Dear Host Family,

My name is J. T., and I’m sixteen years old.

I’m a proud scout and a dancer. Both have been a part of my life since I was little. But they aren’t just hobbies—they’re so much more. Through the scouts, I have met a lot of amazing people and created beautiful memories. Dancing, on the other hand, is my way to relax and feel at peace (together with my books). I would love to keep dancing in the USA, maybe even as a cheerleader.

If I had to describe my personality in three words, I’d say I’m loving, trustworthy, and generally happy. I love spending time with my friends and family and talking to them for hours about everything. I’m the type of person whose mood you can tell just by looking at them (I’m an open book), and I like it that way. I’m a very sensitive and emotional person—but in a good way. It’s easy for me to be in a good mood, and I always look out for other people. I’m also a hopeless romantic, which is why I enjoy reading so much. But there’s something even more magical about books: getting to know a new world and seeing how other people live their lives has always fascinated me. With your help, I’ll be able to get to know your “world” and be part of it.

I would call my family a typical one. My dad works all day and relaxes when he comes home, while my mom works part-time in an office and takes care of the family and the house. My parents are very hardworking and always try their best to give us all we need, which is why we do our best as well. My mom is definitely the stricter parent, though the word “strict” feels too negative to describe how she raised us. She has always made time for us—to listen, help, or cuddle us. She taught us to be respectful, honest, hardworking, and punctual. I’m very proud of who I am today, and that’s mostly thanks to my mom. Nonetheless, I’ve always been a daddy’s girl. To him, I’m his little “Mausele.” I also have a great bond with my older brother, because of our similar interests, but I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have a younger sibling. I love children, which is why I spend as much time as I can with my younger cousin (she’s 11, the youngest). I also love spending time with my grandparents. My grandmother on my father’s side lives very close to us, while my grandparents on my mother’s side live in Kenya. We always keep in touch.

I live in the northernmost part of Italy. It has a long history, which I’ll most certainly tell you about, but to sum it up, it’s a bilingual territory. We have German schools, like the one I attend, and Italian ones. Our German schools are known to be more challenging compared to others, but they provide us with a higher education. It is full of mountains and valleys—it’s beautiful (except for the cold). We have breathtaking landscapes, even in the villages (I’ll show you lots of pictures). Still, I’ve seen a ton of mountains already and would love to experience a new area, something different to change it up.

I attend a technical high school specializing in informatics since I want to become a computer scientist.

English has always been one of those subjects I found particularly easy. I love reading English books, especially romance novels. I’ve also been to Ireland with a host family for a few weeks, which certainly helped improve my English. Of course, films and social media that I exclusively watch in English have also been helpful. Although I love the English language, I feel like it’s not quite part of me yet since we only speak it at school. That’s one of the reasons I chose to do an exchange year. I want to live in an English-speaking environment to truly feel integrated into the language.

I still have so much more to tell you about my life, but I’ll save that for when we meet. I can’t wait to meet you, and I want to thank you for making this experience possible for me.

See you soon, J.

 

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