Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Foreign Exchange Student Ali Andreetti: She's The One For Sopers
On a set used for the sitcom "Friends" in Hollywood, Calif., Soper family members – and one of their friends – sip coffee. From left are Jamie Soper, Brooklin Soper, foreign exchange student Ali Andreetti of Italy and Rick Soper.
The Soper family agrees that having a foreign exchange student has been a "great experience." They can't wait to go see their Italian foreign exchange student when she returns to Italy.
Kimball senior foreign exchange student Ali Andreetti hails from Parma, Italy, a city of 200,000 people in northern Italy. Although she has adapted very well to Kimball and her exchange family, she does miss Italian pizza and authentic Italian food. However, her favorite food in this country is bagels.
Learning English along with gaining new experiences and visiting "the dream country" are all reasons that Ali decided on applying for the foreign exchange program.
The Soper family still in Kimball has shrunk in size as the older children have left home for college and their own careers. Only Brooklin, a junior in high school, remains at home.
"So this was a perfect year for a foreign exchange student," Jamie Soper said.
Rick and Jamie Soper have provided lots of experiences for Ali. They spent Christmas in L.A., visiting Hollywood, Universal Studios and Warner Brothers. The exchange family has also traveled to Las Vegas, Albuquerque, N.M., to see the balloon festival, South Dakota and Denver.
Ali commented on how different the large cities in the USA are compared to European cities. American cities are much newer compared with Italian or European cities. They are spread out and, of course, the automobile is more widely used in the states.
Ali's mother, who owns a book and comic book shop, walks or rides her bike to work. While at home in Italy, Ali also walked or rode her bike to school. However, Ali's dad, an engineer, takes the car to work.
Having Ali join the family has been such an easy experience, according to Rick Soper
"Ali is a very well behaved, very mature girl," he said. "She doesn't rock the boat. She just fits in and does her thing, doesn't complain. She is very sweet and we have enjoyed having her."
Ali had participated in volleyball in Italy and played lots of varsity volleyball in Kimball this past season and then decided to try basketball. She has enjoyed playing basketball and especially making friends through sports.
Rick Soper said that "the selection process for an exchange student is worse than a dating app because there are all these kids and you have to pick one."
Jamie Soper said she spent hours going through lots of applications and then said, "It's her."
The final step – Ali had to accept them as her exchange family.
Would they do it again? Brooklin quickly responded, "If we got the same one."
