In the late hours following our usual and uneventful school
day on Thursday we had the pleasure of welcoming the guests from Italy that had
arrived in the middle of the night during the first hours of Friday. As most if
not all of the people tied with the exchange project had gathered in the
courtyard of Kanepi Gymnasium to greet the Italians, we were all very anxious
to meet the people that would be a part of our lives for the next five days.
The small bus arrived in the courtyard, soon to be followed by a mass of
Estonians coming to say their first personal "Hello"-s and "Hi"-s to them. I
was to house Andrea Garrone, who was very friendly, though shy at first glance.
When our students and teachers met up with their corresponding guests, they
quickly took them to their homes to have them rest up for the night, for the
following day was to be long and eventful.
The first day, Friday, was all about Räpina as we
proceeded with the same procedure that we did with the Germans a year before.
First we gathered in Kanepi to get on our bus, which we then drove to Räpina. Though
the weather wasn’t looking good for us, we didn’t let it bother us too much. On
the way there we noticed a considerable characteristic regarding our guests:
they were really friendly and very talkative! It wasn’t long until the whole
bus was filled with various sounds from all the chatter that came from the
students of both schools. It was a good way to practise English as well! When
we first arrived in Räpina, we gathered in front of the ceramics house, taking
a quick group picture, and going inside the building to be divided into three
smaller groups that started to do different activities: painting glass,
crafting boxes or making items out of clay. The handicraft workshops were fun
and improved our cooperation skills with the guests. Soon after we gathered in
front of the ceramics building again to take part in a tour of the Räpina
manor, a historical building highly valued in the town. Having delved into
Estonian history, we took a short yet refreshing walk in the park to make our
way to the Räpina School of Horticulture. From there we carried on to the paper
mill and saw how used material gets made into new and usable paper again. As we
finished the tour, we went back on the bus to drive back to Kanepi and proceed
with our own activities planned for the guests.
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| Glass painting in Räpina |
On Saturday, the Italians along with a few of our
students and teachers paid a visit to the Estonian Road Museum, in which our
guests got some insight to the history and present day condition of Estonian
traffic system, roads, and vehicles driving the streets and roads in Estonia.
After coming back to Kanepi the guests were free to do whatever they wished to
do but they mostly followed their hosts wherever they went. Some of the places the Estonian
students took their guests were the ASRT Headquarters in Kanepi (the place
where Meelis, Fabio, Andrea and I went) and the tower of Mountain Suur
Munamägi. I, along with Meelis and our corresponding guests went to my place
where we played a lot on my PlayStation 3 console. Also, a part of the plan was
one of our host’s, Koit’s, birthday party, during which most of the exchange students went with their hosts and where the attendants bonded really
well and warmed up against each other.
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| Andrea (with Fabio in the background) in the ASRT headquarters |
We continued the exploration tour of Estonia on Sunday
as the majority of us visited the AHHAA Science Centre along with our guests.
The visit there was fun for our awesome guests as they tried out everything
connected to science and though the centre was familiar to us, we enjoyed the
tour with them as well. Having visited AHHAA, we continued the stay in Tartu by
taking our guests to restaurant ‘Taverna’ where the Italians had the privilege of
tasting Estonian pizzas. After we finished eating, we made our way to
Lõunakeskus to show the Italians AHHAA’s very own 4D cinema. The experience
there was quite vivid for us, full of spooky scary skeletons that sent shivers
down our spines! Next we went climbing to the adventure park over the ice
skating rink, many of us having no fear of heights and (possible) injuries. Not that any
serious injuries were received there, of course. If there was any shopping to
do after the climbing course, then it was the time to do it. Though, those who were
tired and had their fun started going home, such as Andrea and I along with
Meelis and Fabio.
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| Alberto and Giovanni climbing in AHHAA |
Monday was the day when the Italians were introduced
to Kanepi Gymnasium. The guests took part in our daily school life, including
classes and lunch. Sometime after having lunch we played a friendly football
match against our guests, even one of their teachers took part in the game! The
battle ended with a win for the home team, although our guests were awarded for
their skilful opposition, after which we took a group picture. The day ended
with a return back to the hosts’ homes where we prepared ourselves for the
party at the school. Having gathered in the school, we introduced the evening’s
programme and listened to a few speeches by teachers from both schools, after
which entertained our guests by encouraging them to take part in various
competitive activities, such as group skiing and obstacle course in a sumo
costume. The rest of the evening was followed by our own performances,
including folk dance, which we also taught to them, and a few other dances by
the dance group ‘Efect’ and the 12th grade, re-enacting the song
‘Summer Nights’ from the ‘Grease’ musical. After the official programme was
over, we all danced to the music and had a good time.
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| Competitive group skiing in Kanepi Gymnasium |
The last day was unfortunately a short one for us as
we had to say goodbye to our very dear and friendly guests who we now know as
our good friends. Their departure in the morning was met with much emotion from both sides but
also gratitude from them for our hospitality and possibility to stay in Estonia
with us. Even though we wanted to live through more together, they had to leave. Although we were all saddened by their departure, we still held a tiny spark of happiness in us, for the visit to Italy was approaching soon and right now we simply cannot wait to go there ourselves!
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| Thank you all for coming to Estonia!! |
