Studying abroad in a foreign country definitely gets some taking used to. After living the past 20 years of my life in the United States, I can't help but miss the simple "luxuries" that I took for granted.
1. A Dishwasher: having to hand wash all my dishes really makes me realize how much easier and time saving having a dishwasher is. A dishwasher would make all the difference, especially when sharing an apartment and one sink with 3 other people.
2. A Drier: have to hang all my clothes to dry is such a longer process for drying, never mind more wrinkly. I used to complain about how long laundry took at home, I don't think I'll be complaining about that any more...
3. Screened Windows: in an apartment with no air conditioning, it was almost essential to leave the windows open during the warmer days. We quickly learned mosquitoes are vicious and will bite you everywhere. We quickly had to suck it up and just sleep with the window shuts.
4. Everything Being in English: I know what you may be thinking, I can't expect everything to be in English when I'm in Italy. However, you don't realize how easy grocery shopping is in your native country until you go abroad and have to try to buy basic ingredients in a different language.
5. Wide Sidewalks: here in Italy, the side walks are only big enough for one person. When there's someone walking towards you along with a car, it quickly feels like your life is about to flash before your eyes.
6. Stores Being Consistently Open Throughout the Day: Some stores take a break during the day and close for an hour or so. It's easy to forget to check beforehand and walk all the way somewhere just for it to be closed.
7. Diet Coke: As a diet coke addict, I'm constantly missing my soda of choice. There may be close options such as Coke Zero, but nothing truly compares.
8. Free Water at Restaurants: it's safe to say I took free water at restaurants for granted. Now I'm stuck paying at least 2 to 3 Euros just for plain ol' water, at that point I might as well just spend 1 euro extra and get soda that'll actually be worth paying for.
9. People picking up their dog poop: I know this is really weird and random, but it's frustrating having to constantly stare down at the ground. I'm not kidding you when I say I can't walk 50 feet without stepping in dog poop. I thought it was bad in the United States seeing it from time to time, but here it's 100x worse.
10. Trash Service: This is another really odd one, but this is something I definitely took for granted. I miss the days of just filling up my trash barrel and rolling it down the driveway once a week. Now I have to walk my trash to a trash area that's 5+ minutes away. Let me also remind you they only sell small trash bags, similar to the kind you'd use in a bathroom. so we have to take the trash out basically bi-daily.
11. Public Bathrooms: it's somewhat rare to find public bathrooms, never mind free ones. I always tried avoiding using public bathrooms in the United States, but now I can surely say I miss them. It's quite inconvienant for there to be no bathrooms or to not have any coins on you.
12. Friends & Family: As cliche as it might sound, nothing compares to spending time with those you love most. With an ocean between us and a 6 hour time difference, it's hard to be away from home.
