My name is Jackie and I am currently a Junior studying Advertising and Italian and have minors in Business and International Studies. I will be studying in Firenze this spring semester at the Institute at Palazzo Rucellai. Besides the fact that Florence is a beautiful city, it seemed to be the perfect place and size for me. I have never been to Italy before and am counting down the days until the day I leave in January!

One of my main goals for studying abroad is to improve my Italian language skills, even though English is spoken throughout the city (which isn’t helped by the thousands of American students that study there each semester). I have been told by friends who have traveled or studied there in the past that many times it is difficult to practice Italian because many of the shop owners can speak English and want to practice themselves. So, I know it will be a challenge, but I am going to do everything I can to speak Italian every chance I get. I have been brainstorming different ideas on how to force myself to better understand the language…and the first idea is taking a yoga class I found, that is strictly taught in Italian (should be interesting).

I have never blogged before, so that should be even more interesting. Keep checking back for new posts about my Italian (and European) adventure!

Location: State College, PA