As someone who has lived in the same country, state, and town my entire life, I definitely experienced culture shock when arriving in Cape Town, South Africa. Even in a ten-minute drive through the city, it is impossible not to recognize the differences between here and San Francisco. One of the first things I saw, on my drive home from the Cape Town airport, was of one of the largest townships around. Townships are large villages where people have built their own shacks out of whatever they can find. It was a phenomenon I had never seen in the Bay Area. It was hard to see so many people struggling, and it made me realize that I often take my life for granted. While I realize I am fortunate even in my own area, it is a whole different reality in many places all over the world.

Another thing living in Cape Town has helped me realize is how dependent I am on electricity. A couple times a week, different parts of South Africa are subject to something called “Load Shedding.” During load shedding, the power goes out for two hours. This is used to conserve energy for the country, however, it can be very inconvenient. It is winter here and this country has much more rain and wind than California, so being without heat can be very, very cold. Driving through a town during load shedding feels a bit like going into a ghost town. Although load shedding can be a hassle, I appreciate the forced opportunity to find entertainment off of a screen. For me, load shedding has consistently involved heaps of candles and board games. It’s not my first choice, but it helps you get creative.

While living in South Africa has inconveniences I would have never thought of, its multicultural population is something I love. Just at Bridge House, the tiny school outside of Cape Town I attend, I have met students from France, Germany, Dubai, Holland, and more. Having students from all corners of the world brings colorful conversation both academically and among students outside the classroom. I know that the inner city is well known for its diversity, and I am happy to even experience a taste of it in the small town of Franschoek. I love this diversity as much as I love the stunning mountains, the rainy weather, and the Afrikaans words I attempt to learn.

Ever since I was 11, I have wanted to go on exchange to Australia. After I met and bonded with several Australian students who visited our school this year, my desire to travel to Australia was confirmed. But I would have never been able to guess how difficult the experience was actually going to be. I have just finished my first week at Westminster School in Adelaide, South Australia. A lot of people questioned why I was going to Australia and not somewhere that is more of a culture change. But, it is quite different. I have had a hard time trying to translate their English to the kind of slang I speak every day and I have become very aware of what I am saying all the time. During this experience I have learned how much I love my parents even though I tell them that every day. This experience has really made me realize just how much I love and appreciate the amazing people they are.

The school is completely different from Athenian, from how the teachers teach to how students feel about one another. The first and most difficult thing for me is the strict dress code present at Westminster. I am a huge women’s right activist and a large supporter of individuality, so dress codes are already hard things for me to follow. But a uniform, yuck. All girls need to keep their hair back at all times, have no more than one stud earring, and keep a completely buttoned up shirt tucked into their ankle long plaid skirt with their tie under the collar. If any one of these rules are broken, you are immediately told off or given a detention. Even everyone’s backpacks are the same! I have been told four times to take my three pairs of earrings out and my earrings are not too happy about that. Another thing that is fairly different from Athenian is there is close to no communication between people from different year levels, which I find sad. All classes are with your year and you only sit with people from your year.

Which brings me to how the people are at Westminster. Let’s just say I think I have gotten too familiar to the nice and outgoing faces at Athenian and forgot how normal people are when you first meet them. I have learned that as an exchange student you need to be ready to feel awkward, like you’re intruding, and lost but that is only the first week. You remember what it was like to be a new kindergartner, except this time you’re the only one who’s new.

I’m here! I’ve been in Alice Springs for 2 weeks now. My first experience with the school and new people was a ten-day backpacking trip in the middle of the outback, or “the bush.” It was incredible and beautiful. We hiked, abseiled, and swam through freezing gorges. Being from California and growing up with beaches, I have never been very fond of the desert, but after being in the middle of it for ten days, I started to appreciate the beauty of red rock and huge spiders. Because I had not started school yet and had only arrived in Alice the day before I went on the trip, my group members were the first people I met other than my host family. They were some of the nicest people I have ever met and we all became close quite quickly. A great experience for me on exchange is just being new. I have gone to Athenian since 6^th grade, so I haven’t been new for 5 years! It’s easy because you fascinate everyone at first no matter what just because you talk differently! The camp made me super excited to start school in a couple of days.

I am going to attend St. Philip’s College, which is in Alice Springs, Australia. Alice Springs is literally in the middle of the country and in the middle of nowhere. The town has 30,000 people, takes 10 minutes to get from one end to the other, and is surrounded by huge rock ranges with basically nothing outside of them. The closest city, Adelaide, is 1200 km away, which is a 12-hour drive. So when I say Alice Springs is in the middle of nowhere, I really mean it. Before coming here, this made me really nervous because I thought there would be nothing to do. I regret this thought now because it shows that I wasn’t expecting the people to impact me so much. Within just my first few encounters with people, I made incredible friends and have met the most wonderful people. Also, since there isn’t much to do, Alice makes things to do. What I mean by this is the first day I arrived, I was taken to The Camel Cup, which happens once a year and is one of the city’s largest events. The Camel Cup is exactly like horse races, but instead of people riding/racing horses, the people are riding/racing camels. It was pretty funny. I can definitely say that Alice is way different than Danville and I love it.

Another interesting part of Alice Springs is there are a lot of indigenous people who live in the town. The relationship between the two cultures is incredibly difficult. There is a lot of conflict, racism and segregation as the indigenous people have been treated horribly throughout history. The mom of my host is a nurse and works in a dialysis clinic. Dialysis is a medical procedure that helps people who suffer from kidney failure. Unfortunately, many of the patients she sees are indigenous as their poverty leads to bad health, and the way their bodies have evolved, their two kidneys do as much as one of our kidneys. I was lucky enough to visit the clinic, see how the machines work, and meet some of the indigenous people that were there getting medical treatment. They were beautiful and lovely people. I will hopefully be able to go back soon to meet more people and learn about the treatment which I am really excited about!

I love it here and am so glad it is my home for the next 5 weeks. (:

As I prepare to go back to the US, I look back at the differences between South Africa and the US and some of the things I had to get used to.

One of the biggest changes for me was living in the dorms. Having to wake up at 6 in the morning and have room inspection and roll call before going to breakfast is very different from my normal morning routine. The dorm environment is a lot more scheduled than I was used to. We have roll call three times a day, specified study hours, and lights out at designated times. Another very big difference between Saint Stithians and Athenian is that Saints has chapel three times a week for about 45 minutes, while Athenian has no religious affiliation. The education system also has major differences as theirs is mainly focused on exams. Saint Stithians has 12 exams over the course of 3 weeks that determines the majority of their students’ grade. Athenian is more focused on day-to-day performance and homework and less on exams. We have 6 exams over the course of 6 days, but they count for less of our grade. Also their exams are more about memorization and remembering specific facts and don’t test critical thinking as much. The classes are very focused on preparing for tests and other major assignments and don’t have as many activities.

Another big difference is how important sports are in South Africa (mainly rugby). Saint Stithians’ main focus is on their sports program, which is very good. Their under 16 rugby team is 9^th in the country. Their 1^st team games have a very high turnout and attendance at some games is even compulsory. They also have war cries, which is very different from the attitude my school has towards sports. Everyone plays sports and most of them at a very high level.

The attitude of the general public is very different when it comes to traffic laws, as people cross the road almost wherever and whenever they want. Speed limits tend to be more of guidelines instead of laws and are very rarely enforced. Another big thing that stood out were all the beggars at intersections; there would almost always be at least one, if not more. The houses also have a lot more security than in the US and almost everyone lives behind an electric fence. This was very surprising to see when I first arrived, but makes sense because there is a lot more crime. The most difficult thing to get used to was load shedding, which is when the power gets cut for hours at a time because the government doesn’t have enough electricity to supply the entire city. The power could go out for any length of time between two and six hours. This was very annoying. Also, the government in South Africa is rather lax when enforcing laws and is very corrupt compared to the US. While I was in Johannesburg, two stowaways managed to sneak onto an international flight from O.R. Tambo to Heathrow, which is the same flight path that I took. The police are easy to bribe and aren’t terribly vigilant compared to most American police. The South African government doesn’t maintain or improve roads, it’s actually done privately. One road very near to where I was staying was widened by private contractors and paid for by residents who were unhappy with the amount of traffic on that particular road.

One of my highlights was when I traveled to Cape Town over a long weekend. We hiked up Table Mountain in the mist. It was a really amazing experience to be almost in the clouds and only be able to see a short distance around you. We also took a tour around Cape Town on one of the buses. This was a really interesting way to learn about the city and see different parts of it. We stopped and got off at Long Street and went to one of the street markets where they were selling a wide variety of goods. It was very interesting to see this type of market in an urban setting. Unfortunately we were unable to go to Robben Island because the weather was rather stormy. We did travel around Cape Town, however, and it is an incredibly pretty city.

Another highlight was going to Madikwe Game Reserve over midterm break. Going to the bush was an incredible experience. It was amazing to be so close to the animals. While there we saw lions, elephants, rhinos, cheetahs, wild dogs, and a lot of other animals. The bush was also a lot colder than I thought it was going to be. It was very beautiful, especially the sunrises and sunsets.

I thoroughly enjoyed my exchange to South Africa. It was a very enlightening experience to see how different the lifestyles are between the US and South Africa. I made some wonderful friends while I was there and it was truly amazing getting to know people on the other side of the world.

I can’t believe that my exchange is nearly over. It seems like one and a half months flew by in the blink of an eye. I flew into Argentina on June 8^th and I could tell that my exchange would be an experience that I would never forget. On the day that my parents and I landed in Argentina, my exchange’s father picked us up and gave us a personal tour of the main sites of Buenos Aires. After the flight I was quite tired, but after spending five minutes on the road adrenaline was pumping through my body at 100 miles per hour. I was amazed and terrified by how the drivers changed lanes without glancing in the rearview mirror or how lane divisions have absolutely no meaning. I can’t fathom driving here. After experiencing the highways, I was not surprised to learn that pedestrians DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY. It is clear that the object that has the greatest mass can pass without a second thought.

We were dropped off at our hotel and we headed out to get some lunch. Even though I knew that I was learning Spanish in school, it was still exciting to realize that it actually worked in real life. But to my disappointment I quickly realized that the Spanish that Argentines speak is actually called Castellano (pronounced ”Casteshano”). Words that have a “y” sound are all pronounced with a “sh” sound. So “ella” would be pronounced “esha”, “leyendo” would be “leshendo” I was at first perplexed by the accent, but after spending more than a month in Argentina I grew accustomed to it and now I find the traditional pronunciation really strange. Not only do Argentinians pronounce “ll” and “y” as “sh” but they also have a different conjugation for the informal “you”. So instead of “tu piensas” (you can) it would be “vos pensás”. Even after studying Spanish for five years I struggled to understand what was being said around me, but after a few days I grew accustomed to their way of speaking.

After spending two weeks traveling around Northern Argentina with my parents, I finally arrived at my exchange’s house. He lives roughly 25 blocks away from Belgrano Day School or BDS. The first morning after spending the night was the most nerve wracking thing that I’ve ever experienced. I did not want to come out of my room in fear of the unknown and what was going to happen. Thankfully, I was saved by my exchange and invited to have mate with his family, which broke down the mental barrier for the rest of my stay.

Mate is a traditional herb that is steeped in hot water in a special cup that is also called Mate. The point of mate is to bring people together because it is usually passed around and shared. By itself, the mate tastes bitter, especially if you burn the leaves with scalding water. I usually drink it without added sugar, but definitely enjoy a little sweetness to the beverage. Most foreigners don’t like the taste of mate, so I certainly surprised people when I told them that I actually enjoyed it.

The food in Argentina is incredibly delicious. The meat is some of the best, if not the best, in the world. A traditional Argentine dish is Milanesa. It’s a very thin piece of meat that is covered in batter and deep-fried in oil. Another dish that everyone must try in Argentina are the empanadas. It is almost impossible not to! They are sold in almost every restaurant and they serve as a great lunch or snack. While the meat is to die for, the vegetables are sub par and salads are not popular at all. So I would not recommend that a vegetarian to apply for exchange in Argentina.

Surprisingly, on my first day of school I was not worried at all. I had no idea what to expect from the classes, from the kids, or from the teachers. I was escorted to the exchange coordinator’s office and was given the run down of BDS. The school is K-12 and is very different from Athenian. The most noticeable difference is that it is situated in an urban area and takes up ¾ of a square block. It was different and a little claustrophobic to have to walk through halls and up stairs to get to a classroom. Unlike at Athenian, the students at BDS don’t move between classrooms to get to their next class. Instead, the teachers come to the class. Starting their junior year, the students choose an orientation: Science, Humanities or Linguistics. My exchange is in the humanities orientation, so he takes Spanish and English literature, economics, accounting, civics, math, history and two electives. In the science orientation, the kids take physics, biology, and chemistry instead of economics, accounting, and history. The purpose of the orientation is to focus on a particular subject area before college or university. I’m not really sure that I like this system because I think that it is important to be a well-rounded student by taking classes in many subject areas. Unlike Athenian, I was astounded by how loud the classroom is. Everyone talks at the same time and doesn’t wait their turn to speak. I took a class called current affairs, which is taught in English. In the class the students analyze news articles and discuss pressing issues that are happening in the world today. I could tell the exact point when chaos broke loose in the class because all of the kids started arguing in extremely fast Castellano. After this class, I appreciate the orderliness of Athenian discussions.

Two days a week the sophomores, juniors, and seniors drive about 35 minutes to a sports field. The boys either play rugby or volleyball and the girls can choose to play either field hockey or volleyball. I chose volleyball and enjoyed playing with the guys. Driving more than half an hour to play sports is something that is really different from Athenian, where we can walk to the gym or the field in a couple of minutes. The good thing about the bus is that there is plenty of time to catch up on a bit of sleep.

There are many cultural differences between the United States and Argentina. One of the first ones that I noticed was that everyone greets each other by kissing each other on the cheek. Everyone does this: girls with girls, girls with boys, boys with boys, old with young. It was really awkward at first, but I got used to it after a couple of days. Another difference is that dinner is usually eaten at 9:30 or later. That is really late compared to the 6:00 or 7:00 dinner times back home. The reason that dinner happens so late is because of a late afternoon meal called merienda. Usually they drink mate or have tea and eat sweets or small sandwiches. Dinner is not the only thing that happens late here. As someone who usually is in bed by 10:30 pm, I was surprised to learn that 10:30 pm and even 11:00 pm is considered extremely early for Argentinians. One night, my host family took me out to dinner. We left the house at 9:30 and didn’t get back until 11:00. Afterwards, my exchange asked if I wanted to watch an episode of House of Cards! I quickly got used to staying up really late to watch films or playing monopoly until I couldn’t stay awake.

I can safely say that going on exchange was one of the best decisions that I have made in my life. I met so many interesting and fun people that I will remember forever. It was hard at first to connect with kids because of the language barrier, but after a few days I got to know them. I am so grateful for their kindness and their open mindedness to having me in their daily lives. I would recommend going on exchange to anyone who wants to experience a new culture and a different way of living first hand. It’s one thing to learn about a culture from a book and it’s another thing to be immersed in it. We are so lucky to be a part of Round Square because of the unique experiences that the program offers. Whether it is exchange, a conference, or a service project I recommend that everyone take advantage of these opportunities.

I arrived in Buenos Aires on June 3^rd. The second I stepped off the plane, I was immediately greeted by a rush of Spanish words constructed with the strangest accent I had ever heard! I wasn’t expecting the immense difference between the Spanish I was taught in school and the Castellano spoken in Argentina. When I first got here, I couldn’t even pronounce the language correctly. Castellano is pronounced “Casteshano”. When introducing myself to class mates at school, I made the mistake of saying “me llamo” and pronouncing the “ll” as a “y”. Here, “me llamo” is pronounced “me shamo.” “Ella” becomes “esha”, “pollo” becomes “posho”. It was crazy to me at first, but I got the hang of it after the first couple of weeks. The accent and the speed at which people speak in Argentina were intimidating at first, but, thankfully, my host family is fluent in English. Moreover, everyone at the Belgrano Day School is incredibly forgiving when it comes to my shaky Spanish.

The traffic in this city is by far the worst I’ve ever seen. There is no respect for pedestrians here! In my first week in Argentina, I almost walked into direct traffic at least five times on my way to school. I had to be pulled out of the way by my exchange partner and her little brother each time. I remember one day when I was sitting outside of a bakery about a block from school drinking tea and eating empanadas during the Argentinian rush hour. I glanced over to the road and noticed many of the people in cars around me had turned off their engines and pulled out newspapers and cups of coffee. I stared for a while and eventually looked up at my exchange partner. “Is that normal?” I asked, nodding towards the street. She looked over at the peculiar scene taking place and replied nonchalantly, “yeah, of course.” I was dumbfounded. I thought sitting in the same spot for more than five minutes was about as bad as traffic got, but visiting Argentina made me appreciate the relatively mild traffic of San Francisco. I eventually got over my Californian habits of walking aimlessly across the street. I am now incredibly wary when anywhere near a crosswalk.

Belgrano Day School itself has an environment I had never experienced before. Its school size is similar to Athenian, with around 70 people per grade. I learned in my first week about the education system here in Argentina. The grades are split into three orientations based on the students’ individual interest: Science, Linguistics or Humanities. The idea is that students begin honing in on what they want to specialize in for the future starting in high school, rather than in college. For example, a science student will never take a music class and a humanities student will never take a science class. I’m not sure I liked this set up, because I think I agree with the Athenian method of having a well-rounded student. (I can’t say, however, that I wouldn’t have liked to skip physics.) My exchange partner and I were both in the humanities department, so most of the classes I attended were humanities oriented. I soon learned that if I asked, I would be allowed to skip any classes I wasn’t interested in, and attend a class from a different orientation instead. Because Belgrano Day School is bilingual, some of my humanities classes were taught in Spanish, making it incredibly frustrating and hard for me to follow along. There was many a time I attended biology or chemistry in favor of those classes. I would recommend attending these Spanish-taught classes for at least the first couple of weeks. It was a very interesting experience to attend a completely Spanish-taught class, even though my participation level was limited.

The culture here in Buenos Aires may seem similar to the culture in the United States, but I discovered quickly that this country has a culture uniquely its own (as do all other places). The first thing I noticed was how loud and rowdy everyone in my class was. It took me a while to adjust, as I used to the mellow and relaxed social environment of Athenian. Once I got used to it, I started enjoying the banter between my peers during break times. Many of the loudest people in my class turned timid when faced with the task of speaking to me in English. I learned a lot about myself and how to effectively deal with a language barrier through these interactions and I believe this has affected my patience and cultural awareness effectively. As I near the end of my trip, I am noticing how much patience and courage it must have taken my class mates. I am humbled and thankful for those who gave it their best effort to communicate with me despite my shaky Spanish and their shaky English. They tried to communicate with me despite the language barrier.

The times Argentinian people go out to eat and meet up with each other was the most obvious difference between California and Argentina. Here in Argentina, I have eaten dinner every day at 9:30/10:00 PM. In California, I have dinner at around 6:30/7:00 PM, so getting used to this difference was challenging. Especially considering we have a whole other meal here, “merienda” at 5 or 6. Merienda is generally a pastry, such as a croissant or Dulce de Leche, and tea or coffee. At the same time we have merienda, my family in the United States would be having dinner.

Coming to Buenos Aires has been one of the best experiences of my life. I learned so much about myself, and challenged myself in ways I never thought I would. Although the language barrier made it hard to get through to people and communicate fluidly, the kindness of my classmates and host family really helped me assimilate to this culture. I will always be grateful for that. I highly recommend going on exchange if you are a person who is not afraid to be totally reliant on the kindness of people around you to support you on your journey. I had complete faith in my peers and host family. They opened my eyes to how powerful and effective human kindness can be and really made me feel welcome. I hope to come back and visit someday, to see how my perspective has changed with my age. I love Buenos Aires!

When I was leaving the airport in Amristar after meeting my host family, it was about 5 am and I had been traveling for almost 27 hours. The very last thing I expected to see was a cow in the middle of the highway overpass. I was even less prepared for on one else to react to it. Instead, we simply swerved around it and continued on our way.

For the first few weeks, everything felt like that first “cow moment.” Every new experience and cultural difference I was exposed to, like deceptively cute monkeys that tried to steal our food or the traffic which seemed to lack rules and where “lane” appeared to be a loose term, was so surprising and different that I thought I would never get used to it.

However, after traveling around India I learned so much and saw so many amazing places that I fell in love with it. Some of the most beautiful sites were the Golden Temple, Qutb Minar, the Ganges River, and, of course, the Taj Mahal.

At the school, there was a lot of adjusting to be made. I had to get used to saying “sir” and “ma’am.” Although wearing a uniform wasn’t new to me, I still had to adjust to the fact that we had to wear them all the time, even on Sunday, which was our only day off. Besides having school on Saturday, the school life is a lot different to Athenian’s. The classes are mostly lecture and not discussion-based and there was no experiential learning that I could tell. But the kids were always having fun and were always a joy to be around.

I had so much fun on exchange and I owe a lot of that to the girls in my dorm. They were so patient with me while I learned their names and always shared their stories, laughter, and food with me. I learned so much from them and those friendships hold more value to me than anything I have gotten out of exchange.

I also found a second family, and they are some of the most kind and generous people I have ever met. They went out of their way for me and showed me so much of their country. They did everything to make me feel welcomed. My exchange, Esha, was wonderful and I can’t wait to see her in August.

In early May, the school went for “Camps”. Every year each grade goes on a separate camping adventure for a week. My grade went to a place called Rishikesh near the Ganges River. I can honestly say that it was one of the most fun things I have ever done. We hiked and rafted, almost capsizing at a particularly large and fast rapid. We even got the chance to go cliff jumping into the river. At one point we got off the raft and held onto the life line while going through a rapid. Feeling the powerful water push and pull us in every direction was truly unforgettable.

When I think about exchange, I’m sometimes reminded of the cliff jumping. It was scary and a lot of people might have passed up the opportunity and exchange is a lot like that. It takes guts and a lot of blind faith that everything is going to be okay, but sometimes the most exhilarating thrill is the pay off for taking a chance and making that one little step off the edge into the unknown.

I arrived in Maisons Laffitte, France about four weeks ago. It was pouring the first day I got here. The exchange coordinator met my family at the metro station and walked us to the girl’s boarding house. It is a 15 minute walk from the metro station to the boarding house and in between there are a few cafes and small shops. Maisons Laffitte is a small town, so everything I need is between the boarding house and the metro station. There is a park where I go during lunch to eat and spend time with my friends. There is also a chateau in Maison Laffitte, about 10 minutes away from the school.

At the time that I arrived, everyone had just returned from spring vacations and the IB 2’s (Seniors) had just started prepping for their final exams.

The first week was very challenging. I didn’t think that adjusting to the school life would be hard for me but it was difficult at first. I was placed in Foundation 5, which is for students 15-16 years of age. There are 5 foundations; Foundation 1 is equivalent to sixth grade, Foundation 2 is seventh grade, and so on till Foundation 5, which is the same as tenth grade in American school systems. After Foundation 5 is IB 1 (junior year) and IB 2 (senior year). Each grade/foundation has about 18 people and all your classes are held with the rest of your grade.

The classes I am taking at this school are Global Issues, French Intermediate, Maths Extended, English, Biology, Chemistry, MADD (Music Art Dance Drama), History, and STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math). School starts at 8:30 and classes end at 3:20, however students are required to participate in activities from 3:20 to 5:00. The activities that I chose to take part in are Model UN, Human Rights, Drama, and cooking, but other activities include fitness, football, swimming, and many more options. We also have to wear a uniform: black pants, white shirt, black shoes and school jumper.

Everyone was very welcoming at Ermitage. Many offered to help me out and take me to my classes if I was lost. My first weekend, I took the metro to Paris with my friends. They took me to an amusement park called “Foire du Trone” and we spent most of the day on roller coasters and other park rides. After that we went to La Defense, a financial district with a HUGE shopping mall. My second weekend here, I begged my friends to take my sightseeing since I really wanted to see the tourist attractions. They took me to see the Arc de Triomphe, as well as the Champs Elysees, the Louvre, Notre Dame, and many more.

As part of the curriculum, Foundations 4 and 5 went on a mandatory sailing trip to the Saint Tropez, a city in the south of France, to learn to sail and get closer with those in the grade. This was the perfect opportunity for me since I got to get to know everyone better and made new friends. The trip was five days and it was an amazing experience. Not only did I learn to sail but I witnessed the beauty that the south of France had to offer. We were about 30 students all together and we were split into smaller groups to be placed on the boat. We sailed about 7-8 hours per day and prepared all of our food on the boat. Preparing the meals and washing dishes required a lot of teamwork and communication, which sometimes got frustrating. One of the days, the five boats anchored in the ocean and we were given the chance to swim with our friends; however, the water was very cold and there were jellyfish everywhere. This did not stop us from having fun before going back on the boat to continue sailing. Most nights we docked at a port, but there were times when we anchored far from shore. Taking a shower was also a luxury and most of us waited in long lines in order to take one. Overall it was a once in a lifetime experience and, though we were cranky for most the trip, I had a great time.

My exchange is drawing to an end very soon and I know its going to be hard to say goodbye to all the new friends I have made. These friendships and experiences are going to stay with me forever. I am grateful to my parents and Athenian for supporting my exchange.

I arrived in Johannesburg about three weeks ago. Even though it is supposed to be winter, it was warmer when I arrived here than when I left California. One of the first surprises was when the power went out for several hours. This load shedding happened several more times during the next couple of weeks, and most people blame their government for it. Another thing that stood out to me was that every single building has some sort of fence around it. The nicer developments have electric wires and security guards at the entrances because of the large amount of crime.

When I got to Saint Stithian’s, I noticed one of the major differences was the uniform we have to wear. We have to wear a blazer, tie, trousers, and dress shoes, whereas at Athenian we can wear whatever we want. Also, classes are much different from Athenian. At the start of each class, students have to stand until the teacher says “good morning”, which the students reply either “good morning, sir” or “good morning, ma’am” before sitting down. Classes are structured much more around lectures and the focus of the class is for preparing for the test.

Saint Stithian’s is very focused on athletics. Everyone is required to play two sports a year: one sport for each season, winter and summer. Rugby is the main sport here and there are compulsory matches when entire school is required to attend the first team’s game. There are 18 different rugby teams at Saint Stithian’s and each team has a little more than 15 people. I tried to play rugby, but wasn’t the greatest because I was smaller than most people on the team.

During the week I live in the dorms with my exchange Luke, Oliver (another Athenian student), and his exchange Kellan. My normal day begins at 6:00, with room inspection at 6:30, roll call at 6:40, and breakfast right after. The first class begins at 7:25, followed by chapel at 8 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with house chapel on Tuesdays and Leadership on Thursdays. The second class starts immediately after that and is followed by break. After break there are three more classes and then lunch at 1:20. After lunch is the sixth and last class of the day, followed by sports. The second roll call is at 5:45 and is immediately followed by dinner. After dinner is prep, where students have quiet time to do homework; prep starts at 6:45 and lasts for two hours. Then a final roll call and free time until 10:00, which is lights out.

So far I have really enjoyed my time in South Africa. I am looking forward to traveling some around the country and experiencing more of the culture.

As I settle in to being back home, I am deeply saddened to have left such an incredible place like Germany. Going on exchange was nothing like I imagined—it was so much greater. I had huge expectations for exchange and, shockingly, it was even better than my own dreams could have come up with. Everyone and everything there impacted the way my exchange journey went. The people and friends I met were some of the greatest friends I will ever have and I will never forget them. (Special shout out to Stella Bella.)

When I first arrived in Hinterzarten on April 12, I was not as excited as I wanted to be. The school was in the middle of a village with nothing but a few cafes and some hotels. I remember telling my dad how lucky he was to go back to California the next day. I now regret that sentence very much. People in Germany were so welcoming to me. At the end of my trip they told me I was the most legendary exchange student to ever attend their school because I really tried to get to know everyone and hang out with everyone outside of classes. They told me they all grew attached to me in such a short amount of time and that leaving was going to be hard for them because they would miss me. It all meant so much to me.

Exchange taught me so many important lessons starting with independence and responsibility. Being in a foreign country alone seemed terrifying at first, until I got the hang of things and could figure my way around bigger cities such as Zurich and Freiburg. I learned to step out of my comfort zone and not just stick to two friends the entire time I was there. I really tried to apply myself to everything the school offered as well as meet every single student there. (It is a small school.) If I could have extended my exchange, I would have stayed for another year. Leaving was terribly hard for me and I hope to visit soon. Thank you Germany for the most incredible six weeks of my entire life. You will not be forgotten.