I arrived in Colombia almost two weeks ago and so far this experience has completely changed my life. My exchange had come to Athenian in January and February, so I already knew her, but I was a little nervous about the language barrier and cultural differences coming in. I have grown already in ways I could not have even imagined. My exchange’s whole family (besides her mom and sister) only speak Spanish, as well as her nanny (many people in Colombia have someone who comes to their house to cook and clean during the day). This has made it necessary for me to communicate solely in Spanish with these people from the second I stepped off the plane.

I have made so many new friends already. About half of our conversations happen in Spanish, which definitely took some getting used to at the beginning. I feel infinitely more comfortable speaking in Spanish–and everyone here LOVES when I speak. If you are going to a country that speaks a different language, I highly suggest learning at least some of that language before you come and don’t worry about sometimes speaking incorrectly because everyone will understand. Colegio Anglo Colombiano (the school I am attending) is a bilingual school, so half of my classes are in Spanish including Philosophy, Physics, Spanish Literature, P.E. and Art. The majority of the conversations outside of the classroom occur in Spanish, which at some points can be difficult, but when I get lost one of my friends will always happily fill me in (in English).

I have adapted to many of the cultural customs–my favorite being the kiss on the cheek and hug you get every time you greet or meet someone–and feel increasingly comfortable in a foreign country where everyone speaks a different language than I am used to. Everyone wears a uniform at the Anglo, which I have grown to appreciate more than I first thought I would, and the student-teacher relationships are nowhere near as personal as they are at Athenian. The culture of Colombia is very centered around relationships with your family and friends, which has been an amazing way to meet tons of people because of the amount of time I spend with them. Also, dancing and music is a huge part of Colombian culture. I am currently taking a rumba class (a mix of salsa, traditional Colombian dance and Zumba) with Natalia’s older sister, Marianna, twice a week. This has been so much fun!

The 11th graders at the Anglo (who are the equivalent to 12th graders in the U.S.) finished school last Friday, so Marianna has had tons of free time and has been able to show me all around the beautiful city of Bogotá. Some of my favorite places so far have been a visit to Natalia’s farm in the countryside and visiting El Centro (or downtown) where the congress is located and the president lives. I also have gotten to visit Guatavita (where indigenous Colombian people used to live) and a super interesting, traditional flea market.

I think the hardest thing I have had to adapt to is how lightly they treat offensive issues. There is definitely homophobia and some level of sexism present in everyday life. However, I have been able to have extremely meaningful conversations with many of my new friends about these issues and they are incredibly intrigued to learn about California. Many of them wish their school was as open as Athenian is. It has felt amazing to share some of my home while being immersed in their amazing culture. While it is sometimes difficult when people ask me about American politics, I have been able to have very important discussions about the U.S. as well as the Colombian government with them.

I think what I have learned the most so far is you get out what you put in. If I go out of my comfort zone and introduce myself to new people and start conversations with them, while it may be scary at the beginning, it pays off so much!

 

Ever since my first exposure to K-pop through a music video by CL titled ‘Baddest Female’ in 2012, I knew that I wanted to visit and maybe even live in South Korea. Fast-forward to today, April 17, and my experience on exchange in South Korea is almost coming to an end. In the years, months, and even days leading up to this trip, I had an expectation of how my trip would be. I thought I would see the sights, eat the food, and maybe even run into a celebrity or two. I thought that me being black in a predominantly Korean country, I would be the odd one out. I expected a lot of questions about my heritage, hair, and overall blackness. This isn’t how it played out though.

In all honesty, I felt and still kind of feel like people here have their own lives and would rather deal with their own issues than strike up a conversation with me. With conversations, there is also a language barrier. Coming into this, I knew conversational Korean such as how to ask for directions, costs, simple things like that. Coming out of this, I now know some slang and random words like ‘bright’ and ‘eraser.’ It was difficult for the kids that couldn’t speak English to get their thoughts across to me, so most just didn’t try. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t a leader of the conversations, but rather an observer. The most challenging part was that I did understand, I just couldn’t speak.

While interviewing with Mark to apply for exchange, a question that stuck with me was ‘How will you deal if by the second week, people still haven’t made an effort to talk to you?’ At that time, I was so confident in my charming ability to make friends and believed everyone would be all over me. Although I eventually made some friends, I keep comparing them to the exchanges that have come to Athenian and the connections I have made with them. It is really difficult to have your dream come true, but at the same time feel like you have to portray yourself in a different way to get people to accept you. Through this experience I’ve learned that I have a lot more anxiety than I thought possible, but that’s okay.

I wouldn’t have been able to get through this experience if it wasn’t for my exchange partner, Hannah, and her family. They’ve been so welcoming and so helpful. From taking me to most of the neighborhoods in Seoul to explaining all the little quirks in a Korean society. Quirks such as that everyone brushes their teeth after every meal so everyone keeps a cute little case with their toothbrushes and toothpaste inside or that respect is a huge part of the culture and you have to bow and greet everyone older than you–and older could mean twins and one is born first. They also informed me that Koreans like to know everything about your life, but I didn’t experience this first-hand. The craziest difference I noticed is the gender segregation. Boys hang out with boys and girls with girls. At Athenian, everyone hangs out with everyone, so I was shocked to see such division.

I’m truly thankful for being able to go on exchange. Although it was quite different from how I imagined, I’m glad I got to come.

It has been about a month since I made the twenty-hour journey from SFO to Chandigarh, India, and it already feels as though I’ve been here a lifetime. It has been such an amazing and earth-shattering experience.  Although I have completed less than half of my stay–still five weeks to go–I have already learned more about myself as an individual than I ever anticipated.

So much of our identity is derived from our routine, and it can become difficult to distinguish outside of these barriers. Therefore, in order to explore this concept and to further develop who we are as individuals, we must immerse ourselves in unfamiliarity.  Only then can our identity be truly tested, providing opportunity for self discovery. Though such immersion is never easy, I cannot possibly stress the importance of such an experience sufficiently.

Upon arriving in the Delhi Airport after a sixteen-hour flight, I was immediately struck by the fact that I was across the world from everyone I knew and I began to second guess my decision. I had never traveled out of state independently, and wasn’t familiar with the native language or culture. However, once I finally arrived in the Chandigarh Airport and met up with my first host, Harnoor (who is now beginning her exchange with The Athenian School) and her family, my doubts subsided and my exchange began! The transition was, of course, disorienting at first; the time difference alone is 12½  hours. After getting over the initial shock, however, my experience has been incredibly rewarding.

One of the best experiences so far is that I was fortunate enough to arrive in time for Holi, a holiday which celebrates spring. On the day of Holi, Harnoor and I met up with a bunch of her friends and gathered outside to begin. The celebration consists of throwing concentrated color in powdered form on all individuals present, as well as spraying each other with water guns and, if you’re feeling brave, cracking eggs over each other’s heads. Although anyone who knows me will tell you that I don’t particularly like getting my hair wet, let alone egged, there was something completely freeing about the experience. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I was instantly amazed by the spirit of it, one of carefree positivity. I can confidently say it was the messiest I have ever been–or ever thought I would be–in my entire life! The dye didn’t fully come off for about a week afterward and I might even still have a hint of pink in my hair, but it was more than worth it.

Shortly after Holi, it was time for me to join my new classmates for a three-day orientation camping trip in the foothills of Manali. The bus ride to the campsite was the first time I had the opportunity to venture outside of Chandigarh and experience the rural side of India. I remember being quite taken aback as we were driving and I looked out my window to see a large monkey sitting on the side of the road, an animal which I had only ever seen inside a zoo before. When we arrived, the instructors introduced us to the campsite and we participated in some fun camp activities.The trip to Manali was a particularly valuable experience for me. It not only allowed me to get to know my new classmates, but it allowed me to challenge myself mentally, emotionally, and physically. I was immediately met with a large challenge upon discovering that the leading instructors did not speak English. Given that I am not familiar with Hindi, we immediately encountered a language barrier. Everyone involved was very understanding.  Through working together and with the help of my new classmates, I was able to participate in all challenges, including descending a small cliff. This was one of my most transformative experiences on exchange so far. Not only am I afraid of heights, but this trepidation was tripled upon witnessing one of my classmates, who had not secured a decent foothold, lost her balance and came crashing into the mountainside below us. Thanks to the harness and safety precautions, she was perfectly safe, but I almost refused to follow through and participate. However, I knew that if I allowed myself to retreat, I would regret forfeiting my opportunity to challenge myself. So, after a prolonged moment of hesitation, I swung my legs over the cliff side and began to descend. After a short time my hesitation evaporated and I reached the ground safely. I was immediately SO grateful I had worked up the guts to do it. I think that’s one of the most important things to remember while on exchange:  provided that there is no chance of physical harm, always take every opportunity to challenge yourself, because if you retreat, you will most likely deprive yourself of the opportunity to grow emotionally and learn more about yourself in the process.

After returning from Manali, I shifted houses and am now staying with Ishana Pasi, who completed her exchange at my school Athenian in Danville, California last year. She and her family have been extremely generous and have taken me to many wonderful places including the Golden Temple in Amritsar. It was breathtakingly beautiful and an amazing experience.

I have begun classes at Vivek High School. Since it is so vastly different from Athenian, attending Vivek been an incredible learning experience even though I have only been here for a very short time. The main differences between Vivek and Athenian lie in a few areas. Firstly, the curriculum is structured differently. Classes here are divided into sections based on an area of study which students have decided to pursue. At Athenian, students have a universal core curriculum which they may add to in terms of an art class or may modify in their junior and senior years. Secondly, the environment of study is way more formal at Vivek, as students are required to refer to teachers as “sir” or “ma’am.” At Athenian, we refer to teachers by their first names.  Finally, specific uniforms are required at Vivek.

All and all, traveling to India this spring has been such an amazing experience. I already feel like a different person than when I left, as I have learned so much about myself and the greater world around me outside of our Bay Area bubble. It has made me way more culturally aware, more adaptable, more resilient, and more equipped to deal with the challenges which are necessary for us to undergo in order to evolve as individuals. I am excited to see what the next five weeks bring!

 

Though I feel like I arrived to England just yesterday, in a couple of weeks it’s going to be a time to leave. I know it’s going to be harder than I initially expected. Despite all of the differences, I got used to my life here. I think that saying goodbye to the people that have become part of my everyday life will be the hardest thing to do. Though there is still some time left, I’m already feeling sad at the thought of leaving. At the same time, I miss Athenian. My time here taught me to really appreciate Athenian’s no-uniform policy, more relaxed atmosphere and the ability to call everyone by the first name – I realized it helps to build closer and more equal relationships.

One of the highlights of my experience here was a week I spent in London during the school break. I had plenty of time to not only visit the main attractions, but to feel what it’s like to live there.

After the other two exchanges left in early February, I am now the only exchange student at the school. Still, I can see how Round Square connects people through programs other than exchanges. Last week I talked to a girl who knew Athenian because of the Round Square International Service project she completed this summer. I guess, the world is small.

I definitely recommend going on exchange to anyone who has an opportunity to go. It is a great opportunity to experience a different culture, get out of the Athenian bubble, and make some very good friends. The main advice I would give would be not to expect anything and have an open mind; your experience is going to be very different from what you expect anyway. While some research about the school might be a good idea, don’t think you have a good idea of what the school is like. You will never know until you get there.

 

 

I can’t believe I am already writing my last post. My time at Gordonstoun has flown by, and I am sad to say I still haven’t started my Cold War paper. Since my last blog post, I have learned to sail in the Moray Firth, been to London and Salisbury, watched my friends run into subzero water in speedos, and so much more.

Seamanship was a wonderful and unique experience. I had to wear a giant yellow oil suit which I later appreciated because it was freezing out on the boat. I was in charge of hoisting the main sail along with steering for parts of our journey.

I was here for Gordonstoun’s half-term break and my host family took me to historic Salisbury. I saw the Salisbury Cathedral, where one of the four original copies of the Magna Carta is. I also explored London for a day where I saw Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and other attractions.

Since coming back from the break, there have been two exchange trips. For our first trip, we drove to Loch Ness and took a boat across the lake to a historic castle. Sadly, I did not see Nessie, but what I did see was unbelievably beautiful. While exploring the ruins of the castle, many exchanges had trouble standing and later slipped in the mud, which was not only hilarious but memorable.

Our second trip was yesterday. We walked from the campus to the coast and explored seaside caves, went into an old lighthouse, and watched some brave exchanges go into freezing water wearing just speedos. While my time here is coming to an end, I still have many events to look forward to. Princess Anne will be on campus next Monday and I will be attending the Round Square house cabaret this weekend.

My time here has been unforgettable. I have met so many people from around the world and I have created friendships that will hopefully last a lifetime.

To those who hope to come to Gordonstoun on exchange I do have some advice:

• Don’t set expectation, set goals. – Exchange is unique for everyone. Your experience at Gordonstoun will mostly rely on what you hope to achieve on exchange.
• Understand that you are going to a completely different environment. – If you look at the fundamental elements of each school, Gordonstoun and Athenian seem like opposites. At Gordonstoun there is chapel every day, school on Saturdays, uniforms, and you will get detention for calling a teacher by their first name.
• Have fun. – I know its cheesy, but sometimes you forget that you are on exchange since you are still at school. There have been nights that I wanted to watch Netflix, until I realized that watching TV is not the point of exchange.

When I received the email from Mark saying I had to write my final blog post, my heart dropped. Time flies when on exchange. While the rest of my grade at Athenian would probably disagree with me, this school term has been amazing. Even though I haven’t learned much academically, I have learned a lot about myself and the world around me. Through meeting so many people from all over the world, I have a new found passion to travel and learn about the world.

Exchange has also given me an appreciation for the Bay Area bubble I live in. I love how understanding, accepting, and overall how liberal it is. But going on exchange has not only given me a break from American politics, but has helped me further understand other cultures and beliefs. While I hate that I have to say goodbye soon, I am already planning an exchange student reunion in Australia, and I am excited to see my Bay Area bubble again.

After a short four-hour flight–which I found to be very nice compared to over 20 hours to America–I arrived to London. I was really glad to finally be here, as the travelling took me a week longer than I anticipated. The British visa centre issued me a visa for a trip to the past; they put the year 2016 instead of 2017 on my visa. So when I arrived at the airport in Moscow to fly to the UK, I was stopped! I had to spend a week in Moscow living with friends and in the hotels trying to get a new visa. Staying in Moscow where the temperature was around minus 30 degrees Celsius was not very pleasant, so when I stepped out of the airport in London, I felt like it was summer, even though the temperature was barely above zero.

Felsted School is located in a little village about 60 miles from London. With its old-fashioned buildings covered with moss, this place throws you a couple centuries back. The school itself is over 450 years old, and some of its original buildings are still there.

One of the main differences from Athenian is that Felsted is a Christian school, which means that 2-3 times a week everyone has to go to the school’s Chapel. It is an interesting experience for me, considering that I do not relate myself to the English Protestant Church nor go to church several times a week in general. The school’s assembly is also held in the Chapel, and it has a very different atmosphere from our morning meetings that used to be in the Main Hall. Assemblies are formal, and I cannot imagine students standing up, going to the podium and saying whatever is on their mind. During the assemblies, we are talked to about different topics. One of the things discussed both in the assemblies and outside of them was the recent inauguration. Most people watched it, some said they cried – I don’t know whether those were the tears of joy or not. It was surprising to hear people talking and caring about it even when I am so far away from America. Being a Russian from a school in the United States added to the usual ‘if I like Putin’ question a new ‘what do I think about Trump’ one.

Felsted is a boarding school with several boarding houses, each with its unique atmosphere. My experience of living in the dormitories is quite pleasant. I live in the newest dorm built only in 2014, after the old one burned down. There are three floors.  Each floor has a kitchen, where there are always toasts, tea and coffee for everyone and fridges to store your own food. I live in a single room, and each room comes with a private bathroom. Moreover, there is a daily cleaning and laundry service!

Because of the school’s proximity to Europe, most international students come from European countries. At first, I felt like everyone knew how to speak German and Italian because there are so many students here from those countries.

The school offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, which is quite popular, so all my classes are IB classes. I noticed that students here do not try to take the harder math classes. In my IB High Level Math class there are only three people including me. I have learned to appreciate Athenian seminars. In my history class we are studying World War I and I was asked what history I took at my school. I found it hard to explain that last semester I took a class about LGBT history and that now I am taking a class about food.

This weekend we had an Exeat, which is similar to a long weekend at Athenian, only that you are allowed to stay at school. I had to go to a different dorm for the weekend, where I shared a room with a Round Square exchange from Argentina, Juliana. Juliana goes to the same school with Lucas, whom I met last year when he came for exchange to Athenian. I realized one more time that the world is small.   Normally we have school on Saturdays, but because of the Exeat we had a free day, so I went to London. It took me two hours to get there, but it was well worth it.

Overall, my exchange has been a great experience so far.

 

My experience at Gordonstoun so far has been amazing.

The most stressful part of my trip has been the airport. Heathrow airport is huge. I ended up taking two buses within the airport just to get to my connecting flight. Traveling alone was stressful, and anyone going on exchange soon should look at maps of the airports they will be flying into.

After finally landing in Scotland, my host family drove me to Gordonstoun. I am in Windmill Lodge, and is it has been weird having to adjust to a dorm lifestyle. There are three girl’s houses and five boy’s houses spread around the campus, which is much bigger than Athenian. Windmill is one of the farthest houses from the center of campus. My first day we were late to breakfast since none of the exchanges were expecting to have to walk for ten minutes to get to the cafeteria.

The biggest adjustment I have had to make is wearing a uniform. As all the other exchanges discussed their own uniforms, I realized how lucky we are at Athenian to have the independence to wear what we want. The class schedule is fairly similar to Athenian’s, but the academics are completely different. Everyone takes three science classes; Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. I was not thrilled to hear that I would have to take Physics again, but the students in the class make it much more bearable. The biggest academic shock came when I walked into the advanced math class and they were learning scientific notation for the first time, something I have been doing since seventh grade. Students here are also limited to three homework assignments a night, each not exceeding thirty minutes. I personally think Athenian should adapt this policy as well. Academic life here is much more relaxed than at Athenian. This has been a nice change of pace, but also surprising since I was expecting a very different environment.

Student must do activities after classes. Most activities are some sport, and twice a week all the girls must play Netball. Netball is like Basketball but with way more rules, and the nets don’t have backboards. I wasn’t expecting there to be this much emphasis on sports, but almost every day I have PE or some sort of sport-based activity. Also, football (soccer) isn’t as big here as I thought, but field hockey is huge. Honestly, I didn’t really know that field hockey was a sport, but after playing it if wish it could be more popular in the US because it is so fun.

Every Saturday there is a social and the most recent one I went to was Burns night. Burns night is in honor of Robert Burns, a famous Scottish poet. We spent the night eating haggis and dancing traditional Scottish dance. It was my most memorable night so far and I am looking forward to more experiences like it.

Tomorrow I start seamanship, which consists of two-and-a-half days on a boat learning sailing skills and teamwork. Instead of having one expedition such as AWE, each year students have a smaller adventure.  In Year 10 they have a six-day sailing trip, and I am participating in their training tomorrow. It is different to be at a school where groups of people get pulled out of classes to sit on a boat for a couple of days, whereas at Athenian that only happens once in our high school career.

Overall having to adjust to a school that seems almost completely opposite to Athenian has been both fun but also challenging.

Although it seems like I arrived in South Africa just yesterday, my time in this beautiful country has come to an end. These past six weeks have flown by. I am beyond sad to leave my best friends, great experiences, and second home. Saying goodbye to everyone at Stanford has been harder than I ever imagined.

I will forever cherish the memories and friends that I made here, and hope to come back in the future to make even more. This past month and a half have been full of laughing with friends, wandering around the forest and lake, blasting many new songs during prep, trying lots of new food, and so many experiences that I will never forget.

A few highlights of my trip were adventuring around Cape Town, seeing many animals in Kruger that I would otherwise only see in a zoo, the social, 40 days (basically their version of senior prank day), and creating friendships and memories to last a lifetime. I spent a weekend in Cape Town with Mathabo and her family. Cape Town reminded me a lot of San Francisco, as it is on the water and the city itself has lots of character. We went to Robben Island to visit the cell where Mandela stayed for nearly 30 years, Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch Gardens, and many more exciting places around the city. The next weekend, we drove to Kruger National Park and saw lions, elephants, giraffes, warthogs, snakes, hippos and more.

Before I left for exchange, I thought that saying goodbye to my family and friends at home would be the hardest part of exchange. I was wrong. The hardest part of exchange has been saying goodbye to my friends in South Africa because I don’t know when I will see them again. I am saying goodbye to people that have given me unforgettable experiences, laughs and memories. I am so lucky to call them my best friends. I underestimated how painful and sad it is to say farewell to the people I have grown so close to in the past few weeks, but I can’t wait to hopefully see them again.

The culture there is very different from at home. It has become the norm for me and adjusting to life back at home has been very weird and hard. One major difference is that people’s academic success is more public. Some teachers announce grades from the front of the class. You get badges, ribbons and different colored uniforms based on how well you are doing in school. In some ways there are many more rules there, but in other ways there are more at Athenian. Everyone is extremely friendly and open to learning about new cultures. The students are very environmentally focused and always down for adventure. South Africa has welcomed me with open arms and I am forever grateful for this opportunity.

Applying for exchange was one of the best decisions I ever made. I highly recommend it for any freshman or sophomore with the opportunity. Through learning new languages, living with people I just met a few weeks ago, experiencing things much different than in the US, and creating lifelong friends, I have become a much more independent, open and accepting person. As I look back on this experience, I realize how lucky I am to have had this opportunity and I thank everyone who made it the best six weeks of my life.

As my exchange has come to end and the new school year has started, I begin to look back on my time in South Africa.

After adjusting to a new culture at home and in school, I learned to love life in South Africa. Weekend excursions included trips to the Kruger Park, Swadini, and the family farm.  All of them were incredible. Kruger was mind-blowing, seeing all these animals in their home. We saw so many different animals, including a female and male lion, a single rhino, honey badgers, giraffes, along with plentiful buffalo, elephants and zebras. Swadini is a resort in the mountains where we spent a weekend. I grew much closer to my exchange family there, including Crystal’s younger sister Amber. We spent hours on the trampolines trying to learn new tricks. Then at the family farm, I learned many new skills, including how to shoot a gun and drive an ATV. All of these weekends were also filled with many braais, which is a South African style barbeque. The meat is not seasoned and is cooked simply on coals with no gas involved. Then we would all say grace and have a homey family-style meal.

During school I became closer and closer with Crystal’s friends, as well as made some of my own. The only thing I really struggled with was what to do during class. I had already learned all the material and I could only play so many games of 2048 on my phone. I did classwork whenever I could, which made it a little less boring. Penryn was not the most organized with exchange students, so I never knew what classes were going on at a given time. This was also nice because I could go with whoever I wanted to whatever class I chose. In my last week of exchange, I feel that I grew closer to a lot of people, which made good-byes even harder. Crystal was sick the week before I left, so I went to school and a school dance without her. Because of this I was forced to branch out, which meant I made more friends and strengthened my existing friendships.

Round Square Exchange has been such an amazing experience that I am so grateful for. I would recommend it for everyone! It is so unique. Choosing not to go is missing out on an incredible opportunity. I miss my new friends and my exchange family. I’m already planning when I can go back. Thank you Penryn and South Africa for the best six weeks!

My exchange is quickly coming to an end. This is my last week at school and in South Africa. I am incredibly sad that I have to leave, but I’m also incredibly glad that I have had this experience. The six weeks that I have been here have flown by in an instant. Having to say goodbye to all my friends and my exchange family will be one of the hardest things I have ever done.

I have learned a lot during my time here, about myself and others. I’ve learned how to live away from home in a strange new environment, skills that will come in handy when I go off to college. Everyone here is so amazing; I cannot say that enough. From the second I got here till my last day of school I have felt like I’m at home.  It will be sad to say goodbye, but I know that I’ll eventually see them again. Thanks for everything Stanford Lake College.  I’ll miss you.