Wow. I'm really, really American. Let me explain. On Friday evening, my friends and I decided to go on a pub-crawl run by a company that caters to young people visiting Rome. It's like a guided tour, but of the nightlight, rather than the historic sites. It was only 20 euro, and we were guided around several bars and clubs, and given some free drinks along the way.
I mentioned that the pub-crawl catering to young people visiting Rome, which is an important detail to recognize. Sure I was there to party, socialize, and have a good time with people in my program, but the crawl catered to young people of all nationalities, not just American students. First of all, an Australian was the leader of the crawl, and I met people from Germany, Spain, England, and Italy, all on this one small pub-crawl. They were also all in Rome at that particular minute for different reasons. Some were studying, some were on vacation; some were just there, it wI speak some spanish, so it was an absolute blast attempting to converse with the people from Spain in a mixture of English and Spanish. Facebook and Google Translate have newly renewed value when I actually use them to communicate and stay connected, rather than just to post funny videos on my friends’ walls.
Also, though I really only have been out of the US for a short time, I have noticed that most people from other countries speak some English, but Italians seem to speak the least English. It is as if the Italians have the same Americanized idea that we should learn Italian, rather than expect Italians to know English. Don't get me wrong though, Italians are still extraordinarily helpful if I am lost or trying to get somewhere. That's all for now on the pub-crawl. I thought it deserved it's own post as it was the first really eye opening experience that I've had, and it definitely reaffirmed that I made an excellent decision in choosing to study abroad.
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