Hello everybody! I am Federica and I am currently living in the United States for my exchange year. I live in Idaho, in a small town in the countryside called Middleton. Since nobody is able to pronounce my name, around here I am just Fedi and I am about to show some of the best adventures I had so far as well as my first impressions.
Flights and camp
I left on the 27th of July, ready to jump on the two flights that were waiting for me with two of my classmates, Aurora and Federico. I took part in the EF camp in Pennsylvania, it was by far the best experience of my entire life. I spend ten days with exchange students from all over the world, and even though we ended up in different states, I know our bond will last forever. I remember how excited I was when I first saw the camp, even more, when I saw my roommate Zophia from Norway. She became my best friend as soon as she started talking, we see each other at least once a month since she lives 15 minutes from my house in Idaho. At camp, we went to school for 5 hours in the morning and did incredibly funny activities in the afternoon. My favorites were the Baseball game where nobody was understanding the rules but kept cheering; the amusement park and the trip to New York. On the last day, everybody was feeling so excited to finally see our host families but so sad because we had to give up our new routine.
Host family
The flight from New York to my Host family was a nightmare. I should have gotten home on August 5th but the plane broke so I waited for almost two days at the airport. On the 7th of August, I finally got to Boise, the capital of Idaho, I remember being so nervous and doubtful, but as soon as I hugged my host mother I felt at home. My host family is made up of my mother, my Nani (my grandmother), a huge grey cat, and Buddy the so-called rat dog. After four months I can say that I am not just their exchange student, I consider them my real family. They succeeded in making me feel at home from the first day I got here, making me their own daughter and “Italian princess”.
Soccer
My Italian father has been a soccer coach for his whole life, he had always tried to get me into the sport but I never even wanted to hear about it. I would have never thought that it could happen, but one week before school started, I tried out for the soccer team and after the longest 10 days of my life, I made it. I was the manager for both the varsity and JV teams for the season. The girls thought me how important sport is in American culture, I realized how bonded their team was and how fast they made me feel like one of them. We had two games per week and practiced every day. The season ended in October and I miss seeing my girls every single afternoon, ready to run 3 miles and kick balls even though they could never get my name right!
High school
On August 15th I started school. I was super excited but I wasn’t worried since I already had my soccer team by my side. The school has 2000 people and most of the kids here are Mormons since they make up the majority of my town. School is a lot different here, you pick the periods that you like the most making your own schedule. I spend seven hours at school every day, my first period is Junior English, then I have Photo class, Maths, Spanish, Street Law, Film as Literature, and US History. My favorite class is Street Law because we debate on law cases, Mr. Dawley is by far the best teacher I could have asked for. We have half an hour for lunch when we can get out of school or stay in the cafeteria, I always go out with my friends. In October I went to Hoco, it was the first ball and felt like a dream.
Friends
My biggest fear was being alone and not being able to make friends. What I can say to upcoming exchange students is: jump. American people are super interested in international students and they will ask you tons of questions about your home countries, but they are not used to expanding their groups. If you want to hang out, you are the one that needs to ask, and I think that was the hardest thing to do. Now, after 4 months here I have my own group. We ride horses together, we watch football games, and we go to the drive-in theater. American people don’t really show physical affection, but I influenced them and now they hug me every single time they see me.
Since I got here, I started appreciating the little things. I didn’t end up in California, on a breathtaking beach, I am surrounded by farms, cowboys, and never-ending fields and I love it. Leaving home was the hardest thing I have ever done, when you sign up for an exchange year you are risking everything you have. Now my year is already halfway gone and I am so proud of myself for risking it all, here I found the best version of myself and the best people I could have dreamt of. Being alone on the other side of the world teaches you that life is not always easy, it teaches you that nobody can save you or make you become who you want to be. You are the hero of your own story and you have to commit to the life you want to live. I have always considered home my little house in Sovere, surrounded by my family and the friends I had for my whole life. But now, I learned that home is wherever you feel at it. And here, in Middleton surrounded by my people I will always feel at home.
Febbre da Convitto. Il blog del Liceo Linguistico "Cesare Battisti" 