Riley’s Journals

June 2, 2025

A Life in a Year

One of the first things I heard about doing an exchange was the phrase, "It's not a year in your life, it's life in a year". I heard this at the information meeting in a video that some students created after the exchange to help advertise and (clearly) I've not forgotten it since. It's one of the reasons I chose to do the exchange, actually. And I can absolutely attest to that statement. Going on an exchange is removing everything you know about your world and rebuilding it all- but not from scratch. We can't erase the lifetime of opinions and biases we've been taught, however those preconceptions can always be revised and edited. And that's what an exchange is all about. You live as a different 'you' on exchange, in a world completely separate from what you believed was reality. So the life you live there is a different life from the one you live at home in a way that is inexplicable. So no, this isn't a year in my life, but a life that I am living only (unfortunately) for a year.

So what has happened this year? To answer this, I should update you all on what happened these last two months in which I went radio silent. Don't worry- I have really great excuses. Where's the time to write a blog when you're touring Italy, doing Travel Thursday's even when it isn't Thursday, going on school trips, hiking, and so much more? Not to mention the influx in schoolwork now that my teachers have conveniently decided to start making me take all of the tests now that there are more to take than ever.

Right after I finished my last blog I went on a trip with my class to Florence. It was amazing, albeit exhausting. We went to the Duomo and entered inside the dome where we had an amazing panoramic view of the city. Then we saw many of the famous bridges and entered Palazzo Vecchio in Piazza della Signoria . That evening, we climbed the clock tower by the Duomo and saw an even better view of the artistic city of Florence.

I went on a few more Travel Thursday trips with Mai, my Japanese friend, to small towns near Lecco like Mandello del Lario, Colico, and Bellano. We took many photos and got to know each other a lot better. I already know it will be very difficult to say goodbye.

Then, of course, is my big tour around Italy with my real parents. We were lucky enough to be able to see each other and take advantage of how late Easter was this year to take a long vacation. In Italy, there are two main breaks in April: one for Easter and a three day weekend for Labor Day, so we were able to take almost 2 weeks to travel Italy. We saw many places including the Cinque Terre, the Amalfi Coast, Naples, Rome, and some cities in Tuscany. It was amazing to see my parents again and to visit all of these amazing places in Italy.

After my big trip, I had a smaller weekend trip to Bologna with my host sister, Isa, and we stayed her aunt and uncle's house. We were able to see most of the main sites in Bologna including some churches, a cathedral, and the famous towers. On Sunday her aunt and uncle took us to a monastery on a hill which was very pretty and was high enough that you could see it for miles in every direction. Unfortunately after that we had to return home, but I will always be grateful for my host family and their extended family for their hospitality and kindness.

I made many more trips after this, but they are mostly smaller trips that would be boring to read, I would imagine. Instead I'll talk about the last orientation that Rotary Italy organized just last weekend to celebrate our year here and to give us all a chance to say goodbye. The orientation was held in Fiuggi, a town close to Rome. It isn't really anywhere, so don't worry if you've never heard of it because neither have most Italians. After visiting around the town and spending the day with the other exchange students came the biggest part of the weekend. There was a big dance, called Prom because it's what Italians imagine Prom to be like, even if it was a lot more like Homecoming. It was so much fun and I got to know so many people during and after the dance and I was really glad to have gone there.

Later that week me and some exchange friends organized a boat trip around Lake Como. The fact that we can decide to do these sorts of trips which use modes of transportation that before coming here I never would have thought of using just goes to show how independant and adventurous all of us have become. In order to take the boat, we first had to take a bus (something we hadn't really done before that day because there is usually a train, however there was sciopero (strike) and so we had to change plans last minute) then we switched to a boat and stopped at a few cities along the Como lake that are very difficult to reach by train or bus before returning home in train. It was a really fun and relaxing trip that honestly wasn't even that difficult to organize, which makes me question why society makes everyday outings such as this one seem so daunting. Why do we limit our travel so much and why do we (and I say this as a geniune "we" because it's all around the world) make ourselves believe that the things that are near aren't as interesting as the things that are far? When I go home I hope to explore more of what's near me to recreate a little of the experience I've had here.

The final event that happened over the course of these past few months is the celebration of Liberation Day, or the 2nd of June. During this long weekend my two host families and 2 other families which I've met before planned a trip in Piemonte. We stayed in an amazing Airbnb with a pool, a ping pong table (very well used), and a fireplace where we did a grigliata, or barbecue. The first day we were there we made good use of the houses facilities and relaxed in the pool before venturing down where we gathered for dinner and songs and talking. The next day we woke up fairly early to go biking around the beautiful countryside and we vistited many small towns and villages before reaching our final destination of Barolo. We used e-bikes (which are am amazing invention) and also went off-road biking. In the end we traveled 45 km (25 miles) and it was truly an amazing experience. After getting back from the bike trip we relaxed a bit and ate dinner before a late night swim. The next day (today, for me) we headed home but first made a pit stop at Alba, a town nearby, where I ate some of the best gelato of my life.

Throughout this year I have continually wished for what I couldn't have. Months after I got here, I wished for a way to go home just for a bit. When Italian turned out to be a fairly complicated language with a million tenses that don't exist in English I wished I could communicate with people. And now at the end of the year I would give anything not to have to leave, and I would give even more for the people I'm going home to to speak Italian too. But I have to say that this year has also been paradoxically the one time in my life where I couldn't ask for anything more. It has been the most relaxing, simple year of my life and I feel as though I have found a new way of living. People in general have made living so difficult, and I honestly struggle to say that it's a good thing. Yes, we need doctors and scientists and workers to keep the system running, but is it really necessary to waste the lives of generation after generation to keep that system in place? It's so complicated just to satisfy your basic needs when it could all be simpler. I hope in my future to live a simpler life and make a place where others can live like that, too. I am truly sorry to leave Italy in less than a month now but I am so incredibly thankful for the opportunity to have experienced what I have and I strongly encourage anyone who is interested to take the chance and experience this journey for themselves as well.

Buon continuazione!