Many of our foreign students have probably already met one, but not everyone knows the figure of the Buddy at the Politecnico.

What does a Buddy do? They are students already enrolled in our university, who are matched with foreign students to assist them from the phase prior to their arrival in Italy and for the first months of their stay. They are the most challenging months for people who come from a far-away country and need to adapt not only to a new academic environment but also to a culture and traditions often distant from their own.

To introduce you to the Buddy experience more closely, we met a student who had this experience last year, and who wanted to tell us about it. His name is Manuel Mevio, 20 years old, and he is a third-year student of environmental engineering.

I must have found out when I received an email with the announcement. I was very intrigued by an experience of this kind, so I proposed it to my friend Emma.

As soon as the summer session was over, we enrolled together for the first semester of the second year. So, we started this adventure as a couple!

You should know that I came to study at Polimi as I was originally from Valtellina. Attending an international and multicultural environment like this university made me want to meet people from all over the world.

Another motivation is also to test my English in an original way.

My student is German, his name is Lukas. It was easy to interact with him, because he speaks perfect English, he has lived a lot of time in the United States. Emma's student, on the other hand, is called Conor and is Irish. They were both in master's degrees.

It can be said that we have lived this experience in four, from the beginning!

He helps new international students to understand how the Politecnico works and to orient themselves in the early days. The university world is difficult for any freshman, even more so for a person who comes from abroad and finds himself immersed in Italian culture for the first time.

We contacted each other remotely around September. Lukas had asked to meet, but I hadn't come back from holidays yet.

I came back on the day of the final party of the Welcome Week, the week in which Polimi and campus life are presented to foreign students. That evening there was a contest for the best costume match between Buddies.

We were dressed simply in a light blue shirt. Emma, on the other hand, had already met with Conor, but he was late. Their theme was: sunflowers. As soon as she found out that there were prizes, and he didn't come, she told us: "You two, now I'm going to dress you as sunflowers!" In the end, though, Conor arrived, but we still entered the contest on four.

Certainly! In this regard, I'll tell you another anecdote about the party. When they asked us on stage for the name of our team, I realized that I didn't even know. So, I said, "The gardeners of the sun," while Anna, the presenter, repeated "The guardians of the sun." From that moment on, that became our name!

In October, for example, we went dancing at a seventies-themed party at Magnolia. Another time we stayed overnight at my friend's with a sleeping bag. Then we went to flea markets, because Lukas is an enthusiast.

We often had evenings at home, where we cooked Italian dishes. Lukas really likes to cook, he used to make delicious German biscuits. We, on the other hand, taught him how to make lasagna, and we made him taste typical products, such as Valtellina cheeses.

Lukas also introduced me to his girlfriend and sister, as well as Emma got to know Conor's family.

I invited everyone to Valtellina, to my brother's mountain pasture. We went to a farmhouse to eat pizzoccheri and sciatt. My car also broke. For this reason, we arrived at night at the lake located at 2,000 meters, where we had dinner in front of the bonfire lit by us.

Lukas was very fond of the mountains, Conor not at all, because there are no mountains in Ireland. And yet here he became passionate, so much so that he bought boots and all the equipment.

By now we had become quite good friends. The next time, Emma asked us to go with her to Tuscany. We did two days of the Via Francigena all together in a tent, then we went to Viareggio and we went swimming in November.

Yes, they finished the experience in Italy, and they left. Of course, I really want to see them again.

Just think that Emma and I had never thought of doing Erasmus at a bachelor's degree, and instead we said to each other: why not? So, I'll be in Madrid, Emma in Valencia, but we've already told Lukas and Conor to come and visit us in Spain, and to meet all together.

They also saw each other last weekend: Lukas is studying in Dresden; Conor works in Munich. They sent us a picture while eating a carbonara together in Germany!

It was the time of the winter session, and I spent it all in Milan, while Emma and Conor were not there. Although it was a "bad" session, the nice thing is that Lukas was there, we always had lunch together.

Another beautiful moment was when Lukas and Conor came to see the show of me and Emma, because we perform with the Teatro delle Biglie. They came despite the fact that the show was totally in Italian, it was a really nice gesture.

Unfortunately, we had to have separate lunches, because we couldn't be together at the same time. We had planned a walk on Elba, but Emma and I had an oral exam in March, just when we were supposed to be on the island. So, we had a lunch with Conor first and then dinner with Lukas. And of course, we shed a tear.

I would say yes, we helped them in everyday life in Italy, they gave all the exams on the schedule, and they were really happy.

Maybe there is only one thing we have not been able to do... Teach them some Italian. We always spoke in English to each other, and in a city like Milan, even the two of them managed to get by without knowing our language: when a word was missing, they made themselves understood either by writing or pointing out things.

Definitely, it gave me two new friends. All this experience can be summed up in the concept of friendship. I would like to read you my application letter for Erasmus in Madrid, I talked about it there too.

It also made me practice a lot of English, it really helped me. And it's really nice to discover new cultures, to see things through the eyes of people who come from different parts of the world.

It's been a really intense six months, because we've been together a lot. I've had so much, in such a short time.

Of course, yes, and if there were the same service at the University of Madrid, I would do it again with reversed parts.

Emma and I signed up completely randomly, but the experience quickly became beautiful.

I also recommended it to our theatre friends, who signed up for the project for the following semester!