At the very moment I am contemplating what Italy will be like. Sure I have seen the movies and read the books on the country, but how much can you learn from observing rather than actually doing/being. When I was figuring out which place in the wide-open world I would want to travel to, I could have picked somewhere that spoke English as a first language. This however probably would have been selling myself short. So then I looked at France, where I would be able to communicate at an elementary level comfortably. I have never been outside of North America before so then why would I pick somewhere that would make things easier. I realize how cliché it is for American students to go to Italy to study abroad but it made more sense. Partly because my family has very little connections to anything Italian, so it would be a nice, slightly scary, change for me. Where the only pasta I have had came from a box with Prego sauce on top. It seems silly that I wouldn’t have any Italian heritage in me, because America it such a melting pot of cultures, but I can claim only a few European nationalities not including Italy.
So basically I am making a mental checklist of things I should or should not bring with me. I do not want to stand out as a tourist. Apparently Americans in general are very easy to point out. I found a checklist of the top 12 Characteristics associated with Americans (none of which is very encouraging).
Now I realize these are stereotypes of Americans, but seriously not very one has these traits, at least I would hope not. The only two I can really associate with myself are being materialistic and friendly. I think Hollywood and the government distort people’s idea about what the average American is like.
