My name is Amy and I had the
privilege of studying abroad in the beautiful country of Italy. While in the
small town of Viterbo I had the most incredible language buddy, Federica. She
took us to festivals, concerts and helped us acclimate to a new culture and
town. In addition, she would help me with my Italian homework and kindly
correct me on my grammar and pronunciation. Federica made adapting to the
Italian lifestyle easier and I don't know how I would have survived without
her.
While in Viterbo the director of
study abroad, DeDe Long, was in town for the board of directors meeting. She
told my roommate, Hannah, and I that three Italian boys from Torino would be
studying at the U of A in the fall. We already couldn't wait to meet them and
DeDe encouraged us to get involved in the Pals program. This program is a way
to connect international exchange students with American students at Arkansas.
I couldn't wait to show them around and continue to make new friends from other
cultures.
After returning to the U of A in
August I picked my Pal, Francesco, up from the airport and moved him into
his dorm. Throughout the international student orientation week we had many
opportunities to get together for trips to Sonic, Walmart and later that week
we all went to a soccer game where I had the opportunity to meet the other
international students including, Giacomo and Alfredo.
I loved getting to show them around
Fayetteville and introduce them to new things such as peanut butter, American
football and chicken finger Friday. The three Italians cooked us authentic
Italian dinners, taught us how to play some guitar and introduced us to classic
Italian card games.
They were excited to travel around the country and the five
of us took a road trip up to my hometown, Kansas City. We went up to the top of
the World War I museum, toured the Country Club Plaza and ate enough barbecue
to last a lifetime.
I hope to have made their
acclimation to Fayetteville smooth but what was unexpected was how they made my
transition back to Fayetteville easier. After returning back to America from
five months in Italy I experienced reverse culture shock. Coming back in August
to a full schedule, RSO commitments and a ton to catch up on, these three boys
brought Italy to Arkansas. The group of exchange students bring the spirit of
studying abroad and adventure to Fayetteville. Whether you have studied abroad
before, speak another language or just want to learn about other cultures I
would encourage every student to apply to be a Pal!
If you are interested in becoming an Exchange Student Pal, make sure you sign up for our Frequent Flyer here: http://studyabroad.uark.edu/getting-started/sign-up-for-the-listserv.php. Application information is announced via the listserv usually in June for the fall semester and November for the spring semester.
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Amy Cosgrove, Study Abroad Peer Advisor
Amy Cosgrove, Study Abroad Peer Advisor
