Kaarel writes

Last week I was taking part of student exchange in Italy. That was my first time taking part in that. So I was a little bit nervous. We went to Italy on 17^th May and came back home on 24^th May.

Firstly we take a bus to Riga airport. It was my first time travelling with plane and I got cold before that. Many people told me that it’s bad to fly with cold. But after we were in the sky I didn’t feel anything. After we land in Turin there was two Italy boy who bring us to Saluzzo. It was hot day. We meet our hosts and got some food. After that we went home. Home was big and beautiful.

Next day we went to back Turin to see the city. It was very nice and old city place. We got some free time, to buy some food or clothes. 
 

After that we went to big supermarket. That was a boring place, because there was nothing to buy. Then we went home to take some nap. 

In the evening we went out, to see small town where I stayed. 








On Friday we travelled to mountains. That was like 2000 m high mountain. I didn’t go to the top, because I was sick and it was hard to breathe. When everyone was down, we went to have some food in restaurant. That was good food, but I don’t understand how Italy people eat so much and they are all so thin.

On Saturday we went to old school to listen to some Italian people music talent. That was very nice and well played. Later we went to market. There was everything you needed. We got like two hours and later we played some ball games in school. In the evening we went to city party. Everyone was there. We danced a lot and next day my legs hurt so much.

On Sunday we went to BBQ near river. I burned my back and hand. We where there all day. On Monday we went to see the Sea and swim there. That day was hot and it was rock beach so it was hard to walk. That was our last day before we came home.

That was my first and coolest student exchange ever. I enjoyed a lot and I want to go back there. It’s good that we have that opportunity in our school.

Tarmo in Italy

Last week we travelled to Italy, Saluzzo to take part in a students exchange program. We arrived there on Wednesday and stayed there for a week. When we arrived in Saluzzo I was nervous, because my Italian host wasn’t there among other Italians. Luckily he arrived and everything was fine. His name is Alessandro and he is a cool guy. His family was very kind and welcomed me with warm hearts.

Whole exchange program was full of interesting moments and beautiful sights. On one day we had a tour of the beautiful city of Torino. 

 













 
The next day we went to the mountains and gazed upon the glorious landscape of Northern Italy. 

 Later we had a lasagne which was very tasty. 
On Saturday there was a small concert in Saluzzo and we visited market. Later that night we went to another town where there was a street party which was very cool and exhausting. Next day I hooked up with some Estonians and their hosts and we went to a river to barbecue. The weather was very hot and some of us had sunburn. The barbecue meat was tasty. 
On Monday everybody jumped in a bus and set course to Noli, which is a beautiful city at the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The water was very warm for Estonians so it was a relief that we could swim there. The view was also breathtaking and will stay in my memories for a long time. Tuesday was the last day of the program and it started in the school. 
We danced some folk dances and it made us sweat. 

Then we set course to Torino and flew to Frankfurt where we waited for 5 hours to catch a flight to Riga. The program ended when we all arrived in Kanepi.

The program was full of surprises and amazing moments. On many occasions the Estonians met up in Saluzzo at night and had a fun time. I will miss the beautiful nature and landscape and most of all I am going to miss the tasty Italian food, which consisted of pasta, pasta, pasta, pasta, pizza, pasta and lasagne. I hope that the students exchange programs will stay a tradition in Kanepi Gymnasium.

Mari Liis and Italy

When we arrived to Italy then everybody was very excited. It was so hot outside and we wore too warm clothes. In the bus it felt like we were in the sauna. First day was tiring but we were happy. My family was very friendly and kind. They had very big house.

On the second day we had a trip to Torino. The nature was so beautiful. Unfortunately I felt sick but some hours later it was better. I ate in some pizza restaurant with the teachers. 

In the evening we went to Saluzzo to a bar and had fun together with other students.

Also, we went hiking to a big mountain. The view was amazing on the top of the mountain. I felt freedom and happiness because I reached to the top. 

In my opinion, Italians eat healthier than we in Estonia. They have really big fields and fruit gardens. They only had forests in the mountains and it was a bit strange to me.

For two days we were sunbathing. Firstly, on the river and secondly near the Mediterranian sea. The weather was so good and we enjoyed it very much.

I am happy that I had an opportunity to take part of this exchange project and met these cool people from Italy.

Laur writes

We started travelling to Italy on Wednesday, we flew to Torino via Frankfurt. From Torino we took a bus to Saluzzo and after a little welcome-party, I met my host´s parents. 

They were very friendly, but unfortunately, they did not speak any English. My host´s name is Alessandro. At his home I also met his sister.

Alessandro´s family was very generous and caring. During lunch and dinner, they offered me a wide variety of Italian foods. I ate different kinds of pastas, pizzas and also some cheeses. Overall the food was very good, although it was quite different from Estonian food. During dinner I also got to taste wine, which was very good. I love wine.

As the days went by I also learned some Italian words and got to know more about Italy. Alessandro and his sister were very informative, they taught me a lot about Italy. During the last few days I could even understand a little bit Italian, although most of it was through body language.

During our time in Italy, we visited a lot of different places. We visited the Mediterranean Sea; a local river, where we grilled some meat; and the regional mountains. I think I had the most fun in the mountains. It was very thrilling to climb these enormous mountains and afterwards we could even almost slide down from them.

In conclusion I had a very wonderful time in Italy, I think this experience will always stay in my memory. I hope that one day I can come back here.

Emotional Kadri

My week in Italy was by all records extraordinary.  It was an unstoppable flow of unforgettable memories. I felt like I had lived another life for  seven days and it was one very perfect life.

To be honest at first I wasn’t interested in going to Italy at all. For me travelling was something very uncomfortable and unpleasant. I didn’t fancy flying by plane at all and I was rather afraid of airports. It was mostly due to my mother that I agreed to go Italy at all. It must seem very funny- I mean, who wouldn’t want to go to Italy. Well everybody knows I’m kind of odd and I’m also fond to staying at home.

There were other reasons for my lack of interest to going to Italy as well. First of all there had been lots of trips this school year and I had already missed a lot of lessons. I was also going to have my exams this year and I didn’t have much time for preparing. But my mom told me to stop worrying and go to that damn trip and I did as I was told.

Well, it’s seems I need to be very grateful for my mother’s endless demands to go to Italy. Never in my whole life could I have expected to have such a great week.  Every day was a whole new experience.

First of all Italy was mind-blowingly beautiful, where ever you looked it was incredibly pretty.  Starting from the crimson poppy flowers on the road edges and ending with worn-out old villas that had red rooftops. Everything was green and there were roses blooming in the gardens. Coming from the grey spring of Estonia it felt like I had stepped into another season.

The moment I stepped out of the airport in Turin started a bloody battle- Kadri VS Italian weather. Unfortunately I manage heat very badly and it had been a big fear of mine. I stressed for days about what to back to Italy so I would survive. Luckily Italian weather was kind to me and if we don’t count my few sunburns and unfortunate battle with heat in Milano I did very well.

My host was a very energetic girl named Marta. Marta was the most Italian person I could imagine, her voice could be heard over mountains and her profile reminded me of every Italian renaissance painting I had seen. She was also unimaginably kind goodhearted, I felt at home starting from the first day. Marta lived with her mother, so for the most part the household was filled with three women.

My favourite part of Italy was surprisingly the day in the mountains. Mountain hiking wasn’t easy at all. It was quite dangerous and very hard. I am still very surprised that nobody broke a leg or fell down from a high edge. But still I loved it, I loved the feeling of standing on the top of the mountain, I loved the incredible views that opened all around me, I loved the cold wind and I loved the feeling of tiredness in my legs. I felt bit unhuman and I felt unimaginably happy, there was something in the air and there was something on my heart.

I came back from Italy a thousand times richer when I went, I came back with a thousand perfect and beautiful memories. My heart is filled with memories that will stay there for a lifetime. I will forever remember the warm nights in Saluzzo, the perfect day on the beach, the beautiful cathedral in Milano, all the good food at home and all the kind people I met.