Lauren Glenn:  The Six Day Weekend

This weekend was one of the longest and busiest of my life. Each day seemed like it spanned 48 hours rather than 24! Every minute was filled with so many new and exciting opportunities and experiences!

Friday: This day began with school as usual; four classes and then tea time. But around noon, I left with the seventeen other students in the SLC [Stanford Lake College] chorus to go perform at the Earth Day Festival at Southern Cross School near Haenertsberg. None of us knew quite what to expect, but we were all quite surprised when we saw the school. Our van navigated through windy, dusty trails, around bushes and sun baked trees, until we finally arrived at a small market. There were plants, animals, bags, jewelry, and even trailers being advertised and sold. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to loiter; we quickly changed out of our uniforms and ran over to the small stage where we were to perform. This platform was barely big enough to fit the eighteen of us, but we shuffled and squeezed onto it and sang our tunes. After our performance, we watched some of the Southern Cross students’ presentations as well. There was everything from ballet to hip hop, spoken word ranging from feminine power to John the Baptist and even a poem about The Jabberwocky. This small show soon ended and we were invited to come back later that night to watch a few more performances.

When we returned, it was dark and the school seemed like it had come alive. The first presentation was of traditional dancing from one of the eleven language groups in South Africa. (I believe it was Zulu, but nobody knew for sure.) The dancers were wearing colorful beads and fabrics, leopard prints and multiple types of furs in very strategic places around their sweaty, hyper bodies. Through their dance they told stories of their history–speaking, singing, and acting out their heritage. I was just as impressed by the next group of performers; a group of around fifteen students stepped onto the stage with drums that were half their height. The teens began with effortless rhythms, tapping the drums as if they were trying to crack open a safe; but this simple style soon evolved into a ring of complex beats, taps, and hands reaching from one drum to the next. Of course, all of us from SLC were dancing around to the music. We were fueled by all of the energy popping through the night air.

Saturday: We spent the first half of Saturday sitting in the van, trying to get home. After the first two hours of driving back to campus our bus “lost its oomph,” as our driver described it, and we waited for another hour or a different bus to come fetch us. We arrived back at the school, and Reneilwe’s mother picked up both me and Mihaela (an exchange student from Germany). Mihaela and her host, Makungu, were both going to stay the weekend with me and Reneilwe. Because the four of us still had a Saturday night with no plans, we went out with a few of the other exchanges and their hosts. In all there were ten of us; me and Reneilwe, Mihaela and Makungu, Michael and Khanya, Alexa (from Canada) and Kate, and Liam (from New Zealand) and KG. After watching “Warm Bodies” at the cinema, we ate a Californian pizza at a restaurant nearby. We then proceeded to stroll out of the restaurant, walk fifty feet to our left, and go straight into the restaurant next door for dessert. The night ended with a lot of laughs and some ice cream on Khanya’s face!

Sunday: The day before, Reneilwe and Makungu had told me and Mihaela that they had a surprise for us on Sunday, but we would have to wake up pretty early to get to it. So at six o’clock in the morning we all filed into the car and drove for three hours to Johannesburg. Between short naps and listening to music, Mihaela and I kept asking and guessing about where we could possibly be going. The mall, a show, a museum? We finally arrived at a large sign that read, “GOLD REEF CITY” in sparkling sun-lit letters, framed by winding rollercoasters and teenage screams. So we spent the day at a theme park! There was almost nobody there; the longest time we waited to get on a ride was only about five minutes! We twisted around the Anaconda, got shaken in the Jozi Express, and spun around and around on the UFO. By the end of the day, we were all dizzy and stumbling back to the car to get home. On the way back we stopped at the mall for food. Since I had been missing food from home, I bought myself some tuna maki from a take-away sushi restaurant. Reneilwe and Mihaela went to a Chinese restaurant just across the food court and Reneilwe tried chow mein for the first time! Let’s just say that we won’t be taking her to Panda Express when she comes to the California.

This week has started out very well. Make sure to check in next week, I will be blogging about the Round Square Regional Conference!

 

 

 

I am a sophomore on exchange to the Vivek High School in Chandigarh, India. I arrived in Chandigarh on March 17, so I’ve been on exchange for a several weeks and already seen a lot of India! Chandigarh is a city about a half-hour plane ride from Delhi that is very modern. It was built in the fifties and is a beautiful city with lots of greenery! It is a union territory, as well as being the capital of two states in India – Haryana and Punjab.  Chandigarh is known as being the cleanest city in India.      

My first week, I stayed with a girl named Anahita who has just come to Athenian on exchange. I stayed with Anahita, her parents, and her grandpa, all of whom were very nice and welcoming! Anahita introduced me to some of her friends, who were also very sweet and fun. Over my first week, we went around to see Chandigarh. The city is flat and feels very spacious with lots of parks. The roads and sidewalks are much wider than they are in the U.S. This is a good thing, because there are so many different types of traffic on the road–from cars and trucks and motorcycles to rickshaws, bikes, wagons, and horses! Because of the many different vehicles, driving in India is very different from driving in the U.S. Laws are more like guidelines. People don’t pay too much attention to lane markers, even driving on the other side of the road sometimes. Like in England, cars (usually) drive on the left. Finally, everyone is honking all the time. Even at night I could hear constant honking from the road. However, honking is not considered rude. Instead, it is necessary to honk or else people may not know you are there.

Soon after I arrived, we went to one of the markets and I got henna on my hands, which is called Mehndi here. The people who do it are amazing artists and the Mehndi was very pretty! We also visited the rock gardens in Chandigarh, which are extremely well known. The gardens have rock structures and waterfalls and plants. They also have lots of little statues and interesting designs on the walls made from trash. One wall had patterns made of old plugs in it. In the entrance to the gardens there were hundreds of small figures made of things such as broken bangles. After walking around the gardens, I went on a camel ride with my friend Roshni. We climbed up a ladder to get on the camel’s back, and the man in charge walked us around for a few minutes. It was fun, but a little scary because we were so high up and when the camel started running I felt certain that I was going to fall off. It was very bumpy, like trotting on a huge horse.

Anahita’s parents took me to see classical Indian music and dance performances in the evenings. We went three nights in a row to an art center where they hold lots of festivals and performances. Each night, there was live music first, and afterwards, different styles of traditional Indian dance from states in India. My favorite performance was the Odissi dance from Orissa is Eastern India. The dancers wore beautiful, brightly colored costumes, and imitated poses of gods and goddesses in the temples of Orissa.

Something I’ve found interesting is that people eat silver here! I’ve had it in two places. Once it was just a little bit topping a custard-like dessert. The other places I’ve seen it are in wedding invitations. Although I have yet to attend an Indian wedding, I’ve heard a lot about them! There are certain times of the year when people marry for auspicious reasons. So far no weddings have happened, but my host family was invited to a few weddings. When you invite someone to a wedding, you go to their house with the invitation and bring some sort of sweets or snacks with you. What has so far appeared to be the most common sweet to bring is a box of thin little diamond shaped cookies that are very soft and sweet with a thin layer of silver on top. They’re delicious, and since my hosts have told me that I’m supposed to gain weight on exchange, I’ve probably eaten several boxes by now.

A week after I arrived in Chandigarh, I went on an adventure camp with the class going from eighth to ninth grade. (The school year in India ends sometime in early March and the next year begins in early April). A girl who is doing a gap year as an assistant teacher at Vivek from Markham College in Peru also came on the trip and I became good friends with her. We went to a hill station called Chail in Himachal Pradesh, and spent two nights at a camp there. Chail is in the mountains; there are mostly tiny villages and only a few towns, and the hills are very beautiful. While we were driving, I saw lots of monkeys sitting along the side of the road and there are cows everywhere, including in the towns and villages. I even saw a camel, a yak, and a peacock flying across the road. We reached the camp after driving for four hours and the instructors showed us the tents where we would be staying. To someone used to making a tiny tent on the ground out of stakes and tarps, the tents at the camp seemed very luxurious, with beds, lights, and bathrooms with running water. In the afternoon, we went on a hike through the forests, which was cut short when a huge storm hit. We had to run back, our shoes so heavy with mud we could barely lift them. We spent the rest of the afternoon stuck inside because of the rain, and had to move to cottages when some of the tents flooded and collapsed. The next two days we did activities such as rappelling, artificial rock climbing, and a zip line. In the evenings we had bonfires and a DJ who played Punjabi music, so I learned a little of the traditional Punjabi dance: Bhangra for boys and Gidha for girls. Although I do not usually enjoy camping, I really enjoyed the trip and made a lot of friends!

When I returned from Chail, I went to stay with my next host, Aakriti. It was Holi, so her cousins from Delhi were visiting and I got to be really close with them. When I first came to stay with her, she was referring to one of her cousins as her brother and I was very confused, as I only remembered her telling me that she had one sister when we’d talked over email. However, I’ve since learned that in India, cousins are called brothers and sisters.

Holi is the festival of colors and water, and celebrating the holiday is referred to as “playing Holi.” For Holi, we went to a park with lots of packets of colored powders, water guns, water balloons, and buckets. Everyone wore old clothes and we spent hours throwing water balloons, dumping buckets of colored water on each other, and smearing the colored powders on everyone’s faces. The colors were meant to wash off easily, but we accidentally used permanent powders so my face was slightly red and yellow for several days. It was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done and I definitely plan to play Holi again!

A few days after Holi, I was able to go to Delhi and spend two days there with my host and her cousins. We took the train early in the morning and arrived before noon. That afternoon, my host, her cousin, and I visited a place called the Kingdom of Dreams just outside of Delhi. The Kingdom of Dreams has a huge indoor hall with sections representing each state in India. It was insanely packed so that we could barely move through the crowds at times. At the Kingdom of Dreams, we also saw a sort of Bollywood musical performance with lots of singing and dancing. It was in Hindi and I tried using a headset that translated the lines to English; however, the plot was not very important so I left the headset and enjoyed the music and dance instead. Our second day, we visited several historical sites. First was the Qutab Minar, a huge tower built by a Muslim ruler over a thousand years ago, then the India Gate, and finally, Humayun’s Tomb, which has similar architecture to the Taj Mahal. Although we didn’t have nearly enough time to see everything, Delhi was full of history and very interesting, as well as being a lot of fun!

Because Indian culture is so rich, I’ve learned a lot about cultural customs in my past few weeks on exchange. There is a saying in India that “the guest is God,” which many people have told me about, and they clearly feel that it is very important to treat guests this way. Everywhere I have gone, people have insisted that I eat something, as feeding guests is the main act of hospitality. In fact, I have not once felt hungry while I’ve been in India. I pointed this out to my host’s uncle, who told me that the word ‘hungry’ is usually only used in the context of the poor in India, because people eat all the time. Not huge amounts, but everyone is always snacking. This is partly because most middle to upper class homes in India have help around the house – housekeepers, cooks, and drivers. In the U.S., it is very uncommon to have people keeping house for you. In India, it is both a cultural norm and a huge industry, so that those who are well-off can enable others to earn a living. It has taken some time to adjust to the fact that I don’t have to get my own glass of water. It feels a little weird, but it’s all part of my exchange experience!

I’ve also picked up a bit of Hindi and hope to learn more when school starts. Hindi and English are both spoken in Chandigarh, along with Punjabi, which is the language for the state of Punjab. In India, Hindi is spoken everywhere, as is English, but each area has it’s own language(s) as well, so there are many national languages. Since Hindi is the most widely spoken language, I’ve tried to learn a little of that. I can say my name – “mera nam Mirella he” – and ask someone their name – “apca nam quiya he?”. I’ve also learned a little about how the language ties into the culture. In India, respecting one’s elders is very important. “Ji” can be added after someone’s name to show respect, and people will call a girl a few years older than themselves Didi, meaning older sister, and a boy a few years older Bhuya – older brother. My host calls me Mirellu and I sometimes call her Aaku, because in Hindi, you add “u” to someone’s name to make it a pet name.

After spending a few days in Delhi, Aakriti and I returned to Chandigarh, where we’ve had some time before school starts.  Over the past several days I’ve met some of Aakriti’s friends and seen more of Chandigarh. School is finally starting and I’m really looking forward to meeting people and seeing what school is like in India!

Lauren Glenn and I left SFO on Tuesday evening for the first leg of our flight to New York JFK. The flight was about five and a half hours and got us into New York about 7:30 in the morning. We took the airtrain over to our terminal and got some breakfast. After waiting three hours, we boarded the plane and found great seats. We sat on the plane until we were told that there was a “slight technical problem” with the plane and we would have to get off until further notice. Shortly thereafter, I discovered that the “slight technical problem” was actually engine failure. After another four hours, we rebooked for a flight the next day and were driven to a hotel at JFK. We arrived at the airport the next morning and luckily there were no problems with the plane. We boarded, and fifteen hours and multiple movies later, we were in South Africa!!

Lauren and I met our families and went off with them. Lauren drove back to Polokwane, while I waited with Khanya for a plane back to his house. We took a small plane to Polokwane, and were met by his father at the airport. We came back to his house and after relaxing for a few hours, lack of sleep finally caught up with me and I fell asleep at 5:30. I woke up sixteen hours later and here I am.

My first week at Stanford Lake College (SLC) has been such an experience! There are so many aspects of South African life that are just subtlety different from life in America, but all put together it makes this country seem so exotic. One of the first things I learned here was that when I start talking about football, everyone around me thinks I’m talking about soccer. No one here watches American football! It’s such a foreign concept to me, but I have heard that rugby is the South African equivalent and I plan on going to a school game soon. Also, cars drive on the left side of the road, students use the British spelling of words, pick-up trucks are called buckies and a barbeque is a braai. The most unnatural thing is that in South Africa, I am the one with the accent! People seem to be fascinated by my long hair and my fast-paced Californian way of speaking.

My first day of classes went by very quickly. Each class is only forty five minute long and the students go to every class every day. In many of my classes here, we read the text book in class or do classroom exercises out of the book; a lot of the time we even do our homework in class. This was one of the oddest things for me to get used to. I am so comfortable with the Athenian way of learning where we’ll read our books at home and in class have discussions, analysis, and ask ourselves why this is relevant in the world. The only classes where we seem to do that are economics and history, and these also have teachers that remind me of the wonderful ones we have at Athenian. So for me, the classes have pretty easy and homework has been light.

I think that the best things about this school are the people who live here. Everyone has been so welcoming and I have made many friends in just a few days! My roommates, Reneilwe (my exchange partner) and Thandi are amazing girls. We love watching YouTube videos of people auditioning for South African Idol (and yes, these people are just as horrible and hilarious as the ones on American Idol)! Another one of my favorite people is a girl named Atiyah who lives in my hostel. She is so sweet to everyone and she loves to give big, strong hugs. Tonight we were laughing so hard as I was trying to teach her the electric slide! Last but not least, my new friend Aidan has been an absolute riot to hang out with. We went kayaking on the lake with Reneilwe and another friend of mine named Sarah, and we all got soaking wet having water fights and tipping our boats over! The other exchanges are all very fun. There are seven of us all together coming from India, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, and of course the incredible U.S.A!

I can’t believe only my first week is over. I can’t wait for the weeks to come!

This week all of the exchange students were invited to tea at Mr Reid’s (the headmaster) house. Mr Reid had never really met us before. We all sat in his living room and chatted about ourselves, exchange experiences, homes, and schools. Most Round Square schools, or at least the ones represented here, all have outdoor programs similar to AWE at Athenian (though AWE is by far the longest and in my opinion, the most impressive). It was interesting hearing about all of the expeditions and curriculum that the other Round Square schools do.

Mr Ince also organized a trip to Edinburgh for the exchange students. On Thursday morning we left the school at 5:45 in the morning to catch the train for the four hour ride. Once we got to the city, we walked along the high street and down to the Parliament building.  We watched a session of Parliament regarding oil drilling in the North Sea, Scottish economics, and Scottish independence. There is current debate and advocacy for Scotland’s independence from the UK. It was interesting to hear about the two political parties’ reasons why Scotland should become independent and why it should not. After watching the debate, we got to talk to one of the politicians (the representative for the Highlands of Scotland, where Gordonstoun is) and ask him questions. After Parliament, we had a quick lunch and went on a tour of the Edinburgh dungeons. We then had some free time to explore/shop/eat before the train ride home.

On Saturday we had a netball match at The Strathallan School in Perth, which is about 4 hours away. It can be really rough playing in a netball match right after a long bus ride, and unfortunately we didn’t play too well. I played Goal Shoot the whole match and Gracia played Goal Attack. The first half we did really well, scoring 8 points and only down by 5. In the second half we fell apart a bit, and ended up losing 29-10. We stopped at McDonalds on the way back, which seems to happen every time we play an away match.

Today we had inter house table tennis, and Hopeman won AGAIN. It’s been really fun playing in inter house–and it’s a bonus to win all of them.

Seamanship has been compulsory for all students at Gordonstoun since the school was founded and is one example of Kurt Hahn’s experiential education. The exchange students were all in one seamanship group.  On our first day, I admit we didn’t leave the harbor. We were broken up into two groups and talked for the majority of the afternoon about the history of seamanship, safety, our specific roles on the boat, and technical sailing terms. Most of us, including myself, had never sailed before and it was a lot to take in. My group was me, Kaleb (New Zealand), Kate (South Africa), Max (Australia), Bella (Germany), and Aidan (New Zealand). We were on Pole Star with our instructor Ed, who we quickly nicknamed Hagrid due to his hair, size and personality. One of the main goals for the first day was to master the art of tacking, which is essentially switching the side of the mast the sail is on. Pole Star is a 28 foot dip cutter sail boat with no engine and it takes about six people to sail. Our group nailed down tacking to a time of a minute-and-a-half, but learned the next day that there is more to sailing than just tacking.

Day Two was much more fun. The sailing conditions were ideal. It was a warm 8 degrees, the sun was shining, and there was a decent amount of wind. Our second day was a full day instead of a half. In the morning, after rigging up Pole Star and doing some tacking practice runs, we rowed out to sea. Once we were far enough away from the harbor and rocky shore, we set up our sail and began. The morning session was really fun because we actually got the boat sailing on our own. Ed’s goal was to give us more independence and he wanted us to rely on the members of our team instead of him. Once we got the hang of it, he started interfering less and less. After lunch we had our afternoon session. Unfortunately there was practically no wind, so we floated around until we decided that the wind wasn’t coming our way. We drifted pretty far from the harbor and had to row back.

After sailing with Ed for about half an hour on Day Three, he decided that we were ready for him to leave. I skippered once Ed left and I admit we made a bit of a fool of ourselves once our beloved instructor ditched us for the safety boat. After about 20 minutes of trying to tack, we eventually got it and started sailing at a good speed. For the rest of the morning we were sailing pretty well, but I hadn’t really appreciated the difficulty of directing a crew and the need to be a cohesive team while sailing until we were on our own. After lunch, Max had a go at being the skipper, but unfortunately we didn’t have much wind again, and it was even more difficult to get Pole Star moving.

Overall, seamanship was a challenging and fruitful experience, and I enjoyed it.

This past Saturday, the Gordonstoun netball teams hosted a tournament in the sports hall. We have 3 teams at Gordonstoun: the senior team (like Varsity at Athenian), Year 10 team (JV) which I’m on, and Year 9 team (Frosh Soph). The year 10’s did very well, and we won the entire tournament! For the first match we played a team from Inverness and won by a landslide of 51-2. I played Goal Attack and Julia (Australia) played Goal Shoot. We had a rhythm going the whole game and worked really well together. The second match, which due to our enormous lead in the first was the championship, was much closer. We ended up playing the Year 9’s, and beat them 15-7, but had to work much harder for those 15 points. I played Goal Attack the first half and Goal Shoot the second half, with the team deciding to switch it up a bit.

On Sunday we had inter house netball, and Hopeman continued to triumph and won inter house yet again! However, the matches on Sunday were much closer, plus I played against girls who I would usually play with on the Year 10 netball team. We barely beat Plewlands in the first match 8-7, which was close up until the final seconds. The next match against Windmill was also a nail biter, but we prevailed with a 13-10 score. So far, Hopeman has won the squash, volleyball, badminton, cross country, and netball inter house competitions! Inter house has been a highlight while I’ve been at Gordonstoun, plus it’s fun to help contribute to my house’s success.

International week was last week, and the intent was to celebrate the diversity and many cultures here at Gordonstoun. All of the refectory meals were from different places all over the world, including Mexican food, Italian, Chinese, Indian, and African. We also welcomed two new exchange students, Bella and Laura (both from Germany). So far at Gordonstoun, I have met people from Australia, Germany, Spain, China, Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand, Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Wales, Russia, Nigeria, Italy, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Austria, Kazakhstan, Greece, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, France, and Switzerland. The internationalism here has really been a highlight for me, as I’ve made friends from all over the world just by traveling to one place.

The inter house cross-country race was on Tuesday, which Hopeman won! We ran the 3K cross country track. Although it was a sunny day, the track was quite muddy. We ran up to the Headmaster’s house, around the lake, up Dead Dog’s Hill, and around and down the North Lawn in front of G-house.

On Wednesday it snowed all morning, but turned into dumping rain after lessons ended. After netball and dinner, the CBs (color bearers, aka prefects) put on Olympic-type games for us to play in the light of international week, instead of our usual nighttime activities on Wednesdays. The CBs also played international films throughout the week.

Thursday was Valentine’s Day, and it is quite a holiday here at Gordonstoun. Students can purchase carnations or Barber Shop songs to send to other students or faculty. The Barber Shop is a group of Year 13 boys who go around and sing to people throughout the week–it can happen at meals, during class, or even at chapel. Though I didn’t get sung to, it’s pretty funny to watch, as the victims are made to stand on a table, chair, or pew (depending on where they are on campus) as the Barber Shop sings songs to them in front of everyone.

Friday was National Dress Day, and everyone paid a pound to the Round Square club to dress up in their own clothes (all of the money being raised went to sponsoring students at Starehe and the charity Facing the World http://facingtheworld.net/). Nearly everyone participated, and it was really cool to see everyone in what they would wear at home. I tried to wear what I would usually, and wore yoga pants, an Athenian sweatshirt, Uggs, and a Giants hat. The Hopeman girls also had face paint.  I painted  two USA’s across my cheeks, and carried my American flag with me all day to be patriotic. Students and faculty got really into it; I saw a matador’s costume from Spain, flags from all over the world painted on faces, a multitude of traditional hats, dresses, and trousers, and much more. Friday night a group called Blazin’ Fiddles put on a performance, and a few Hopeman girls and I went to watch. It was authentic Scottish music, and was fun to listen to.  After the first half, people started reeling and dancing in the pews.

Saturday we had another netball match, which we lost by 10 although we played significantly better than the match in Glasgow. I’ve picked up the game pretty well by now, and it is really fun playing a team sport while on exchange, especially because I’ve gotten to know girls who I wouldn’t have otherwise. Saturday night was the Valentine’s Ball, which took place in the sixth form center in G-house.

On Sunday the weather was a toasty 11 degrees celsius (around 50 degrees Fahrenheit). It was sunny and a bit warmer for the first time, so I celebrated by wearing shorts, flip flops, and a t-shirt down to lunch. We also had inter house badminton, and continued our domination in inter house competitions and won! It was also Hopeman’s house show that night, and the Year 10’s put on a number to contribute. The common room was jam-packed with people. Overall I’ve heard that our show was really good. (We have a lot of musically talented students in Hopeman.)

The entire school was required to take part in a singing competition on February 13 and we prepared in the weeks beforehand. All three houses had a house song that they needed to sing and personalize, along with picking a song that was to be performed. My house sang Impossible by James Arthur.  Another house sang Some Nights by FUN and the last house sang I’m a Believer by Smash Mouth and Neil Diamond. On the day of the competition the entire school gathered in the chapel, where each house performed their songs and was judged by the Headmaster and an alumna. Sadly, my house came in last place (we still don’t understand why) but we had the most spirit.

The next day was Valentine’s Day. During chapel, the prefects handed out carnations that students ordered for other students. That night was the Valentine’s Day formal for the entire 6^th form (juniors and seniors).  Everyone gets all dressed up in nice dresses and suits and goes down to the library to have drinks and take pictures before going into the dining hall for dinner. In preparation for the formal, a friend and I built an arch for the students to take pictures under. For the formal, each student had an assigned seat and each table had two members of staff. During the formal, we not only ate but we gave a toast to the school and to the Queen of England, and one student gave a speech.

The day after the formal is known as half term (a week long break).  A lot of people went back home, which left the school pretty empty. For half term, I am currently staying with my great aunt who lives right outside of London. To get here I had to take a 30-minute taxi ride then a two-hour train ride down south to London.

While in London, I have explored all of the touristy areas like Oxford Street and the London Eye. I have also been able to meet up with a few students that are staying in London.  We went to Camden Market and took the tube (similar concept to BART) all around London. Later this week, I plan on going back to Oxford Street to go shopping and buy some souvenirs! I head back to school on Sunday night, with only have a few more weeks until my return to the US.

Already, I am starting to feel the sadness that will await me when I leave at the end of March. I have made tons of new friends and many friendships that I know will stay strong even after I leave.

After taking the train back from Edinburgh on Tuesday night, I went to stay at my friend Eliza’s house for the rest of half term. After getting settled at the Forsyth’s house on Wednesday morning, Eliza and I took her dogs on a walk and then rode bikes to Hopeman, one of the nearby villages. We met up with Lizzy and got ice creams (I know, kind of crazy to eat ice cream in 0 degree weather). The Forsyths live in between Hopeman and Duffus, on a farmhouse in the country. They have 2 donkeys, 8 chickens, a rooster, 2 dogs, and 2 rabbits. Eliza also has 2 brothers, Billy (16) and George (13) who also go to Gordonstoun

On Thursday, we went skiing on Cairngorm Mountain, the same spot where I did the winter skills weekend. Skiing in Scotland is a bit different than California because it is colder and windier, with shorter and narrower runs. I was a bit rusty, but it was clear skies in the morning and pretty fun. Trees don’t really grow on the Cairngorms because of the wind and poor soil, and in the afternoon when the wind picked up, I couldn’t really tell the difference between the snow I was skiing on and the sky. It was a bit disorienting, and we finished around 3 in the afternoon.

The next day we went into Inverness and just hung out until term began again.