There are many reasons why I decided to make this trip to Urbino. Learning several forms of media from some of the best people in the business was certainly a large reason to come here. But this was not the main reason. The main reason I am here is to be immersed in the culture. Learning to edit video and how to write are perks of being a part of the program…but, like I said, not why I’m here.
There is so much to learn in Italy…culture, tradition, history, values, along with a million other things. These are things that you can’t really learn sitting in a classroom. As they say in the industry, you need “feet on the street.” The only way to UNDERSTAND the culture is to try and be a part of the culture. Sitting in a classroom and staying around the dorms all day is not going to accomplish that.
As I sit here writing this, my eyes are heavy and my head is dropping. All my body wants to do right now is sleep. This is because I was out until 4am last night. I wasn’t out partying, I was out learning. I was out at a bar, talking to as many local people as I possibly could. The people here are very open as long as you show a genuine interest in learning about them. This is the key.
While here in Urbino, we are taking a class in intercultural communication. It is very interesting. We talk about how we perceive the Italian culture, and how they perceive us. These are interesting conversations, but they are useless unless you are actually out trying to break these perceptions. We can’t sit in a classroom, listen to a lecture, and pretend like we know what this culture is about. We have to use these lectures as tools out in the city to communicate with the locals, and attempt to understand the Italian way of life. That is my goal here. And I work hard at achieving that goal every day that I am here (it’s funny that “working” means going to the pub until the small hours of the morning).
Many of the Italian friends that I have made here are sad for some of my classmates because they don’t come out to the pubs and socialize. I am sad for them too and I understand how it can be hard to get out of that mentality of school first, fun second. But that’s what you have to do here to fit in.
One of my Italian friends put it best. He said, “Which will you remember for your whole life, the chapter on theory of law that you read your second year of college, or the time you came to Urbino and got thrown into the fountain by a group of your Italian friends?” The answer is obvious to me. I love this country.