Photo courtesy of Alisa Nascimento
I rarely hear people recall their Rome semester as anything less than amazing or life-changing. In more ways than one, my time in Europe reshaped my view of myself and the world.
I Googled “how to look less like a tourist in Italy.” Only after I arrived in Europe did I realize that none of this mattered. My initial worry was that I’d be seen right away as an American. In retrospect, I never considered that I might stand out even more for being Asian.
During our class trip to Greece, my “otherness” stood out. While exploring one of the many boutiques in Hydra, a friend and I entered a shop where a friendly woman greeted us, asking where we were from. When we both responded that we were from America, the woman smiled, but looked pointedly at me and said, “Not you.”