Pitt Global Experiences Students' Blog

  • Before studying abroad in Sydney, I thought of Australian food as “meat
    pies” and “vegemite.” And while I did get to try these famous classic
    “Aussie” foods, I learned that Australian cuisine encompasses much more,
    and similar to the United States, Australia is a country with cuisine coming
    from all around the world! My two favorite places to eat routinely was North
    Indian Cuisine on George Street (which gave me the largest vegetable
    samosas I have ever eaten!) and Miso Japanese in the World Square (I just
    couldn’t help coming back for their... Read More

  • For my Food Studies Program in Florence, Italy, I was able to live in a home with five other students in my program from the University of Pittsburgh. I loved the house I stayed in and I am grateful for having such a great landlord and the ability to make amazing friends. Although we faced some challenges living in this house a couple of times, there were many positives about living there and I had such a great time.
                   I stayed with five other people from the University of Pittsburgh in a three-story house within a nice neighborhood, 30 minutes away from our campus.... Read More

  • My study abroad program in Florence, Italy was definitely an experience to remember. There were many experiences that stuck out to me due to how different everyday life was in Italy compared to the United States. What stood out to me about my academic program in Italy was how many field trips there were and how much of a hands-on experience there was. What stood out to me about the culture in Florence, Italy was the importance of slow food, family connectivity, and how much of an impact cuisine makes on Italian culture.
    My academic program in Florence was much different compared to... Read More

  • Ciao! It has been six weeks since the beginning of my program “Pitt in Florence” and it has been the experience of a lifetime. This program offers six weeks, two 3-credit courses, and consists of 120 undergraduate students from around the United States. Six weeks ago, I moved to Florence, Italy without knowing anyone in the program, in the city of Florence, or honestly what to expect from this experience itself. While this experience has been overall one-of-a-kind, there were obstacles I had to overcome throughout my six weeks. Along the way, I had many ups and many downs, downs that... Read More

  • Ciao! I am officially one week into my study abroad experience through the “Pitt in Florence” program, a program that spans six weeks, and two 3-credit courses. I decided to do this program without knowing anyone else from Pitt in the program, but I have already met so many students from my university and so many others. I chose to live in a shared apartment over the option of home stay, so the program situated me into an apartment with roommates from all over the US. In the apartment there are four Pitt students, three UC Boulder students, and one student from Purdue… a total of eight... Read More

  • Ciao! As I reflect back on the last four out of six weeks of the program, I can confidently say that doing this program has changed my life. The “Pitt in Florence” program consists of two 3-credit courses with a variety of course choices from Oil Painting to Cross-cultural Psychology. Through these last four weeks, I have not only come to meet amazing students and people from my program, but also residents from Florence itself. Within the first week, I had met a friend that I can honestly say I will have for life. She is a dual citizen of the United States and Italy, and had recently moved... Read More

  • One challenge I did not expect to encounter while in Sydney were the hours of
    operation for restaurants and businesses. In the United States, many grocery
    and convenience stores, restaurants, etc. open early and close late - many
    staying up until after midnight. But in Sydney, most businesses did not open until
    10 am, and often closed at 5 pm. The latest restaurants stayed open until 10 pm
    - so the only midnight snack available to me was at McDonald's! Because of this,
    I had to shift my entire schedule to eat a late breakfast and an early dinner,... Read More

  • Nursing School in Ireland is much different from that at the University of Pittsburgh, or any other school in the world for that matter. In the United States, students enter general nursing programs and obtain the same education. They take the same classes and participate in the same clinical rotations. Everyone in nursing school indeed has different aspirations, goals, and dreams surrounding their nursing careers, and that is no different in Ireland. However, the education needed to reach those nursing career goals is much different. Here in Ireland, they have four different nursing... Read More

  • While in Germany during my Plus3 study abroad program, I was nonstop eating food. One of the main things I heard you had to do when abroad is try new food, and so I constantly was trying new food during every meal.
     
                Germany is famous for all their different kinds of meats, so it was a perfect environment for me. I first had to try the famous Schnitzel, which is fried pork. Every single restaurant we ate at had Schnitzel on the menu, so I had it multiple times. It is always served with french fries and German potato salad, and every time it was really good. Then,... Read More

  • The biggest piece of advice I would give to someone who is planning to study abroad on this Plus3 program is to take in every moment. The program is only two weeks long, and the itinerary is jam packed. It will be difficult to quickly get over the jet lag and deal with the early morning company visits, but your time abroad really does go by fast, so take a moment to enjoy every activity on the itinerary. After just two days of being back home, I miss it already.
     
                To add on to the last paragraph, my biggest regret was worrying too much about our academic projects.... Read More