Why Studying Abroad is Different than an Extended Vacation:
We've all met those people...
Those people that make studying abroad look like the trip of a lifetime. It makes you wish you had considered studying abroad, because you're still stuck in the same town with your same friends and your same bedroom, and you wish that you could've mustered up the courage to get out there and see the world. Trust me when I say it's not all dandelions and daffodils.
Simply put: Studying abroad has a weird connotation to the phrase, like it's some sort of glorified trip. What it actually means is "GO TO THIS COUNTRY AND UNDERSTAND NOTHING".
You're in a Completely Different Country
"Well, duh." You say. "How could you not understand that?"
Let me explain the true significance of this: different countries have different cultures. It's totally normal in Italy to smell like cigarette smoke whenever you go outside. It's perfectly fine to eat hard bread and nutella for breakfast and for dessert. Eating potatoes and tomatoes together is blasphemy. You can't buy canned items after 10. Checking your email once every 48-36 hours is the average. Being catcalled down the street is considered "complimentary". Walking on poorly-structured cobblestone is typical. Leaving a light on for more than 10 minutes for a room you're not in is wasteful, yet spending 400 Euro on a pair of shoes is classy. Drying your clothes for 2 days straight because they don't believe in mechanic dryers is standard. Being denied as a potential roommate because you're an exchange student is acceptable. Having all of your classes start on different dates in January, Feburary, and March is commonplace. Changing to military time, standard units of measurment, and Celsius... it's a lot to get used to all at once.
How do I know all this? Because I live here, and I'm mocked for being way too American at least twice a day.
You Have to Speak Their Language
Everyone and their brother that has studied abroad hates the idea of "fluency".
There is no possible way to be fluent in a language. I've been speaking English for 21 years and I still don't understand half the vocabulary in a neuroscience textbook. Does that mean I'm not fluent in English? What if I mess up the plurality of the word "mouse" or "moose" by saying it's "meese"? Does that make me less fluent in English? No. But knowing the plural of "mouse" is "mice" and "moose" is still "moose" doesn't make me fluent either. Same applies to Italian or any other foreign language you study.
The truth is when I got here I considered myself a great italian student. I'd never gotten below an A- in any class, and I worked my ass off to be here. But here's something they don't tell you: Listening to italian 12 hours all day every day is a lot different than listening to it for 1-2 hours every Monday through Friday. When I got here, I understood about 20% of the things they were saying to me, and I would go to bed at night thinking I was stupid and I was going to mess up everything because I literally could not communicate with the people around me. It's mentally and physically exhausting trying to find the right conjugation of verbs and nouns and adjectives to form a sentence in another language.
I'm Here to Study
Plain and simple. I'm not here to rush off to London or Prague every weekend, I can't see the Colosseum or Mount Vesuvius whenever I feel like it. My first three weeks here I had to find an apartment, buy a cellphone, apply for a permission of stay, get my Univesity ID, search for classes, and attend a pre-course language class for 2.5 hours every morning.
I'm not saying that I'll never go visit the sights that this beautiful country and others have to offer, but I have to do so while not only being fiscally responsible, but while also considering the amount of other things I need to do.
Now that it's February I have classes to attend, books to read. I'm studying Italian every single day and trying to immerse myself in a culture where I stick out like a sore thumb. If you think this is a joy ride you are sorely mistaken. I've never been to Europe before, and I've only studied Italian for 2 and a half years. I can't even begin to pretend like I have any idea what I'm doing.
So please...
Before you go off on some student in your home town for not being able to speak english, or that eating mayo and french fries is weird... just keep in mind that they honestly just want to be accepted.