GIF Families-The Homecoming
By: Payton Rothlin
Ciao! Or… hello now, I suppose. I am finally back to my long-lost routine here in the States, but so much has changed since the last time I was partaking in my daily Starbucks run. The past four months in Florence have been incredible, and it was such a blessing to have the experiences I did travelling at this age. I learned about new people, cultures, and how to overcome (many) obstacles that I had to face throughout the study abroad experience. Although I thought I knew what this semester would have in store for me, and genuinely thought I understood the way cultures differed and interacted without leaving home, this journey truly taught me so much more about the world and humanity than I could have learned here in the States. One of my biggest fears throughout this semester was that, in coming home, I would fall back into my obliviousness just as quickly as I did my old routine. But to my surprise, in the short amount of time I have been home, I now realize that the learning doesn’t stop when the travelling stops; it comes home as you do, sometimes even more prominently than before.
Most importantly, just because someone thinks differently than you, doesn’t mean that their thinking is wrong. However trivial this may sound, it took me meeting people drastically different than myself to truly understand how important this is. Coexisting with cultures that have shaped their inhabitants in a way that differs from, or even opposes, the ideals of your own is something that takes a lot of strength of mind. There are moments when you see someone do something that would be socially unacceptable in the United States, and it’s easy to let your mind immediately deem their action as “wrong”. It took time and effort before my mind could actually comprehend the extent to which relativism influences cultures and actions. This doesn’t mean that we must fit the mold of every culture we come across, but we should respect our neighbors’ ways of life, and understand that our morals aren’t necessarily universal. As important as this lesson was while coming into contact with new cultures as often as every weekend, it has given me a new perceptive here in America, especially with the controversial current issues we have recently been faced with. I’m no longer content with my daily routine. I’m no longer content with occasionally catching a glimpse of the morning news. I have a newfound desire for new knowledge, experiences and an understanding of people who think differently than I do. I no longer want to be in my own little bubble filled with people who think the same way that I do, talking about the latest celebrity news, with the occasional legitimate news story (which almost always solely involves the United States). I want to be aware of and engaged in a world so much bigger than my daily routine.
In conclusion, the most important lesson I learned while studying abroad, is that the lessons travel with you, from Italy to Hungary to Greece to Spokane, Washington.