Student exchange at Empoli

Expanding one's horizon, immersing oneself into a different environment where one is challenged to cope - this was basically what characterised the cultural exchange we students of St Aloysius' College Sixth Form had last month with a class of the Scuola Superiore Virgilio in Empoli, Tuscany.

We anxiously looked forward to March 8 to start our trip to Italy, and when our plane took off we could hardly bear the excitement. After a three-and-a-half-hour journey we finally reached Florence, where we were to meet our hosts. They soon turned up, much to our joy.

The two parties and the leaders (we had Fr Patrick Magro, SJ, a religion teacher at the College, and the Italians had the exchange co-ordinator) took the train to Empoli, where we arrived after a short journey.

We were introduced to the Italian families who were to host us for the next week. They did their best to make us feel at home. They were all very friendly and hospitable, making this challenge smooth and easy. We were all surprised to find how very similar the characteristics of our Italian friends were to ours.

Probably a highlight of our week in Tuscany was our day's visit to Florence. The whole Renaissance city was presented to us by our guide (who also happened to be a teacher at the Scuola Superiore Virgilio). He guided us round the city, which seemed to us to transform itself into a colourful, metaphor-filled poem.

This city, built mostly in the age of reason (there are also medieval remains) was filled with symbols of a difficult trail towards the dominance of reason. After this visit we could better understand Dante's La Divina Commedia, which we A-level Italian students study, for Dante lived in Florence and must also have been inspired by the many symbolical figures contained in this beautiful city.

In Florence we also visited Dante's house and the church where he married Gemma Donati and where Beatrice, his platonically loved woman of the Commedia, lies.

Our planned excursions led us also to the beautiful cities of Siena and San Gimignano. Siena boasts of the famous Piazza del Campo, renowned for the race that takes place in it twice a year known as Il Palio. The city's majestic Duomo (Cathedral) is eclectic in style verging from Romanesque to Gothic and to flamboyant Gothic, owing to the long time it took to be built.

San Gimignano, a medieval city with its palaces and the celebrated 14 towers (of the original 72), still stands as they did in the 13th century. It provides a picturesque, breath-taking panorama.

At this exchange meeting, organised by the Italians, we were joined by French, German and Dutch contingents. Socials were organised for all the groups together to enable us to mix, learn about each other's country, exchange ideas and thus broaden our culture.

Each group was asked to present some item characteristic of its country and each presented brief videos about their land. Later, at a buffet meal, some characteristic delicacies were also presented. A feeling of patriotism ran through us as we presented our homeland and we felt proud of the good impression we made on all the others.

This trip made us see and experience what we had learnt at school. Tuscany became alive for us, the printed word turned into life, and excited in us a sense of wonder, appreciation and nostalgia. It was for us all who took part in this exchange an experience we would not trade with anything.