Simona Giupponi’s account: from San Giovanni Bianco (BG) to Grove City – Ohio (USA) for a year with Intercultura and the support of Fondazione Pesenti.
1st QUARTER: SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2020
Relationship with the host family
The relationship with my host family is fantastic; they are very friendly, open to dialogue and discussion. They help me when I need it, always giving me some autonomy. The host mom, from day one, asked if she could correct me both in pronunciation and sentence formation, as long as I didn’t get offended, and of course, I accepted. They are also a little bit “crazy” (for lack of a better word), in the sense that they love joking and are very sarcastic. They welcomed me with open arms from the very first day and treat me as if I were their own daughter; you can tell they care about me a lot.
Relationship with the host community and friends
My relationships with the community are all positive. Due to the health situation, I haven’t had the chance to go out alone or have many experiences. However, once a week I attend a youth group at what we call the “oratory,” and we have fun playing board games, singing, or discussing a topic. I really like this group because they are always helpful and ready to assist others. Moreover, they didn’t make me feel like a stranger but welcomed me. So far, I have two friends. I met them at school and I must say they have helped me a lot from day one. One of them, as soon as she heard I was arriving, reserved me a spot at the cafeteria next to her without even knowing me.
School integration and academic and social performance
My integration at school was quite fast and natural. I quickly understood how to follow the lessons; here, every hour you change classrooms. It’s the students who move, not the teachers. Classes are not very crowded, ranging from a minimum of 6 to a maximum of 12 students per course.
Regarding academic performance, all subjects are on the same level. So far, I have A+ in all subjects. The relationship with teachers is totally different from Italy. Teachers are treated with respect, but if there is a problem, it is immediately discussed and resolved without fear. Because of this, there are no class councils like those in Italy.
Extracurricular activities
So far, I haven’t found any extracurricular activities that interest me, especially since I finish school at 3:30 pm every day and have to go home to study, as I need more time than my American classmates to do homework and study.
3 positive things I will never forget:
The love my family gives me every day.
The laughs with my classmates and the happy moments we share.
The daily flag salute before lessons start.
3 negative things I will never forget:
The first day of school, because I was very nervous.
For now, this is the only negative thing in my experience.
Other – anecdotes
All my classmates asked me if Italian is a language and claim that the best pizza is theirs because they were the ones who invented it.
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