Paolo Bima from Italy

Arriving in a new country, living with a new family and going to a new school isn’t easy for anyone. However, at Macleans College I met really friendly people who helped me at the beginning when I used to get lost around the school and during the lessons. Honestly, I found it a bit difficult to make plans for Friday and Saturday nights but I think that’s probably because I’m new. In addition to this, I think that at Macleans, I improved not only my English, but also my knowledge in scientific subjects In particular, I really liked having my chemistry and physics lessons in the laboratory because it lets us do a lot of practical experiments.

I can say without doubt that my experience at Macleans has been totally positive. I wish I could have stayed longer!

During my challenging experience at Macleans College, I was hosted by a really warm and modern family, in some ways really similar to mine in Italy.

In my host-family there were 4 people: the parents, a seven-year-old girl and a fifteen-year-old boy, who is attending the same high school as me.

I really enjoyed the six months I spent with them, as an occasion to share ideas, learn a bit of kiwi culture and have fun. From the very first time we met, we really started to know each other, showing our positive and negative sides of our personality.

As soon as I had arrived in New Zealand, we went down to Rotorua all together and later on we headed for a bach to spend some days at the seaside. We had a great time. We fished, ran around and kayaked. We basically enjoyed our holidays!

After quite some time spent with nice people, it’s impossible to avoid considering your host-family as Your Family… That’s why I will remember them till Kingdom comes.