Jordi in English

It’s been already a week since we landed at Brussels International Airport,
back in our own comfortable environment, back to reality.

There is only one word that can describe our exchange: unforgettable.
We’ve met so many new people, in particular Sara, Luisa, Simone, Maria, Otilia, Linda and Miss Ornella.
Together we had uncountable beautiful moments, I’ll never forget them!

Going on an exchange means more than visiting a school and the environment,
it means also living in a host family. I was part of Sara’s family for 6 days.
She lives with her grandparents and uncle, all people with a heart of gold, in a cosy house. Sara’s grandmother, a real Italian woman, acquainted me with, according to me, the real Italian kitchen. I ate the most delicious tiramisu in my life!

The day we arrived, Thursday the 30rd of April, was Sara’s birthday.
She had organised a party in the Tici Taca, a local bar where she works.
She introduced me to all her friends, great people who did everything they could to make me feel at home. I felt immediately comfortable and I enjoyed my first Italian evening.

During the week we stayed in Agropoli, we went to school and we visited the environment. We visited among others Pompeii, Paestum, San Marco and Salerno. Great locations with an impressive historical background! But we also saw Italy in a totally different way than the normal tourists do, our ‘guides’ showed us the REAL Italy!

On Monday and Tuesday we went to school. Italians are clearly not used to seeing a guy of my height walking through their school, students were watching me all the time :D! The Italian way of following courses is absolutely not comparable to the way we go to school in Belgium. I can’t imagine a Belgian student walking out of a classroom in the middle of a course, because he or she needs a strong espresso.
In Italy it’s the most normal thing on earth!
It’s part of the Italian way of life, a way of life you get used to very fast …

We also took a French course. The teacher, originally from Liège, was clearly happy to welcome us in her lesson. She picked me out and told me I could sit in her chair in front of the class, to tell her students about the Belgian educational system.
I hope I didn’t scare them too much …

We also worked on our project. We made a game in little groups, the result being a beautiful example of Italian-Belgian cooperation.

I’ll never forget this exchange project, I miss it each minute of the day! I still keep a lot of contact with ‘our Italians’, I’m already looking forward to September, when we may welcome our new friends here in Belgium!