Reflecting on my term in Italy

Soon, I will be leaving Italy and Forli, which is where I have spent the first term of my year abroad studying, and living. I thought that now would be a great time to start reflecting on my time in Italy, even though it has not been the best experience of my life. I found an article on the website Third Year Abroad about different ways to use my blog to reflect on my time in Italy, and this is the first way I am going to try.

 

I have put together and A to Z list of my time in Forli, and Italy in general.

 

A – Apartamento 18. The number of my apartment in Forli

B – Bologna, the University of Bologna (the University I’m studying at), Bologna Airport and just Bologna because it’s the nearest main city to Forli

C – Conad, my favourite supermarket

D – Destination. My first year abroad destination is Italy

E – Erasmus. The Erasmus experience, the Erasmus grant…

F – Forli. Where I have lived and studied for 3 months

G – Grazie. The Italian for ‘thank you’

H – Hotel Internazionale. The hotel in Bologna where I stayed with my Mum when she came to visit me in Italy for the week-end

I – Italian.. The language I’ve tried to improve and the Italian experience & way of life

J – “Just keep going”, the phrase I said to myself a lot when things got tough

K – Keeping calm. The best thing to do when things get stressful. Take a deep breath and keep calm

L – La Vita Come’e, one of my favourite Italian songs, by Max Gazze

M – Missing home, which I did quite a lot

N – Never again. There are some things which I would never do again, such as living in Forli, going to certain places

O – Opposite apartment. The apartment opposite the apartment I live in is where the landlord’s parents live and they helped us a lot…

P – Pesaro. A place I travelled to on the coast in November.  Also P for pizza and pasta…

Q – Queue… Something the Italians don’t do

R – Rimini… One of the first places I travelled to

S – Studying. It’s harder in Italy and definitely different to the UK

T – Translations. Lots of translations

U – UK. My home country which I have grown to appreciate more

V – VENICE. I went to Venice when my Mum came to visit me and it was lovely

W – Waiter, the waiter in Hotel Internazionale who gave me and my Mum free food each night

X – EXciting opportunity… I know, it’s not very original…

Y – YES…

Z – Zzz… How I feel after a tiring day at University or travelling! Ha ha ha ha