Please enjoy this update from our outbound exchange student, Chloe:
Hello!
I first want to start off by saying thank you! Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity! I have been loving a single second of my exchange so far! I am so happy to be in Turin, Italy!
I first want to start off by saying that I love Turin! It has been very interesting living in a bigger city, there are about one million people living in Turin. It is very easy to get around with public transportation like buses and the subway. There are so many things to do here, whether shopping, going to museums, or going to see different monuments around the city!
School has been going very well! It's starting to become easier to understand the teachers in class. I am also taking Italian as a Second Language at school, which has helped me a lot with grammar and speaking Italian correctly. All of the students are all really nice at my school too! They make me feel very welcomed and they are patient with me when I try to speak Italian but also correct me when I make mistakes to help me learn! I have also gotten involved in a couple of clubs at school!
I love my host family! They are so kind to me and I have felt loved since the moment they picked me up from the airport! I help out around the house as much as I can, but my favourite things to do are cook and help my younger host siblings with English. It is interesting seeing students here learn English and and how the foreign language classes are structured differently in the United States and Italy. I also love learning how to cook Italian food! It's really fun to help my host mom cook dinner every night so I can learn new recipes! My favourite foods here are pasta alla pesto (pesto pasta), risotto giallo (literally "Yellow Risotto" but its a rice dish with saffron, onions, and zucchini), gelato, and coffee!
I am thankful because I have gotten to travel a lot! Last month I went down to Calabria, a region in southern Italy, for Orientation. I have been all around Piedmont (my region in Italy), and to Liguria, the region south of Piedmont. Next weekend I am so excited because my host Rotary District is taking all of the Inbound students to Geneva, Switzerland for Rotary Day at the United Nations. We are going to discuss the importance of cross-cultural education opportunities (like exchange years and study abroad programs in college) and how they contribute to international peace and cooperation!
Again, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity! I am so thankful that I get to spend the next year of my life here!
Chloe Clemenson