Erasmus. Germany 2019
Loved every single moment and all who made that as such…
We had already thought that this Erasmus project would have given us a lot but never thought as much as it did. Both have been great experiences: hosting and be hosted.
The turn of nine of us came on 19th May 2019 when we met in front of the Bari Airport to take off (final destination after a step in Rome: Munich) to start a fantastic week.
Everything got started with the loving welcome of the German families in front of the Wertingen Gymnasium where we could finally meet the parents of our Erasmus partners. Then we went to the new houses and had the first German lunch sitting all together at the table and telling the latest news. Telling ourselves, I would say, to get to know each other quickly.
We didn’t have to wait for a long before meeting again all together in the city and start a quite long walk whose destination was an artificial lake where we could swim in the cold water. Although the Germans were definitely more used to walking so much (we would have used cars to get to the lake), we had the opportunity of admiring breath-taking landscapes during the way. One of the things I like the most about Germany? I fell completely in love with the immense expanses of grass, trees and woods sometimes interrupted for a few kilometres by little and lovely towns. As far as the buildings are concerned, I would say that the houses have many differences from ours: due to the colder climate, they all have sloping rooves and they mostly seem to be made of wood. Living in a city which looks pretty different from the ones we are used to, has surely been peculiar and made the staying even better. How great is breathing and feeling in your heart a different atmosphere?
The following days passed very quickly. Three mornings were spent at school. There we had international group works aimed to produce presentations about national idioms, superstitions and legends. That obviously has been a way to compare our habits, our languages and traditions, which definitely is one of the project’s goal. During the week, we also went to visit 4 cities: Augsburg, Regensburg, Ulm and Wurzburg. All of them were extremely rich of art and history and well presented by the tour guides who really deserve to be mentioned owing to their professionalism and dedication. We could learn a lot about the Roman history: the way houses and camps were built, how Romans used to defend themselves by the enemies, how they used to fight and which games were famous around the empire. Not only did we visit historical and modern sites but we also had quite much free time to have a walk around the cities, to admire the streets and shops, to buy some souvenirs and get in contact with local people. I can’t avoid talking about the boat tour on the Danube. That has been one of the most exciting experiences for me: very often, we mention this huge river during our studies and, since we aren’t able to see it every day as Germans probably are, floating on its water is surely a good way to materialize our words. Danube’s enormous size is not the only distinctive trait: its banks, full of nature and characteristic houses are impressive as well. Not less important has been the visit to the palace of the prince-bishop and its gardens in Wurzburg. The whole palace, with all its golden rooms and big chandeliers, as well as the painting on the entrance ceiling, is impressive.
A part from the time spent under the school control we also had free time, such as some afternoons and the evenings, in which our hosts arranged other activities to let us spend time together. We roasted marshmallows on the fire; we played pool, beer pong and mini golf. Could we miss a German party? Surely not! Here we could also share our typical dances, especially group ones. Fortunately, during the weekend, the Wertingen Volksfest took place just few minutes away from the city centre. Have you ever heard about the October Fest? Well, that was quite the same, just a small version of it. However, the size of the fest didn’t really matter and that was amazing! I can’t almost define how wonderful it was being in the middle of a huge amount of people wearing the typical German clothes and dancing all together standing on benches and tables. There we could experiment the German spirit, the one maybe closer to the stereotypes. We also tried the local beer: a part from the superb taste, looking at the big steins, which could be filled with a litre of beer, was a show itself. In fact, we don’t usually have those kind of glass or at least we don’t use them. The clothes were highly fascinating as well: I’m quite sad we don’t have this kind of traditions in Italy (actually we don’t practice them) since I think that might help to keep the population unified and to feel part of a real community.
Unfortunately, sooner or later the week had to finish and saying bye to our host families and to the city itself wasn’t so easy for everybody...
This experience though, hasn’t been made just of facts but also of discoveries and emotions.
Visiting another country is the best way to get the strengths and weaknesses of ours. For example, I had the opportunity of understanding better how the German school system works and compare that to the Italian one. I could also get some differences as far as the study of languages abroad is concerned and I can easily say we urgently need to improve in this field. By the way, this problem is already well known. Therefore, promoting Erasmus projects is certainly a good way to move in the right direction but still not enough. Moreover, also the use of state facilities in Italy is underdeveloped.
What about my feelings? What did the experience leave in my heart? Did this week fulfil the Erasmus aims? Here my opinion…
In Germany, as would surely happen wherever we move in our world, I found new ways of thinking, new ways of having fun, new habits and different food. What I like the most is that being so far from each other and speaking different languages seems not to be a problem. Also teenagers, despite the different nationalities, always have more or less the same interests. This week spent in Germany just helped me to take out of my mind every kind of doubt about the groundlessness of preconceptions and understand how much we should still work on integration, which has always been one of the biggest world problems. I found a lot of new friends and a new family that couldn’t have welcomed me in a better way, making me feel an important part of it. I am more than sure that nothing changes between an Italian friend and a not Italian one. I’ll tell you more: sometimes the further they are, the more you can trust them. That’s exactly what has happened with my host brother (or just “brother” is good too) with whom I now have a reliable friendship, which is not finished even though the exchange is. I believe that this is one of the main points: not to let the distance, the communication barriers and the diversities (which actually are not as big as we usually might think) win against our feelings and personal bonds.
I loved every single moment of this amazing experience and all who made that as such.
Everybody of us will always have superb memories of this trip and it won’t be so difficult to make them come out just using the worlds “Erasmus”, ”Germany”, “Wertingen”.
Thanks EU.
Sunday, May 19th
Arrival of the Italian and Spanish exchange partners. We were really happy to see each other again. In the afternoon everybody could decide for themselves what to do.
Monday, May 20th
We went to school, while the Hungarians were arriving. We were divided in different groups and were given our project topics. After school we went to Augsburg by train and visited the city. Because it was raining heavily, we decided to go to a shopping mall. For the rest of the day we had some free time.
Tuesday, May 21st
We went to Regensburg by bus, where we followed a guided city tour. After the tour we took part in a boat trip on the Danube. When we came home in the evening, we were all really tired.
Wednesday, May 22nd
In school we continued to work on our projects and also ate a typical Bavarian lunch. In the afternoon a German history teacher took us to see the historic parts of Ulm.
Thursday, May 23rd
We made a trip to Würzburg, where we visited the Residence of Würzburg. Because the weather was really beautiful that day, we also took a walk through the gardens. After that everybody went home because we were really exhausted once more.
Friday, May 24th
At first, we finished our projects and then presented the results. The rest of the day was free, so many of us went to a typically Bavarian festival called „Volksfest“ in Wertingen.
Saturday, May 25th
Our exchange partners went home and everyone was really sad.