Italian exchange student Gianmaria Zarantonello will return home from his four-month Australian stay this weekend with a breadth of new experiences and a new take on the English language.

Gian, 16, from Cornedo, between Venice and Milan, stayed in Horsham with Brendan and Vanessa O’Loughlin and their two sons, Riley and Finn. He attended school at St Brigid’s College, tried local sports, and travelled parts of the country, including Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, and the Great Ocean Road.

“I really enjoyed Sydney, I think it’s a very beautiful city. We went with a ferry to see the port part, but the most beautiful part for me was from the ferry to see the harbour bridge and the opera house, it was very beautiful,” Gian said. 

Apart from missing his family and friends, Gian missed some of his home foods, like pastas. 

“I’ve missed our type of pizza, and it’s pretty strange for me to say it, but I actually miss the salads, because we do them in a little different way,” he said. 

“The pizza is different too – you put many more ingredients on top, and our pizza is a little larger, and the dough is thinner, and the ingredients on top are less.

“There’s some ingredients that you use that we don’t really think they belong on pizzas – like pineapple, so that’s the most one, but barbecue sauce on pizza is even worse.”

Having learned English from his first year at school, Gian came to Australia for a cultural experience, and to improve his language skills. Once he developed an ear for the Australian accent, he had to learn to decipher the unique turns of phrase.

“The first time I was in school with the principal, he told me that we were going to have a lesson or something ‘tonight’. I thought, ‘what, like at 8pm?’ then I understood that actually tonight for people here is after like after school,” he said.

The Australian school system differs to that of Italy where classes begin at 8am and end at 1.35pm.

“I am always a little tired in the morning. And also, we don’t have lunch at school, but we don’t have the time to be with our mates during lunch. The actual hours of school are the same, but here you stay more with your mates, which is something good,” Gian said.

“I have more subjects at home – here I’m doing maths, physics, chemistry, biology, and English. In Italy, I’m also doing history, history of art, Italian literature, English as a second language.”

Gian has enjoyed getting to know St Brigid’s 200-strong student body, a contrast to his home school of about 2000 students. 

He has continued practicing mixed martial arts, and has tried football and cricket.

“I haven’t played any games, but they made me try to kick a footy. I think I’m not that bad at footy, I still have to work on my cricket,” he said.

Another new concept for Gian has been house pets – he has none at home, but learnt how to live with a dog and cat at the O’Loughlin household.

“You have to feed them and then they bark because they’re want to get outside, and when they are outside, they bark so they’ll get back inside,” he said.

“It’s also good that they let you pat them and they cuddle and look at you, I enjoy that. I’m not saying that I’m going to buy a dog when I go back home, but it’s a nice difference.”

The entire November 27, 2024 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!

The entire November,27, 2024 edition of AgLife is available online. READ IT HERE!