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Tre begli articoli scritti da ragazzi che hanno partecipato allo scambio culturale prima fase: Lorenzo Vezzini (4A), Giulia Pietta (4A), Laura Spitti (4C)

 

carrying-shipsThe last invasion from the north came legally, funded from UE, and ready for party instead of war. The date was 9th of April, 18 P.M. : a troop of New Jutes, I heard someone call them Danes, landed in the station of Cremona, hungry for pizza, fun and Italy. But this time we were ready: ready to host them.
 The house of an Italian student was assigned to everyone of them: in fact we were so much ready that some of us remained without a guest. However, even if it was a completely different experience from living with one them, all the Italian students had the opportunity to meet these barbarians. And these were really strange barbarians.
   First of all they could be divided into different c lans. The first and most numerous of them was the “Ghetto Clan”, whose members distinguished themselves for the “hip-hop attitude” in music, dance and especially clothes, and was composed by boys and girls born in Denmark from immigrant families. Actually they had none of the features typical of a boy or a girl who grows up in a real Ghetto: they were incredibly kind, regardful with the family and grateful. Another important group was formed by “Danish blooded” people, who, apart from the clothes, were very similar to the ones from the Ghetto Clan and were good friends with them. The last and strangest tribe was the so-called “Nerd Clan”: actually,little can be said about them, because they didn’t have relationships with people who weren’t part of the c lan. The only thing we know is their great passion for information technology.
   This is how the army presented itself, at first sight, but to confront an invader you have to know much more about him. The question is: what does a Dane think? What can we find in his capped or blonde haired head? The answer is: party. And party and party. Every day, every night, every afternoon, every sunrise and every sunset. They just think about having as much fun as possible. That is why the most frequent question we received before they came was “do you party a lot in Italy?” for this reason when they found themselves in front of the beautiful cathedral in Cremona the only thing they said was “beautiful, now, where can we find an ice cream?” The cause of this is surely complex but certainly part of it can be found in Danish society. During a terrible economic world crisis, Denmark is still rich enough to guarantee work to every boy or girl who is over 16. This means that they don’t have problems with their future, because there is no risk for them to remain without money and they can live their youth even too peacefully.
    The army left on the 17th of April. In conclusion, we must remember a great man like Julius Cesar and guess what he would have done with this new kind of Jutes. Surely not a party.
Lorenzo Vezzini 4 A

 

Breathtaking Experience    

Breathtaking experience, in any sense.
Imagine: you have nine days (or even fewer) to show and explain how your culture and how your habits are. And that’s not all: at the same time you want to learn and catch something about a foreign lifestyle.
Breathtaking experience, definitely.
You must speak English and you must speak Italian, as well. Then, it’s important to translate everything in both ways so that everybody can easily understand, or at least it’s supposed to be so. Basically, the most important thing to do?! Talk talk talk until your voice is gone.
Breathtaking experience, but because of laughs!
It is learning while you’re having fun. So that it happens to find yourself in a restaurant trying to explain what shrimps are or, even better, to hear from a foreign student, persuaded that it is Italian, a word in Cremona dialect!
What am I writing about? It’ s the exchange program, or better the first part of it, that involved three classes of our school, Liceo Scientifico Aselli, and two from a Danish school of the city of Esbjerg.
The Italian students till now have “only” been the hosts, greeting the foreign mates in their houses, in their classes and in their city. But if at first they thought this to be the most useless part of the program, seeing themselves as the hostel for the Danish guys, almost everybody has changed their mind since the second day of the experience! Not bad, isn’t it?!
And so, while some of our brave knights were struggling, following a Nordic Angelica, we, hoping them to be Medoro and not Orlando, of course, have learnt to look at our country with different eyes. As a matter of fact, the advantage of being an host buddy is that you have the opportunity of exploring and discovering a new culture from the words of your guest, but also (and unfortunately not many people think about this benefit) you become able to appreciate or just notice little particulars of Italian habits that you have always taken for granted. Most of the time, those down to earth aspects make the Italian customs concretely Italian, typical of our country and different from many others’.
However if you, oh my reader, were a pragmatic person who cares only about concrete results, I hope you aren’t, don’t be skeptical: the experience would help you improve your English, much more than hours and hours spent in a classroom.
Then, thanking my school, my teachers and my parents for the great opportunity they gave me and sending a huge hug to all my adventure mates, especially to my lovely Danish “sister” Camilla, I’m looking for saying Breathtaking Danish Experience!

Giulia Pietta 4A

 

DREAM or REALITY?
How would you feel if a morning you woke up and realized that you aren't in your bedroom, in your city, in your country, but in a foreign state, with an unknown family that doesn't speak your language, in contact with a different culture from what you are used to in your home country? Different times, different cuisine, different way of life, different people and even different ways in which people carry out a conversation! It could be a nightmare or a dream and I could feel like Alice in Wonderland... Or maybe like her, I'm beginning a great adventure!
First, I watch if there's someone else in the room, but it's all so quiet; so I follow  the coffee's aroma and I arrive in the kitchen, where a new family is waiting for me! They want to know everything about me and my culture, but it's early morning and my brain is again sleeping and it is difficult for me to speak. However in front of a cup of hot coffee, I feel at home and I find words to talk about myself and to know them better.    
I'm looking forward to feeling like this, a bit confused maybe, but wishful and ready to experience a new culture and education system. I think this kind of experience opens the mind and new horizons to young people and obviously it tests and improves English!
Moreover it’s always exciting to know new people, compare with them, share wonderful experiences and have friends in a foreign country!
 The first day could be a bit difficult because you are with people that you haven't seen and talked to before, so you need to be sociable and open; but everything  becomes easier because the family does his best to give you a friendly welcome and make you feel at home.
During the exchange you have the opportunity to make a full immersion for a week in a completely different life that teaches you that your world isn’t the only world, but it’s a little portion of the earth and the difference encourages our desire of knowing.

Laura Spitti 4C