable for most people, but the good news is that it can be combated or at least lessened. To weaken the effects of culture shock, I think the biggest tip I can give is to take baby steps and lots of deep breaths. Every situation is different, but what really helped me entering Europe was that I took a red-eye flight from Minneapolis to London instead of flying straight to Italy. By doing this, I got to London right away in the morning (daylight is super useful when entering foreign places) and was able to recompose myself in a place where I could still speak to most of the people before continuing on the rest of my journey.

Adapting to Italian culture was pretty difficult mostly because it involved slowing down. This was challenging for me because I’m a person that always does my best to keep my days busy and full of adventures. The Italian way of life is much more relaxed and easy going. I caught on to that pretty quickly after about three or four of our two hour dinners. This semester I learned to slow my roll, lighten up about not always being able to finish my to-do lists, and savor conversation.

Going to Europe, this was definitely difficult, but interestingly enough, I think I’ve personally encountered much more culture shock upon my return to the United States.

Luckily, I handled the jet lag very well returning because I was able to go straight to bed right after I got home in the evening. Although physically, my body has handled the change fine, a big adjustment has been how diverse the social and environmental systems of Salt Lake City are to that of Volterra.

Salt Lake has wide streets and buildings that spread over large footprints of land, whereas Volterra had more slender, one-way streets and buildings smooshed together on both sides of the road. The feeling of Volterra was a lot less vast than that of Salt Lake, and certainly much more intimate.

In Salt Lake City, people don’t talk to each other on public transit. Everyone puts in their headphones and that feels so strange because that’s not how it was in Italy. The people over there made an effort to talk to others as much as they could and made having conversation an encouraged experience for people of all ages.

Salt Lake City has fast food, but Italy only acknowledges one word out of that phrase. Consuming food is sentimental bonding time in Italy and in America it’s merely a period of time necessary for survival.

People party and dance to music in the streets of Volterra while the people of the United States more commonly have venue spaces for doing so.

All the people in Volterra know each other, but that isn’t the case for SLC.

Differences like this have made coming back to Utah more of a shock for me because everything feels out of reach. I can’t just walk to a grocery store or restaurant in a matter of minutes. Here everyone drives or takes transit. In Salt Lake there is danger, there is a crime rate. That’s not so much a concern in Volterra, so I’ve had to practice putting my guard back up and not walking so much at night. I enjoy both social ecologies respectively, but I can definitely say it’s going to take a minute to re-familiarize myself with this less personal social system of America.

To cap off this conversation, I think the biggest loop I’ve been thrown for being home is just all around how surreal everything feels. It seems like it’s been forever since I’ve been here. I miss the lax lifestyle of Italy, but I’m super excited that I get to see my friends and the snow!

I feel the sunlight kiss my skin and

The heat radiate from the pavement below my feet.

As I saunder down the road

(A pace all too familiar here)

I inhale the fragrant aromas

Of sweet pastries and fresh flowers.

People around here aren’t so distracted by the outside world.

Italians are living the moment—

The experience, rather.

And so, in a desire to make my visit most sincere,

I take a moment to lift my gaze.

I find myself enamored by a sea of orange buildings.

I continue my promenade

With my eyes peeled.

As humans, it is in our

Most divine nature

To find fault with anything we

Take to be most extravagant.

It’s as though our minds

Can’t accept the success or perfection

Of those around us.

Aha, here it is.

The error, the slip-up, the imperfection.

My eyes lock with a wall of stone,

Rugged, deteriorating, and oxidizing.

I am immediately captivated.

I am drawn to an opening, perhaps once a doorway.

I see how unforgiving and unyielding

Time has been to this unkempt place.

However, I’ve never been one for a bad attitude,

So my I keep my eyes moving.

They scan quickly,

Looking-- hoping to find anything more.

It’s not but moments later

That my eyes catch something most peculiar.

Green.

Plants have crawled their way

Up a decrepit wall.

Moss clings between cobblestones

With the most beautiful intentions.

My eyes are drawn to striking fuschias and yellows

In the crevices of this mundane place.

That’s it.

This place has a niche.

I see potential;

A new story perhaps.

I see growth.