A week ago I arrived in Melbourne, Australia to commence my experience as an exchange student at Ballarat Grammar School.

When I first arrived, I met with my family and travelled to my new home, 30 minutes away to a small town where they lived. They greeted me with open arms and helped me adjust to the 16 hour time difference. The family I am staying with has four girls; a nine-year-old named Alice, a twelve-year-old named Grace, a fifteen-year-old named Georgia (with whom I am staying) and a seventeen-year-old named Lucy.

The first couple of days in Australia were difficult because of the time difference, but I quickly adjusted before school started. On Monday, I went to Georgia’s school which is 1 hour away from her house. We took a bus to get there and arrived shortly to the beautiful school. I took all of Georgia’s classes the past school week and enjoyed each of them. She is a year older than me, but we are learning around the same things in math and science. I am doing some of her work but focusing on mine from home.

Every day after school we take the bus home to arrive around 4:30 pm. The past school week has been good so far and I’ve learned many new things. Although I am living around the world from my home, everything is roughly the same here. The biggest differences I have noticed are the accents/sayings, the land (very rural) and the culture. It is very refreshing to experience a new environment full of new people.

This weekend, the family I am staying with and I went to Robinvale for a water ski race. They all professionally water ski in different categories and did very well this weekend (second and third placements). We camped close to the river in tents and it was my first time camping. It was a different experience but I liked it very much. I watched Georgia ski and she was very good. We went out for dinner Sunday night and drove home today.

My first week in Australia has been very good and I am excited to continue living here for the next five weeks. –Arianna Galbraith