Valentina Segala’s account from Treviglio (BG), Italy to Bourges, France for a year with Intercultura and with the support of the Pesenti Foundation.
FIRST TRIMESTER: SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2021
Relationship with my host family: My host family consists of two parents and two daughters, aged 15 and 13. I get along very well with all of them. From the very first day, they welcomed me as if I had always been part of the family, and during moments of homesickness, they never hesitate to comfort me with a hug. We laugh and talk about everything together, and when I make language mistakes, they help and correct me. They are also very interested in my school life and give me a lot of freedom when it comes to going out, as long as I let them know when and with whom.
I especially get along with my 15-year-old host sister: we watch films and TV series together, sing, walk the dog, and we love chatting about everything. We have a very open relationship, probably because of our similar age and because she will also go abroad soon with AFS.
Interaction with my host community and friends It wasn’t easy at first to integrate into this new reality, and the French are not the warmest people I’ve met, so making friends at school was challenging. Over time, I’ve found a group of people I can spend time with and who accept me for who I am, although we still need time to get to know each other better.
Outside of school, I’ve met many people by joining a volleyball team. In fact, it was through volleyball that I met some very kind, polite, and sociable girls and boys with whom I enjoy spending time.
I’ve also built a strong bond with a Swiss girl here in my city who’s also doing an exchange with AFS. She’s the one I go out with most often, and I find it really nice to have a friend who truly understands what I’m feeling in certain situations.
Overall, I have a great connection with all the other hosted students in my region, even if they live quite far away. That’s why we often plan days to meet somewhere and spend time together.
My academic experience: school performance and relationships Despite the long school days (sometimes until 6 p.m.), the limited time to do homework, and the language barrier (which has definitely lessened), I can’t complain: I actively participate in lessons, although sometimes I struggle with the language and hesitate to answer.
As for grades, although the tests often require answering a problèmatique making them more complex, I get great results and have one of the highest averages in the class.
My relationship with the teachers is not much different from the one I had in Italy. I spend most of my time with the same girls, and I haven’t connected much with other classmates because, unlike in Italy, there are both core and elective classes, which makes it hard to form close bonds with others.
My free time I don’t have much free time since school lasts until late afternoon. My real free time is on Wednesday afternoons and weekends.
On these days, I either go downtown in Bourges with the Swiss girl to eat and shop, or I stay home to do homework, play volleyball (training or matches), visit my host grandmother who lives an hour away, or organize something with the other hosted students in the region.
What impressed me most about this country France impressed me with:
– Its vast, desolate, flat, and cultivated landscapes, painted in yellow and green, dotted with scattered villages with just a few, identical houses—so different from the Italy I know.
– Its approach to education: in exams, not only is knowledge required, but also the ability to reflect; school days are very long and intense.
– The abundance of boulangeries and pâtisseries on every corner.
– The prices of certain products, which are a bit higher than in Italy.
Three words to describe my experience so far (and why I chose them)
– Unpredictable → because I didn’t expect it to be this difficult but at the same time so beautiful to find yourself in a foreign country without your family, thrown into a new environment, constantly speaking a language that’s not your own, and most of all, being appreciated for who you are with no filters.
– Difficult → because, contrary to what I thought, getting to know people, integrating into a group, speaking another language, and understanding people who don’t speak textbook French isn’t as easy as it seems.
– Homesickness → because there have been many moments when I missed my family and friends, but despite everything, I can’t say I regret choosing to come here.
Anecdotes / Open Comment We Italians are used to eating well, and the whole world envies our cuisine, but attempts at replicating Italian dishes here are truly disastrous. I’ve seen people eat pasta without sauce as a side dish for meat, pasta with sugar, and pizzas with inedible toppings—and these are just a few examples.
Aside from that, the French are always ready to sit around the table and chat or invite friends over for dinner at a moment’s notice. After a while, they turn out to be a sociable and kind people, even if they may seem cold and distant at first.
