Michael Tannebaum

Mariano Avila, an exchange student from Argentina, is spending the year at Pinewood Preparatory School.

It’s been less than four months since Mariano Avila stepped onto U.S. soil for the first time and the native Argentinean hasn’t wasted a moment immersing himself in his new surroundings.

Avila, who is completing 11th grade at Pinewood Preparatory School, has already taken in a Clemson University football game with 80,000 fans, learned to play a couple instruments and worked hard to improve his English.

“When I first arrived, I was afraid to speak (English) and had to think a lot before I spoke,” Avila said. “Now, I speak without (hesitating) and am more confident.”

The Summerville Rotary Club is sponsoring the foreign exchange student’s yearlong tour of the United States, which will include trips to Disney World in Orlando, Fla., and a visit to the West Coast.

Avila, who often attends the Rotary Club meetings, has plunged himself into Pinewood Preparatory by enrolling in a drama class to improve his English and public speaking, joining the school’s drum line, attending Pinewood sporting events and receiving guitar lessons from a fellow student.

“My mom came to the U.S. as an exchange student when she was a teenager and she said it was a wonderful experience and opportunity I had to experience while I was young,” he said. “When you’re in another county with a different language, you can’t help but (improve) your pronunciation and listening skills.”

Students who participate in exchange programs benefit from spending time overseas, said Jan Freeman, youth exchange officer for the Summerville Rotary Club.

“When students take part in the youth exchange program, they come back and are totally changed,” Freeman said. “It’s such a terrific experience and they come back more mature and with a new worldview.”

Avila, an avid soccer player, says several small differences exist between his homeland and the U.S. At Pinewood, for example, Avila picks the subjects he wants to enroll in and has different classmates in each subject. In Argentina, Avila said, students are assigned classes and have the same classmates in each subject. Another difference between the two countries has Avila drinking more soda than usual.

“At most of the restaurants in Argentina, (a lot of) their earnings come from soda,” Avila explained. “You pay $5 and get a bottle and if you want another bottle, you have to pay again.”

Avila continued with a smile, “All the restaurants here have free refills so I’ve been drinking more soda.”

The Summerville Rotary Club is always looking for people interested in serving as host families. For more information, contact Jan Freeman at britjan@sc.rr.com.

Contact Michael Tannebaum at 873-9424 ext. 215 or mtannebaum@journalscene.com

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