2 minute read
Building Friendships through Walnut Creek Sister Cities International
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By Bennett Krueger, Resident since 2010
The Walnut Creek Sister Cities International Youth Ambassador Exchange was the best thing that ever happened to me. When I left for Noceto, Italy on the 26th of September, I had no idea that the next week would be the best of my life. When we arrived, we were greeted by our Italian families. Everyone introduced themselves, we grabbed our bags, and headed to our respective homes for the next week.
Bennett Krueger holding up the leaning tower of Pisa.
My fratello Italiano or Italian brother is Davide Sassi. He is smart, kind and funny. When I first got to his house, we played basketball for a while, and we were instantly friends. This sort of thing happened to everyone, and the bond between each and every one of us formed and strengthened beginning Day 1. For the next seven days we would tour around Italy and learn about some of its most famous places, most notably Venice and Pisa. We met the local town leaders, toured factories and enjoyed the food and culture. By the end of the week, we had all gained great friends, greater knowledge, and a second family. When we left, we were crying our eyes out because we didn’t want to leave everybody and go back home. But this was such a great thing, because this bond was formed only in a week. Most of these types of friendships take months and years to develop.
This is such a great program, and I can’t say enough to the younger kids in Walnut Creek:
This is such an amazing experience, and I gained a deeper knowledge of what friendship is. The best part is Davide and all my new friends come to the States in April!
The Walnut Creek youth ambassadors with all their Italian brothers and sisters in Venice, Italy.
This year’s Walnut Creek 7th graders interested in applying to be an ambassador for the 2020-2021 exchange with either Noceto, Italy or SiÓfolk, Hungary must attend a meeting on Jan. 12, 2020 at the Walnut Creek Library. For more information visit, wcsci.org.
