Having just arrived back from exchange in Australia, I can say how great an experience it was. Early last year, I was unsure whether I wanted to go on exchange. Looking back now, I can’t imagine not having gone through this amazing experience. From exploring forests to walking though cities, I was always having a good time. Even though Australia is mostly a desert, the coast was full of vibrant beauty and really allowed me to appreciate my surroundings. Every part of the city and its surrounding suburbs had a different feel and character that made the places feel very unique.

In Perth, all of the people are incredibly nice and warmhearted. Everywhere we went we were able to make new friends and form new bonds. People were always looking to have a good time and meet new people. Students from not only my exchange school, Scotch College, but others as well, were always very welcoming to me as well as to the other exchanges. On exchange, the connections that you make become even more precious because you know that it could be a long time before you see them again. I found time to be even more valuable while in Australia and had to make sure that I made the most of it.

Before leaving for exchange, I thought that the most difficult part was going to be adjusting to a new way of living and getting to know people. I could not have been more wrong, as people were so welcoming that it became easy to make new friends. The hardest part was definitely saying goodbye. Even though I only knew these amazing people for six weeks, I found it incredibly difficult to leave. The bonds and friendships that are created through exchange can last a lifetime, and I found myself attached not only to the people, but to Perth as well. Exchange gives you a perspective on a different part of the world. I discovered that everywhere and everyone is amazing in their own way.

After arriving home only a couple days ago, it is finally setting in that my wonderful exchange is over. I could not have asked more a more amazing seven weeks. Spending so much time in Alice Springs, a town very different from Danville, has opened my eyes to different people, social issues, and a more relaxed lifestyle. When I first found out that I was going to be staying in Alice Springs, I have to admit I was not thrilled. I thought Alice would be a small, isolated town with pretty much nothing to do. Now I can’t say I was wrong exactly, but what I underestimated was the impact that the people and the outdoors would have on me. Throughout my stay, I made so many amazing friends that it was heartbreaking to leave. Everyone was so kind and welcoming. I could not have asked for anything more. Round Square is incredible as it brings together amazing students from all over the world, but it makes leaving friends so much harder as I cannot just go to South Africa for a weekend to visit. Regardless, I know I have made connections to last a lifetime. It is remarkable to know that I have friends and a place to stay in so many countries all around the world.

As I look back on exchange, I realize how much I have grown from the experience. Since I did not know anyone when I got there, it taught me how to talk to people, be outgoing, and make conversations with complete strangers, which I have not had much practice with since sixth grade. I also became much more independent. I have become comfortable traveling by myself internationally, which I’m sure will be useful in the future! Overall, exchange was filled with countless new experiences, people, and memories that have impacted me as a person–and has made me thankful for all the opportunities I am given.

Everyone will tell you that exchange goes by quickly, and they are right. My time in South Africa went by faster than I could have imagined. Still, Bridge House and Cape Town have become second homes to me. I don’t even remember what it felt like before exchange, when these places were just dots on the map to me. I am so glad that I have gotten the chance to live in and become a part of these communities. I want to thank everyone and everything in Africa that welcomed me with open arms. Leaving is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, and I hope that I will return someday. I’ll miss the amazing mountains around Franschoek, the beautiful beaches in Hermanas, the city life in Cape Town, and the sunsets. Everywhere. My love for the landscapes of this country rivals my love for the people here, and that is saying a lot.

Sitting in the airport in London awaiting a flight transfer back home, I am struggling to accept that I have just said goodbye to some of the greatest friends I have ever had the pleasure of making.There is a certain magic to exchange relationships that is impossible to explain, I have heard many others try and I have tried to find the words myself, but I don’t think I can do the feeling justice. I have so much love in my heart for everyone I met on exchange, and I am so grateful for everything they have taught me. It shocks me how our lives can be so different, yet undeniably similar. It reminds me that I am not alone–in anything. Although I may not always have my exchange, Mijs, attached to my hip anymore, I can feel that she and everyone else I met here will always somehow be with me. The hardest part of people leaving is that they take a little part of you with them. The best part is that you get to take a little bit of them.

I just recently returned from an exchange trip to Westminster School in Adelaide, Australia. Before the trip I didn’t have many ideas of what to expect, but a few things worried me. My primary worry was finding out what the students at the school would be like and act like. My second concern was that I wouldn’t be able to find my classes, since for a majority of my classes I would be without my exchange. Lastly, I was concerned about my teachers’ impressions of me. The actual challenges I faced itself did not pertain to what I had been concerned with prior to the trip. One of the largest challenges was switching families two weeks in, and even this was not too difficult. My intended host family was away on vacation in Europe when I had arrived, which meant I stayed with a different family at first. Luckily enough I had met the first student I would be staying with when he came on exchange to Athenian earlier this year. Already knowing this exchange helped massively with my becoming comfortable in Australia. Another challenge was getting used to some of the customs of the school. These customs include things such as wearing uniforms, calling teachers by their last name, and going to mass.

But I don’t want to make it appear as though my trip was only filled with challenges, as the majority of my time was filled with amazing new experiences. One of my favorite experiences was meeting new people. Luckily not having my exchange in most of my classes forced me to meet and talk with new people. As well, the majority of students were welcoming to me. Another favorite was our mini-trip to Kangaroo Island, a small island off the coast of South Australia. During the trip Courtney (another Athenian student on exchange at Westminster) and I were able to show our exchanges what s’mores are and go quad biking.

Overall, although Australia is similar to California in some ways, the trip was a chance to meet new people and have new experiences, which made it fantastic.

My Tasmanian Adventure

Nearly a month ago, I hugged my family goodbye, scrambled to find my way through security, and finally found the correct gate, where I would wait for three hours before boarding. I observed my surroundings, and the accents around me assured me that I was at the right gate. Sitting in a row by myself, I waited for the travelers to slowly file into the gate and occupy the once vacant seats around me. Across the aisle, I met three families: one middle-aged businesswoman, an older couple, and two parents with a teenage daughter and son. Talking to these three amazing families about their lives in Australia, I got a feel for the Australian outgoingness and culture before I even arrived in the country. I was excited to try this interesting, salty concoction called Vegemite, to encounter drop bears during bush walks, and to watch a “footy” game (where apparently you’re allowed to kick AND throw the ball without any real protection). Before my plane even took off, I was already exposed to the Australian culture and friendliness by these strangers. I made myself comfortable in the plane seat I’d be glued to for the next 17 hours and awaited my journey.

My first day of school, I experienced the same kindness and hospitality that I first encountered in the airport. Honestly, I had already encountered some of the most genuinely nice people I have ever met in my life–and I had only been in Tasmania for 24 hours. My exchange, Katie, joined the netball team at our school, Scotch Oakburn. I decided to pick a more familiar sport: soccer. I moved up to the senior’s first team, and have had the privilege of training and competing with girls ranging from grade 9-12. I have loved competing and practicing with these girls because I got to create friendships with girls from different grades that I probably wouldn’t have bonded with otherwise. I was also persuaded to join our school’s musical, Grease, and have become very close with a lot of the cast members during our long rehearsals every Sunday and Friday.

Going to school at Scotch Oakburn is a very different experience than my school, Athenian. Adjusting to wearing a school uniform every day was originally difficult. Because of the weather; when it is only 30 degrees outside, all you want to wear are cozy sweatpants, not a skirt with stockings. I have actually grown to appreciate the school uniforms, because it’s a lot easier to decide what to wear in the morning: jumper or no jumper and pick out a pair of stockings. In general, Scotch Oakburn is more formal, in that we address our teachers by Mr. and Mrs., are required to wear our hair up, need to wear our complete school uniform at all times (even walking through town after school), and have Chapel every week. Our school has four different houses: Briggs, Nance, Dean and my house, Fox. In the houses students from all year levels come together and bond with students in other grades. The houses are like families within our school and compete in school carnivals against the other houses. Recently, all four houses competed in our school singing carnival, and our house unexpectedly won singing Y.M.C.A.!

My exchange family has taken me to Sydney where we toured the Sydney Harbor and Opera House, to notable raspberry, chocolate and cheese farms, to the Blue Mountains, and to Hobart where I got to feed kangaroos. I have been able to participate in a snowball fight, hike over waterfalls, pet a koala and a wombat, and eat many, many Tim Tams. It is an amazing opportunity to have the privilege of visiting all these incredibly unique and beautiful places and to travel with my exchange family, who has become a second family to me. I am forever grateful to have been sent to this amazing place, with remarkable people that I will have to leave in seven short days. I am looking forward to see what this last week has in store and to continue creating unforgettable memories in Tasmania.

Nearly two weeks ago, I arrived in Bogotá, Colombia. Though I have not been here very long, the entire experience has been amazing. Colombia and Colegio Anglo Colombiano (my school) are extremely different from back home. At first, I was really nervous because of the language barrier and because I was going to be the only exchange in our grade at the time. My classmates were more than welcoming: using English when I was not understanding them, helping me communicate with some of my teachers, and teaching me their culture. I never expected that I would be so sad that my exchange was on the shorter end.

Bogotá is nothing like I thought it would be. The streets are jam packed with cars and people drive extremely aggressively. On my way home from the airport, I was hanging on to my seat for dear life. Here, they tend not to wear seat belts in the back seats, so they tuck in those seat belts and buckles. Also, they have a license plate driving law for non-­‐holiday weekdays. Cars with license plates that end with an even number can only drive on those weekdays if they are an even-numbered day, while on weekdays that are odd, only odd-numbered license plates can drive from 6 to 8 am and from 3 to 7:30 pm in all of Bogotá except the city’s center (where the restriction is between the hours of 8 am to 7:30 pm). The government’s intent is to lessen the amount of cars on the city’s roads. For me, it just means that there is a 1 in 4 chance of me knowing which car we are taking to school that day.

One of my favorite parts of the culture here is that people spend a lot of time outside of school with their friends. My host and I have gotten together after school with friends at least three days a week and one day on the weekends. We have less homework here, so it allows us to spend time with one another on school nights. I love it because it gives me more of an opportunity to get to know people and develop relationships outside of the academic setting.

As I mentioned earlier, life at Colegio Anglo Colombiano (the Anglo) is quite different from Athenian. One of the most prominent differences is that at the Anglo is that we wear a uniform. In the younger grades they wear a sweat suit, but the rest of us wear a fairly sophisticated uniform. For girls, it consists of black shoes, a white dress shirt, a green sweater, white socks/gray leggings, a gray skirt, green blazer and a green-striped tie. The color of the stripe on your tie depends on which house you are in: Hood, Beatty, Nelson, or Rodney. Your house is either assigned randomly, or you are placed in the same house as your siblings and/or your parent(s) if one of them attended Colegio Anglo Colombiano. The boys, however, wear gray pants instead of the skirt, a black belt, and dark socks. Students can also wear scarves when it is cold, so long as they are Anglo green, gray, or white. One of the unique things about the Anglo’s uniform is that seniors have a slightly different uniform. Every year, the students design their own set of outwear with their class symbol, which they are allowed to wear instead of the sweater and blazer. For example, this year the senior class symbol is a pineapple and they had their own senior jacket, cardigan, and hoodie. At first I found it frustrating that I had to wear a tie because I do not like things touching my neck, but over time I actually learned that I prefer a uniform.

We refer to all the staff as Miss and Mister, which was quite odd for me because I expected to be calling all my teachers Profesor and Profesora. However, like Athenian, we also call people by their first names following the Miss and Mister. The hardest part is definitely the language barrier. Mostly all the students speak Spanish. Even some of my classes are in Spanish: Theory of Knowledge, ECL (Colombian History), and P.E. Some of the faculty and staff have very limited, if any, English ability. For example, I have to order my lunch in Spanish and when I went to Security to get my carnet I had to communicate with them solely in Spanish. The Anglo is a day school and has students from pre-kindergarten to 11th grade. 11th grade here is the equivalent of our 12th grade in the U.S. The grades are also fairly large in comparison to ours. There are approximately 130 people in my year.

Last weekend, I was able to go sightseeing with most of my host family. We went to la Catedral del Sal. It is a Roman Catholic Church that was built in a salt mine for the miners to pray for their protection in their work.

We also went to Mount Monserrate, where we took a cable car up a mountain near the center of Bogotá.  It is about about 3,152 meters above sea level at the top and you can see a large portion of the city.  There is alto a church located at the top.

I even got to go to a restaurant named Andres where they serve traditional Colombian food. It is considered a party restaurant. The workers would dance during certain times, some workers who were dressed in animal suits walked around and purposely bothered you, and they even threw lots of confetti everywhere. It is a fairly large restaurant that hosts many events like birthdays and even transforms into a club-­‐like scene only for adults at night.

So far, my exchange has been fantastic. I am not ready to return home and I am looking forward to what the rest has in store for me.

I am currently in Peru on exchange. I arrived here two weeks ago and spent the first week touring the country. We visited important archeological sites in Cusco, went to Machu Picchu, and took a boat tour of the Uros floating islands. Throughout Peru it is very common to see Alpaca and Llama garments; from table runners to hats and scarfs, Peru has it all. I have also seen several lamb, sheep, llamas and alpaca in person.

In terms of major differences between Peru and the United States, there is definitely great wealth disparity. Though the Peruvian economy is doing very well, they still have a 25.8% poverty rate. Out of their approximate population of 33 million, 7 million people are considered poor.  Also, I have noticed that with this drastic poverty comes lacking infrastructure. Most buildings in all of the cities I have seen in the south are small and run down. It is hard to see what local life is like and how difficult it is for villagers on a daily basis. I spoke to one girl who was selling hand-crafted jewelry and she told me she spent three days weaving one bracelet. Then, after all those days, she sold them for only one sole. That’s just about a mere 30 cents.

Furthermore, a lot of Peru is very densely populated and environmental regulations are not enforced. This means that cities, rivers and lakes are very polluted. Cars do not have smog checks and other pollution control regulations are not in place.

Last weekend I arrived in Lima for school. I was very excited to finally meet my host family. We had been in touch for several months and they were very kind and welcoming. At school, I expected a different social scene knowing that the school, Markham College, was quite a bit bigger than Athenian. However, during my first week at school, I’ve noticed that people are really warm and friendly once you get to know them. Though there are individual cliques and friend groups that have formed and not everyone is as inclusive as people at Athenian, I expected this. And people are still open to getting to know a new person so I’ve been able to make new friends.

I’m looking forward to the next three weeks of my exchange!

I have been living in Perth, Australia for the last 3 weeks and it has been amazing. Compared to America, everything is different, whether it be the food, the wildlife, or how students my age interact with each other. My first week in Perth was during the holidays for Scotch College, the school that I would be attending. That week my exchange, Mitchell Smith, and I, got to relax and hang out around Perth and with a group of friends. Although I found the actual city of Perth to be quite small, it is surrounded by suburbs that each have its own feel and identity. I really enjoyed exploring the area, as there was such a large difference between each suburb. Later that week, we travelled about three hours south to an area known as Margaret River, where we stayed in a house with some other families. While there, we got to explore the forest and river, relax, and play Australian Football, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Life at Scotch College is very different from Athenian in many ways. Some of the more instantly recognizable differences is that it is an all-boys school and everyone has to wear a uniform. Although I found wearing the uniform uncomfortable at first, I have grown used to it. The only problem is changing for PE and then changing back into the uniform. The school is also much more formal in that all of the students have to address the teachers by either “ma’am” or “sir.” This felt a little awkward to me at first as it felt almost too formal. Another major difference is that students are not allowed to wear backpacks during the school day, so everyone leaves their backpacks in their locker and carriers around their school supplies in their arms. I found this very interesting, as I did not seem the most efficient to me, although now I am quite used to that idea. However, one of the hardest parts to get used to was marching. Every Friday, students have to march with their House in order to earn points for the House reward every year. Although marching sounds simple, it is actually very difficult to stay in time and not mess up.

The social aspect of living in Perth is also very different than the Danville area. Most of the schools in Perth are private and have only one gender. Because of this, everyone seems to know people from tons of different schools and people are always hanging out with students from separate schools. Since so many people know each other, students are always going to parties or dances on weekends with students from up to 5 or 6 different schools, so it is very easy to meet new people. Perth also has a great transportation system that can get you anywhere in any suburb through buses and trains. Since everyone uses this, I often end up seeing the same people on the train after school and have gotten to know some of them very well.

Overall, I am definitely enjoying my stay here in Perth and am excited for the rest of my exchange!

Two weeks ago, I arrived in Cape Town, South Africa. As I walked out of customs I saw my exchange, Sidney Gray, standing there grinning ear-to-ear. I knew at that moment we were going to get along just fine. Since then, he’s kept me busy with sightseeing, running, hiking, studying, and hanging out with other students from Bridge House. Life outside of school is very similar to how it is in California. Every weekend a group of us will get together to hang out; but when I say “hang out” I don’t mean go to a movie or anything like that. Instead we all meet up at the café in town, order a coffee or hot chocolate, sit around the fire, and chat for a couple hours. It may sound boring and not a lot of fun, but everyone ends up having a lekka time.

This brings me to my next point, the slang. The slang here is quite interesting actually. Take the word “lekka” I used earlier. “Lekka” is the South African way of saying that something’s good, awesome, or incredible. It’s the South African equivalent to “chill.” You often hear it paired with the words “my china” (pronounced “ma chano”) which means the same thing as “bro.” There is plenty of other slang that I’ve heard and picked up while here, but those are the two major ones that everyone says.

Now, on to the school. The Bridge House School is different from Athenian, but similar in some ways. The biggest difference that I’m having trouble getting used to is calling the teachers “Ma’am” and “Sir.” This creates a definite line separating the students from teachers. To me it feels as if the teachers are there for learning purposes only, not to get to know the students. On the other hand, they do have a homeroom class everyday where a group of 10-15 students meet with a teacher. This class closely resembles our advisory meetings. They also have school-wide assemblies every Friday, which are similar to our morning meetings. But during their Friday assemblies they did something that I’ve never seen done before… they sang a song. It wasn’t just any song, it was their school song. It’ll take some time to get to know the words, but by the end of my stay I should know the song by heart.

It’s Monday morning, 7:15 AM. We are driving rapidly through the thick Peruvian traffic, cars honking in alarm. Fabiola, my host mom, has a determined look on her face as she takes a right and enters a complex with ten-foot-high grey walls surrounding it. We park in an underground garage, the air smelling like car exhaust. Fernando (15) climbs out of the car, grabs his two backpacks, and hurries up the flight of stairs to our right. Joaquin (12) is not far behind him. Fabiola stops me before I can join them, snapping a picture of me in my school uniform (a white collared shirt, brown vest-jacket, brown shoes, and tan pants). She wants to send the photo to my mom. This is, after all, my first day of school.

I hurry up after the boys, toting two backpacks (one with school supplies, the other with my PE uniform) and a red lunchbox packed with food by the maid, Albina. As I reach the top of the stairs, I find myself amidst a cluster of multi-story school buildings, immaculate lawns, and gray paths teeming with students who look identical in their uniforms. Fernando pulls me over to the reception building to meet Mr. Kvietok (Mark Friedman’s counterpart at Markham) and my life in Peru begins.

Okay, not really. After a harrowing flight experience that involved a three-hour delay in SFO, I arrived in Lima, Peru on July 25. There I was reunited with Fernando Casteneda, a boy who I’d hosted for a week two years ago while he waited for the Young Round Square Conference in LA to begin. We’d kept in touch, and now here we are, together again for six weeks. I was welcomed into his family immediately. I quickly learned that Peruvian culture is one that welcomes guests with open arms. This cultural acceptance made it a lot easier to become accustomed to Peru over the next week. The Castenedas live in Barranco, a neighborhood perched on the cliffs overlooking the Lima coastline, and our apartment had a first-class view of the coast. I had to become used to their family never taking “no” for an answer; they insisted I take Fernando’s room to myself and opened themselves to every inquiry I had. School didn’t start for two weeks, so we had many day-long excursions to popular tourist attractions like Pachacamac (a site with tons of ruins from four separate civilizations), the inner city of Lima, and the parque de las aguas (literally water park). The parque de las aguas contains the largest fountain in the world, which can launch water up to 30 stories high! I was amazed at all the things there were to see in one city. (Lima contains a third of Peru’s population, so it’s a big city, but still.)

There were a lot of things I did have to get used to, however. One was the Peruvian schedule. During the break, the Castenedas woke up at 10:00, ate breakfast around 11:00, had lunch around 4:00, and would then have dinner anywhere from 8:30 to 10! Bedtime was midnight. The late hours were a big cause of stress for me early in my exchange, as I found myself exhausted almost every day. On top of that, the Castenedas were willing to go off on excursions at any time–and I mean ANY. One evening we left to explore the Plaza de Armas de Barranco–at 10:30 at night! We got back at 1:00. I got the impression that trips like this were very normal. By week three I have more than adjusted to this late lifestyle.

Another thing I was shocked by was the presence of maids in almost every house I visited. Here, maids are very affordable, so instead of being a luxury (like they are in the USA), here they are almost a necessity. I often would walk into my room, planning to tidy it up, only to find Albina or Pilar (the other maid) already doing it. I always feel uncomfortable when someone is doing work for me, so this took a while to get used to.

As for Markham… I can’t say much about it yet. I am writing this halfway through day two of my schooling here. The general student body is much larger that Athenian (with twice as many grades and twice as many people per grade). Still, everyone was very welcoming to me on day one. I did notice that people seemed to be not as open to starting general conversations with the exchanges as we are at Athenian. It may be a cultural thing, or I may just not be putting myself out there enough. Currently I am waiting for my schedule to be completed. The classes I do have excite me though, because some of them are not offered at Athenian (like Materials & Design). They also have many interesting after-school activities, such as surfing, cricket, and chess club. I’m going to sign-up for some of those tomorrow.

For now, my first impression of this school seems similar to other students who have traveled to schools with British systems: interaction between students and teachers are a lot more formal and are usually brief. Teachers are referred to as “Sir” or “Miss”, which makes me yearn for Athenian’s first-name system. There are eight class periods per day, but they are far shorter, and there are more breaks throughout the day. School starts around an hour earlier than Athenian, and ends at 2:45. But because of activities, most students leave school around 4:00, making school days about two hours longer than at Athenian. So no major differences, but a lot of small ones.

Well, that’s it for now. Next time you hear from me, I will probably be getting ready to leave. Luckily, that isn’t for another month!