Full Immersion Weekend

“I enjoyed the full immersion weekend because my host mother not only made it easy to adjust but also helped me feel comfortable around her.”

The “Full Immersion Weekend”, the first weekend of the semester, is different from all the others. While students are normally free on weekends to participate in field study excursions or to travel on their own, the full immersion weekend was established to spend time with the host family and to become oriented to the city of Florence and the immediate neighborhood.

During the semester, host families only provide breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays. During the “Full Immersion Weekend” students will receive breakfast and dinner on Saturday and all three meals on Sunday. During this extra family time, students and host families can talk about food preferences (please see the Bilingual Food Check List) and other household needs.

Students should use this weekend to walk around their new neighborhood and find out where to buy bus tickets or even a great local gelato. Your host family may decide to take you on a small day trip or take a drive around the city.

From past experience, this weekend has proven to be invaluable for students and host families to get to know each other better before classes begin. Students learn to orient themselves within the host family and the city of Florence. We hope that this weekend is the start of a relationship that will last a lifetime.