When 16-year-old Union Mine High School student Phoenix stepped on a plane last month, he was trading his junior year in El Dorado County for nine months in northern Italy — and a crash course in adulthood.
Phoenix is headed to Murano, Italy, near the Austrian border, through a Rotary Youth Exchange program sponsored by the Rotary Club of Placerville. He will live with up to three host families, attend a local high school and serve as what his father Kelly Chiusano calls “an ambassador” for both Rotary and the United States.
“It’s basically a year abroad in a different country, studying and living with a host family,” Phoenix said. “I’ll be there for about nine months, going to school and basically living there for the whole school year.”
More than a trip
The exchange is part of Rotary International’s Youth Exchange program, which connects local clubs with students around the world. Phoenix said he first connected with the program through the Rotary Club of Placerville, then went through district youth exchange orientations in Carson City, Nev., alongside students from the Tahoe region and other nearby areas.
“There’s little Rotary clubs all across California, America and the world,” he said. “My local club sponsors me, but it’s the Rotary Youth Exchange orientations and the district that actually decide where you go.”
Those orientations, he said, were equal parts icebreakers and serious preparation.
“They did a lot of lectures on what it’s going to be like,” he said. “The do’s and don’ts of Rotary — you can’t drive when you’re there, you can’t drink, you can’t date — so you don’t get distracted from your exchange.”
According to Chiusano, who went on his own Rotary exchange to India during the 1998–99 school year, the process starts with a larger pool of interested students and narrows as the reality of the commitment sinks in.
“It started with about 30 kids and ended with around 10 actually going,” he said. “They don’t really cut kids so much as students realize how deep the project is — you’re leaving your family and friends for nine months. It’s a scholarship in a way, but it’s also a big responsibility. You’re representing Rotary, California and the United States. You might be the only American someone ever talks to.”
A year away at 16
For Phoenix, the looming reality is sinking in — he is leaving behind his hometown, his friends and his familiar school routine.
“I’m pretty excited,” he said. “I’m kind of sad about missing school with all my friends, but overall I’m really excited for what school’s going to be like there and for life in general.”
To make the year abroad possible, Phoenix spent the summer knocking out required classes.
“He already took some college courses this summer to get his junior-year requirements done,” Chiusano said, explaining that certain core subjects won’t be available in Italy. “They don’t have U.S. history in Italy — just like we don’t really have Italian history here.”
Phoenix will complete his junior year overseas, then return to Union Mine as a senior.
From Placerville to the Alps
Where he’s headed is a world away from El Dorado County in more ways than one.
“It’s up north, near the Austrian border,” Phoenix said. “It’s going to be quite cold where I’m going — not too different from Pollock Pines, but definitely colder. It’s really high elevation.”
The region is also linguistically complex. While Italy is officially Italian-speaking, Phoenix’s host area has strong German influences.
“Where I’m going, there’s a lot of German speaking,” he said. “My host family speaks German as their main language, but they’re fluent in Italian, and they speak some English. I’m going to have to learn if I want to communicate well.”
Phoenix said he speaks only “a little bit” of Italian for now, but he’s been preparing steadily.
“My grandpa is fluent in Italian, so that helps,” he said. “I took a tutor, used Rosetta Stone, and now I’m doing an online class every morning at 6 a.m. through Rotary to help me learn Italian.”
On the other side of the Atlantic, a host family is waiting: a mother named Iris, a father, a 20-year-old sibling and a 12-year-old host brother who already has a request from America.
“He wants Crumbl Cookies,” Phoenix said, adding that he plans to pack two big suitcases filled with clothes and small gifts. “You’re supposed to bring gifts for your host family — I’m bringing Sour Patch Kids, some art, and then the Crumbl Cookies for my host brother.”
Following in his father’s footsteps
Phoenix won’t be the first in his family to navigate culture shock in a foreign country. Chiusano spent his own senior year as a Rotary exchange student in India, living with two host families.
“My time there was excellent — hard the first couple months,” he said. “But I had my music and my sketch pad and found my own routine. Everything’s new, which is really cool, but it’s also hard to find your comforts.”
Chiusano said his host family “was like family” from the start.
“They took me right in,” he said. “Every night we were doing different meals, trying different things. We were going to Rotary functions, meeting other Rotary families, talking politics with adults. As a 17-year-old, turning 18 there, it was one of the best years of my life.”
Coming home, though, was its own adjustment.
“It was a little reverse culture shock,” he said. “I’d immersed myself into the fashion and the way of life there. But when I came back, I saw Placerville differently. I had a new appreciation for it — the opportunity, the culture, the tranquility all within reach. The biggest takeaway for me was just gratitude.”
He expects his son will experience something similar.
“You can’t explain it until you’ve traveled internationally by yourself,” Chiusano said. “You’ve navigated airports, buses, taxis, gotten yourself to your host family. Some adults can’t do that. When you finally get that first night’s sleep, you realize: you did something major.”
A selective, demanding path
Phoenix said the path to Italy started with a simple step: walking into a Rotary meeting.
“You have to go to the local Rotary meeting and get in contact with one of the youth exchange officers,” he said. “They set you up with the email for the person running the youth exchange. You email them, say you want to join, and they give you a trial meeting.”
From there, students attend informational sessions and sit for interviews.
“They do an interview to see why you’d want to do it and how you’d handle certain situations,” Phoenix said. “Like if someone brings up politics about our country, they teach you how to respond — to stay neutral, ask what their opinion is, listen and not really take sides.”
There’s also a heavy load of paperwork and school-style assignments.
“They had a whole website set up just for all the paperwork,” Phoenix said. “You have to write essays about yourself, do a research project on where you’re going and learn all about the country.”
Academics matter as well.
“You can’t have terrible grades,” Phoenix said. “You can have a C, but they want B’s. If they have other students with better grades who seem more into it, they’ll probably accept them instead of you. You have to be above and beyond. It’s not a way to skip school.”
Hopes for the year ahead
With departure day about two weeks away, Phoenix said most of the logistics are done: paperwork submitted, visa approved, flights booked.
“Mainly I just need to pack my bag,” he said.
What he’s hoping to bring back goes beyond souvenirs and recipes.
“I really hope I can learn the language,” he said. “And I want to make friends from Italy, be able to communicate and talk with my classmates. Hopefully I’ll bring back some recipes, cooking experiences, what school was like in Europe — and a lot of memories.”
Phoenix pointed out that the experience is bound to change his world view.
“Definitely,” he said.