Multiculturalism and Idiomatic expressions

When it comes to the different stages of adjusting to the culture, I think I hit it pretty spot on. Especially when it comes to working. I enjoy working here and look at it as a great opportunity. When I first started I totally had the whole honeymoon stage, I was analyzing all the differences and was so excited to start this journey and learn the language and be immersed in the culture and workforce. But surprising, I think I skipped over the culture shock phase. I haven't been irritated, or have felt like something small was a huge catastrophe. Yes, there are some major differences in the culture and when working that I notice but it doesn’t frustrate me because I know that it's just their way of life and how things work. It just takes adjustment. Now when it comes to the gradual adjustment stage, I’m totally in that. I mess up with the language, I probably do things that are weird to Italians, but I laugh about it and realize that its part of the learning experience. For example, last week I came into work with my hair in a bun and that is a common cute style for Americans but the people I work with gave me so much crap for it!!! They were joking and laughed about it (so did I, even though i looked like an idiot) and learned my lesson.. don’t wear your hair in a bun to work!! This past month has opened my eyes to all the different ways of life. I have been abroad before, but never stayed in one place long enough to learn/know the way the people of that country live their everyday life. It has made me grow as a person and has been a truly humbling experience. I haven't quite gotten to the "feeling at home" stage but closer to the end of the semester I could possibly be there but the only thing holding me back from reaching that stage would be the language barrier. As for the gestures and idioms, there are many gestures I see but as for the idioms since I don’t know a good amount of Italian its hard the pick up on those. One gesture that cracks me up every time my supervisor does it, is if something good he puts his hands in a praying form and then throws them in the air. This is a pretty common gesture not strictly to the Italian culture but that is the one that he uses most of the time. I have noticed that sometimes I will say an idiom and the staff members just laugh and then I realize I have to explain it in a different way that they will understand. If I were to choose an idiom to represent my internship, it would probably be “rompere il ghiaccio,” translating to breaking the ice. My whole internship revolves around me trying to break the ice and awkwardness with customers when they come in because most of them speak Italian and sometime my supervisor leaves and im left trying to communicate with them. Or he has many friends that come in to visit him and they all try to speak to me in Italian and I don’t understand! Other times, there are instances when English speakers have come in and try to talk to my supervisor and he doesn’t understand so I’m stuck trying to translate with the little Italian I know. Honestly, i love the different culture because its challenging and does change my perspective on things!!