After 21 hours of travel, I landed in Adelaide, South Australia. When I walked out into the arrival area, it was wonderful to see my exchange, Cordelia, her mother, and the exchange coordinator there to meet me. It was so great to finally meet them after weeks of communicating through countless Facebook messaging and emails. As we walked to the car I was greeted by 40 km/h winds and 12 degree C weather, which was shocking, as I had been in 95 degree F weather less than a day ago.

When Cordelia’s mom got into the car on the passenger side, I was confused and a little surprised, but when I looked, I realized that the steering wheel was on the other side of the car! There were a few times while we were driving when I forgot that we were supposed to be on the left side and I silently freaked out until I remembered.

Cordelia lives in the countryside in the little town of Willunga. When we got to their home, I put all my luggage in my room and Cordelia and I started unpacking my clothes and toiletries. Afterwards we had sandwiches for lunch and talked about everything from how my flight was to whether I liked the show Dance Moms. It was really great having time to get to know Cordelia and her mom. After lunch, Cordelia and I watched a movie and TV the rest of the afternoon. It was really nice because after 21 sleepless hours of travel, I just needed to relax. I met Cordelia’s dad when he got home from work that afternoon. It was nice to have finally met all of my host family for the next 6 weeks.

The next day I went to Glenelg with Cordelia and had lunch with three of her friends. Their school was on holidays, so it was a great chance to meet them before I started school. Before school started, Cordelia and her parents took me to the Flinders Ranges, a part of the Australian Outback. I was amazed when instead of seeing wild turkeys or deer along the road, there were wild kangaroos and emus! We even saw a couple of wild male kangaroos boxing. We also went hiking and almost ran into a wild emu!

On Monday, I attended my first day at Westminster. I had my hair pulled back in a ponytail and a very green uniform on when I walked into school that day. It felt so different from how Athenian is. I had no clue where to go and constantly had to follow Cordelia to every class to keep from getting lost.

I thought it was kind of funny how everyone kept telling me how cool my accent was, when I all I was thinking about for most of that day was how cool their accents were! The rest of the week was a blur of new faces and getting lost around the campus. But by second week I had started making friends and was finally remembering the way to the food tech room.

During the next weekend I finally had a chance to explore Cordelia’s farm. She lives on a huge property and has cows, sheep, two dogs and a llama. I had the chance to drive through her land for a little bit, but it was definitely really weird driving with the steering wheel on the right-hand side. I also had the experience of getting the truck stuck in mud and Cordelia’s dad needing to use the tractor to pull it out. Right after that, he got a stick stuck in the gas tank, so it broke and started spewing gas everywhere. It was quite an experience for a suburban girl like me. We also had fun rolling the hay bale out for the cows and sitting in the back of the truck.

The next weekend they took me to the Cleland Wildlife Park and I had the amazing opportunity to hold a koala and feed kangaroos and wallabies. It was so crazy that I could just walk up to an emu and feed it, or walk up to a kangaroo and pet it. It has definitely been a highlight of my trip so far.

I’m already halfway through my exchange and it has been one incredible experience after another. I am excited for the many experiences that are yet to come.

 

“New-tella? What the heck is New-tella? It’s Nut-ella, ya freak!”

‪I’m ending my fourth week in Australia this Friday, and I have learned a lot about the continent, the capital, and myself. And, also, that I say Nutella incorrectly.

‪I arrived at Sydney airport with Bronwyn and her mom, and three days later, I found myself on a three-hour ride home to Canberra with my exchange partner, Estelle. She was shocked that I hadn’t seen Gossip Girl and we started watching it during the ride back. We made a pact to finish all six seasons before my six-week exchange ended. As I said before, I am nearing the end of my fourth week… and we’re already on Season 5. Estelle was still on her winter holidays when I first arrived, so we had a week to bond before school started. In this week, I was able to meet with her friends in fun settings (we went to the Telstra Tower, Flip out- Australia’s equivalent to Sky High, the Mall, shopping, etc.). This was good because I was able to recognize some familiar faces in the first week of school.

When school started, I was extremely surprised to find out that the students of Radford College get less than an hour of homework every night! While I love Athenian, I find this extremely helpful for students so that they can focus on their passions or get a job without the stress of three to four hours of homework each night. Another thing that surprised me was their assessments. Because they don’t receive homework, they have one to two large assignments that count for a shocking 50% (or so) of their grade! Basically, the assessment is their grade; participation and homework count for nothing. Everything considered, though, the environment of Radford College is quite similar to Athenian. While they do wear uniforms, wait for their teacher’s permission to sit down, and call everyone ‘Mr’ and ‘Mrs,’ Radford College is pretty laid back and very accepting.

‪In the past month, I have done so many new and exciting things, such as visiting Tidbinbilla, a nature reserve where baby koalas, emus, platypuses, and kangaroos roam free. This was especially cool, because Estelle wasn’t fazed by any of them. Kangaroos are the Aussie equivalent to deer! I also went to the National Museum of Australia where I had the chance to view authentic Aboriginal art, which I really enjoyed.

‪I have two more weeks left in Australia, and I am absolutely going to miss everything about this continent, from the Nut-ella to the wonderful friends I’ve made!

‪G’day to you all.

Trenton participated in a service project while on exchange at Stanford Lake College in South Africa. 

South Africa has been such an amazing experience! I’m over halfway through my exchange here and wish I could stay forever. Highlights include bungee jumping off the world’s highest bridge, attending an arts festival, drinking loads of good tea, and going on a safari in Kruger National Park.

I’m attending Bridge House School in Paarl, which is near Cape Town. Bridge House is very different from Athenian. Uniforms, calling teachers Ma’am and Sir (or Mr, Mrs, Ms, Miss), different classes and class schedule, and almost anything else you could think of, makes Bridge House almost the exact opposite of Athenian. But I love it just as much! Everyone is super friendly and welcoming, and uniforms aren’t that bad. Having the time of my life! Cheers!

When I arrived in Sydney, I didn’t realize how hectic the Sydney airport would be. There were more people than I had ever seen. From SFO to Sydney, Priya and me took a flight over with Arman (who we excitedly met).

We caught a ferry to Manly beach and browsed around the small beach town. There was a tiny aquarium with tiny screaming penguins that continued to get louder and louder until feeding time came.

The next day, we spent time in Chinatown (which was a tourist trap) and on the streets of Sydney. Then Priya went with her exchange partner to Canberra.

I took a plane to Armidale and was greeted by Mrs. T, who is the extremely nice exchange coordinator. When I reached the dorms, there were five other exchange students, who I’ve gotten to know well. They are from France, South Africa, and Oman. Each one of them has a very different personality, which leads to some funny group chats.

The other girls in the dorms seemed a little crazy at first, since they would scream at each other from across the hall. Now it just seems normal, even if they don’t scream as much.

The classes that I chose are Maths, Science, English, Textiles, Nutrition, Design & Tech, Zumba, and Health. Also, I have prep every night for two hours, which is where all of the boarders do their homework.

The school has uniforms, which I’m not used to. If you get a uniform violation, then you have to pick up rocks or clean the stables (which my roommate has endless horror stories about).

For the first three weeks, my exchange has been pretty exciting. I’ve been meeting all sorts of people from many different places, which is a great experience.

My first day in Japan, I landed at Narita airport to be greeted by my host family. Immediately I knew I was going to enjoy my exchange experience. Never before had I known people to be so kind and caring as those who I have met this month. For example, every time I found myself lost in the maze that is the Japanese train system, I was saved by someone unknown to me. Many times they would take me all the way to my own train station at the cost of their own time and money.

When I first arrived at the school I was blown away. Everything–the campus and the buildings– was enormous. Students were shy to talk to me for the first week, but by the start of the second week I had made friends that I know I will never lose contact with. The people of Tamagawa and Japan truly are kind and warm-heated and I have never felt so at home. The best example I can give of the kindness shown to me during my exchange would be when I decided to join the Tamagawa soccer team. As a few of my friends may know, I used to play soccer for Mustang’s Division 1 team a couple of years back, but was forced to quit due to medical reasons. A few months prior to my exchange, I was cleared to play competitive sports once again and in Japan I decided to do just that. Fifteen minutes into the first soccer practice I once again decided to quit. The intensity was like nothing I had ever experienced before. I would call them nothing less than monsters. Even more horrifying was that these practices lasted from 4:00 to 7:30 every day of the week. The truth was I was nothing like the other players. I hadn’t played competitive sports in at least two and a half years. I was utterly out of shape, outmatched, and outclassed. At the end of the practice I couldn’t stop my body from shaking, which only angered me more.  When I sat on the bleachers to change my shoes, a man named Kansei as well as five others came up to me and said in Japanese, “Let’s play 5v2!” My first response was along the lines of, “haha, very funny, make fun of the exchange kid,” but their genuine smiles told me a completely different story. I realized it wasn’t an act of pity or a jab, but that they ​truly wanted me to join them. Every practice after that day I stayed an extra hour and a half to work out with my newfound friends. I gradually started catching up. Even though I wasn’t there long enough to stand toe-to-toe with Kansei and the rest, I will always remember them for the unbelievable kindness they showed me.

Another aspect was that there were eight other exchange students there with me. It has been almost a month since my exchange ended, but I have kept in touch with many of those eight people. So much so that in a few months I will be traveling to Taiwan to meet up with a couple of them once again.

This experience has really opened my eyes to a whole new world I was ignorant of before. I am thankful to have been lucky enough to experience Japan’s beautiful culture. To those thinking of applying for exchange to anywhere, especially Japan (completely bias but hey, what writing doesn’t have at least a little), I would say do it. As another exchange student told me, “Life is too short to stay in one place, go experience the world.” That same man has lived by those words his whole life. I have learned more about myself during this experience than I ever thought possible.

After a fourteen hour flight from JFK airport in New York to Johannesburg, it was my adrenaline that kept me awake for what would be my first encounter with my new South African exchange family. My exchange, Jacqui Knott, was waiting for me with her 11 year old brother with Proteas, the traditional South African flower, outreached towards me. We were both excited about the difference of our accents and heights. I met her mother, Shann, and we were off to her home on a six-hour ride on the left side of the road. Our ride home was my first encounter with the South African culture. I looked out the window and saw cities, villages, and rural pieces of South Africa. I even got to stop at road markets along the way to try food.

When I finally arrived at Jacqui’s house I knew that my experience would be exceptional because her family actually lives on a safari and game ranch in the bushes of South Africa called Kuduland Safaris. Her mom handed me a package of biltong, like beef jerky, and showed me my room. I was surrounded by animals: I saw antelope out my window and could hear lions roaring from my room. The Knott family was extremely welcoming and made it so that I felt very comfortable in their home before the end of the first night. I spent a week at her home before I would be going off to school and my experience was extremely special to me. By the end of the week I already hiked up to the mountains to watch the sunset with an incredible view, learned how to drive a stick shift on their helicopter runway, went into a lion cage to feed the lions, got chased by an elephant on a late night safari, saw her father hunt a wildebeest, touched a baboon’s butt, drove a four-wheeler, and visited the official “Dole” orange farm. I also had some amazing food prepared at her home. The meat was actually hunted on the farm! One of my favorite dishes was pup, which is like grits that you hand-dip in gravy.

I had already done more than I imagined possible in a week, and I hadn’t even had my first day at Stanford Lake College.

After arriving to a tiny airport in Launceston at 11 am, I met my exchange partner.  Sarah and her dad were holding handmade signs to welcome me, which was a wonderful sight to see after 22 hours of travel. As we got into their car, I was immediately surprised because, in my opinion, her dad got in on the wrong side! I hadn’t realized Australians drive on the opposite side of the road than the US and it was the topic of many silly arguments about the differences between our countries. As we were riding home, Sarah joked that I was going to have to stay awake until dinner and she definitely kept me busy to make sure I did! After stopping at her house to bring in my luggage, Sarah and I went to the Gorge, which is a touristy nature park in Tasmania. We saw peacocks and a wallaby, which surprised me because I’d never seen them before. While we were waiting for her dad to pick us up, we went to King’s Park to try out all the workout equipment and had a blast on the little play structure. It was amazing how after only two hours with her, I already felt like we were sisters.

The next day I went to my first day of school and it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. I expected to feel out of place, but Sarah’s friends were so excited to meet me that someone was always talking to me, ensuring I never felt alone. After hearing Sarah talking about her school when I arrived, I also expected it to be very strict, but all the students and most of the teachers were laid back. We had all elective classes that day, and at every class, everyone was talking and laughing while working. It was a great contrast to my school day, where we are condemned for having “too much fun” in class. My favorite thing about that day was hearing their accents, while they made fun of mine. Everyone kept asking me to try and copy them, but apparently I sounded too British. For the rest of the week, I was overwhelmed with too many faces and names of people who all wanted to meet me, but I easily became a part of the school.

Everyone kept asking me why I wanted to come to Tasmania because the mainland is so much better, however, on the weekend, I was pleasantly surprised by their small town. We went shopping with Sarah and her friends on Friday night, and spontaneously decided to have dinner together that night. This is something I’ve dreamed of being able to do, but at home my friends are either too busy or live too far away.

On my first weekend, I also enjoyed visiting the Launceston zoo. I saw koalas, tiny penguins, emus, kangaroos, and, of course, Tasmanian devils. When I first saw the Tassie devils, I was surprised by how cute they looked. They were not much like the cartoons I’d seen, because they were only vicious when we saw them feeding. On the drive home, I was surprised to learn that instead of accidently killing squirrels on the road, in Tasmania they end up running over wombats.

The next week of school was my first time in forever to enjoy school. I had absolutely no stress, and I spent most of my time talking with Sarah and her friends. Wednesday was a big deal because they had free dress, which Sarah called judgment day. When I asked her about it, she said that it’s the day when everyone judges you for what you’re wearing, which is something I’m all too familiar with.  When choosing my outfit, I found myself still in the trap of worrying about what to wear. I discovered I was surprisingly fond of the uniform because I stopped stressing about whether I was going to look weird or get too cold in my outfit.

On my second weekend in Tassie, I started feeling like a part of Sarah’s family. It began with a surprise birthday dinner for me at a local restaurant which Sarah had planned. I absolutely loved spending more time with my new friends as we talked and drew silly pictures on the paper napkins. For the next few days, I spent a lot of time talking with Sarah’s family about things, such as American food, TV shows we watched as kids, and Australian rules in football.

Starting my second week, I really feel like I belong. I can already see the lifelong friendships that have been created and I’m really going to miss them when I leave. My exchange is flying by so fast that I wish I was staying for longer than seven weeks! I’m very excited for the weeks to come and can’t wait for the memories that I’m going to make.

 

My exchange here at the Colegio Anglo Colombiano has been absolutely fantastic so far. I have really enjoyed my experience. I’ve been here for three whole weeks already and it has gone by really really fast.

I’ve participated in the school’s Oscar event, gone to a salt cathedral and much more.  The Oscars are an award ceremony mimicking the actual Oscars. The event takes place after the English film unit where all students make a short film. My group and a few others arrived to the event in a pink limo, which was incredibly fun and definitely one of the highlights of my trip. The actual Oscar event was entertaining and fun, but the after-party that followed was definitely way more fun. The other major highlight of my trip so far has been going to the salt cathedral.  The salt cathedral is an old salt mine 200 meters underground that has been converted into a massive cathedral. Of all the touristing I’ve done, going to and exploring the salt cathedral has been my favorite by far.

I’m not even halfway through my exchange and I’ve already had so much fun. I will be going to Bucaramanga, Santa Marta, and Cartagena, which are all beautiful Colombian cities. I also have the Anglo Colombiano prom to look forward to!

My fabulous exchange host Victor Mosquera wishes everyone at Athenian the best, especially Isa and Dom.

 

I have been in India for about six weeks now and my time here has gone by so fast. My first week here, my exchange host, Kesang, and her family took me around to see a few different cities: Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. Delhi was different than anything else I was used to. It is a fast-paced city with a lot of history behind it. I was surprised to see many camels along the side of the road, and cows in the middle of the road, inches away from the car. Going to Agra and seeing the Taj Majal was definitely a highlight of my time here. It is absolutely beautiful and it has a very interesting history. In Jaipur, we went to a re-created village. I got to ride both an elephant and a camel, watch some traditional dances, and get my first henna done! There were also many markets in Jaipur, where I had the opportunity to buy two saris and other Indian clothing.

When I first arrived at the Lawrence School, Sanawar, I was greeted by so many people, all with big smiles on their faces. Everyone was so sweet, which made it easy to adjust. The only challenge I had was remembering all of the names. There were times that I was talking to people and they knew who I was but I could not think of their name. I always found myself asking Kesang or the other exchange students what their names were. After a few weeks, I started to catch on to more and more names and now I don’t have to think about it anymore.

Coming to India, I knew the school was going to be much different than Athenian, but I never imagined that it would be as different as it is. I have never gone to a boarding school, so I had to make quite an adjustment.  After the first couple of days, I finally got used to it. The dorms here aren’t like the dorms at Athenian. We don’t have our own room or have one or two roommates. We have 50 roommates and the beds are lined up one after another. When my exchange first told me about this, I was a little scared to be in a room with that many people, but now the time that I spend in the dorms is one of my favorite parts of the day.

At Sanawar, I am in the 11th grade, but since the school year is different here (February-December), I am the same age as everybody in my batch. In 11th and 12th grade, the students get to choose which classes they want to take, including humanities and commerce. I chose to take the humanities classes. Some of my classes include psychology, economics, and geography. I love taking these classes because they are so different than the classes back at Athenian.

A few weeks after I arrived, the 11th grade girls went camping in a town called Rishikesh. We woke up early in the morning, left at 5am, and drove for ten hours. We arrived at our camp on the side of the Ganges in the late afternoon. While there, we took a bike tour through a village, went on a beautiful hike that overlooked the river, and on the last day we got to raft in the Ganges. During the extra time we had there, the girls taught me how to play cricket, we had a huge game of soccer, and we all played a game called “throw throw.” Throw throw is similar to volleyball, but rather than hitting the ball, you catch it and throw it back over the net. Going to Rishikesh was one of my favorite times throughout my exchange, and I will always remember how much fun it was.

My time in India is quickly coming to an end. I am so lucky to have the opportunity to live here for two months. No amount of time sitting in a classroom could have taught me what I have learned here. I have made so many friends and memories that I will never forget. I know I’m going to miss it here so much.