It’s 4:30 AM in the morning and the sun is just peaking above the ocean. The wonderful cool breeze makes my hair float in the air. I feel like I am flying in a high speed. Water splashes on all over me. As the sun peaks above the ocean, the sky glistens in pink and purple. Lights from the buildings still glow brightly. It’s a beautiful ending scene of my Italy trip. I’m heading to the airport in a whole different mean of transportation. I am not taking a taxi, a bus, or a train, nor driving a car there. I’m taking a water taxi.

While I’m heading to the airport in a water taxi and looking at the beautiful sunrise, I flashback my memories of my past three weeks in Italy. Hiking through the Ancient Roman ruins has taught me how the Ancient Romans lived. Taking a scenic drive through the beautiful green mountains has given me a sense of how Italy is a magnificent country. Walking around a large statue of David for the first time that I have seen in images in textbooks for my life was astonishing. Standing on the top of the dome of the grand Cathedral, the Florence Cathedral, and seeing a panoramic view of Florence was breathtaking. Taking a boat through the canals was a whole new different world.

My three weeks trip Italy was an immeasurable experience. Not only that I gained my knowledge in Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture, but also how art was formed. In other words, I understand better now where the idea of the design of the United States Capitol, the entire city of my country’s capital city, and many other architectural structures and artwork from throughout the world come from. I was practically traveling inside the art history textbook.

I met many new wonderful friends who were very caring and sweet, and very talented artists. We all looked after each other and shared a great deal of safety concerns. I had not had a single night of more than seven and a half hours of sleep. I spent most of my late night social life at restaurants, gelaterias, and bars. Not to worry, I didn’t drink any alcohol as they just taste plainly nasty (Yes, to be honest, I did take a sip to see if I would ever like it and nope! It takes like a really gross medicine). I just joined the fun and the laughers. Unfortunately, all of them are in the Savannah campus, but we will all stay in touch. This abroad study trip certainly has made up for my lack of social life in Savannah. These people that I hung out with on this trip were the first real true college students that I have met.

I am on the airplane now and looking out the window and noticed the beautiful snow capped mountains like the Canadian Rockies in the British Columbia that I saw during my spring break trip to Vancouver and Whistler. I was getting a taste of the Swiss Alps. Switzerland is certainly my next destination choice on my European travel list.

As typical of abroad study students, more than half of us, SCAD students, are departing to different parts of the world including France, Spain, Holland, and England to gain more cultural experiences and to see families and friends. I head off to Biarritz, a city in the southwest France, to see my same old great friends and to speak French once again.

To answer the question that many people asked me: Which one do I like better, France or Italy? I personally like France better only because I know the language. Both countries are equally beautiful and loathed with magnificent artworks and history. However, I would like to learn the Italian language one day in order to be better immersed in the Italian culture.