From November 16 to 27, 21 students, myself included, had the privilege of participating in an exchange program with Italian students attending the Liceo Copernico school in Brescia, Italy. Each Baron was paired up with a corresponding student with whom they stayed for the ten-day trip. Each Italian host is enrolled in their school’s English learning program and was selected for exchange to improve their English speaking skills. The trips organizers were Copernico’s retired principal and B-CC’s music teacher, Mr. White. This trip created an opportunity for both groups to look into one another’s culture.
On our first day, we took a look into student life in Italy, shadowing the Italian students throughout their school day. The Italian students and teachers warmly welcomed the Americans as we engaged in various activities to get to know each other. Unlike B-CC’s seven-classes-a-day schedule, students at Copernico attend fewer classes each day, with their schedule varying throughout the week. Their school day runs from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and although the daily hours are shorter, the school week extends from Monday through Saturday.
At Copernico, high school spans five years and students stay with the same peers throughout the entire journey, attending every class together each day. “They have a lot more of a sibling-like bond because they’ve grown up with each other since they were young, versus in the U.S. where you interact with so many people that you have a range of closeness with your classmates. You might not even talk to some of them at all,” B-CC senior Roxy Thompson said.
In my opinion, the most shocking part of their school was the cafeteria. While we Americans are used to eating rubbery chicken nuggets every day, they have a cafe with gourmet croissants, donuts, and delicious sandwiches. They even serve espresso drinks for only one or two euros. However, in Italy, it is frowned upon to order coffee with milk after breakfast time, so unless you want to be easily spotted as a tourist, skip the cappuccino at noon.
Every day after school, our Italian hosts would take us around downtown Brescia to see beautiful historical sites, shopping areas, and nice restaurants. While we would eat pizza and pasta almost every day, the Italians would proceed to share some strange presumptions that they had of us Americans. My host, Emma Lamberti, said, “I genuinely thought that every American checked if pasta was well-cooked by throwing it on the wall.” They also assumed we always eat pineapple pizza. They quizzed us on our geography skills and were pleasantly surprised when were weren’t as uneducated as they thought.
On the days we didn’t attend school, Mr. White and his wife took us to different cities around Italy. The first place we visited was Venice, a stunning island city. Where one is used to seeing roads and cars, Venice has rivers and boats. Our tour guide walked us through Venice, explaining its history and significance, until we reached the main square, Piazza San Marco. There, we were given free time to walk around on our own. We explored the most important religious temple in Venice, the Basilica of St. Mark, which was adorned from top to bottom with magnificent artwork, sculptures, and engravings.
A few days later, we embarked on our next journey to Verona. We walked around, accompanied by another tour guide, who taught us about the different sites — many of which were left behind by the Romans. They even have a “little colosseum,” which is why some call Verona “little Rome.” Perhaps most significantly, Verona is where the love story between Romeo and Juliet took place. We visited a residence representing a model of Juliet’s house, in which there was a balcony overlooking a stone courtyard. We stayed in the courtyard and took photos with a beautiful sculpture of Juliet.
On our way back to Brescia, we made a pit stop at Lake Garda. However, some of the students, myself included, were left on the train to fend for themselves. It was a bittersweet experience because many of us were excited to see the crystal clear waters, but we made the most of our time, returned to Brescia, and traveled around the city to shop. Our host families were blowing up our phones: some were concerned, but some just wanted to poke fun at the Americans. The text I received read, “Lmao! Silly Americans.” During the weekend, we had free time with our host family, where I was finally taken to see the lake.
Our final trip was to the fashion capital of the world, Milan. Before we had the chance to spend all of our money on clothes, we were taken to Duomo di Milano, a stunning Gothic-style cathedral with thousands of statues and figures. We took an elevator and walked up what seemed like a hundred flights of stairs to make it to the top of a 45-meter church, where we could overlook the city of Milan. Afterward, we had three hours to shop, get food, and look around at the luxury stores, dreaming of what we would one day buy when we can cough up the money.
On Saturday night, we got a taste of Italian party life. In the U.S., house parties are most common, but in Italy, teens get to go clubbing at the ripe age of 16. Our hosts took all of the Americans to the club, where they got us VIP spots. We Americans are more used to parties starting around 8:00 pm or 9:00 pm, then getting shut down by the cops at midnight. That night, we did not leave for the club until midnight, and got back home around 5:00 am.
Overall, this trip was an amazing experience, but the exchange is not over yet. In February, the Italian students will come to America and we will be the new hosts. Though this is the first year B-CC has organized an exchange program, I consider it a major success and I hope that this continues in the future. “I would 100% recommend the trip for next year. It’s amazing to be able to see so many different parts of Italy, be able to enjoy it with your friends, and be able to get a real, authentic experience through the eyes of an Italian teenager,” Thompson said.
