Caterina Vicenzi: I hope that this will be the best year of my life

Whitney Halperin

Above, Italian exchange student Caterina Vicenzi is in Aspen, Colorado. Vicenzi is a junior at WHS and has enjoyed her time here despite the cultural differences. "The US was my first choice because I wanted to really know something about it — something about the culture, not just through movies or something that you see on the TV,” Vicenzi said.

3955 miles away from Wayland, there is the small town called Sermide in Italy. It lies on a river, and because it’s in Italy, it has delicious pasta. Pasta is one of the things junior Caterina Vicenzi misses most about her home.

Vicenzi is an exchange student from Sermide, Italy and is part of the AFS year exchange program. She is staying with the Askin family.

While Vicenzi does miss a few things about Italy, such as her friends and family, there are many more things that she has found in the US that she loves.

“Probably my favorite activity is field hockey because I’m playing it now, and it is my first time, but I really like it,” Vicenzi said. “I also think that my team friends are very kind and nice to me.”

Vicenzi has also gone to Aspen, Colorado with her host family, where they hiked the mountains, biked around and explored the city. In a week, they plan on going to New York City, which Vicenzi is particulary looking forward to.

“Also I’m looking forward to the winter because I don’t know what to expect. People say that winter here is colder than Italy,” Vicenzi said.

The differences in the seasons between Italy and the US are both good and bad things. Right now, the weather here is colder than in Italy, but autumn is also prettier here.

“Fall here is wonderful. I didn’t think that the landscape would be so beautiful, but you have a great fall,” Vicenzi said.

Differences between Italy and the United States extend beyond the seasons. The home life is different because all family members generally help each other with chores, while in Italy, housework is usually just up to the mother.

“Also the school is very different here because students have more independence,” Vicenzi said. “The teachers are also more friendly.”

One of the main reasons Vicenzi decided to come to the US was to learn about the culture, especially after seeing some of it through movies and television.

“The US was my first choice because I wanted to really know something about it — something about the culture not just through movies or something that you see on the TV,” said Vicenzi. “I wanted to come here and see how it really was.”

Another reason Vicenzi decided to come to the US was to improve her English. Also, one of her friends influenced her to do this one because she had come to the US on an exchange and loved it.

“I was thinking about a new experience, I was thinking about going abroad for maybe two or three months, but then I thought about it with some of my teachers and some of the volunteers in my town, so I decided to try an annual program,” Vicenzi said about choosing which program to do for AFS.

Vicenzi has loved being in the US despite all of the culture differences.

“I’m having a very good time now,” Vicenzi said. “I hope that this will be the best year of my life.”