Brittany Hopa - QLD to Italy
Sun 21 Jun 2009
Brittany Hopa is currently on a one year student exchange to Italy. She writes:
"Ciao Student Exchange!!
Well, I'm here in Turin, Italy and wow what a wonderful place it is. I've been here for almost 3 months now and I've never seen so many wonderful things!
First of all my family is the best. I have a host sister who is just a few months younger than me and we get along like we were meant to be sisters. My mother is one of the best cooks in the world! She makes a good pizza. She's also so nice it’s crazy. My father, although he doesn't speak English, is so awesome! He pretty much just lets me do whatever I like.
My school is seriously different from my school in Australia. It’s so strange, because I wake up every morning at 6:30am to go to start school at 8:10am, and then I finish at 13:30pm! It’s amazing. However, I don't have lunch until I get home so I'm starving!! But there's a bar I can go to, however I choose not to. Haha. My classmates are so nice and super open, it’s great. They always ask me if I need help or if there's anything I need. I love it. The teachers are pretty good to, although I do not like my Italian teacher or my MATH teacher. Haha. It’s normal I suppose. Every day I have to say or read something in Italian and to be honest I'm always so embarrassed! Haha.
The city is one of my favourite places to go, especially the center of Turin. There are so many museums and galleries that are like ancient! It’s beautiful. And I can't even believe I'm here. It’s so normal that it's not normal. My Italian friends have seen Brisbane and they think it’s absolutely the best!! I always tell them that they have something wonderful in front of them; they always tell me it’s old and boring. Haha. Some of these buildings are over 300 or more years old!! Crazy. I can't even begin to describe how beautiful this place is. There are mountains on one side of the city and hills on the other, with of course the famous Po River running through it.
Okay so the language thing is a little more difficult than I expected, but I'm still trying to get all the possible learning in that I can. Speaking of learning, so many students study for hours and hours at a time it’s hectic! I don't think I could ever in my life study in ALL of my spare time, yet I'm actually starting to do so. *screams*. Haha. But it’s mainly focused on the language. I don't think I can survive without it.
I arrived here half way to the end of winter and let me tell you it was FREEZING. So my first piece of advise would be bring as many warm clothes as possible! I had to buy a few jumpers and jackets when I got here. So for the most part of winter I got myself involved in Snowboarding. What an experience that was! It wasn't my first time but it was definitely so much better, due to the fact I am super good. No I'm joking, I'm actually pretty average. However, it was so fun and not expensive at all. Now that its spring, my family and I have been going to a pretty place called Diano Marina, near the beach. They have nice beaches, but I'm soon to go to the best one, in Sardegna. Oooh can't wait.
My sweet 16th was celebrated here!! That's the photo with my class. The words on the blackboard say 'Happy Birthday Brooke'. Brooke is my twin sister and therefore I decided to dedicate that photo to her. I'm the one the only one with a red headband and the one doing the 'rock' symbol. Haha. Well my sweet 16th in Italy was definitely something I'm never going to forget. I had a pizza with about 35 people including my friends from school, my sisters friends that I knew and the 3 other exchange students here in Turin, along with their host siblings. Oh it was so great. I got so many presents too. So amazing.
I can safely say that for now I still haven't gotten home sick or even miss Australia, however I do miss my twin sister and I very much hope to see her soon."
Ciao ciao
from Torino, Italia
Brittany
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