Djembe - Concordia College

Kelly Pflaum
2
English writing & global studies-2012
Lost in Florence:
Communicating Beyond Language
Barriers
Two American girls in their early twenties,
alone in Florence, Italy, lost. Neither of us spoke Italian,
we were far beyond the edges of our map, and our train
to Rome that cost us ten Euros each to reserve a seat was
leaving in less than an hour. With no time left to panic,
we needed to enter survival mode – or at least “think
rationally” mode.
I think it’s safe to say that one of the most
highly advertised and sought-after benefits of studying abroad is the freedom to explore a foreign
place on one’s own terms – to gain the confidence to understand a new culture and navigate within
a way of life different than one’s own. But it also has its challenges.
My story starts in Norway, where I studied abroad for a semester with Concordia
College’s Scandinavia and the Baltic program. In this particular program, we studied with a group
of ten students from Concordia and Luther College, as well as a faculty leader from Concordia.
All of the American students lived together, and we often traveled as an entire group. Now, there
were definitely advantages to having this sort of security, such as having planned excursions and
not having to worry about the logistics of travel, but it also made it more challenging to really gain
the freedom and confidence to be on our own in a foreign country.
I got a small taste of this, though, during our two week Easter holidays from school.
Since we were already on that side of the Atlantic, it was the perfect opportunity to explore other
parts of Europe. But we were on our own. On our own to plan, to travel, and to make it back to
Norway safe before final exams. I realize that many study abroad programs are like this from the
beginning, but during our semester abroad, everything had been planned for us. Sure, I took a few
weekend trips away from Norway, but two weeks was a long time to plan for. Nevertheless, I took
on the challenge.
I made plans to travel with another girl who was studying abroad with me. We decided
to explore Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Italy before heading back to Norway. Four
countries in two weeks. It would be quick, so everything had to be carefully planned in order to
fit in all that we wanted to do and see. We bought Eurail passes so that we could travel by train.
During the weeks before we left, I spent time planning train routes and timing, researching, and
booking hostels, learning about public transportation in each city, deciding what sites we would be
sure to hit, and printing out tons of maps that would help us get safely from train station to hostel
to tourist sites and back each day. I had confirmation emails, directions, and a detailed schedule
that we would follow to make sure everything went smoothly.