From the mountains to the prairie

An exchange students from the Swiss Alps is adjusting to what life is like on flat land.

“I will enjoy it. It's a completely different from Switzerland, so, a new experience!” said Luc Imperiali, this year's exchange student for the Portage Rotary Club.

He shared his initial impressions of Manitoba at the club's meeting Tuesday, along with his goals for the year, and some information about himself and his home country.

While he enjoys math and physics, the 18-year-old high school graduate says he is taking advantage of some of the optional course offerings at Portage Collegiate Institute, such as interactive media.

“In this course, you get to learn how to make 2D animations, also I take pre-calculus so I refresh that knowledge so I don't forget.”

He also is looking forward to getting involved in local events and learning local sports, saying he has already tried flag football and is anticipating his chance to learn to play hockey.

“I played floor hockey in Switzerland and I can skate, but I've never put them together,” Imperiali said.

His goals for his time in Canada including expanding his English vocabulary, learning more about Canadian culture, seeing many places, meetings lots of great people and having a great year.

Imperiali said he doesn't want to miss out on any opportunity to try something new.

“I say to everything yes. To everyone who asks me to do something, I will say yes,” the engaging young man said following the meeting.

Imperiali comes from Grenchen, Switzerland, where his father owns an engineering company and is a Rotarian and his mother works part-time in health care. He also has a younger sister. He has a passion for airplanes, and even built a model plane that fly, and took a two-week course this summer on learning to pilot an aircraft. He also enjoys skiing, a typical Swiss pastime, but told Rotarians he has never tried a chocolate fondue.

Grenchen, population 16,000, is know for watchmakers Swatch and Breitling, as well as BMC bicycle brand. It is located at the foot of the Jura Mountains in the northwest corner of Switzerland. Its main language is German, although Switzerland has four official languages: French, German, Italian and Romansh (a combination of German and Italian). Switzerland has a population of 8 million people living on 41,285 square kilometres, while Imeriali pointed out its 250 times smaller than Canada.

When his exchange year is complete, Imperiali will fulfill his 300-day military requirement which is expected of all Swiss men, and then study to become a construction engineer in the fall of 2015.