Pistoia Exchange
The Turnbull High School – Liceo Forteguerri exchange programme took place over the September weekend. This exchange has run successfully for 13 years, with this year being no exception. Activities were organised both in and out of school for the Italians during their stay. The exchange got off to a rocky start with Storm Ali causing the Italians’ flight to be diverted first from Prestwick to Manchester and then to London Stansted, resulting in the Pistoians enduring an eight hour, overnight coach journey to Glasgow!
Despite only having a few hours of sleep, the group managed to make their way to Turnbull the next morning where there were a variety of activities planned for the day. On arrival they were given a tour of the school, followed by a performance from the Turnbull Jazz Band and to round off the school day they were taught some Ceilidh and party dances by Eva Ralston and Lauren McFarlane. Later that evening the S6 boys took their Italian twins to the Celtic v Rosenborg game whilst the rest of the group took part in various other activities such as bowling and going out for dinner.
Over the September weekend, the Italians met up with their Scottish twins on several occasions. On the Friday they were introduced to Scottish cuisine in the form of fish suppers and Tunnock’s tea cakes! They also travelled to Edinburgh and St Andrews where they visited tourist sites and spent a day at the beach. An international game of five-a-sides took place between the Scottish and the Italians with the outcome being a draw as well as a few internal games of pool.
The final day of their visit started in the school where the Pistoians took part in an art lesson led by Mrs Connochie, where they made clay tiles for their twins to bring over to Pistoia for when we visit them in February. The Italians then took part in a Scotland quiz organised by Miss Carr followed by a music performance from our very own Ross McGuire with Italian representation from Gianmarco Bianchi. After the school day, a farewell party was organised with the Italians sampling more Scottish cuisine such as donner meat and Irn Bru.
Overall, an incredibly worthwhile and enjoyable experience was had by all with both nationalities improving their foreign language skills and making lifelong friends. We can’t wait to visit Pistoia in February!
Daniel Heaney and Lynsay Brown , S6 Modern Language Ambassadors
