My first 6 days in Australia have been a completely different experience than anything I could have expected. Upon arriving here in Melbourne, Australia, after a full 24 hours of traveling, I’ve been flooded with a new lifestyle that cannot be replicated anywhere in North America, let alone Montreal!

My first night here was when I saw my first kangaroo. We were driving in the car around the countryside area of Melbourne when within 5 minutes we saw a whole group of kangaroos. There were at least 20 of them, and I was able to take some great photos, but seeing them jump around on the field was amazing.

Since the day after I arrived here, I’ve been attending Ivanhoe Grammar School‘s Plenty Campus, one of two campuses that are run by the school. Here, I’ve taken classes similar to those at LCC but the atmosphere is completely different. The school has multiple small buildings around a central courtyard where all the lockers are. It’s very different than LCC’s campus which can all be accessed indoors. The people at Ivanhoe, and also everywhere else I go, are very nice which adds to the amazing feel of Australia.

The weather has been great, but because it’s spring here, the nights are cold. Today, however, is the hottest day since last summer, reaching almost 30 degrees!

In my first six days, I already feel like I’ve experienced enough to last the next five weeks, but I know that there is much more to come. In a week, Ivanhoe takes a two week spring break and I plan on going camping with the wonderful family that I’m staying with. I’ll also explore the city of Melbourne and maybe go to the beach once or twice in those two weeks.

I’m very excited for what Australia has to offer and hope to see and experience as much as I can over the rest of my exchange period. I’d like to thank Ms. Shadley and everyone at Round Square and Ivanhoe for making this exchange happen!—Jeffrey Morris ’13