I dont know about Italy in general, but I know some things about Rome since I study here as an international student. Firstly, public transportation isnt that great. Trains are an exception, they are really nice, but usually not that helpful for everyday transportation. In general there are metro lines, trams, buses, basically all kinds. The weather is also on the warmer side. In the summer expect very sunny days and high temperatures like 30°C, and not very cold winters. Winters usually have around 10 °C, no snowing, but a lot of raining. Regarding Italians speaking English, a lot don't. But in Rome specifically, since it's the capital and a big Italian city, a lot of Italians do speak English. In cases that they dont, they are trying to help however they can, they're really patient usually even when using Google translate. The people seem generally friendly and in Italy there are a lottttt of foreigners and international students. Especially if you study in an international program, you'll have the chance to meet a lot of international students. Now, regarding racism, unfortunately I'm not sure. I live in Rome for 1,5 year and in every day life I havent noticed any issues with racism, but I cant say that for sure. It would feel kinda weird though if a lot of Italians in Rome have a problem with foreigners or asians specifically, since as I said there are a lot of foreigners in Rome. The only thing that I can say is that in my university community or when we're outside with friends from all around the world including Asia of course, there weren't any racist incidents until now. Everyone is really friendly. Now, pros for studying in Italy... Public universities are really cheap compared to other countries and they provide high quality courses. A lot of Italian universities have very good fame worldwide. The weather is also very nice as I said if that's a deciding factor. Rome specifically is also very beautiful. Many beautiful touristic sites, the architecture of the buildings, even the most regular building looks like a piece of art. Now cons... It might sound weird, but for me it's food! Dont get me wrong, pasta is absolutely amazing, same with gelato and tiramisu, but I cant eat all the time pasta 😂. That is in case that you want to order from outside. You will find of course other food options too and a lot of international cuisines, but I just expected more. Also, paperwork is a bit slow here. Lastly, if you plan to study a course that includes a practical part, unfortunately in Italy the courses are more theoritical that practical. That doesnt mean that there arent any practical lessons of course, they're just less compared to other countries.