Ciao tutti!
It’s hard to believe I’ve already spent a month in Italy. At the same time, it feels like I’ve been living here for years. The last month has been both immensely busy and refreshingly simple. It is so beautiful and everyone is so friendly that it's easy to let go of your worries and let the slow flow of life pull you away.
I was fortunate to be on the same flight with another student heading to Northern Italy, so we helped each other at throughout the flight and afterwards with customs and finding our host families. My host mom, dad, sister, and my host sister from my second host family met me at the airport and took me to their home which was about an hour from the airport in Milano. My first meal was a meat lasagna that was by far the best I've ever had and bread with prosciutto and a cheese from Napoli. After lunch, my host parents took me to meet my third host family. All of my host families are part of one big friend group, which is wonderful because I get to know them for more than just three months. They were also very nice, and their daughter also went on exchange for a year to Wisconsin so she knows what it is like.
I introduced my host family to chik-fil-a sauce, which everyone has loved. We try it with everything except pasta and pizza because, well, there are limits.
For the first ten days of my stay, I didn't have school, so I instead spent the time traveling to different nearby cities with my family like Como, Lecco, Milano, Merate, and other places near me. I met a lot of the exchange students and we went to many different places to walk around and talk. I have tried a lot of food since I've gotten here, and discovered a few of misconceptions. For instance, caprese is served with olive oil, salt, and oregano, not balsamic vinegar as it often is in the US. Some dishes I've tried are chicken ammatrice all Milanese (chicken fried in peanut oil), pizza with stuffed crust (thick crust stuffed with cheeses like ricotta or provolone), piadinas (a tortilla with fillings like prosciutto, lettuce, tomato, olive oil, and cheese), and, of course, a million and one types of pasta. I also visited bars (cafes but they also serve alcohol and sometimes small appetizers) with my host sister and her friends. We got together after dinner around 9:30-10 pm and get home between 1- 3 am. Her friends are all really kind and teach me all about Italian culture including music, jokes, and curse words (sometimes unintentionally).
I also went to a birthday party for the dad of my second host family. We played beach volleyball (called pallovolo in italian) with the family and many family friends. It was a lot of fun, and everyone treated me like family and encouraged me in everything I did. After pallovolo, we went to a bar and ate a bunch of appetizers for dinner including cold mini pizza slices, vegetable salad, and rice and corn. I got to talk to a lot of people and learn more about Italian culture, especially around birthdays. This is one of my favorite experiences so far on my exchange and I can't wait until I have time to play pallovalo with them again!
I've made a few classic dishes from the US for my host family so far including PB&J, eggs Benedict, and pancakes. It was really fun to see their reactions to the differences in our cultures, like peanut butter and jelly being a good mix and introducing them to the wonders of brunch.
After the first ten days, school began. I started a day later than everyone else, and on my first day, I only went in for a couple of hours to meet my class. My class was very excited to meet me on the first day, and even since then they always say hi whenever they see me and are always patient while I try to speak italian.
School is very different in Italy, between the schedule, the class setup, and how material is taught. School begins at 8:10 and ends at 12:55 for four days a week and at 1:50 for the other two days. Yes, school is 6 days a week here. Saturday school is (unfortunately) not a punishment but a weekly occurrence. In addition to having an extra day of school, we also take 11 subjects instead of the 7 or 8 I'm used to. Additionally, there are no electives, so every class is a core subject, except for Religion which is optional and has no tests. In Italy, a lot of the tests are oral, meaning that the teachers will interrogate you (it is literally called an interrogation) on what you have been learning in the class. It is very difficult, so you have to study a lot to be able to get good grades. Fortunately, unlike the US, you can fail 2 subjects and still not have to retake the year. And, as is the case with most countries, the teachers are the ones who switch classrooms, not the students, so you have the same class the whole year (and for all of high school), which means that the class is very tight-knit and aware of new people.
During the weekend after my first day of school I had the chance to go to a fair/festival happening in Brivio, a town very close to mine. I went with Isabella (my host sister) and some friends (different then the ones I go to bars with) to grab pizza at a famous place in the area, then went with them to the festival at around 10:30. There were mostly only college students. It is very common for kids in Italy to smoke, so almost everyone was smoking also. We met up with a group of people that consisted of friends, friends of friends, and strangers. I got to hear a lot of popular italian music and meet a lot of new people, which I really enjoyed. A lot of people here assume I am older than I am, which is amusing to me. The fair was very similar to one you might see in the US but later at night. I got home at 3 am and was very tired, so I slept in the next morning. I returned to the festival the following night with my host mom for a party with her colleagues. We watched the fireworks show over the lake that signaled the end of the festival which was incredible and I'm very glad I was able to see it.
Last week was also fashion week in Milano, so I went with a French exchange student who happened to be interested in fashion (I'm not trying to stereotype but like...) and we walked all around Milano. There were a lot of modles posing next to brands and in the middle of walkways, and we actually got to talk to one of them. She told us she was Miss Italia from 2015, and she was really kind and obviously beautiful. We ran into her a few more times around the city while we were walking around. Fashion week is also apparently a very popular place for K-Pop stars because there were crowds of people everywhere waiting for famous people to come out, and we saw one being escorted by bodyguards out of Prada. There were a lot of limousines and SUVs around the city and it was really interesting to see. Milano itself is also beautiful. There are plants hanging from balconies and the streets are cobblestone and picturesque. There are so many shops and people from all over the world. I saw a bank from China and heard at least 8 different languages being spoken over the course of the day. And amongst it all was the stunning style of Milano. Even if you walk out the door in your best outfit, you will still be left feeling underdressed after seeing people walk down the streets of Milano in an incredible show of fashion.
Even when outside the city, there is plenty of nature to be discovered and explored. I live about 45 minutes from the mountains and about an hour from Switzerland, and it is amazing to hike them and see the view of the Alps in Italy, Switzerland, and France all from one place.
While the sights, food, and people are all amazing, I am in a different country with a completely different language. However, even though it was difficult at first to try to recount stories and tell people important things, it has been getting easier. In fact, I struggle most with listening because it's difficult to understand when people speak quickly or a lot at once. I'm sure it will get better the longer I listen, though, and it's already started improving. While a lot of the younger generation in Italy has some knowledge of English, getting them to speak Italian with me hasn't been a problem, and I hope it stays that way in the future.
Overall, my first month has flown by in a gust of events, experiences, and so many new people. It has been one of the strangest things to be in a place where the only person you know is yourself, but it is also one of the most rewarding and inspiring ways to figure out who you are as a person without the influence of people you've always known. I think this is the most impactful thing I've experienced on my exchange so far, and it has made my decision to leave worth it in every way.
If you find my story interesting, check out the journals from other people from Georgia who went abroad this year at https://ryese.org/student/students?type=2
Fino alla prossima volta! (until next time!)
Riley Paré
Riley, What’s the name of the town you’re staying in?