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Looking for adventure abroad

A Foothills Comp student is saying “arrivederci” to Okotoks for the next year. Abi MacFarlane, who would have been going into Grade 11 at the Comp, is taking off for Italy on Sept. 2, just before her classmates head back to school.
Abi MacFarlane
Abi MacFarlane will be travelling to Italy as part of the Rotary Exchange Program.

A Foothills Comp student is saying “arrivederci” to Okotoks for the next year. Abi MacFarlane, who would have been going into Grade 11 at the Comp, is taking off for Italy on Sept. 2, just before her classmates head back to school. MacFarlane is this year’s Okotoks Rotary exchange student. She will live in Terlizzi, Italy, a town with a similar population to Okotoks, until June. “I’m pretty excited,” said the 16-year-old MacFarlane. “It’s a pretty neat opportunity.” It’s been a long year of anticipating the exchange. MacFarlane applied last fall for the Rotary Exchange Program, and after going through the interview process she was selected to represent Okotoks in 2018-2019. There have been training sessions through the year, including meeting with other exchange students from the area in January, March and May. “You kind of get to know some of the other students and what they’re doing to prepare,” said MacFarlane. Some things you can’t prepare for – like adjusting to learning in a new language. MacFarlane isn’t sure which grade she’ll be placed in while she’s there, but she said the one thing she nervous about is a steep learning curve on picking up Italian. “I’ve heard they have a very strong accent in that dialect of Italian, so I don’t know if it will be hard to understand and speak when I get there,” she said. “I think the first bit it will be hard because I don’t have a grasp on the language yet, so it will probably be a blur for the first little while before I can understand what the teacher is talking about.” She hopes her knowledge of French will help navigate the new language, since the two Romance languages share some similarities. Unlike Rotary exchange students who come to Okotoks, individuals who typically stay with two or three different families throughout their year, MacFarlane will have only one host family while she’s in Terlizzi. Life will be a little different in Italy, where MacFarlane may be living as an only child with her host family. The family has a daughter going on exchange to the United States for the same period of time and a son attending university, so she’s likely to be alone with her host parents. Here in Okotoks, MacFarlane is the sixth of seven children, and while her four older siblings live away from home she’s used to sharing the house with a younger sister. Despite her father being involved with Okotoks Rotary and the exchange program over the years, MacFarlane is the first child in the family to spend a year abroad. She was inspired by her dad’s story of a three-month exchange to Quebec in his school days, and by the seven exchange students the MacFarlane family has hosted in Okotoks. “My dad has been encouraging me to do this my entire life,” said MacFarlane. “Just seeing how the students change from when they get here to when they leave is just really nice.” MacFarlane said she doesn’t think she’ll miss home too much while she’s away. “I think after the first couple of months I’ll get used to it and I’ll be all right with being away,” she said. “We have Skype and all that other stuff now, so it’s easier to be gone for that long.” She’s looking forward to forming friendships and connecting with the people and culture of Italy while she’s there, and to seeing the landscapes and architecture that make up the country. “I would really like to see the Colosseum and just the beaches in my area,” said MacFarlane. “And I’m looking forward to making connections, to seeing a different culture and learning and new language. “For me, I’m hoping to come back with a different sense of responsibility, just to be more independent.”

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