Buongiorno!

Buongiorno, shalom, jambo, salut, aloha, ciao! No matter which way you say hello, as William Arthur Ward said so clearly, “A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.”

Hello! And welcome to my travel blog. My name is Kelsey and I am currently studying abroad in Paderno del Grappa, Italy. I am regularly a student at the University of Oregon in the journalism and anthropology department and a proud fan of the Ducks. For the next three months I will be in Italy as apart of CIMBA, a journalism and business educational international program.

Paderno del Grappa is in the Veneto region of Italy, approximately an hour north west of Venice. With a minuscule population of only a little over 2,000, we are in the middle of town and surrounded by truly the Italian country side and its unique culture. Just last night, I actually got the opportunity to talk with an Italian high school student, who also attends school at the campus, Istituti Filippin, in Paderno about the area. She said, roughly transposed to English that Istituti Filippin isn’t in Paderno but that Paderno is Istituti Filippin, to demonstrate how small the town is.

While I am abroad I intend to travel as much as possible, without hopefully spending all the money I have saved, and then sharing those travels with you. Through the program we are encouraged to explore Europe and learn and grow from those experiences and I am going to take full advantage of this wonderful opportunity that is slowly developing in front of me. I look forward to many exciting adventures that lead to new discoveries and great stories! Ciao for now!