Mart K., studentessa del Liceo Rozenberg di Mol in Belgio, è stata ospite del Liceo Romagnosi per due settimane, dal  7 al 19 marzo 2022.

È arrivata in primavera, simbolo di una rinnovata apertura al mondo e di rinascita, dopo questi ultimi due anni così difficili.

Il soggiorno di Mart, possibile nell’ambito dei progetti europei di scambio ERASMUS +, è stato lo stimolo e l’occasione, in particolare per gli studenti della 1E (classe nella quale la ragazza ha frequentato la maggior parte delle lezioni), per conoscere una realtà diversa dalla loro, per instaurare relazioni e un modo di lavorare più collaborativo all’interno del gruppo classe, oltre che per utilizzare in modo veicolare le lingue studiate a scuola, tutti obiettivi e competenze che l’ Europa richiede ai giovani cittadini dell’Unione. 

Questo incontro è stato anche il primo segnale per la ripresa di viaggi e scambi internazionali: a settembre, Agata T., che ha accolto la ragazza a Parma, sarà a sua volta ospite di Mart a Mol e speriamo che questo sia solo la prima di tante altre esperienze simili.

Nell’intervista che segue, a cura di Maria Chiara Priolo, Manuel Visani e Agata Turillazzi, la studentessa belga racconta, in un inglese a tratti molto informale, le sue impressioni sull’Italia, la nostra città e la nostra scuola, sensazioni che, se pur relative ad un breve periodo della sua vita, sono per lei certamente importanti e significative.

Buona lettura!

Prof.ssa Isabella Maffioli – Resp. Progetti Europei

MART’s INTERVIEW

How was the atmosphere in Italy?

It was kind of different from what I expected, because in Belgium everyone thinks that in Italy everyone is relaxed and they have no stress and things like that. But it was kind of different because I experienced a lot of stress and Agata (the girl who hosted Mart n.d.r.) also said that you all have a lot of stress for school and there’s a lot of pressure. So I also noticed that but on the other side I also experienced a good atmosphere, like when you’re dancing in the morning… It seemed to me that everyone was happy and carefree.

What is the thing that you liked the most?

I really like the church. Like ok there are lotta churches in Parma, but the one we went to with the art history teacher, I really like that. But I like Parma in general, it is just a very beautiful city. I really like the colors, I keep saying that because I’m not used to it. In Belgium, there’s almost no color: it’s always just black, white and grey and boring so I really like the colors in Parma. There wasn’t one thing that was the most beautiful , it was just Parma in general. In Bologna…, yes that’s also just a beautiful city, I like its churches, I’ve seen a lot of churches when I was in Italy. But they were also very very beautiful. So I think I’m going to look at my pictures so I can say more. And in Parma or near Parma, I’ve also seen a castle that was very beautiful. I like that castle more than the church but that’s because I prefer castles more than churches but that was also very very beautiful. And I also like that, when you are in Parma, you can see the mountains that are pretty far away because we have no mountains in Belgium, none. So I like them a lot, it was nice seeing them even if it was pretty far away. It was just beautiful. And I also really liked the ice cream, that’s not a dish, I don’t have a favorite dish. I just really like all the pasta, all the pizza and ice cream. I think that’s my answer

I love Parma and Italy, I want to really say something to approve it. I also didn’t see a lot of Italy, but I really really like Italy. It’s just very colourful and very beautiful, I really like the Italian people and the cities and I don’t think that you can improve that.

How was the atmosphere in the classroom?

It felt like a good class atmosphere, I don’t really know how to say it. Like everyone was kind a friend with each other, like in my class there’s like more divided in groups, I think. So yeah, I just want to say that it was a very good atmosphere, everyone was really friendly and you were dancing and things like that. But on the other side there’s also a lot of stress so there’s two opposite things. Yeah, that’s it.

What do you think about Italian school?

There’s a lot of stress in your school, it’s more or less the same as Belgium, it wasn’t weird to me. If you want to improve something, make sure students have less stress. For me it seemed a very big problem that the students have so much stress, so I would do something about that. I don’t know how, but maybe change the system of oral tests. I think that was the main reason of the stress. I would do something about it, I don’t know how. You think about it yourself, lol.

Was it difficult to be away from your family?

It wasn’t a problem for me. Maybe it might be a problem for some people, but I’m also used to it because when I was young, I went camping for 10 days and I learned to cope with it. This was just two weeks, two weeks aren’t that long. Also when I was told that I’m gonna go home, I didn’t wanna go home. They were like” you gonna see your family again” and I was like “I don’t need to see my family again” because two weeks isn’t long enough and of course I love my family but I could’ve coped with it longer.

What are the biggest differences between Mol and Parma?

It’s very difficult to compare Parma and Mol with each other because I also don’t really know what I need to compare, school things or how the city is? I don’t really know what you mean with that question.. So I have to think about it. 

Yeah if it’s just about the city and the buildings and things like that, I can say that Parma is a lot more colorful than Mol. In my opinion Mol is very boring and it’s not that beautiful while I really liked parma. It’s a very beautiful city and Mol is not.

Your routine changed in Parma?

My routine was quite different but also not that different. My school starts at 8:30 at Mol, so that’s later than Parma but I also live near my school. So, I get up at 7 o’clock or 7:15 most of the time and in Parma I needed to get up at 6 o’ clock / 6:15 something like that. So that was very early for me, and then also in Belgium in general, our breakfast is like- we eat more for breakfast than only coffee and cookies but I didn’t have a problem with that. It was just different from here. 

And then, of course, also in Parma the schools used to end at half past one already so you don’t have lunch at school. And it was also very different because in Belgium school ends at 3:30/4:30 so you eat also at school and you have only breakfast and dinner at home. 

Yeah so, also we ate a lot later. In Belgium we eat breakfast at 7:30, we eat lunch at 1 o’clock or sometimes at 12 o’clock…we eat dinner at 6 o’clock more or less. In Italy you eat very late, so you eat lunch at 2:30 a.m. or 2 o’clock and you eat dinner at 9 o’clock! I don’t know if it’s like that everywhere but I think so but that was very late and very different and I was very hungry. I’m talking a lot about eating, I don’t know if I needed to say that but that’s what I’m just thinking about what’s different here. So I need to- that was just different. And then I also  went to sleep later and I had to get up earlier so I didn’t get a lot of sleep. So I was very tired the whole two weeks when I was there. I was very very tired but it was worth it.