This past summer, I spent two weeks in the country of Italy on a study abroad trip. The trip was sponsored by The University of Oklahoma and allowed me to explore Italy and the Italian culture within the comfort of my university. On the trip, I visited numerous cities within the country of Italy, most notably Rome, Florence, Sienna, and Arezzo. With each city, I was given the opportunity to walk the streets, see the monuments and attractions, and interact with the people. Whether it was in a restaurant, a shop, or talking to someone random on the street, every interaction was new and exciting. We were given the opportunity to sit down with educators and activist from Italy and listen to them speak on different topics all pertaining to our course. These interactions I had with the Italian people required …show more content…
The same interactions that would have taken little to no thought in America required so much with the Italians. When interacting with people of other cultures, one must take into consideration the differences in intercultural communication between the two people’s cultures. Whereas American culture has certain norms for everyday interactions, the Italians may have completely different norms. It was an advantage that the majority of people we encountered in Italy spoke English, which removed that communication variable. Despite not having to deal with a language barrier, the differences in the way American and Italian cultures communicate caused numerous problems in everyday interactions. Having taken a previous communication course that explored the aspects that make up intercultural communication, I was able to navigate through interactions by keeping these characteristics in mind. Some of the characters I will discuss is the differences between individualistic and collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, emotional displays, high and low context, and time orientation. Each of these characteristics played a role in the way we communicate