There once was a girl who left home with two extremely large suitcases, no Italian language, and got lost in Italy.

So here it begins – two girls going to Europe for the first time, one from Kansas and the other from Oklahoma. We get on our supposed flight to Venice, but landed in some airport two hours away that looked like a shack in the middle of nowhere.

Running on a severe case of jet lag and believing sleazy Italians would rob me, I tried to figure out how to get back to Venice. The girl I traveled with was scared and about to cry. I felt the same way, but knew that someone here had to speak English and would help us out. No such luck. For the first time I realized I was not in Kansas anymore.

I felt so ignorant and lost in a world where Americans are not always welcome. More than once I heard the term “stupid American,” but what was I supposed to do? It hit me that as a society we lack knowledge of other cultures. We expect everyone to know about America and cater to us because everyone should speak English.

A little effort to understand the culture and language will get you a long way in other countries. Sadly many of my classmates have not realized this and continue to be sneered at as those “stupid Americans.”

Well, I might still be a “stupid American.” But I am trying and did get my friend and I to our hotel in one piece.

Sarah Davis, Norman, Okla.

Kansas University, journalism major