“During my time in Florence, I observed two notable contrasts between my host culture and my own “American” culture in terms of access to grocery stores with fresh produce and public transportation.

During my stay in Florence and overall in Europe the past few months, I observed an extremely strong emphasis on the quality and accessibility of food, especially fresh produce. The most shocking being the price. While in Hawai’i locally sourced produce is readability available, it does come at a large cost. In general, buying groceries in Hawai’i is extremely expensive no matter where you shop – Costco, Foodland, Times, Whole Foods, Sam’s Club, farmers markets, etc. and usually it’s a blend between those places to get the best price and quality. Making the whole grocery store journey a large time commitment partly because each of these places are also far away from each other requiring a car or some mode of personal transportation. Especially, since the culture here is to buy for at least a week’s worth of food at a time – bulking shopping isn’t as common practice within European countries. More so in Italy, because of the cultural significance and emphasis on the freshness in produce it is very common to go to the grocery store once a day and buy the ingredients you need for the meals you’re making that day. The groceries stores in Italy are vastly easy to access since there’s usually one every two blocks or so. So walking to the grocery store is not more than a 10 minutes walk maximum and buying your day’s worth of food is integrated into the daily routine. Also mentally going to the grocery store became less of a chore (for me at least). This is partly because it was easy to go to and because of the government controlled regulation within the Italian supermarkets. Basic food and personal items that you find in a typical supermarket in Hawai’i were 1⁄4 the cost if not more. When buying these items nothing was more than around five euros. Most of the fresh fruits and vegetables were priced by weight at exceptionally low prices and all the animal products were cheap as well. Bulk buying wasn’t really a possibility either because of how fresh all the items were they would go bad within a two maybe three day span. Alongside everything was sold in smaller quantities. This somewhat forced the daily grocery runs but I found that I was wasting less food because of it and eating a lot better from it. 

The public transportation was okay in Florence compared to other major European cities I visited but still had a stark difference to the car culture and infrastructure in America and Hawai’i. It’s nearly impossible to efficiently move around O’ahu without a moped at least but even so a car is a basic necessity here and even more so on the other Islands, where “The Bus” doesn’t exist. Outside of Hawai’i the large majority of America is heavily reliant on the ownership and usage of a car to everyday life. Everything is spread out and if there is some public transportation a simple 15 minute drive can be at least an hour long excursion on the public transit system. In the EU owning a car is somewhat seen as impractical because of how efficient the public transportation is, harder and more rigorous driving courses are required at an older age, and the taxes placed on vehicle ownership. A lot if not all major cities in Europe had an extensive public transportation system within the city to make it easy to move about, trains primarily with bus systems. The urban design too has more consideration of people walking to get to places – larger sidewalks, more cross sections, lack of parking, everyday stores are places and group together more frequently. These cities are more compact and hold more of a history of a walking culture that can be clearly seen and experienced. The requirement of a car to live out your everyday life isn’t needed as most things are close by from the urban planning of making cities walkable or a quick tram ride away. Bikes and the electric scooters were also extremely popular if the distance was more on the lengthy side of a walk and/or the buses or trains stopped running. Being able to move around without a car was never an issue. Also, the majority of the time because of urban planning focusing more on the walkability and public transit system, driving usually takes too longer than to walk making it seen as unnecessary and more of a waste of time.

The most apparent and almost obvious communication challenge I experienced was the language barrier. Before my trip I did learn some very basic Italian but I was in no means proficient. This had occasionally resulted in misunderstandings or issues completely expressing myself in certain situations, particularly when engaged in complex conversations or attempting to convey nuanced thoughts of emotions. But befriending some Italians was helpful and since they held a lot of pride for their country and language, they were more than willing to teach Italian to me and force me to speak it as much as possible, like ordering at restaurants mainly. I enjoyed learning from them more about their culture and they were always excited to show and share with me. I think one of the biggest tips that helped me learn was not to be afraid to ask questions – these questions range from random things I’ve noticed that were different to what their thoughts and opinions were on certain topics surrounding cultural differences. Schooling system, dating, family dynamics, different viewpoints on places around Italy, etc. But still within these conversations a language barrier was apprenting with more complex and introspective questions. To supplement, I relied on nonverbal signs and context clues like gestures, facial expression, and body language. When words failed to express my message or grasp the intention of others, nonverbal communication was often used to help. A lot of hand sign gestures were used. Italians tend to have more expressive and animated conversations often involving a lot of gestures and directness. As someone who is typically more reserved with communication being more quiet or indirect. Adopting this expressive and lively manner presented some difficulties in recognizing the intended tone or meaning behind someone encounters and conversations or taking things in the wrong way. But overall, if there was a miscommunication its was quickly resolved and laughed about.

My time in Florence greatly expanded my ability to incorporate different points of view while analyzing socio-cultural-political issues. Because of the mix of different Polynesian, Asian, and some mainland cultures in Hawai’i, I was exposed to a variety of perspectives. My experience in Florence, however, added another layer of complication to my understanding. For instance, because of Hawai’i part in polynesian ancestry, arguments over indigenous rights and cultural preservation were common. However, in Florence, I encountered discussion about immigration policies and the difficulties that immigrants from various parts of Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East confront. Engaging with Italians and other international students themselves allowed me to understand the complexities of these issues from different perspectives. Furthermore, the disparity between Hawai’i and Italy’s political landscapes underscored the importance of a diverse socio-political system. Discussions in Hawai’i frequently focused on indigenous sovereignty within the United States, whereas debates in Italy focused on European Union policy and national government. Understanding these many political frameworks is improved by the ability to analyze socio-cultural-political issues from a more global standpoint. Overall, my international experience enhanced my ability to synthesize and evaluate a broader range of perspectives when confronting complicated societal challenges. It taught me the value of contextual understanding and empathic listening when addressing the complexities of socio-cultural-political issues.

I have found myself more globally aware from my time abroad. Inherently I found myself pretty globally knowledgeable due to coming from a very diverse background and family. But there’s only so much I knew or really understood before actually living on an entirely different continent halfway across the world for months. This partly ties in to the differences in political issues that are felt more on a global scale and more so than a local one within the United States. There was also just more awareness about the current state of the world from ranging from the west to the east, global warming, state affairs, and humanities. Before coming I didn’t realize how limited an “american” viewpoint was but it was so interesting to see how some other people who were studying abroad (mainly the the east coast) were so ignorant and “very american.” There was simply a dissonance and almost lack of comprehension between some of the students and the places around them in europe. Of course there is the fact that many of us have little to no full understanding of European history and norms that many Europeans have and acquire throughout their lives living there – traveling to other countries because it’s easy and they can. But the primary difference was just the attitude was typically very American – very loud, always in the right, unaware of the surroundings, etc. Coming from a place that is anti-american and then being in an environment where it’s looked down upon, it was simply very obvious who was american. With that in mind, I tried to make an effort to assemble and carry a different attitude than the rest of the students. Not out of place of superiority but more so in cultural appreciation and respect. I think it is valuable to not completely dismiss the host cultures, customs, traditions and learn. But also the attitude and the way you think and process is so inherently different. I tried to understand and learn about the places i visited, the customs, parts of the language, not simply visiting to sight see and experience, while i did that. But to understand the people and the culture surrounding that country. It was also helpful because in some places certain things are simply done that way you just can’t fight it. My self-perception did change due to the continual self consciousness of being a foreigner but I believe that helped me observe and try to assimilate, copy, and understand where I was. After this experience I did find that I was definitely able to live in a foreign country and assimilate pretty decently. I think overall it comes to open mindfulness, ability to compromise, and flexibility. I tend to be all those things, but during my time abroad it tested those abilities and expanded them if anything. Not saying everything was perfect but having a narrow mindset without flexibility will prevent someone from seeing how diverse and amazing the world can be.”