Time and Space
There are many ways to try and explain a study abroad experience, but the best description I’ve come up with is “a dream outside of space and time.” Although we created new lives and new realities here in Venice, it hardly feels real. Two important parts of my new reality are time and space—specifically the timing of life and the transformation of Casa Artom from a space to a place.
I can’t remember which class first brought up the idea of “the timing of life,” but the phrase stuck with me. The timing of life is a habitual but substantial portion of daily citizenship, and it’s easy to make a comparison between the United States and Italy. Stereotypical as it may be, the Italians are known for a more relaxed approach to life’s daily activities, but there remains a level of intentionality. I remember our “Venice Today” professors sharing a practice of elderly, Venetian women in which they take walks, holding onto each other, for the purpose of checking in and catching up on life. Small acts of citizenship like this affect our daily lives. Crystal shared during her informative speech that Europeans actually have a higher life expectancy than Americans—one reason for which I believe is better mental health with the help of intentional daily practices.
The timing of my life here in Venice has slowed down in large part because my time has been stripped of extracurricular activities. All Wake students are trained—even before matriculating—to devotedly participate in campus organizations. With fewer obligations, I can focus on parts of my life which hold greater consequence, such as relationships and well-being.
In the process of slowing down life’s timing, Casa Artom has developed from a beautiful space on the Grand Canal to a place that I cannot fathom leaving in December. Without realizing it, my first experience with space-to-place transformation came through living in Wake Forest’s theme housing program. When our theme was not assigned the same space for this year, we discussed the future consequences of moving from a house to an apartment. How important is the space of 1145 Polo Road to our theme? What turned it into a place? I have yet to reach a definite conclusion. I suspect that a space becomes a place because of the people inhabiting it, but certain spaces are more conducive to place-making than others.
Jennifer E. Cross categorizes different relationships to places in her article “What is Sense of Place?” My two relationships to Casa Artom are biographical and ideological. Biographical relationships develop through historical and familial bonds. My relationship to Casa Artom is biological because of my “relatively long residence” here, but more importantly because it is “an integral part of [my] personal history.” Ideological relationships are created—not felt—by following “conscious values and beliefs about how humans should relate to physical places.” A huge part of our existence in Casa Artom is constantly thinking about how to respectfully live in this space alongside other people. Casa Artom is a beautiful space, but it would not become a place for me if I lived here with just anyone. On the other hand, this class of Casa “Artomians” would not be able to turn any space into a place.
My role as a citizen of Casa Artom is the most important part of my study abroad experience, and I identify as a citizen of the space because it has become a place with the help of my housemates. Together, we’re living in an alternate reality hallmarked by a “timing of life” that can’t be found at Wake Forest.
There are many ways to try and explain a study abroad experience, but the best description I’ve come up with is “a dream outside of space and time.” Although we created new lives and new realities here in Venice, it hardly feels real. Two important parts of my new reality are time and space—specifically the timing of life and the transformation of Casa Artom from a space to a place.
I can’t remember which class first brought up the idea of “the timing of life,” but the phrase stuck with me. The timing of life is a habitual but substantial portion of daily citizenship, and it’s easy to make a comparison between the United States and Italy. Stereotypical as it may be, the Italians are known for a more relaxed approach to life’s daily activities, but there remains a level of intentionality. I remember our “Venice Today” professors sharing a practice of elderly, Venetian women in which they take walks, holding onto each other, for the purpose of checking in and catching up on life. Small acts of citizenship like this affect our daily lives. Crystal shared during her informative speech that Europeans actually have a higher life expectancy than Americans—one reason for which I believe is better mental health with the help of intentional daily practices.
The timing of my life here in Venice has slowed down in large part because my time has been stripped of extracurricular activities. All Wake students are trained—even before matriculating—to devotedly participate in campus organizations. With fewer obligations, I can focus on parts of my life which hold greater consequence, such as relationships and well-being.
In the process of slowing down life’s timing, Casa Artom has developed from a beautiful space on the Grand Canal to a place that I cannot fathom leaving in December. Without realizing it, my first experience with space-to-place transformation came through living in Wake Forest’s theme housing program. When our theme was not assigned the same space for this year, we discussed the future consequences of moving from a house to an apartment. How important is the space of 1145 Polo Road to our theme? What turned it into a place? I have yet to reach a definite conclusion. I suspect that a space becomes a place because of the people inhabiting it, but certain spaces are more conducive to place-making than others.
Jennifer E. Cross categorizes different relationships to places in her article “What is Sense of Place?” My two relationships to Casa Artom are biographical and ideological. Biographical relationships develop through historical and familial bonds. My relationship to Casa Artom is biological because of my “relatively long residence” here, but more importantly because it is “an integral part of [my] personal history.” Ideological relationships are created—not felt—by following “conscious values and beliefs about how humans should relate to physical places.” A huge part of our existence in Casa Artom is constantly thinking about how to respectfully live in this space alongside other people. Casa Artom is a beautiful space, but it would not become a place for me if I lived here with just anyone. On the other hand, this class of Casa “Artomians” would not be able to turn any space into a place.
My role as a citizen of Casa Artom is the most important part of my study abroad experience, and I identify as a citizen of the space because it has become a place with the help of my housemates. Together, we’re living in an alternate reality hallmarked by a “timing of life” that can’t be found at Wake Forest.