My name is Lauren Lum and I’m a Junior majoring in Computer Science with a minor in creative writing. I’ve always loved traveling, and have enjoyed visiting other countries with friends and family. My favorite trips, however, have been to places where I knew locals; during these trips, I could get a better look at the culture of the area and visit places that weren’t the usual tourist attractions. This is why I’m especially excited for this trip- while I’m, of course, looking forwards to seeing the architecture and sights of Italy, I’m more enthusiastic about learning more about Italy’s culture and the people who live there. My perception of Italy now is very surface-level; it’s limited to things I’ve seen in movies or heard about in history classes or the news. I’m familiar with some of the famous buildings or structures of Italy such as the Colosseum or the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but beyond that I don’t know much about the culture. All I can picture when I think of Italy is old architecture and tourist attractions; I am interested to see how modernized the cities are from my perception. I also know very little of the culture in Italy, so my view of Italian people is generalized to encompass all European people; if I were to assume, I’d say they likely have a better work-life balance than in the United States. I also do not know much about the diversity in Italy, but I believe that the country is less diverse than the United States. Thinking about my expectations reminded me of what Ode Botton “The Art of Travel”, where the speaker goes on a trip with his wife that does not end up to be as perfect and idealistic as he had anticipated. When considering a brochure he had seen and obsessed over before starting his trip to the location in the brochure, he says, “The longing provoked by the brochure was an example, at once touching and bathetic, of how projects (and even whole lives) might be influenced by the simplest and most unexamined images of happiness; of how a lengthy and ruinously expensive journey might be set into motion by nothing more than the sight of a photograph of a palm tree gently inclining in a tropical breeze” (Ode Botton 8). In Ode Botton’s travel experience, he let his preconceived notions of the Barbados (formed by a particularly enchanting brochure) set his expectations impossibly high for the actual location. As he traveled, every slight inconvenience ruined his perfect view of the island. Considering this, I believe that it might be better that I have little knowledge of the country of Italy and its culture beyond famous landmarks and broad geographical information; this will give me the capacity to adapt to problems I might run into abroad while not ruining any expectations I held before the trip. I don’t think any place is the can be the flawless location that Ode Botton expected before he left; in this sense, expecting too much before traveling is only setting yourself up for disappointment. I don’t have extensive knowledge about Italy’s culture, but I’m satisfied by that- and I’m excited to learn more about it when I visit.
Italy Imagined 