Abby’s Idayari: Week 4 – Canadian-Zulu Girl on Safari!

Posted on February 11, 2015 by admin

At last! The moment I had long waited for: this weekend, I experienced a zoo like no other, as I went on my first Safari!

Mabalingue Game Reserve

The Reserve is located approximately one hour from Johannesburg. However, because of heavy traffic, we ended up travelling for four hours. On the bright side, this was actually good; the game reserve had what they call “low shading.” Low shading is where the government turns off the electricity for a certain period of time. So, rather than having arrived on time and living without electricity for hours, we arrived with only thirty minutes of “low shading” left. During those thirty minutes, however, my psychotic fear of the dark haunted me. You will be happy to know that our lodge was the only one that was illuminated thanks to my five flashlights (Yes, I travel with five flashlights!)

Day 1

The first day was amazing! We woke up in our cabin when a warthog began to knock on our door. With the help of strong African coffee, my host family and I set off at the crack of dawn to the Bush. We went in our own car which was clever since, not only did we get to decide where to go, but also, I got to stand up so my head was sticking out of the car’s sun roof in order to take spectacular photos. That day, I saw several impalas, zebras, monkeys, giraffes, birds and even poisonous trees. I felt as if I was living amongst the animals. At one point, we saw a group of ostriches, which were extremely rude; they refused to move out of the middle of road! Suddenly, the “daddy” ostrich came out of nowhere. It was enormous! He reminded us that they own the roads and to be patient around them.

Day 2

The next day was a blazing 40 degrees Celsius; we surely thought that the animals would have all died. Luckily, they didn’t! With my Canon camera and my sunblock, we went with a tour guide to look for “the Big Five”. The tour guide took us to an area with lions. There, I got to see a baby cub that played with us, a female lion who exercised in front of us and, finally, a male lion who slept the entire time (typical males!) It was truly fantastic! After the tour, we decided to look for the “Big Five” one last time; this was a bad idea. Not only did I burn (for the hundredth time), but we also found ourselves on a 4×4 road with several rain-holes. Our car, a family-sized-Honda-like-car, in the end, was completely drenched in mud and went berserk; it would not stop beeping, telling us that something (a branch) was too close. The animals were clearly trying to punish us for having spotted them!

Zulu Word of the Week: “Izilwanes” means animals

Community Service

This week, I was invited to visit a school in downtown Johannesburg. I was told I would help teach a class with grade two children. My little sister, Gabby, is in grade two, so I thought I knew at what level the children would be at. This was a moving, eye-opening experience. The school was very small, with less than 100 students, who were mostly orphans. I was astonished when I discovered that they could barely do basic adding and subtracting. This experience made me realize that not everyone is as fortunate as we are at LCC. In fact, some of the children had to share their only pen!

I cannot believe that I have been here for more than a month. I am so grateful for all my experiences and adventures. Next up…LeSedi! – Abby Shine ’17, Exchange Student at St Stithians Girls’ College

Échange en Afrique du Sud – Journal #5: Je découvre Le Cap!

Posted on February 11, 2015 by admin

Le vendredi dernier, je suis arrivé au Cap dans le sud- ouest de l’Afrique du Sud. J’ai remarqué immédiatement que la ville était bien plus propre et verdoyante que Joburg.

Quelques heures après avoir débarqué de l’avion, je suis allé visiter les manchots africains au parc national Boulders. J’y ai eu la chance de nager parmi eux dans l’eau froide de l’océan indien (un tableau indiquait que l’eau avait une température de 20°C, mais on dirait plutôt que c’était 20° Kelvin!).

Le lendemain matin, on est allé au point du Cap de Bonne Espérance, qui est officiellement l’extrémité sud-ouest du continent africain (l’extrémité sud est officiellement le Cap Agulhas, 400 km du Cap) et où les océans Indien et Atlantique se rencontrent. La vue était incroyable!!

Le dimanche, on a escaladé la montagne de la Table au centre de la ville en gondole. Au sommet, il était très venteux et nuageux, mais on a quand même eu la chance de percevoir la ville d’une altitude de 1067 m au-dessus de la mer, qui n’était que quelques kilomètres au vol d’oiseau d’où on regardait. Comme la montagne est très plate, on a pu faire la randonnée pendant plusieurs heures sans tout voir.

Hier, lundi, on est allé visiter Robben Island, ce qui est l’équivalent d’Alcatraz en Afrique. Par exemple, l’île est beaucoup plus large et est composée de quatre prisons différentes, comme des prisons de haute sécurité pour les criminels et une prison de moyenne sécurité pour les leaders des partys africains, entre autres, Nelson Mandela. En fait, il y a un village sur l’île où habitait tout le personnel du site! Un ancien cellulaire nous a donné une visite guidée des plusieurs parties du pénitencier. Les cellules elles-mêmes étaient inhumainement petites et les captifs étaient obligés de dormir sur un mince morceau de tapis d’un mètre de long par un demi-mètre de large! De plus, les repas variaient selon la race du détenu: les Indiens et les colorés mangeait presque deux fois de plus que les noirs ! C’était affreux! J’ai aussi vu l’ancienne cellule de Nelson Mandela. Après notre visite, nous sommes allés explorer un charmant village au bord d’eau appelé le Waterfront composé de plusieurs boutiques et restaurants. J’y ai mangé d’impala et de crocodile!

Finalement, aujourd’hui, nous sommes allés visiter une vinifère appelée Groot Constantia pour gouter quelques vins de la région. Nous sommes ensuite retournés au Waterfront pour visiter encore une fois les magasins.

En général, ma visite au Cap était superbe. La ville avenante est bien magnifique et je suis hâte d’avoir eu la chance de la visiter. – Adam Vandenbussche ’17, Exchange Student at St Stithians College

Australian Exchange: So Many Amazing Experiences!

Posted on February 11, 2015 by admin

After spending two weeks at school and three weeks in Australia I can say that time flies when you’re having fun! My schedule has been so busy that I haven’t realized how fast my trip is going by.

Last Friday, Georgie and I attended Georgie’s friend’s birthday party. The party was 80’s prom-themed, and I thought it was going to be one of the hardest things to shop for. After going to the second thrift shop of the day I found a white knee length dress with poufy shoulders. I fell in love. I bought it immediately and was prepared for this party. When the day finally arrived I made my hair crazy, helped Georgie with her make-up and headed over to Isabelle’s house for the party. We danced to awesome 80’s songs, ate so much Australian food and took funny photos in the photo booth. It was an awesome night and I got to bond with some really cool people, along with testing out my failing Australian accent.

On Saturday, the pressure and stress was rising in Sydney as their favourite Socceroos’ were going to take the field to play against Korea Republic for the Asian World Cup. At about 5:30 pm Georgie, Lynn, David and I, got on the bus to the soccer stadium. All of us were wearing black because it was better than wearing gold and green. We arrived and could feel the anticipation flowing in and outside of the stadium. The game started at 8:00 pm sharp and I sat there eating my hotdog, fries and Krispy Kreme donuts. With the Montreal Canadians on my mind, I missed a potential goal by Australia. Huge mistake. Someone spilled beer on my hair and Georgie got it all over her chair. I was going to be alert and not be sitting down the next time we almost scored! Australia went on to win after extra time.

On Monday, I tried something I never had before at school. Swimming class. Thinking I was a skilled enough swimmer, I joined Georgie and her friends in the intermediate group. After my first lap I was panting and had to go over to beginner class, where I felt more at ease. I made the right decision. I was taught how to do stokes properly and was encouraged to keep going. It was definitely a cool experience, even though my arms were burning afterwards.

On Thursday, we had a school excursion to Cronulla Beach. We learned so much about coastal management, sand dunes, and the local environment. It was an interesting experience filled with lots of laughter, fun and learning. We had to do some small tasks like measuring wind speed, writing about interesting plants that we saw, measuring distances between different parts of the beach and more. The majority of the grade had sunburns after a cloudy day in the sun, but I wore my LCC athletics hat and was protected. It was really cool being around people who were interested in the topic and who were eager to learn about certain aspects of Australian geography. Overall, it was a great day.

After a humid day of school on Friday, Georgie, her friends and I went out to Lipari’s pizza in Hunter’s Hill for a nice dinner. We enjoyed the food, each other’s company and best of all, a large nutella pizza with ice cream and strawberries on top. We spent a good portion of the night taking photos to commemorate the night. It was a fabulous night filled with lots of funny stories shared and made.

On Saturday, we had an early departure time from the Smith’s house. We stopped on the way to the marina to get coffee and cinnamon bread, which I was very happy about. We took a short drive to the Parramatta River, in Sydney where I met Anne and Geoff, close family friends of the Smiths. We spent the day on their boat with an enjoyable temperature outside. I enjoyed the scenic views that the secluded part of the river had to offer and bathed in the sun while reading a great book. Anne and Geoff had already visited Montreal and Quebec City before, so we talked about well known places, the people and the fact that they had never had poutine before. I was shocked, and went on to rave about them and to describe the best poutine joints around. We also took the time to swim and eat plenty of good food. An awesome day was had where I met some super cool people, got tanned and tried caramello koalas.

One of the most interesting parts of the trip was something I had only found out about 3 months after I booked my plane tickets. The whole grade 10 group is going to Thailand on February 15 for 2 weeks! I’m really excited because I know it will be an eye opening and amazing experience. For one week, we will spend our time working on a project in a village about an hour outside of Chang Mai, and the other week is spent at a boarding type building doing tourist activities. Its seemed to have approached very quickly and Georgie and I, are starting to pack very soon. I will be away from Internet and without my laptop so I will not be able to connect to too much. I will, however, write in my personal journal so I can remember some of the things I will do and see. Although my exchange time is winding down, I know there is still so much to experience yet. I am so grateful to my exchange family to have opened up their home for me to stay. They have been ever so kind and have introduced me to so many new things that have made my trip amazing. I’m really lucky.

A question I constantly get asked by family and friend’s back home is: What’s your favourite part of the trip? Without a pause I always reply: all of it! – Rachelle Collins ’17: Exchange Student at the MLC School, Australia

Student Exchange Australia: M&M Differences

Posted on February 5, 2015 by admin

In the last two weeks, my schedule has been jam-packed with activity in Melbourne. I have explored a lot of the city. I have also realized Australia is a very different country from Canada, and I really enjoy telling my exchange family about the differences. Melbourne is a sporting capital, and I am very lucky my exchange family, the Gikovskis, is eager to show me around town. And bonus! They know where to get the best desserts!

On Saturday, January 24, we went to the Australian Open: one of the four Grand Slams. I had never watched a tennis match before that day; I didn’t even know the rules! I did not understand why people would pay money to sit outside and get baked in the sun to watch people hit a ball back and forth. Nevertheless the Gikovskis were very enthusiastic about bringing me and watching the sport. The first match, which was a men’s legends double, was quite funny to watch. The players joked around and the whole stadium would burst into laughter. After that, it was a women’s singles game, which was an absolute nail-biter! I loved being at the Australian Open, It was such a fun environment. Everyone’s excited, full of energy and very into the sport. It’s just not the same as watching it on TV. It’s also not an environment I would find in Montreal, I don’t think even a Habs game could compare to this.

Another sport Australians hype up is cricket, which is kind of like baseball. I was happy to go to Erica and her brother, Daniel’s game last Friday. I didn’t know much about cricket, except for what I had picked up during a game I played with the Gikovskis on Australia Day. I thought the game was relatively easy. During Erica and Daniel’s game, kids were completely smashing the ball right off the field. It only occurred to me then that the Gikovskis were going easy on me. Anyway, in cricket, the ball is bowled, not pitched. The ball, which is quite heavy, bounces once before the player hits it. It is impossible to strike out. As a matter of fact, as long as the player hits the ball, it’s really hard to get out. Also, the same player bats until they get out, so I felt like the game lasted forever especially since Erica and Daniel only play for a fraction of the time and I didn’t know any of the other kids. The game ended up finishing three hours later (three hours I’ll never get back!) Nevertheless, I still enjoyed watching and Erica’s team win! Australians really love the sport. On Australia Day, I saw many families playing cricket by the beach and in the parks. I think it’s pretty awesome the entire family gets excited about the sport.

Since I have arrived, I have eaten many, many delicious food. The day I was picked up from the airport, we went directly to a bakery called Brunetti’s. There was so much variety it was mouthwatering. Everything looked beautiful. They were very creatively decorated desserts. I wish I could have tried everything.

On January 25, Erica invited many of her friends over so I could meet them before school started. I had told the Gikovskis about my obsession with Frozen, so they came up with the idea of making an Olaf chocolate ripple cake! It turns out, making chocolate ripple cake doesn’t actually require any baking. We bought chocolate ripple biscuits from the super market, and covered them in whipped cream. Then, we shaped the cake into Olaf and decorated it! I’m pretty sure it’s an Australian thing, because in America, we actually bake!

On January 26, which is Australia Day, we went for a picnic and I ate lots and lots of Lamingtons, a signature Australian dessert that consists of sponge cake, layers of chocolate sauce and a coat of shredded coconut. It is delicious!

I have also noticed quite a few fast food restaurants here. Burger King is known as “Hungry Jack’s”. Australian’s also nickname McDonald’s “Mackers”, which I find very strange. Despite living with an entire family of Australians, I have not picked up on the Aussie slang or terms. However, the Gikovskis are starting to use American terminology!

I have had so much fun in the past week experiencing new things! I think there are quite a few Montreal & Melbourne differences! Next up, LCC or Ivanhoe Grammar School? Which one is better? Find out, next time! – Lucia Huang ’17, Exchange Student at Ivanhoe Grammar School, Australia

The Cuban Shuffle

Posted on February 4, 2015 by admin

In a few weeks an LCC delegation of 60 student-musicians and teachers will visit Cuba to perform as a band and experience some of the Latin rhythms that make that island famous. Many LCC families have visited Cuba before, but likely as part of a winter vacation package where the real Cuba does not come clearly into view.

To many people’s surprise, On December 17^th, American President Obama announced that the USA and Cuba would begin to resume diplomatic relations after more than 50 years of an American boycott that cut off all diplomatic and economic relations. This was implemented following the Cuban Communist revolution led by Fidel Castro in 1959.

The Castro brothers – Fidel & Raul – have been the only Cuban presidents during more than 50 years of one-party rule, outlasting 10 American presidents. The long-standing US trade embargo is still in place and Cuba has suffered especially since special economic support from the formerly-communist Soviet Union disappeared when that country collapsed and unraveled in the early 1990’s. Today the average Cuban’s monthly salary is still only $20 – virtual slave wages by Canadian standards.

Winding down the American embargo will be difficult after so many years of entrenchment. However, it is the first step in fundamentally changing the relationship between the two countries which geographically, are close neighbours, and which used to be very tightly intertwined.

But memories are long and six-thousand Americans have filed for monetary compensation following loss of assets due to Cuba’s nationalization of all private companies back in the early 1960’s. The Cubans themselves have also filed for monetary compensation from the American government for allegedly strangling economic growth in Cuba over more than two generations. And they want cash to make up for it. So we should be prepared to see more heated discussions before relations are truly smoothed over. In the meantime, the Castro regime remains firmly in power and there is no indication that Cuba’s form of national state-controlled Communism is going to disappear.

Until December, the Obama deal was a well-kept secret, and it is actually seen by some Cuban-Americans and conservative Republican party “hawks” as a betrayal of US principles – that the government should simply never negotiate with a communist regime that disallows private businesses or the fundamental right of free speech.

Cuban-American senator Ted Cruz wrote that the move “may well strengthen the Castros and strengthen a new generation of their oppressors in power unless USA’s Congress steps in to stop it”. His Republican colleague from Florida, Senator Mark Rubio, is also sour on the deal. Considered a possible presidential candidate for the 2016 election, he recently stated that the “policy shift is based on an illusion – the White House has conceded everything and gained little”.

President Obama has described the relationship between the nations as one of “family and foe” that needed a new script. Obama takes the view that more than 50 years of boycott have not really changed much, other than entrenching mutual isolation, so he intends to be proactive. Getting this initial deal was hard enough, requiring a year of secret talks and special assistance from Pope Francis. Intentions are to see restrictions loosened on trade, travel and diplomacy and American Foreign Secretary John Kerry, will try to reestablish an American embassy in Havana. Kerry will also review and hopefully ease Cuba’s status in America as a state-sponsor of terrorism, as it is currently categorized along with countries in the so-called “axis of evil”, like North Korea, Iran, and Syria.

Cuban Americans will be allowed to send more cash home to family. Already at $2 billion a year, that flow of funds is critical to the Cuban economy – and the Cuban emigrés will soon find it easier to visit the island nation just 145 KMs off the Florida coast.

Rapprochement by the USA has been opposed for decades, especially given the fear of upsetting the Cuban-American voting bloc in Florida. However, polls in 2014 showed that 68% are now interested in a softer approach and that grows to a notable 88% for those Cuban-Americans under 30-years old.

Initial responses indicate that the shift should improve US standing in the broader Latin America region. In December in Havana, bells tolled in public squares and people were visibly celebrating. Although there are lots of cool old Chevy’s on Havana’s streets from the 1940’s and 50’s, this move is finally about looking to the future.

So, we need to remember that Cuba is not just a winter escape. Its people may be on the doorstep of significant social and economic change. I wish our LCC musicians well as they prepare for their trip to Cuba. I hope that they will return and provide us with some interesting insights into how the Cubans view the proposed easing of tensions with the United States and what they hope for in the near future. The Cuban shuffle –change is indeed in the air! – Christopher Shannon, Headmaster