DEPARTED FROM
Milan, Italy
ARRIVED IN
Minneapolis, Minnesota
YEAR
2005
AGE
22
NOW LIVES IN
Seattle, Washington
Michela Ronzani visited the United States for the first time as an exchange student and today lives in Seattle, Washington. She teaches Italian at the University of Washington.
TRANSCRIPT
My name is Michela Ronzani and I'm from Italy. I came first not to move, I was first an exchange student when in college, and that was 2005. So I was in my early 20s. So the first time I came to the States was when I was going to do this program, but my boyfriend at the time was American. There was another reason, I didn't apply to come here because of him, but then I applied and then I met him and it worked out great. But he was spending the winter term in Utah, skiing. So I met him there, and then we were gonna drive from Utah to Vermont, to where the school where I was gonna go is. That was like, you know, it felt like being in a movie. And this, like, highway through Nebraska. And it's like, yeah, like I saw this in movies, but I didn't think it was real. So that excitement of everything was super fascinating, it was like being a little child for Christmas. I loved going through Nebraska, because there was nothing and that was exciting to me, because I've never seen so much space. And I was traveling with my boyfriend at the time, and he was like, “Why?”
Another thing that's really funny that I remember I loved and it was like the most exciting thing ever, squirrels. And you know, the first time I went to Central Park in New York, I was like “Oh my god, there are squirrels!” Like, this is an amazing wonderland with all this wildlife. And then you learn the squirrels are like pigeons and people hate them. [laughing] But Italians love them. That first time, everything was exciting. Every little thing is… yeah. And this impression lasted for a long time and then unfortunately, it slowly disappeared. I wish I could still feel like that. And that's why I love having people visiting, because I kind of find that feeling again in them.
