Hello! My name is Chase Lee, and I am currently a senior at College of Charleston. I have been studying abroad in Rome, Italy fora little over a month now, and I absolutely love it! I am so grateful for this opportunity, this trip has already been something I will remember for the rest of my life.

John Cabot University is a little different than College of Charleston. For example, classes are held Monday-Thursday instead of Monday-Friday. Also, the school has a lot less students—1,000 compared to 11,000. I’ve been loving my classes so far. I’m a marketing major and getting an international perspective on the marketing world has been very interesting.

On the weekends study abroad students usually travel outside of Rome to different countries/cities. So far I have been to Frascati, which is a small town outside of Rome and I toured a beautiful winery. I also have been to Santa Marinella, which is a small beach town outside of Rome. I swam in the ocean, and it was incredible. This past weekend I went to Barcelona, and It was one the best three days of my life. I saw so many cool sights and ate some amazing foods.

The food in Rome has also been incredible, I have yet to have had a bad meal. I went to a restaurant that served homemade ravioli, and it changed my life. Something that took some getting used to in Italy, however, was eating at a later time than in America. Most people in Italy eat lunch from 2:00-3:00pm and eat dinner from 10:00-11:00pm.

I’ve also been learning a little bit of the Italian language. I’ve picked up on a few words and phrases, and I’m getting better every day! I’ve noticed that most Italians are fluent in English, which is nice, but I do still try and make an effort to speak in Italian whenever I can. Overall, this first month in Italy has been amazing and I can’t wait to see what the rest of this trip has in store for me!