Dear Host Family, I’m Margherita and I want to thank you immediately for hosting me for a whole year! I’m very excited about this experience and curious about you, so I hope we will get to know each other soon. I can’t wait to learn about your country and family traditions, but also to share mine. I have decided to take the Exchange Student Journey because it has always been my big dream: my mum was an Exchange student thirty years ago and I’ve seen her pictures, her yearbook since I was a child and she still sometimes tells stories about it. So she’s the biggest fan of this adventure and she always says it’s an unique experience, a true immersion in another culture totally different from mine. It will be a fantastic occasion to expand my views and better understand the world. And now let me tell you something about me: I’m very sociable and cheerful, so I hope to open up to you and show myself soon and I hope it will not be too hard to make new local friends. I’m an energetic and passionate person, who loves to socialize and to always be busy, especially in the artistic field. In fact I really enjoy dancing, singing, playing the guitar and acting. I dance hip hop two times a week and it’s a moment of great fun for me that helps me to unwind and spend my energy, therefore I would like to keep doing some dancing activities or cheerleading if there will be the chance. Playing the guitar is also great: I’ve been attending the city conservatory for years and it requires a lot of concentration and study both for practice or theory exams and for the exhibitions. It would be nice to keep playing the guitar in the US! I would say I’m responsible, helpful, respectful and I like to follow the rules; my parents sometimes make fun of me and they say I’m boring because I never break the rules. I’m also a scout and this is my greatest passion. What I like the most about it are the relationships I created (in my scout group I also have my best friends) and obviously the activities we do. It’s an incredible way to learn an infinitive number of practice skills such as: pitch a tent, light a fire, read a map… I’m sure scouting is helping me growing up and thanks to its values I’m more positive and confident. I attend a high school in which the focus is studying foreign languages: I study English, French and German. In particular, my class is on a special program called ESABAC and at the end of school I will get a double diploma, both valid for Italy and France… I hope I get the chance to practice my French while abroad, maybe by joining a French class or a French Club at school. I’m in a family of five and we live in the North of Italy. With my parents I have a good relationship and I usually tell them everything (or almost everything!), especially to my mum. My sister is 3 years older than me and we are simply the opposite: she studies chemistry and love sciences, I study foreign languages (and Maths and sciences aren’t my favorite subjects), she is more introvert while I talk all day, she’s shy instead I’m expansive. My little brother is quite similar to me. As a family we try to spend time together, but it’s not always easy because we are growing up and each one of us has their own activities; we try though to have dinner together when we talk about our daily events and we often play board games (my dad and brother are really passionate about it!) I’m really excited about what is waiting for me: coming to US it’s a great opportunity and I hope not only to learn English but also to create a strong and lasting bond over time, becoming part of your family. I’m even taking cooking lessons from my grandma in order to impress you with my cooking abilities (luckily I still have a few months to improve them!). Thank you very much for reading all my letter and I can’t wait to meet you! Love Margherita