Junction City High School has the privilege of hosting a foreign exchange student, Giulia Beghetto. Giulia came to Junction City from Italy to experience what it is like in the United States. The Blue Jay newspaper staff sat down with Giulia to ask about her exchange and her experiences so far.

Although Italy is famous for their amazing pizza and spaghetti, Giulia was asked what her favorite American food was. Giulia’s reply was, “I love cookies! In Italy, cookies are mostly hard. But when I bake them here, they are really soft.”

The newspaper staff asked Giulia what the differences are between school in Italy and school in the United States. Beghetto replied, “Italy has many high schools that are separated based on what they teach. Each school is divided based on what they teach, for example my school focuses on languages. Other schools could teach sciences or math, but students stay in the same classroom all day while the teachers change classrooms.” Giulia informed the Blue Jay staff that she is loving her exchange, but there isn’t much to do here in Junction City. In Italy, she lives in the middle of a big city so she can walk anywhere at any time. She disappointingly told the staff that she doesn’t like to drive to get to places she can actually do something.

The interview got kind of personal when Beghetto was asked if she brought any items from Italy to help her feel more at home while here in America. Her response was, “I brought a lot of pictures of my friends that I put up on the wall next to my bed. One of my friends also sent me a letter that I have hung up next to the pictures. I don’t get homesick very often, although I did get upset a couple of weeks ago because it was the second month that I have been in the States.”

The Blue Jay Staff asked Giulia what the most interesting thing that has happened to her was. Giulia replied, “Everything is pretty normal, but a sad thing that happened was the fact that I had to change host families. My first family was located in Manhattan and their house was really dirty and disgusting. The parents were also very rude and not fit to be a host family, so I transferred to the Goheen’s. I am loving being with the Goheen’s because they are very nice and welcoming. I might even love them more than my own family!”