Student Exchange: Welcomed with Open Arms!

Posted on February 11, 2014 by admin

After a total of twenty hours travelling, I finally landed in the fascinating city of Johannesburg, South Africa. After being warmly greeted by my host family at the pickup area, I knew I was in good hands and was bursting with excitement to embark on this tremendous, two-month journey!

Fortunately, I arrived a few days before school started, so I had time to settle in and explore what Johannesburg has to offer, with my host, Olivia and her family and friends. Olivia has three younger sisters: Sophie is five years old, Grace is ten years old and Leigh is thirteen years old. Each one of them has a unique personality and brings so much enjoyment to my life here in South Africa!

Sally and Brett, my host parents, have welcomed me with open arms and always make me feel at home. Also, I have made many new friends, in, and out of school, who are all so kind and help me to feel included in this new environment.

St Stithians Girls’ College is the school I am attending whilst here. It is located on a stunning campus and is filled with lively students and teachers, who come in every morning with a smile on their face. Going to a school with just girls is refreshing and is a new experience for me, which I am thoroughly enjoying.

After a few weeks here, I have fed giraffes and pet lion cubs, went to the Gold Reef City amusement park, spent a beautiful weekend in Durban, swam in the sea, visited a water park, walked elephants and much more. Evidently, my time here so far has been quite eventful!

Doing an exchange has definitely been the best decision of my life and the bonds, memories and friendships here will never leave my mind. I am ecstatic to spend another few weeks here and will cherish every moment possible! – Julia Garfinkle ’16 (LCC Exchange Student @ St Stithians Girls’ College in South Africa)

Échanges d’étudiants: Un changement incroyable!

Posted on February 6, 2014 by admin

Après être arrivée en France, j’étais choquée. Pourquoi — vous pourriez demander? Eh bien pour la simple raison qu’il n’y a absolument pas de neige! La vie à Paris est tellement différente de celle de Montréal, mais jusqu’à présent — je l’adore.

Je suis arrivée un dimanche à 9 heures du matin (heure locale de Paris) et Colombe et sa famille avait prévu énormément de choses pour moi. Nous sommes d’abord allés à leur maison dans le 13e arrondissement pour que je puisse déballer puis après nous sommes partis pour notre aventure autour de Paris. Pour commencer la journée, nous sommes allés à un très bon restaurant parisien locale pour le brunch. Après cela, nous avons marché un peu autour du centre de Paris et sommes allée sur un bateau. Dans le cas où vous n’êtes pas au courant, Paris dispose d’un grand fleuve qui sépare la ville en deux, appelé Le Seine. Le trajet en bateau était très agréable et m’a permis de voir la plupart de Paris, qui était tout simplement génial! Après cela, nous sommes retournés à la maison de Colombe pour se reposer — étant donné qu’il y a du décalage horaire.

Pour les cinq prochains jours, je suis allée à l’école avec Colombe, qui était incroyable! L’école ici est si différente de celle à Montréal, c’est donc un très grand changement pour moi. Par exemple, les gens n’ont pas le droit d’avoir un ordinateur. Aussi ils ne commencent pas à la même heure tous les jours et ils ne fissent pas à la même heure non plus. Aussi leur lunch est très court (30 minutes) puis c’est toujours a des heures différentes.

Pour conclure, j’ai eu une semaine très calme remplie de merveilleuses expériences, beaucoup de nouveaux amis français et même certains en provenance du Pérou, d’Allemagne et de Nouvelle-Zélande! Cette expérience est jusqu’ici assez bien! Cependant, ma famille me manque vraiment aussi que mes amis et LCC beaucoup! – Olivia Fata ’16 (LCC exchange student @ École alsacienne in Paris)

Student Exchange: Halfway Across the World!

Posted on February 5, 2014 by admin

I can’t believe I am actually here, it feels like just yesterday I was filling out what seemed to be the endless exchange application form and forcing my mom to make up mock interview questions. But I am now really here, halfway across the world in South Africa! I didn’t really know what to expect when I was told I was going to Africa, the first thoughts that came to mind were grass huts and lions. But I arrived to find something very different; I arrived to find civilization similar to the one I know so well but different in so many ways.

Before I get to that I should probably do a quick recap of my first destination. I met the Pugin family in Innsbruck, Austria and snowboarded in the Alps for four days with my exchange family; it was absolutely beautiful and an amazing start to my exchange. We then flew down to Johannesburg and on the way back I also got to visit BMW World in Germany, which was heaven for me, being a car fanatic. After an 11-hour flight I finally arrived and was greeted by a warm 30-degree weather. At first the heat was unbearable but within the first few days I got used to it.

Boarding school was something that I was nervous about but it has been great so far. I have made lots of friends who have been extremely helpful in showing me where to go for classes because the school schedule is more complicated than a game of cricket!

On the weekends, I have seen not the Africa that I arrived in but the Africa I dreamed of. I have visited such places as the rhino and lion park where I got to get up close with lion cubs (maybe a bit too close for comfort) as well as the Cradle of Human Kind where I got to explore the cave where the oldest human ancestor was found (an Australopithecus named “Little foot”).

The hardest part of an exchange is keeping up with school but I think I am managing pretty well. So far this has been an amazing experience and I can’t wait to see what other adventures are to come. As much as I miss my friends, family and home, what I think I miss the most is the cold but I think for now I am going to enjoy the sunny 30-degree weather! – Nicolas Brière ’16 (LCC exchange student at St. Stithians College in South Africa)

Student Exchange: An Aussie Adventure

Posted on January 29, 2014 by admin

After 33 hours of travelling, I finally arrived in Melbourne, Australia on January 20. With a few days rest, the haze of the jet lag had left and the fact that I was halfway around the world had finally sunk in. This was going to be an adventure!

My experience here has so far been one of the most amazing and most adventurous of my life. Travelling around the world alone, exploring a foreign city, seeing some Aussie animals, learning Aussie slang and trying Aussie foods has been part of this amazing past week. I’ve learned some new words, such as; barbie, jumpers, bathers, thongs and bogan, just to name a few. I also went to Healesville Sanctuary where I saw platypus, wombats, Tasmanian devils, kangaroos and koalas.

A new country comes with new accents, foods, animals and vocabulary. It’s strange because even though Melbourne is halfway around the world, there aren’t many differences from Montreal. The biggest change is the climate…I was really excited to be leaving the freezing cold but was not so sure what I was getting myself into. When I stepped outside this afternoon, I felt like I was walking into an oven at 43°C.

Another difference is that people here have clotheslines instead of driers to make use of the scorching hot sun, which can be very useful if the weather was ever accurate. This could be the most important thing I’ve learned here so far, don’t trust the weather reports. One food that I was encouraged to try was vegemite, a salty brown paste that Australian’s like to put on their toast; I thought it was quite disgusting.

Everyone here has been really welcoming and friendly, especially my host family. They have gone out of their way to make me feel at home. The people I’ve met have been really interested by the fact that it can get so cold in Canada and are perplexed at the thought of coping with such freezing weather because 20°C is cold for them.

Tomorrow is my first day of school; I am really excited to meet some more people. I am so happy to have had such an amazing opportunity of going on an exchange and I am looking forward to the weeks to come. – Aiyana Kaplan ’16

LCC’s Visiting Exchange Students Discover Montreal

Posted on January 27, 2014 by admin

On Friday, January 17, we five exchange students, Jack, Liam, Mikayla, Maria Gabriela and Atishay – who had just arrived from India the previous day, all gathered in Ms. Shadley’s office to be briefed about the day’s events. We met up with Veronica, our guide, put our coats on and headed out. The first stop was on the way to the metro, where we got to drop into Starbucks and grab something to eat for recess. After that we bought our tickets and hopped on the train. When we arrived at our stop, Lionel Groulx, it was snowing, so we went in search of a place to eat lunch, with no luck. Instead we decided to eat at the science museum where we were headed. Once we had eaten, we went into the museum. It was a great deal of fun; we joked and ran about, we got to use inventions such as the life-sized bubble maker and the upside down room. All in all the day was fun, and we learned a lot.

Unlike this museum where we could laugh and fool around a little bit, the next trip, on the following Monday, was to the Holocaust Museum. On this outing learned about the suffering and pain the Jews had to go through in WWII, how they lost everything they loved and how some of the Holocaust survivors ended up in Montreal. Along with these trips, we have seen different parts of the city and have used various means of transportation.

On Friday, January 24, we met once again in Ms. Shadley’s office in the morning, were briefed on what we were going to do for the day, and suited up for the -30 ^oC degree weather. On this day we were traveling to the planetarium, which required us to walk down to the metro, via a Second Cup coffee store. After grabbing something to eat and drink, we hopped on the metro and again travelled to the Lionel Groulx train station. This time we were traveling to the outskirts of town, so we switched train lines to get to the Viau station. When we got to the planetarium we started off by going to Continuum, an immersive film that takes you on a journey through space, experiencing the world as we know it in a different way. The film is projected onto a domed roof, and requires you to lie on the ground in order to see it. After watching the surprisingly realistic film, we went to the space and meteor exhibition, then had lunch and hopped back on the metro to head back to school.

To date, we have managed to take in a whole lot of the Canadian culture and lifestyle living with our exchange families, and experience a great deal of the city we are living in. In addition to the above field trips, we have also visited typical bagel restaurants and have learned the difference between Canadian and American bagels. We had also had a closer look at Old Montreal. From watching an immersive film about space to learning about the history behind Montreal, and the Holocaust, we have had experiences that will stay with us forever.

–Jack Tizzard (Westminster School – Adelaide, Au), Liam Leach (Carey Grammar School – Melbourne, Au), Atishay Modi (Daly College – Indore, India), Mikayla Opie (Westminster School – Adelaide, Au) and Maria Gabriela Peña (Colegio Anglo Colombiano – Bogota, Colombia)