In this Language Study Abroad course, Professor Tania Convertini’s students were challenged to not just be “colonial students”, eagerly observing the new world from a safe veranda. Instead, they connected with places and communities they encountered abroad with openness and empathy. They learned how to observe, ask, listen, and reflect. Guided in the process by a Milanese urban sociologist, a Roman street artist, and a cultural facilitator in a small medieval village, they learned the difference between seeing and looking, meeting and engaging with new people and cultural perspectives, and this helped them become more inter-culturally agile.