Thinking about spending the summer working abroad in Italy? Here are a couple highlights of my summer as a touring camp counsellor in Italy!
The Tour Begins
After touching down in Europe and spending a picture-perfect week in Rome (check out my Rome itinerary here), I caught a bus to the beautiful Adriatic coastal town of Rimini, where training would be held for my new gig.
My job was working as a camp counsellor and English tutor in summer camps for Italian children (ages 4-16). The rough structure was that the company would assemble teams of tutors to send on one-to-two-week long day camps around the country. Then, we would be hosted by the families of campers, who had volunteered to have a tutor stay with them. Getting to live like a local in every place we went was truly amazing, and one of the biggest perks of the job.
I had learned about this particular position through theatre friends in Canada who had done it before and spoke highly of it. And it did not disappoint! Every tutor’s map was different, but equally so an absolute whirl-wind.
One of the biggest perks of this particular gig was that you didn’t actually need a visa to apply for it — only a passport. The program qualifies as a “study program” because it’s short-term and you receive TEFL certification (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) at the end. The pay that you receive while working is ~$250/week and is considered a “study grant”. Since most gigs abroad require Canadians have a visa or work permit, only needing a passport to spend time working abroad in Italy was a huge perk!
First Stop: Rimini
Tutor orientation took place in Rimini, a beachside town on the Adriatic Coast.
After being in Rome, arriving in Rimini felt like arriving in a completely different country! Rome was so low-contrast — made up of endless shades of orange and peach. Rimini was different, a classic beach town with surf and sand sunnily on display. It felt so modern, and reminded me of my trip to Santa Monica, LA. The boardwalk even had the ferris wheel to match!
Our week in Rimini was a whirlwind. Unfortunately, it was here that a few of us had our phones stolen. It’s a long story, but we all learned a very valuable and costly lesson, that night. Never let your stuff out of your sight. Even when it seems like you’re alone… you just never know. I was pretty devastated, as I’d just purchased my phone before leaving Canada, especially for this trip. But it could have been so much worse… My dad had given me one of his old, battered phones to pack “just in case”, so that was a life-saver. It was broken, but infinitely better than nothing.
Because of the theft, my photos from this summer in Italy are few and far between. But that makes each one more precious.
Second Stop: Bari
My first two-week summer camp was in Bari, in the south of Italy. Generally speaking, the further south one travels in Italy, the less English is spoken/taught. This made this Bari a very interesting first posting for my summer working abroad in Italy!
My host family spoke almost no English at all, and I spoke almost no Italian at all… So communication was difficult. For the first few days, we stuck almost exclusively to Google Translate. But, as time passed, we started to be able to communicate occasionally without it.
On the first weekend, after just arriving, the family (mother, father, and their 6-year-old daughter) had whisked me away for a night’s stay by the seaside. We stayed in an open-air hotel with pristine white walls and trees boasting sweet-smelling tropical flowers and bright yellow lemons. We swam in the Adriatic Sea, under a scalding sun. It was truly the most beautiful introduction to Bari. And it was such a generous gesture from a family that I had only just met.
The next weekend, when my host parents told me that we were going to the beach, I didn’t think anything of it. I packed a little bag with just the beach essentials: towel, mini hair-brush, sunscreen, book, phone. And after we dropped off the daughter, we were on our way!
Surprise!
I only started to realise something was amiss after about 45 minutes in the car. Soon, it became clear that our weekend plans had gotten lost in translation. The parents were taking me to the beach, but we were going to stay overnight. And that night, they had plans to meet up with a couple of friends. And they were all going to show me around the famous white city of Ostuni.
I had literally only the clothes on my back (I was wearing my bathing suit and hadn’t even packed underwear — a mistake I’ll never make again!), but I had a fabulous time. The group took me out for dinner, where I tried a pasta dish called ‘orecchiette con le cime di rapa’, for the first time. And it ended up being one of my favourite meals I ate during my entire time in Italy!
I felt like I only scratched the surface of everything that Bari had to offer. I would love to go back someday!
Third Stop: Treviso
As my time in Bari was coming to a close, I received my next assignment. I was heading to Treviso! Located about a 30-minute train ride out of Venice, with a population of ~85,000 people, Treviso is known for its Prosecco and for being the birthplace of Tiramisù!
This particular camp was one of the biggest of the summer. It had 10 tutors, 1 camp director, 3 assistants, and 8 helpers, and a couple hundred campers! Camp days were filled with English classes in the morning and endless camp-wide activities in the afternoons. We held olympics, water games, safaris… it was so much fun!
Every day after camp, all the tutors and volunteers would head to the bar next door for aperitivos. (Aperol spritzes are basically an institution in Italy!) And weekends were occupied by pool days, pizza, exploring downtown, and lots and lots of bike riding. I really couldn’t overemphasize how picturesque Treviso was; with all its little canals and gorgeous architecture, it definitely earned its moniker of “Little Venice”.
My host family here was absolutely amazing, and I truly couldn’t sing their praises enough. Treviso was incredibly good to me.
Day-Trip 1: Venice
My incredible Treviso host family in Treviso took me to Venice for one glorious afternoon! And it was everything I’d dreamed it would be.
We had a lovely afternoon of exploring before they went home, leaving me with a couple other tutors to take in Venice by night. This evening was pure magic. We picnicked and danced the night away in the gorgeous Piazza San Marco.
Day-Trip 2: Conegliano
The last day trip destination of my summer, my final host family treated me to an afternoon in this beautiful little town. We wandered the town, taking in all of its charm, before climbing the big hill up to the Castle of Conegliano. Quiet and sunny, with stunning views of the surrounding cities and vineyards, our day in Conegliano was a perfect goodbye to my summer in Italy!
Day-Trip 3: Milan
Finally, whilst staying in a tiny commune about an hour away, several other tutors and I were able to get away for a quick day-trip into Milan. Milan felt like a very typical big city — lots of cars and people and a very bustling atmosphere. We visited the Duomo, and spent the afternoon shopping.
I had an amazing summer in Italy! From Rome to Bari to Treviso and everywhere in between, it was truly the time of my life. If you want to known more about the company I worked with, please feel free to reach out and I’d be happy to share my experience.
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