Florence 1975

 

I’ve always been fascinated with communication, so in my senior year of college, I decided to put that passion to use and go on the Florence Program. I was a music student at FSU and ended up taking basic studies throughout my four years, so I could also tend to music making. My freshman year I was shocked to learn that even instrumentalists had to sing.  Not only did we have to sing, we learned to do so in Italian. That experience made going on the Florence Program a natural choice.

Forty years later my Italian alter ego is still fun to flaunt!  The world has changed a lot and offers many virtual experiences, but there is nothing like that “we’re not in Kansas anymore” experience to give meaning to the American experience. I learned more about myself and what shapes my thoughts and attitudes in Italy than anywhere I’ve visited in the United States. 

It was intimidating to be on the program with so many art majors, but I carried my flute with me everywhere and played it in some memorable places. Some of these included inside the Ear of Dionysius, on the ruins in Agrigento, and after dinner at a Sicilian sulfur mine. 

 

Studying about Italian history gave me great insight, because I later married an Italian, took Italian citizenship, owned a home in Italy, and helped my son with his geometra (a kind of Italian high school) homework. When I want to understand what’s going on in the world, I appreciate being able to understand Italian in order to get another viewpoint not governed by the United States’ mass media.
 

Today, most young Italians understand, if not speak, English, and I heard that Florence’s famous Vivoli’s ice cream will be available at Disney's EPOC soon. So, why go on the Florence Program?  Florence is a gem that can’t be totally appreciated in a few months but one can be totally enveloped by the city and be connected with other wonderful areas in Italy while studying in Florence. Italy isn’t quite as standardized as in the United States, so one can experience interesting regional differences without going great distances.  Heck, go up in the mountains in Tuscany and see the ghiacciaie that helped to make Vivoli’s ice cream possible. 

As one understands the language and how Italians care to communicate; the Italian legal system; the Italian health care system; the Italian appreciation for historical patrimony; the Italian appreciation for the arts; the Italian love of sports; and the Italian quirky habits, one also begins to understand how Americans use English; what Americans value; along with American social systems.

Avanti Sevoia! Go for it!  Make your Italian adventure count.

Deborah Nelson

Florence, Italy, 1975 alumna

Retrospective Realizations

As I sit in the airport waiting to head home, I keep thinking about some of the things I learned while I was on my study abroad program, some of which may be helpful to others. One suggestion I have for those traveling is to keep a journal. I have a terrible memory, so I invested in a leather journal my first day in Florence, Italy and recorded all of my adventures. Without this journal, in just a few years I would forget many memories of Italy. With the same idea in mind, I also relied on the app Day One. This app is a photo journal that records the date, location and time a picture was taken, as

well as allowing you type a comment about the picture. Little things like this will help you keep track of all the experiences you have traveling. Another important tip is to make the most of your time abroad. I know that sounds obvious, but after a few days you may think taking a long nap is no big deal or skipping a museum is fine. However, it’s important to remember that your time abroad is going to come to an end, and it usually comes much faster than expected. Don't try to pack everything in at the end of your stay. I advise you to spread it out and plan accordingly. If you're not a museum person, find other activities. I love coffee and found a class that taught you how to create coffee art. I wanted to see a performance, so my friends and I attended a ballet in Fiesole, a beautiful city only 20 minutes outside of Florence. There is always something to do in a foreign city, so don't spend too much time on homework or catching up on sleep. You'll regret not doing more in the end. 

 

Author: Courtney Merolle

Passports!

At just 3 ½ x 5 inches, a passport is one of the most important documents in the world. If you have a desire to see the world beyond your computer screen, you will need a passport. Not only do passports allow you to travel across international borders, but they also serve as an official residency and identification document.  Here are some interesting passport facts from around the world!

1.       The term "passport" derives from the French word passer, to enter or leave, and port, a port.  It is essentially a permit to leave a country.

2.       Around 450 BC, King Artaxerxes of Persia gave the prophet Nehemiah a letter granting him safe passage to Judah. This is seen by many as the first passport.

3.       The artwork inside U.S passports took six years to design.  It was developed by a team of six people and features a variety of patriotic scenes. When   e-passports were introduced in 2007, the State   Department seized the opportunity to give the   standard blue book a makeover. Some of the   patriotic imagery that made the cut are Mount   Rushmore, a bald eagle, and the celebration of our   first moon landing. The theme even has its own   name: "American Icon"

4.       Just like U.S. Passports, Finnish Passports have   fun artwork too. Their passports depict flipbook-style imagery featuring a walking moose.

5.       Turkey claims the most expensive passport fees, costing citizens a whopping $275.00. The cheapest passport hails from Swaziland with a cost of $1.56. US Passports cost $110 for standard processing. 

This handy document gives you access to travel the globe and who wouldn’t want to see different countries and cultures? If you don’t have a passport, it’s not too late to get one! And to make it even easier, FSU has a Passport Office on campus! The FSU Passport Facility is located in the Stadium on the 5^th floor of University Center A in International Programs office. Please visit our website for more information about our Passport Office as well as the programs we offer abroad: http://international.fsu.edu/Passport/Default.aspx

Budgeting- Let’s Be Realistic

London is an expensive place to live- and eat. Especially when the conversion rate is around 1.5 US Dollars to 1 GB Pound. No, London is not just a large but still quaint, English city. It is the business capital of the world and an international melting pot equitable to living in New York City. In preparation for my study abroad this summer I thought, “It’ll be so great to have a flat where I can cook all of my meals. I’ll average about $4 per meal!”- No.

            Any place you study abroad you will want to experience the local cuisine as much as possible. As someone who enjoys cooking, I have found myself cooking dinners at home only about one night a week. I eat lunches at home another 1-2 days and most breakfasts. Other than that, I’m always out and about in the city, traveling, exploring new places, not worrying about getting back to the flat to make myself a sandwich when I can pick one up on every street corner- beautifully prepared with a side of crisps from Pret a Manger.

           Problem #2 with trying to plan ahead and keep a well-stocked fridge: the food goes bad within a matter of days. Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve found the downside of the fresh, non-GMO, preservative-free food populating the grocery stores in the UK- it rots at rapid speed. Here, it’s the social norm to run to your local Sainsbury’s or Waitrose to grab your next meal every day, maybe twice a day. Keeping large amounts of food at home isn’t realistic for a busy student like you or me. When your bread, deli meats, and cheese are all perishing at different paces and you don’t want to buy a whole bottle of mustard or mayonnaise for the 1 to 2 months you’ll be here, why bother? Just go to Itsu and get some half-priced sushi between 7-8pm and punch another notch in your loyalty card.

            BUT don’t let all this get you down! There are still plenty of ways to stay on track and on budget while studying abroad in London:

-Sainsbury’s offers a meal deal of either a sandwich, pasta, or salad with crisps (chips) and a drink for 3 pounds (about $4.5). Stop by in the morning and bring it with while you’re traipsing around town.

-Have “family dinners” with your flat mates. As often as we can, my flat mates and I take turn cooking for each other. When you buy ingredients from the store, it’s going to be enough to feed 5 anyways.

-Don’t spend money on water bottles. All of the tap water in London is safe to drink and tastes fine! Keep 1 or 2 bottles at home and reuse them.

            Be sensible with your spending on food but know that a typical meal out is going to average 6-10 GBP (tack on 4 GBP if you plan on getting a drink). This will come out to about $15-$20 per meal. 

Budget accordingly and you’ll have a recipe for success. Cheers!

Florida State University Panama City Presents Faculty Abroad with Mike Wallace

Faculty member, Dr. Mike Wallace, tells all as he travels to Valencia, Spain this summer! Follow along as he encounters flight delays, jet lag and more during his journey abroad.

http://pc.fsu.edu/About-Us/Faculty-Abroad/Faculty-Abroad-Mike-Wallace-in-Valencia-Spain

City of Arts and Sciences
Valencia, Spain

How to Alleviate Your Parent’s Worries When You’re Abroad

By Michelle Futo

 When I asked my parents if I could study abroad in Leysin, Switzerland for the first six weeks of summer, they were excited but also very vocal with expressing their worries. How would we stay in contact? How would they know where I was and my travel plans? As an only child, I had to find ways to make sure my parents felt comfortable with me traveling to Europe so all of us could enjoy my experience. Here are a few tips I picked up that I used both at home and while I was abroad.

Communication

Keep the lines of communication open as much as possible! While you may be annoyed with the amount of emails they send you, your parents just want to make sure you are safe. It’s not you they do not trust, it’s the world. All of the IP Study Centers have Wifi access for students, so make sure to reply to those emails! Even a few simple sentences with some photos will make them smile and feel closer to you, even though you are over 2000 miles away.

If you have an iPhone, iMessage also works even when your phone is on airplane mode. You can easily send texts, photos, and short videos to your parents through iMessgae without having to turn on your cellular data. FaceTime is also a great option. I was abroad for Mother’s Day and even though I was not physically with my mom, I know she loved our FaceTime date.

If you have an android smart phone, I would recommend downloading Viber. Viber is a free messaging application that also sends texts, photos, videos, and even allows users to make phone calls through Wifi. Help your parents download the application to their phones, set up their free account, and play around with sending messages before you leave the country. This way you can still talk to them and share all your experiences without having to purchase an international phone plan.

Register Your Travel

Prior to leaving the U.S., explain to your parents that you are registering yourself in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) through the U.S. Department of State. STEP is a free program that allows U.S. Citizens who are traveling abroad to enroll their trip with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Some additional benefits to enrolling in STEP include receiving important information from the Embassy about safety conditions in the destination country, helping students make informed decisions about their travel plans, helping the U.S. Embassy contact you in an emergency whether natural disaster, civil unrest, or family emergency. After entering your personal and travel information, the step-by-step wizard will help you stay connected to the people who matter and who will help you out in case of any emergency. Parents can also sign up to receive email updates about information dealing with the country you are traveling to, again keeping them in the loop about your travels. 

You can register here: https://step.state.gov/step/

Create a Blog

If you are a writer, a photographer, or just want to have a simple way to keep your friends and family at home updates with your travels, creating a blog gives you a perfect way to share your experiences quickly and easily! Free websites such as WordPress, Weebly, or Blogger allow users to make an account and customize their personal blog to share text, photos, videos, and any other interesting information that happens while abroad. You can easily upload some photos from your weekend trip to Venice and write a quick post about how amazing your gondola rides were. Sharing the link through email or Facebook will give your friends, family, and especially parents a way to track where you travel and what you are up to. I know my mom always looked forward to my blog posts and it also is a great online journal I can always re-visit now that I am back in Tallahassee.

A Postcard from Florence

Two Florida State University students, Jordan Park and Paige Granfield,  share how studying abroad with International Programs gave them the opportunity to explore the world and broaden their horizons in the realm of education and self-discovery. 

4 Tips for a Stress-free Trip

By Bridget O'Toole

Studying abroad is an exciting experience, but it can also be stressful and scary—especially if it is your first time traveling alone to a place you may have never been before. Don’t let the unfamiliar freak you out. Instead, consider doing (and not doing) some of the following to eliminate some anxiety on your trip abroad.

1. DON’T feel like you have to have everything planned.

Some of the greatest memories you will make will be from the unexpected. You are probably going to have a must-see list, but any plans you make will be thrown out the window once you are abroad. When you arrive, you are thrust into this crazy new culture, and you are meeting all of these new people. Most of the time you will travel in a group, but not everyone wants to go to the same places. So, you shouldn’t plan. You should just be open to experiencing any new place you can. I had not planned on traveling to Austria, but Vienna ended up being my favorite city I visited.

2. DO what you want.

This means that when you arrive to a new city, you should go and do what you want. If you travel to Amsterdam, some people are going to want to go see the Anne Frank house or the Van Gogh Museum, while others are going to want to simply enjoy the fresh air. Don’t feel pressured to do what the majority of the group is doing. You will regret it if you don’t do what you want to do or see what you want to see.

3. DO have patience.

You will get lost, but don’t get mad or frustrated. Instead, have patience. When my travel group arrived in Brussels, Belgium, we could not find our hostel. Everyone was tired and scared because it was our first week traveling, and we let our annoyance get the best of us when we really should have been enjoying what was around us. You may even unintentionally book a hostel an hour away from your intended destination, which seems like a pain in the butt when you find out, but you may find a really cool brewery in that city. You never know what will happen when you're lost. 

4. DO use the bathrooms in your hostel or on the train.

Why? Because those bathrooms are free! Well, you are paying for the hostel room, so I guess the bathroom is not truly free, but you get what I mean. You’re going to have to get over your germ phobia because every other public restroom will cost you. Having to go to the bathroom but being unable to find a two cent euro at the bottom of your purse is not an ideal situation and is weirdly stressful. Even McDonald’s makes you buy something before you can get the code to the restroom. Always have your coins readily available because you never know when Mother Nature will strike.

Packing Tips for Studying Abroad

By Bridget O’Toole

In addition to your basic clothing and toiletries, you should consider packing (or not packing) some of the following:

1. Girls: DON’T pack a hair dryer…or a curling iron or a flat iron.

Yes, you want to make a good impression, but honestly, you will most likely never use them. By eliminating these from your packing list, you are saving yourself the trouble of dragging it around with you to every new city and also leaving room to bring gifts back home. If it really matters to you, you can find these tools abroad at great prices, or you can make a deal with some of the other girls going. Each of you can bring one of your hairstyling tools and you can share. Just be careful not to blow a fuse!

2. Girls: DON’T pack more than five pairs of shoes.

Again, save space in your suitcase! Five pairs is a lot to lug around. One pair of sandals and one pair of Keds-like gym shoes will do the trick. Neutral color, no pattern Keds go with everything, and if you’re worried about style, they are not the typical tourist gym shoe, either. So, you won’t have to worry about standing out, and your feet can be comfortable.

3. Boys and Girls: DO pack a filtered water bottle.

Free water isn’t really a “thing” in Europe. Restaurants don’t automatically have a glass of tap water waiting for you like they do here in the U.S. Instead, you have to pay for each bottle you consume, and that can get expensive because 1) the bottles are small, and 2) It’s going to be hot and you will be thirsty from walking around. Also, be sure to specify that you want still water because sparkling water just doesn’t do the trick when your sweating like a beast in the 90 degree Venice. By bringing your own filtered water bottle, you can fill it up at the public water fountains, which are always still water. That way, you don’t have to worry about a costly mix-up.

4. Boys and Girls: DO pack a rain jacket.

Despite what you may hope, you may encounter a few rainy days abroad. Therefore, it is wise to bring a rain jacket. Rain jackets not only protect you from the rain, but they can also serve as a barrier to cooler weather. Plus, they are really easy to roll up and carry in your traveling backpack. If you feel the need for extra protection, you can easily buy a fairly inexpensive umbrella from a local vendor. 

5. Girls: DO pack a cardigan.

Certain destinations are very concerned with modesty, which makes it necessary to bring a light, neutral cardigan with you from place to place so that you can cover your shoulders. Otherwise, you may be unable to see Michelangelo’s superb work in the Sistine Chapel. While the location you are visiting may signify that you are a tourist, you still don’t want your status to be so obvious that you have to be given tissue paper to wear around your shoulders.

6. Boys and Girls: DO pack one set PJs that can keep you warm and one set that can keep cool.

If you are studying abroad in a location like Switzerland, then you are living on top of a mountain. Yes, the sun will be out during the day in the summer (mostly), but the mountain does reach fairly cold temperatures at night. So, you may want to have some flannels and warm socks on hand. However, you may take side trips to destinations that are considerably warmer, or you may stay in a hostel with no air conditioning. Two separate sets of sleepwear may take up more room in your suitcase, but trust me, being prepared is better than getting sick.

Switzerland, a Program for the True Traveler

By Bridget O'Toole

Looking to feed your wanderlust? FSU’s study abroad program in Leysin, Switzerland may be just what you need. The Switzerland program’s area of study is Hospitality. So, yes, preference is given to Hospitality majors, but the program is also open to all interested students. If you’re a non-Hospitality and are worried about your chances of being accepted, don’t be! It worked out for me, and I firmly believe that the Switzerland program is one of the best programs for students with a desire to travel but without a major-specific program.

As a student in the Switzerland program, you can take a European Travel and Tourism course. Your homework? Traveling all around Europe and sharing your trip experiences when you get back! Not too shabby, right? Classes are conducted Sunday evening through Tuesday morning. Often times, you will go on a field trip to a gorgeous five star hotel in Switzerland, and from there, you may leave to travel anywhere you want in Europe as long as you are back by Saturday night. The last train up the mountain ends early so you have to be time conscious! But you will be surprised how many places you can see over the course of three days. One week, my little group and I spent a day in Paris, France, a day in Nice, France, and a day at the beach in Monte Carlo—all in one week! I was able to visit more than ten incredible European cities over the course of four weeks. But of course, there are benefits to remaining in one city the whole week, such as having the time to visit all of the famous hot spots. The scope of traveling one does is really up to the individual. 

The mountain life in Leysin, Switzerland is also something to take into consideration. Let me

tell you, having a view of the snow capped mountains while eating a delicious French breakfast will probably be the most relaxing moment of your life. Nothing can beat the view in Switzerland, but don’t worry, just because the mountains are snow capped does not mean you’re going to freeze! The sun will be out every now and then. There will be days when you despise mountain life because of what the students like to call “the stairs from hell.” While walking down them isn’t a problem, you will be challenged walking up them in the high altitude. Just remember that the view at the top is worth it.

In general, the Hospitality program is so much fun—especially when you’re a guest at a hospitality business as opposed to a stressed out employee. As a student in this program, you have the opportunity to learn from industry professionals when you visit five star hotels with classic architecture, restaurants with five course meals, and spas with amazing jacuzzis. To be able to visit these high quality destinations is a huge bonus for anyone living on a college budget. One of the best trips is the trip to Balmers Hostel in Interlacken, Switzerland. Here you will learn about the hostel business. This trip is also a great initial experience where you can get to know your group members better and where you can meet people from around the world.

So if you’re feeling like a Nolemad*, visit FSU International Programs offices (UCA 5th floor) to find out more information on the Switzerland program!

*A Florida State University Seminole (Nole) that likes to travel a lot. 

FSU athlete shares her abroad experience

Colleen Quigley, Florida State University dietetics major and NCAA Division 1 athlete in cross country running, shares her experience with FSU's International Programs while studying in Valencia, Spain.