Foreign Exchange Student from Italy (best, country, people, living) - Europe - City-Data Forum

aaliyah11203 · 08-08-2015, 08:21 PM

Hi everyone. In a few weeks, my family and I are hosting an Italian boy for a year. We are very much looking forward to meeting him and I am trying to make his transition as easy as possible. Is there anything in particular that I need to be aware of? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

KuuKulgur · 08-09-2015, 05:06 AM

Don't feed it after midnight.

bale002 · 08-09-2015, 05:38 AM

Make sure the pasta is "durum semolina" and don't overcook it.

If you overcook it, it's no good. It defeats its own purpose. Bring it over here! It's like a wet noodle!

Breakfast is at 8AM, lunch 1PM, and dinner 8PM. Like clockwork. Don't deviate.

xander.XVII · 08-09-2015, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaliyah11203

Hi everyone. In a few weeks, my family and I are hosting an Italian boy for a year. We are very much looking forward to meeting him and I am trying to make his transition as easy as possible. Is there anything in particular that I need to be aware of? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

This was something all English families did when I was hosted: try to cook Italian every time because most of English families are terrified of the bad reputation English food had.
I was lucky (3 families out of 4 cooked quite well) but I heard horror stories too.
Don't worry about cooking Italian, while it's true that we are quite picky about cuisine, most people prefer to try something else and we won't die without some pasta.
I had several good English meals and I never felt homesick.
Now, I don't know where you come from (I presume an English-speaking family usually) but I don't think that any culture has such a shock to make a young boy feel bad.
Be nice and kind (as you will be) and everything is going to be fine.

KuuKulgur · 08-09-2015, 03:43 PM

I'm sure that Italian exchange applied for this exchange to experience as much of Italy abroad as possible, because why not.

No, but seriously. Don't do anything to accommodate that exchange. But do everything to give a realistic experience of the culture/country you are living in.

aaliyah11203 · 08-09-2015, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xander.XVII

This was something all English families did when I was hosted: try to cook Italian every time because most of English families are terrified of the bad reputation English food had.
I was lucky (3 families out of 4 cooked quite well) but I heard horror stories too.
Don't worry about cooking Italian, while it's true that we are quite picky about cuisine, most people prefer to try something else and we won't die without some pasta.
I had several good English meals and I never felt homesick.
Now, I don't know where you come from (I presume an English-speaking family usually) but I don't think that any culture has such a shock to make a young boy feel bad.
Be nice and kind (as you will be) and everything is going to be fine.

Thank you for your advice. He seems to be open to new experiences and cultures. I do worry about him being home sick. This is our first year hosting and I don't really know what to expect.

aaliyah11203 · 08-09-2015, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KuuKulgur

I'm sure that Italian exchange applied for this exchange to experience as much of Italy abroad as possible, because why not.

No, but seriously. Don't do anything to accommodate that exchange. But do everything to give a realistic experience of the culture/country you are living in.

Thank you, i think this is the best advice yet