7/20/2009 - Around Broadneck: Student forges friendships during semester in Italy

In a world where friendships with people thousands of miles away can be formed instantly via Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn, Emma Gilbert, 17, forged deep friendships the old-fashioned way: face-to-face in a faraway land.

During the past school year, Emma spent a semester in Italy, part of a “total immersion” program sponsored by American Field Service.

“We all met in Nuroro in Sardinia, an island of Italy,” said Emma, a rising senior at Broadneck High. She is one-third of the “Gilbert Triplets,” with brothers Connor and Hayley completing the trio. “Though some of us lived four hours away from Nuroro, all the AFS kids knew each other from the Orientation Camp and got together frequently.”

Among her friends on Sardinia were Suzanne Elveland 19, of Oslo, Norway; and Rehanna Minooei, 18, from Branchburg, N.J.

Two weeks ago, the three pals got together again – at Emma’s Arnold home.

“We got really close in Italy,” said Suzanne. “Afterwards, we corresponded by e-mail and Facebook; we talked by Skype.”

Suzanne came to the United States for a two-week summertime stay at the Gilberts. She visited Washington, D.C., Baltimore and New York City.

“They invited me down,” said Rehanna, “I got a train ticket and came for three days.”

The girls reminisced about Sardinia. Although Emma’s host family had a laptop with dial-up Internet service, she never saw a computer at the high school she attended. Her host family lived up in the mountains where “everything is 70 years behind.” Rehanna lived “near” a big city, within 60 miles, and enjoyed easier online access.

“We have friends from all over the world,” said Emma. “We have a couch to sleep on anywhere we go.”

The Gilbert family recently hosted AFS exchange student Janina Waibel of Abtsgmuend, Germany, for a year. For her senior year, Emma is looking forward to serving as a student volunteer liaison for AFS.

This article originally published here.