CULTURES are colliding at the Nowra Anglican College, with an Italian exchange student learning what it’s like to be an Australian High School student while teaching his Callala Bay host family about Italian life.
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Sixteen-year-old Francesco, from Turin in northern Italy, has been with his host family for almost two months and is studying year 11 at NAC during his time in the country.
A desire to improve his English and a childhood fascination with Australian fauna led the teenager to choose Australia as his exchange destination.
“I’ve always wanted to improve my English and keep making it better and better and I remember as a child seeing a kangaroo and saying ‘wow’ so when my parents gave me the opportunity to do this I chose Australia,” Francesco said.
He is almost two months into his stay and is noticing the differences between Australian and Italian life.
“The school is very different – it’s all one storey, not like Italy.
“Also it’s very different, in Italy we are in the one room all day with the same people and the teacher comes to us.
“The roads are very different as well, we drive on the other side of the road and it’s very different being here, but my English is getting better and I’m getting used to all of that as well.”
Host family member Rhydian Taylor, 16, who is in year 10 at NAC, said having Francesco around had taught him some things as well.
“He’s taught me some Italian and a lot about Italian culture and how they live, which has been really interesting,” Rhydian said.
“It’s been good to make a new friend and also now I’ve got a place to stay if I ever go to Italy.”
With around four months left in his stay, Francesco still has some things to tick off his to-do list.
“I want to visit and explore Sydney and keep improving my English.
“Also I want to catch more waves surfing. We went once and after 10 minutes I nearly died while Rhydian caught all the waves.”
Francesco’s exchange is organised through the World Education Program, which uses volunteer host families.
For information on exchange or hosting opportunities call 1300 88 4733 or visit www.wep.org.au.