Pitt Global Experiences Students' Blog

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • Every morning was new and exciting during my time in Sydney. Especially during
    the weekend, I never knew what I would do and where I was going next!
    However there were a few routine places I would go to, for food and classes.
    First every morning I would wake up, get ready for classes, and talk to my family.
    In Australia the time zone is very different from back home - Sydney is 14 hours
    ahead of where my family lives in New England! I would often be having
    breakfast while they were having dinner; or be going to class when they were
    sound... 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

  • During my Plus3 study abroad program in Augsburg, Germany, it was way easier to interact with locals than I had expected. It was my first time leaving the country, so I initially expected there to be a huge language barrier between us students and the Germans. Turns out, many of them spoke English.
     
                Dr. Feick, our program professor, told us before we left Pittsburgh that all the students and faculty at the University of Augsburg that were participating in this program all spoke English very well. I had some doubt about if this was true, but I was immediately proved... 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