Teach, travel, learn Italian, and meet amazing people

It has always been my dream to travel to Europe, and I was searching for a program that allowed me to immerse myself in a foreign culture. 3 months was a decent amount of time to enjoy a taste of Italy. I had gelato at least 3 times a week and got to eat amazing Italian food every day. During the 3 months I was there, I visited Torino, Venice, Florence, Rome, Milan, Bologna, Modena, and the Cinque Terre, and met amazing people along the way. I was able to pick up the language fairly easily because I knew French, and the people in Piedmont speak a dialect called Piedmontese which sounds similar to Italian and French.

I was placed in Cuneo, about an hour away from Torino. Most volunteers were placed in Torino since its a large city. Cuneo was a small and beautiful city. I was really happy with my placement because the high school I taught at was an Instituto Technico Commerciale. The curriculum focused on business and economics, which I enjoyed teaching in addition to English grammar and vocabulary. The teaching commitment was only 15-18 hours per week, and the school was pretty flexible with my schedule giving me plenty of time to travel. I was pretty fortunate because my school allowed me to go on 2 school trips with the 4th and 5th year students. I went to Rome, Salzburg, Prague, and Munich. I also went to Paris and Barcelona with some of the other volunteers in the program.

I had my own floor when I stayed with my first host family, and I stayed with them for the first 2 months. They were super nice and helpful, and I grew really close to them. We travelled together throughout Italy, and my host brother is coming to visit me in California this summer. During the last month, I was with my second host family. My second most mom taught me how to make authentic Italian food from scratch. My host sisters in my second family were very kind, and I had a really beautiful view of the alps from my backyard.

Overall, it was a great experience and I highly recommend it for people who want to travel and experience the culture. My advice for people who are seriously interested in doing this program in the future is to keep an open mind. Every experience is different.