Ciao, Italy!

I stand at the gate and watch nervously. There it is; the flashing light that says its finally time to board the plane and head overseas. My hands shake a bit as I reach for my small bag that will be sustaining me for the hours upon hours of flying overseas. As I leave the airport and head to down the aisle to the plane, I turn to wave to my family. All four of them wave furiously as I shout in my happiest town, “Ciao! A presto!” Where am I going, you ask? Italy of course!
Although their country is similar to ours in several ways, I would have to be prepared for the culture shock I would receive when I arrived there. Possessions that would be absolutely necessary for my survival would be numerous. First on the list would definitely be my books. Novels to keep me in contact with some kind of culture while I was enduring the plane ride, my Bible to keep me grounded, and of course my various educational material for the trip at hand would all make the list. I would also need many pictures of my friends and family to remind me of the support I have from back home. As a tourist of the beautiful cities, my camera and video camera would be necessary as well.
As far as possessions to sustain me once I was in the country, clothes for every season would have to be on the list. I must admit that I am ignorant of the seasons and temperatures over there, but I would imagine it would be some what similar to ours. I would probably be splitting my time between the beautiful cities of Rome and Italy, so I would need clothes for both traveling on ground and on water. And then there are the toiletry necessities such as toothpaste and a toothbrush, contact solution, and others, but I won’t bore you with those details. Besides my cell phone for communication and my good tennis shoes for walking, I believe anything else I would need to sustain me would be found in the country itself.
Once in the city of Venice and Rome, I would need to obtain some kind of transportation. Each city is completely unique in that sense. In Venice, I would need to obtain some sort of gondola or boat to travel along the water to get from place to place. In Rome, I would get my hands on one of those sporty little two seater cars I have seen around. Each would be an adventure to learn how to maneuver!
I do believe that things I desire would be translatable over there. I am enrolled in an Italian class currently, and I am learning much about their greetings and culture. Much of what they like and dislike appear to be similar to the United States. Like I mentioned earlier, the extent of my knowledge of the country does not exceed that of what I have seen in movies and read about in my Italian book, but the pictures alone spark my desire to see the country for my own. One thing that would take a bit getting used to would be the formal and informal use of the words. Hopefully I would be literate enough to know when I was using the correct verb-age to speak to the governmental figures over there! Once I got a hand on the language, I would be able to completely enjoy immersing myself in the culture and becoming just like an Italian citizen for six whole months.