For the last few weeks, I have been attending Carey Baptist Grammar School. Carey is a co-ed private school located in the suburb of Kew. The school runs through prep (k) to grade 12 and there are about 200 students in each grade. The girls’ summer uniform is a yellow dress.

School here isn’t much different from LCC, they use laptops and have projector screens but one big difference is that our lockers and corridors are outside and the campus is huge. It took me over a week to find my way around because there are so many buildings but everyone was really nice by helping me find my classes. Something I love about Carey is that they have heaps of electives from total sports to CSI; it’s easy to find a class that suits your interests.

Melbourne is about the size of our downtown with the Yarra River running straight through it. The city center is where all of the big buildings and shops are located, with many suburbs surrounding the city.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve gone to loads of shops and had the wonderful opportunity to try pizza in a cone made out of dough! I’ve also visited a beautiful beach called Inverloch, which is about an hour away from the suburb I’m staying in called Canterbury. I have visited the Queen Victoria Market, the Eureka sky deck and the relaxing hot springs.

Time has flown by, tomorrow is Friday when yesterday only felt like Sunday. I’m having an amazing time and making tons of new friends and I can’t imagine ever leaving this place. I’m super excited to continue exploring the different experiences Melbourne has to offer in my last few weeks because these are memories that will last a lifetime. – Aiyana Kaplan ’16