Arriving in Milan, Italy was a whirlwind. At first, my bags did not arrive which was very stressful. I then had to navigate the Italian public transportation system within an hour of arriving, full of jet lag. I had to take a train from the airport, to a metro station, and finally a few stops later I arrived at my apartment. After receiving my bags later that night, I began to settle into my new life in Milan. The first week was full of orientations, getting a permit to stay, and figuring out what my classes would be for the new semester. The biggest challenge was figuring a sim card for my phone. I ended up using an Italian company called Vodafone. I went in thinking it was going to be really easy to get a sim card and a phone plan. This was not the case. No one spoke English in the store which made everything much harder. An hour later and with the help of Google Translate, I was able to get what I needed. This was my first realization that the language barrier was going to be harder than I expected. Coming into Italy, not learning Italian, I knew this barrier was going to be hard. However, I did expect many people to know English. Most Italian’s know a basic amount of English but it was still hard to communicate at the beginning. With one week down, I felt much more comfortable with public transportation and the immediate shock of the language barrier. With one week down, I felt way more comfortable in Milan and was ready to start classes. Overall, this first month was full of learning experiences. I now know how to navigate the public transportation system and communicate better with people in Italy.

About the blogger

Julia G. is studying abroad on the SAI Programs: Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti program in Milan, Italy.