Dear Host Family,

My name is Marco, I am 16 years old, and I am from Italy. I live in a really small town near both Milan and Pavia. I live with my parents, my brother and our dog. My mother and father, Laura and Maurizio, both work from home so we usually spend a lot of time together. They’re very caring and supportive, so when I decided to study abroad they were as excited as me since they love to travel and learn about new cultures. My brother Matteo is a very energetic and smart person, and our dog Sydney has always been like a second brother more than a pet.

But let’s talk about me, I’m the kind of person who likes to get in the game, I’m hardworking but I also like to relax. Sometimes I get lost in my thoughts, but I always think before I do something. I’m a cheerful guy, I love to put smiles on the faces of my friends and family with my actions or with jokes, whenever someone feels blue I try to understand their problem to make them feel better.

I think my biggest strengths are adaptability and creativeness: when I’m in a hard situation I face everything with a smile, in my opinion every conflict can be solved with respect through dialogue.
I like to express myself in every way I can, from speaking languages to acting; In fact, I act with a theatre company and I’m sure when I say that’s one of my favourite things. Acting makes me feel good and appreciated, when you act you can be anything, that’s probably why I like it so much: there’s no limit to imagination and acting lets you make your ideas come true. When it comes to outdoors activity I really enjoy exploring and climbing, I’m a scout and with my group we always go on long walks in the nature.
The thing that I like most about being a scout is that it’s like a second family: I’ve been with them since I was a little boy, and their ideals pretty much reflect mine. Kindness, integrity, respect, and co-operation for me are the most important values there can be.

As I said, I really enjoy climbing and when my friends encourage me I feel like I can reach the sky. I love hanging out with them and spend time together. We share passions and interests; I always have their back and they support me in every way they can. I also love cooking, when I’m with my family and friends, and whenever there’s the chance I like to make everyone happy with my food, I cannot describe how good I feel when I see that people enjoy what I make. Another great passion of mine, and maybe the most important, are languages. I started studying English since when I was a little kid and in the past years I studied French. Right now I’m learning Spanish and Chinese, these languages are the most spoken in the world and I wish I can use them in my future travels. Spanish is very similar to Italian, but Chinese is what requires a lot of effort, from practicing the pronunciation to writing. Don’t be surprised if you hear me say weird things when I study or see me write pages of Chinese characters.

From this experience I hope to get a new vision of this world, I want to broaden my mind and learn from you everything there is to know about your way of living.

I can’t wait to meet you,

Marco