I am Federico Leon, a student of the “Barufi” Institute in Ceva, who thanks to the scholarship provided by Banca Asoglio, was able to realize his dream of having a school experience abroad. My project is moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on February 2, 2022! It’s been over 3 months since I arrived and I’m starting to integrate myself into North American society. In the first weeks I felt disoriented, sometimes I didn’t understand how things worked, I found myself in an unknown world with completely different customs and culture from Italy. I saw that life was very peaceful, Canadians didn’t have too much trouble and didn’t enjoy what they had.

The aspect that affected me the most during my first two months here was the school. The school system is completely different from the Italian system, you can choose the courses you attend, the classroom changes with each subject, a special bond is created between students and teachers and the school has corridors and lockers. During my stay in Canada, I decided to take subjects like Mechanics, Physical Education, English and Canadian History.

Another aspect that struck me was the climate of the area I was in, thirty degrees below zero the first day I was out of the airport! Hopefully the temperatures will rise in the next few months and I will be able to see Canadian Spring!

I was shocked at the amount of stuff in North America, everything is bigger here! Cars, streets, 4 liter milk bottles!

Life in Winnipeg is going very well, I was in a big city, with more or less the same citizens as Turin, which offers me many services and activities for my free time: I can go to the center, to the parks or for a walk. Exercise at the gym.

My host parents are amazing and I get along great with them, we do lots of different activities like walking, trying to sing country songs but ice fishing like true Canadians!

There will be a lot to say and it won’t all fit in one text, so I’ll let you know about my next adventures!

Federico Leon