Stephanie Keogh - QLD to Italy

Thu 11 Feb 2010

Stephanie Keogh, from Cairns QLD, won a scholarship to go to Italy on a semester exchange program. She wrote the following piece to share her exciting, but at times challenging experience in Italy.

ITALY – AN EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME!

"What comes to mind when the words; pizza, pasta, gelato, the Pope, Ferrari’s and fashion are thrown into the same sentence? Why Italy of course and it is the country I am fortunate enough to be spending five months in for my exchange. Unfortunately it has dawned on me today that I am already half way through my exchange and in little than less than two months I will be back home in Australia!

My new found motto that I apply to every situation is, “live each and every moment like it was your last!” and in a way this is true. As I am typing this letter another few minutes in Italy have slipped me by and I am another few minutes closer to returning home. (This is something I am certainly not happy about!)

I am now living in a lovely, antique town situated in the very north of Italy called Udine which is in the Venezia-Friullan region. Udine is famous for its pullenta (a typical fruillan bread/ cornflake dish), sweet wine, prestigious schools and of course its ancient history!

I must say I am having an absolute ball here in Italy and I was extremely fortunate to be hosted by a generous and caring family, the Clocchiatti’s. Mind you I was a bit nervous about being hosted after the many horror stories I had heard from past exchange students using different exchange companies and I must say that Student Exchange Australia has certainly lived up to their excellent reputation. I have not been let down and they have gone out of their way to make sure that everything is perfect!

My host family is one in a million; you could say that the Clocchiatti’s are like my second family! I have a host dad; Walter (pronounced Valter), a host mum; Sonia and two lovely host sisters Susanna (17) and Camilla (16). However I am still to meet Susanna as she is on exchange in America for six months. I am overjoyed to have a host sister that is similar in age with me and I must say we get on extremely well. I love the fact that she is determined to change my look as well as teaching me the Italian way to apply make-up and being here two months has made me realise I am starting to be like her. However I believe that this is certainly a positive change. In Australia the words Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana would simply cause me to roll my eyes but now that I’m here in Italy each time I hear these words my heart jumps with excitement! (This is my host sister and her friends doing!) My host family and I have had many laughs together mainly about my crazy accent, my inability to speak Italian and Australia’s extremely short history. My host father often likes to state, “The history of Australia is ten pages long with a picture!” which in comparison to the history of Italy is true.

My host family have taken me on several outings to towns such as Cividale, Grado, Palmanova, Ingano, Trieste and various other trips to castles and other famous land marks. It’s been fantastic! I will never forget on one outing when I told my host family to try Australia’s typical spread Vegemite, their faces were priceless! I even brought Vegemite to school for my class mates to try and let’s just say I lost some friends that day.

Speaking of school I attend an extremely prestigious and difficult school called Uccellis with my host sister. The school is Europeo Classico where the main focus is languages therefore a majority of the lessons are in English and German. At school I am in class 3C which is similar with year eleven and I study about 11 or 12 subjects, one of them being Greek and Latin! This subject is certainly a laugh for me because I cannot understand Italian let alone these dead languages and the teacher is determined to make me learn. Let’s just say I admire her passion and determination!

It is common knowledge here in Udine that Uccellis is somewhat different to the majority of Italian schools because it is composed of a large amount of German exchange students (as it is a boarding school), we eat a three course lunch at school every day and school finishes at 6pm five days a week however on Saturday we finish at 1pm! Let’s just say I live for Saturday! However despite the long hours I have really started to enjoy school and have made some good friends in spite of my inability to speak Italian. The school has been extremely accommodating of me and has allowed me to change some of my lessons so that I can be exposed to more Italian and they have initiated Italian lessons for foreign students which I attend twice a week.

Although now I am having a good time I must admit that I have not found my exchange experience easy or smooth riding you could say. Each day is still an emotional rollercoaster! I believe I left Australia with the wrong attitude; I thought that within two weeks I would be dreaming in Italian, I would have heaps of friends and that I would not miss home at all. Let’s just say I was a little over confident and as a result culture shock hit me hard!

During the first month of my exchange I honestly wanted to return home, I felt isolated and lonely with the language barrier proving to be a huge obstacle. At school I had trouble fitting in and I was not a novelty in my class which made the process of making friends difficult. However with time and the guidance of past exchange students and my new found friend Jessica (another Aussie who was at my school) I managed to change my negative outlook and appreciate one day at a time. It was a great release to have Jess to talk to during lunch breaks as I could speak in English as fast as I wanted and she helped me overcome my home sickness and negativity.

I can now honestly say that my experience in Italy is improving with the fact that I have finally made some friends and I have involved myself in everything possible at school (Italian lessons for foreigners, theatre, and the journalist club). I have even made friends with the photocopying ladies at school because they can’t speak a word of English. I’m in Italy so why not? I love chatting with them however the teachers have clued onto the fact that I should not need to go to the “bathroom” once every hour.

Being in Italy has made me realise that learning a language is certainly not easy and is a slow process that requires determination and patience. My level of Italian is still very poor however I have noticed that I can understand more now and can actually have a conversation about something else apart from the weather. Also almost every day people are telling me that I am improving so that must be a good sign!

Well I need to translate this letter in Italian now because my host mum wants to read it. I would strongly recommend an exchange for anyone who is considering going! It is a challenge however it is an experience of a life time and in the words of Student Exchange Australia, “Experience is Everything!”

Lots of love from Stephanie Keogh in Udine, Italy"

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