Rebecca's experience in Bolzano Blog dei volontari

09/06/2022

I always wanted to live a year in another country, so after I finished school in 2021, I took the train to Bolzano. I didn’t choose Italy in particular, but now I am very happy to be in this country.

I work in a youth center, where I mainly help children with their homework or play with them. Languages are not my strength, so I am a bit surprised, how easy it is now (in comparison to the beginning 4 months ago) to communicate with the children. However, talking with adults is still a big challenge for me. And sometimes I have really a mess in my head and start mixing Italian, English and German. 

The fact, that I can often talk here in South Tyrol also in German, helps not to improve my Italian. But it is a big possibility to discover a second culture, besides the Italian-speaking one. At work I discover the Italian part of Alto Adige and in my free time the German-speaking part. The small villages are a great place for hiking and meeting German speaking people at the same time. 

I am curious what the next months of my experience here in Bolzano may bring. But I am sure, they will be as interesting as the last ones (just with even more sun)