And so it begins.

My new life begins. At least, my life here in Florence.

It’s different here. Everything from apparel to household items—it’s all different. I think that’s why I love it so much.

I decided to study abroad here in Florence because I felt that it would be a dramatically different cultural experience for me. It was a place that would take me out of my comfort zone and burst the American bubble that I live in. It was a place that would expand my horizons by learning a new language while being immersed in the country it is spoken. It was a place that I felt that I could be truly inspired.

All of these things came true the moment I stepped foot off the plane and stepped into Florence, my new home.

The flight over was slightly exhausting and comical at the same time. You see, I flew out of Nashville at 8:58AM and arrived in Dulles, Washington DC around 11:00AM. My mom always says that it’s better to be early for a flight than late for one when checking in. Well, early was an understatement for the time that I arrived.

My flight on Air France to Charles De Gaulle Airport wasn’t scheduled to leave until 9:55PM that night. That means that I spent the entire day in an airport. But the funniest thing about it was that I couldn’t even check in until about 6PM that night. Sitting by the ticket booth for hours was slightly hilarious to me. I watched two movies to pass the time… Patch Adams, and the later that I felt was more appropriate- The Terminal. I felt like I could relate to Tom Hanks more than ever before. I now knew what it felt like to live in an airport!

I was finally able to check in, and get everything settled on the international gate side of the airport. Then, we entered Air France. Air France is filled to the brim with flight attendants that look like models. All of them. They wear scarves around their necks, are tall, uniformly dressed and are casually all tri-lingual. No big deal.

It was quite the experience, but was a comfortable flight over. I sat and ate my Air France Beef Bourguignon (appropriate after seeing Julie & Julia) accompanied by my favorite comfort food of all time: mashed potatoes. All was good.

We arrived in Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris, and then went quickly through security and the passport checkpoint. The man behind the glass did give me, and everyone else for that matter, an intense stare as he compared me to my photograph in my passport. Luckily, I don’t think my looks have changed much since I was 15. No hesitation that I was the same person. Phew.

We get on the flight for Florence. This flight was restful, as I slept a majority of the time on my handy-dandy inflatable pillow!

The first glimpse of Florence that I got from the window was absolutely breathtaking. I seriously could not help but grin like a fool when I was looking over the rolling countryside of Tuscany as we flew in. I kept on having to say to myself, “I’m going to LIVE here.”

Fillipo was our driver that met us at the airport to take us to our new homes. Katie, Elizabeth, Corey and I all pilled into the van as he swiftly took us to our apartment. When I say swiftly, I mean it. I’ve never seen someone drive so fast on such small streets. Not to mention, I thought he was going to hit every pedestrian that walked by. After realizing that the 20 accidents that we almost got in passed, and also seeing that everyone else was a licensed crazy killer (aka driver), I felt a sense of relief when we finally arrived at our apartment.

Deep breath in, deep breath out.

Fete (still not sure on the spelling of her name), was outside our apartment to greet us and to help us get settled in. From the moment I met her, I knew that she was the professor that Corrine had told me so much about. She will be one of my Italian professors- and I can already tell that I will love being in her class. Not only was she kind and helpful, but she’s humorous too. I’m excited for her class!

The apartment is great- there are two rooms, two bathrooms, a common area, and a kitchen. It’s perfect for what we needed. Also, we noticed that things are different here in the apartment. Yes, the plugs are different, but everything else is dramatically different as well. For instance, we have washers, but no dryers. You can’t dry your hair with a hairdryer and wash your clothes at the same time without experiencing a blackout. We have no microwave. We have an actual bidet- which I’ve never actually seen in real life. In the case that our tushies get gross- we can now clean them. Joy to the world! It’s hilarious. We have cute bedrooms, equipped with all we need for comfortable sleeping. The heat- according to Italian Law, can only be turned on for 8 hours a day. That means, our tile-floored apartment is extra cold during the other 16 hours of the day.

Other things that are different:

Everything is read in Celsius here.

Do I know how to convert? No. Woops. I’ll learn soon enough.

The markets are cute- small, often crowded. Compared to our American stores, the supermarkets here are about 1/8^th the size of an average grocery store. Sometimes, you pay .05 euro-cent per bag too, depending on the market.

They have bajillions of bags/leather belts/scarves/jewelry lining the street.

We walk everywhere.

The toilet tanks are held high on the wall, and there is just a small button in the wall that you push to flush.

The lights in stairwells are on timers, in an effort to conserve energy.

You don’t tip waiters. They are on normal salary.

We are surrounded by gelato. It’s everywhere. Now, that’s something you don’t see in America.

Basically, everything is different. It’s a special way of life here.

Today, we took a walking tour around Florence. It was incredible to look up and see places like the Duomo right in front of me… and not just in tour books or online anymore! It’s amazing.

We enjoyed a fresh croissant for breakfast, and a delicious Panini sandwich for lunch. Everything is fresh- the tomatoes, the olive oil, the wine, the breads. It’s amazing, and quite scrumptious too!

It’s somewhat surreal to realize this is going to be where I will live for the next three months, but I am just so utterly excited that I have no words.

I am just now realizing, the world is at my fingertips. I’m so thankful and feel so blessed to have this opportunity to be here.

It’s just a wonderful life.