Saturday, August 29, 2009

Arrivederci Amiche Italiane

Well, our Intercultura / WAATI Italian cultural and linguistic exchange has come to an end. This year Mount Lawley SHS was blessed with the presence of cinque wonderful cultural ambassadors from Italy for two months. Amanda, Elisabetta, Federica, Libera and Noel brought a fresh taste of Italia to our school. Their willingness to collaborate with our teachers and students on a variety of learning opportunities including excursions, class activities, resource creation and one on one peer mentoring means that they will be greatly missed. Every staff member that interacted with these students has told me that they were a pleasure to work with and my Year 12 Italian students particularly told me, "ci mancheranno tanto". Auguri e complimenti ragazze, in bocca al lupo per il futuro e speriamo che ci rivediamo al piu` presto. Speriamo che avete bellissimi ricordi della nostra scuola, la nostra citta` e le famiglie con cui abitavate per due mesi. E` stato un vero piacere, grazie.

Enjoy reading Elisabetta`s thoughts below about what the exchange meant to her.



Non so da dove cominciare... due minuti sono pochi per poter ringraziare tutte le persone che mi hanno aiutato e raccontare di questi due mesi cosi’ intensi...

Questa esperienza e’ stata a dir poco fantastica!!!!! Non solo e’ stata una grande occasione per migliorare il mio inglese ma mi e’ servita soprattutto a saper controllare le mie paure, ansie ed emozioni: mi e’ servita a crescere.

Due mesi sono davvero pochi per sfruttare a pieno le occasioni che questo tipo di esperienza ti puo’ dare, ma credo di avere fatto del mio meglio per trarne vantaggio.

Ricordo ancora la paura iniziale quando appena arrivata all’areoporto non volevo superare quelle porte blu scorrevoli che mi dividevano dalla mia famiglia ospitante e dal suolo australiano... ero terrorizzata!

Credo che averle varcate sia stata una delle migliori scelte della mia vita!

Non potevo immaginare quello che mi stava aspettando... una realta’ cosi’ diversa, gli enormi spazi in mezzo alla natura, le immense spiagge deserte, la bush popolata da canguri e koala, i party, la scuola, cosi’ diversa dalla nostra, le serate in famiglia, che mi hanno fatto cosi tanto sentire a casa, le risate e i pettegolezzi con mia sorella, Danielle, le partite a monopoli, lo shopping e la splendida vacanza a Sydney!

E’ per tutto questo che voglio ringraziare la mia famiglia ospitante, helen, danielle e ian, per non avermi mai fatto annoiare, per avermi fatto conoscrere questo continente e questa cultura cosi’ diversi dai miei, per avermi sostenuta quando ho sentito la mancanza della mia famiglia... insomma per avermi fatto trascorrere un’estate indimenticabile!!!

Un grazie speciale va anche ai miei due insegnanti J. Millimaci e B. Petale, i due prof piu’ simpatici e disponibili che si potessi desiderare, che mi hanno portato con loro durante le escursioni, che mi hanno fatto scoprire quanto sia bello interagire e confrontarsi, con ragazzi di un altra cultura, riguardo anche le cose piu’ scontate, quotidiane.

Cos’altro dire???

Non voglio partire!!! Mi spaventa il fatto di lasciare cosi’ lontane le persone con cui ho vissuto per due mesi a cui mi sono davvero affezionata, con cui ho condiviso esperienze indimenticabili che ricordero’ per tutta la vita; e’ per questo che spero di rivederle presto, magari in Italia, con la speranza di riuscire a far loro apprezzare la mia terra nello stesso modo in cui sono riusciti a fare loro con me!!!!

Mi mancherete davvero!

Grazie mille

I don’t know where to start… two minutes are a very little time to thank all the people who helped me and to talk about these intense two months…

This experience has been fantastic to say the least!!!!! It has been not only a great chance to improve my English but, above all, it’s been useful to learn to control my fears, my worries, emotions and feelings: it helped me to grow up.

Two months are not enough to make the most of the chances that this kind of experience gives to you, but I think that I did my best to take advantage of them.

I still remember my fears when I first arrived at the airport, I didn’t want to go through those blue sliding doors that divided me from my host family and from the Australian land… I was scared stiff!

I think that going through them has been one of the best choices of my life!

I couldn’t imagine what was waiting for me… such a different reality, the huge spaces in the wild nature, the parties, the school, so different from ours, the evenings with my family, that made me feel at home, the laughs and the gossips with my sister, Danielle, the monopoly matches, the shopping and the wonderful holiday in Sydney!

I want to thank my host family, Helen, Danielle and Ian, for all this, for never allowing me to feel bored, for helping me get to know this continent and this culture, so different from mine, for supporting me when I was home sick… well for giving me a really unforgettable summer!!!

A special thank you to my two teachers J. Millimaci and B. Petale too, the two nicest and most available teachers that I could wish for, who brought me on the excursions with them, who made me discover how beautiful it is to interact and to compare myself to people who have a different culture, also to appreciate the simple things in life that we sometimes take for granted.

What else can I say???

I don’t want to go back home!!! I’m scared to leave the people I’ve lived with for two months; I’ve become fond of them, with them, I’ve share unforgettable experiences that I will remember for ever: for that reason I hope to meet them again soon, maybe in Italy! I hope to let them enjoy my country in the same way I enjoyed theirs!!!!

I will really miss you!

Thank you so much


Below is the students' farewell speech presented at our whole school assembly.


Hi everyone, we’re the Italian Exchange students and we just would like to say something about our experience before we leave. We’ve been here for seven weeks, only a short time but long enough to meet fantastic people including students and teachers who contributed to making our experience unforgettable. We found kind people here who were always willing to help us and we want to say thanks to them and also to the Principal and his staff. You all welcomed us and made us feel special and an important part of the school community. Thanks to our host sisters and brothers and families because they understood our difficulties, above all at the beginning and helped us to immerse ourselves in their lifestyle. And last but not least, our biggest thank you goes without doubt to Mrs Petale and Mr Millimaci who made our dream to come to Australia real and the reality was much better than our dreams ! They welcomed us almost like we were the perfect students in the world and continued to appreciate our work here and shared with us lots of adventures from herding kangaroos to the radio program. Our words will never be enough. We’ll always carry Mount Lawley Senior High School in our hearts and we’ll really miss your ozzie laid back attitude. Thank you, thank you everybody.

Noel, Elisabetta, Amanda, Libera e Federica.

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