Ever since I was in elementary school, I have always wanted to go to Australia because that’s where Bindi (the crocodile hunter’s daughter) was from and I thought she was the coolest person on the planet.  When I heard about student exchanges, and the opportunity of going to Australia for two months, I knew that was exactly what I wanted to do.

After having my exchange, Nicola Cohen, stay at our house for two months and hearing about how beautiful Australia is and all of the amazing things that she does, I was even more excited to embark on this extraordinary journey.  On January 20, about 15 minutes after I finished packing my bags, I said goodbye to my beautiful family and hello to Annie Wiseman who was waiting for me at the airport.  We checked our bags, got on the plane, and played Sims for the next 22 hours.

Once we arrived at the Sydney airport, we were greeted by Annie, Nicola’s mom, who had just returned from New Zealand.  She then brought us to where we would split ways; Annie Wiseman would go to Melbourne, and I would head off to Perth with Nicola’s mom.  We said our goodbyes and off we went.  After another flight, and a two-hour car drive from Perth, I arrived in the beautiful small town of Busselton, where I immediately ran out of the car and into Nicola’s arms and hugged my Australian sister for 10 minutes!  I was so happy to see her again and was shocked to see how different she looked with a tan.  That night I had an immediate culture shock, eating a kangaroo burger for dinner.  It surprisingly tasted just like a normal hamburger but with a little more flavour and a lot more of an aftertaste.

Anyone who knows anything about me would know that I am not the most athletic person, so waking up the next morning and biking 30 minutes to Nicola’s friend Georgia’s house, and then to the Busselton Jetty. It was definitely quite tiring for me, yet surprisingly so much fun. I got to the Jetty extremely excited to jump into the beautiful, clear, teal-blue water, however, just as I was about to jump I chickened out.  I spent the rest of the day swimming in the ocean and trying to get enough courage to jump off of the Jetty, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Everyday here has been an adventure and I have done so many amazing things such as going on a camping trip, swimming with stingrays and dolphins, trying almost every Australian food imaginable, and finally jumping off of the Jetty!

I have had the privilege to spend my birthday, and Australia day here and even though I miss my family tremendously, I feel so lucky to be here and I’m having a wonderful time here.

Although I have only been here for three weeks, I genuinely feel like I have been here for much longer than that.  I have already made so many memories that I know I’ll never forget and friends that I never want to lose contact with.  It’s crazy how such a small amount of time can affect your life so much. – Isabelle Shtern ’17, Exchange Student at Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School

Australia is known for many animals: koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, platypuses, etc. Melbourne is also known for weather that can’t make up its mind. Lucky for me, I got to experience both of these in one day.

Last weekend, on the drive to Werribee Open Range Zoo, the weather decided to start pouring rain. I was really worried my trip to the zoo would be a disappointment. A few minutes later, the clouds cleared out and the sun blazed through. When I stepped out of the car, it felt like I had walked into an oven. The temperature had gone from 20°C to 35°C within half an hour! I wondered how all the animals were coping with this weather (especially with their fur coats!).

The first thing we did at the zoo was take a safari tour. The bus took us on a delightful trip to see the wildlife. While I was sweating to death, the animals were running around, full of energy, not bothered by the extreme heat at all. They all have their own methods of keeping cool! The rhinos rolled in mud, the camels retained moisture to keep their body temperature low, and others just hid in the shade. The tour guide even mentioned how some animals urinated on themselves to cool down…perfect timing considering we passed by a waterbuck right when it was “taking a wee” as Australians like to say. I also saw an ostrich on the tour. For him, being in the safari was essentially the same thing as being sent to the corner as a child. By the end of the day, I had seen lots and lots of animals. My favourites were the lions (even though they were sleeping the whole time), the giraffes that came right up to the safari bus, the meerkats and the ostrich. Since Werribee is an African themed zoo, I’m going to another zoo this weekend to see more native Australia animals.

After my first week of school, my family took me to see the Jean-Paul Gaultier exhibition. After squeezing through hundreds of people, I finally got to see the outfits this famous designer had created. They were truly amazing. The dresses were detailed down to the last stitch. One dress looked like it had a leopard pelt wrapped around it, and I was absolutely furious Gaultier would use the skin of an endangered animal. Turns out, Gaultier had hand-sewn millions of beads onto the dress to create a realistic looking leopard in order to make a statement about supporting the disappearing species. No wonder everyone was pushing people out of the way!

I have really enjoyed all my experiences and adventures. I have the Gikovskis to thank for all the fun I’ve had! Next up, One Direction and the Eureka Tower! – Lucia Huang ’17, Exchange Student at Ivanhoe Grammar School, Australia