Alex Kazragis learned Italian outside the traditional classroom. Instead of sitting at a desk, looking at photos of Italian monuments and listening to tapes of Italians speaking, he got to experience the real thing.
Alex, 17, a rising senior at Augusta Preparatory Day School, spent his junior year in Viterbo, Italy, where he learned the meaning of real Italian food, a little bit of the language and a lot about a different culture.
He chose Italy after ruling out France and Spain, because the programs in those countries had a language requirement. Armed with the basics from an introductory Italian course he had taken at Augusta State University, Alex headed overseas for the school year last fall.
He went to Europe with School Year Abroad, a program that places American students in different countries.
He stayed with a host family, the Andreoccis. Alex said the family was much like his own, except they had a 14-year-old son, Manlio, where he has an older sister.
"It was cool to be an older brother," he said.
Italian culture, he said, is family-based: For example, they all eat together and spend as much time together as possible.
"They try to enjoy life and take it as it comes," Alex said.
Italian cooking is nothing like what you find in the tourist-filled restaurants near big attractions, he said: Authentic Italian cooking takes time and is always measured by eye, and nothing is written down.
The city was centralized, and though he couldn't drive in Italy, he had no problem getting around because of the public transportation system.
"It felt like home within a couple weeks - no doubt about it," he said.
He also visited Florence, Rome, Naples and Pompeii, and he took a school trip to Greece.
Going overseas made Alex see the U.S. through different eyes: "It kind of gave me a more worldly view."
He hopes to study abroad, maybe in France, during college. The experience in Italy inspired him to plan on studying more art and music, along with business.
Alex suggests visitors go overseas without expectations.
"It'll be completely different than you thought it would be," he said.
Reach Sarah Day Owen at (706) 823-3223 or sarah.owen@augustachronicle.com.CutlineSPECIAL
GET INVOLVED
School Year Abroad: Deadlines vary. To request information, see www.sya.org.
Rotary Club: Program for college-age students The Ambassador Scholarship, which sends American students overseas, requires good grades.
You can get more information through your school's Interact Club or by contacting one of the 11 area clubs. To find the closest one to you, visit www.rotary.org.
Youth For Understanding International Exchange: Six- to 10-week cultural exchange, during which school enrollment is optional. The application is available on-line, and students must be nominated by a school official. Students must also interview. Application deadlines vary. See www.yfu.org.
Source: Myke Harris-Long, field director for Georgia, Florida and Alabama
PROGRAM OF ACADEMIC EXCHANGE:
The program offers school-year stays in France, Spain and Germany, and summer programs in Australia and Spain. Second semester program applications are due in October, and summer and fall semester program applications are due in May.
Source: www.pax.org
Interested in being a host family? Visit the Web site or call area coordinator Frankie Green at (706) 863-9128.
STS Foundation: The STS Foundation is accepting applications for host families in the Augusta area until Aug. 15. See www.stsfoundation.org, or call area representative Darrell Johnson, (706) 294-2293, or (800) 522-4678.
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