Easy Adjustment Down Under

Posted on April 13, 2011 by admin

On my way over to Melbourne, I had a very long time to think about what lay ahead. A new family, a new school, and, essentially, a new life would be just a few of the challenges awaiting me. As daunting as it seemed, I was very excited by this new opportunity. Since then, I have done all sorts of stereotypical Aussie things: surfing, feeding kangaroos, watching the Grand Prix and going to the footy.

Barely a week into this experience, I went surfing at Ocean Grove. Our Canadian instructor was good enough to get me up a bunch of times, although I did fall quickly. The important thing is that I was up long enough for a bunch of pictures. Nathan was, of course, better than me, even though they have only been surfing a couple of times.

Australia has an abundance of unique animals. From the kangaroo to the koala, Australia is typically characterized by its strange marsupials. Last weekend, we went to a wildlife park at Ballarat, an hour and a half from Melbourne. I had the experience of patting a koala and feeding kangaroos and emus. We also saw all kinds of Australian animals, from crocodiles to Tasmanian devils to wombats.

While here in Melbourne, I had the experience of going to the Melbourne Grand Prix. I “barrack for,” or support, Lewis Hamilton, for obvious reasons. The hometown hero, Mark Webber, finished just behind Hamilton in qualifying, which is the part of the race that we went to.

Another unique part of Australia is its sports, owing to the mix of British and Aboriginal heritage. The most typical Aussie sport is probably Aussie rules football, or footy. I had the experience of going to a footy game last Sunday. The Hawks, the club we like, was up against another Melbourne-based team, the Demons. Although the Hawks were down by 30 points, they came back and ended up winning by 45. Another Australian experience associated with footy is a meat pie. They have a different style to Canadian tourtière, which tasted more like a Cornish pasty.

I’m having a great time here in Australia and I don’t want this experience to end. Unfortunately, it has to end at some point, and my time here is already half done. —Andrew Hamilton ’13

Eyes Wide Open

Posted on April 11, 2011 by admin

I have just returned from the most incredible trip to a small Peruvian village named Lunahuana. My last four days have been packed with adventure and memories that I will treasure forever. As I rafted the rapids, zip-lined across the beautiful lands and climbed the Inca ruins, I was amazed with this beautiful country.

Lunahuana is a very poor area that was hugely affected by the earthquake that hit Peru in 2007. On Friday, we packed into a small van and drove to a nearby school. Along with 15 other students, I was given the task of building a garden for the children to play in. I will never forget it; the faces of the children brightened as we walked into their tiny rundown building. As I began to work, I suddenly felt small warm hands on the back of my leg. I turned around and saw three little girls looking up at me with the sweetest expressions. For the rest of day, those girls were attached to me. I was amazed by how much affection they showed me. It was very hard to say goodbye to them.

When I arrived back at the campground and started to change into warmer clothes I heard soft Spanish whispers outside my tent. As I peered outside to see where the voices were coming from, I saw two little girls covered in dust and wearing worn-out clothes. They quickly approached and motioned for me to come sit with them on the grass. Although we could barley understand each other, I sat with them for over one hour. At one point, they kept repeating one question over and over again pointing towards my shoes. I kept telling them I didn’t understand them but they wouldn’t give up until they had the answer to their question. I finally asked another student to translate for me and found out they had been asking me how expensive my shoes were. I had never thought twice about my shoes, I’ve been lucky enough to always have something to wear on my feet. When I was their age the price of shoes would have never crossed my mind. As I thought of an answer, I looked at them; neither girl was wearing shoes. Both had filthy feet covered in cuts. Lunahuana was an unforgettable experience. –Alexia Miller ’13

Ronde #3 du Florida Winter Tour

Posted on April 4, 2011 by admin

Du 20 au 27 mars, j’étais à Ocala en Floride pour la dernière ronde du Florida Winter Tour. Encore une fois, je participais à des compétitions dans la catégorie Rotax Senior avec mon équipe de kart, PSL Karting. Cette dernière ronde, comme les deux autres auparavant, consistait de deux journées de courses et une journée de qualifications. Pour la course du samedi, je commençais la course en 21e position et pour celle de dimanche j’étais placé en 24e position (sur environ 40 pilotes). Samedi était une bonne journée. Après avoir été poussé en dehors de la piste et m’être retrouvé en dernière position au début de la course, j’ai réussi à me placer en 17e position. Sans incident au départ, et peut-être avec un peu plus de chance, j’aurais eu la possibilité de me retrouver sur le podium vu que j’avais les mêmes temps que les pilotes en tête de peloton. Mon kart était parfait pendant tout le weekend et m’a permis d’aller chercher plusieurs bons résultats au cours de cette dernière ronde. Durant ce week-end, j’étais le Québécois le plus rapide et je suis revenu au Québec très fier. Dans deux semaines j’espère continuer mes exploits à Miami pour un weekend de course qui fera partie du Pan American Rotax Challenge. –Simon Lauzé ’11

Australia Exchange: An Easy Adjustment

Posted on March 31, 2011 by admin

The last two weeks have been a blast! Just minutes after landing in Melbourne, Australia, we were off to the beach in Torquay. My first weekend was spent surfing and playing footy on the beach. Before I knew it, it was time for school. Getting used to new people and school was much easier than I had imagined. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. It was from that moment that I knew my stay in Melbourne would be unforgettable.

My first week was spent getting used to the time zone and my new lifestyle. Once I had settled in a little better my weekends started becoming more action packed. My host family has taken me to a footy match, Geelong vs. St. Kilda. It was a great match. Something I found cool about it was that the M.C.G. has a capacity of 100,000 fans, although, the turn out was only around 48,000 as it was a little colder outside than Aussie’s are used to.

By far, the most exciting thing that we’ve done was going to Healesville Sanctuary. Healesville is a zoo that focuses on Australia’s famous animals. We saw all sorts of animals such as Tasmanian devils, kangaroos, koalas, dingoes and more. However, the best part of the experience was feeding the emus and having a picnic with the family. To finish off a great day, we went out for Thai food, which was also a tasty new experience for me.

Only two weeks left of school until spring holidays. I’m really excited to be able to experience more of Australia but not excited to say goodbye to close friends. — Julie Schneiderman ’13

Asleep at the Ballot Box

Posted on March 30, 2011 by admin

The Muslim states of North Africa have undergone a fair amount of turmoil in the past two months—people clamoring for a political voice in largely one-party states. This began with significant protests in February in Tunisia. It swiftly moved to Egypt and what some are calling the “Twitter Revolution” , which led to the resignation of long-serving President Mubarak.

In most of North Africa’s kingdoms or one-party states, the Arab world is experiencing what the Economist magazine last week described on its cover as “The Awakening” —a thrust toward democratic principles and rights, and a desire, especially by young people, to have their voices and opinions heard. It’s amazing to see how powerful the yearning is in so many countries for democratic rights and the acceptance of diverse political voices. The “awakening:” it’s an interesting label for this phenomenon.

Here in Canada, we all possess the hard-won rights of a democracy. This includes the rule of law, a host of freedoms, the right to disagree with our government and even to protest peacefully when we want to take a particular position on a particular topic.

Last Saturday our federal parliament was dissolved and our political parties are now on the campaign trail from coast to coast to coast, with an election day slated for Monday, May 2— just a few weeks from now. However, with all our rights and freedoms— and an electoral process that allows us to do battle in the political arena rather than solve problems with the end of a gun— large segments of our population seem disengaged from the political process.

Too often, political issues have become someone else’s concern. In fact, when it comes to voting in Canada, voter turnout has dropped consistently since the mid 1980s, from about 75% of eligible voters participating in national elections to just above 60% in the last election. Unfortunately, the youngest sector (18-24 year-olds) seems to be the least engaged in the political process. Just above 40% bothered to go to the ballot box in Canada during the last election, close to 20% below the national average.

So blood is spilling in Arab states in north Africa over the right to participate in the political process and here in Canada we are paying less and less attention to the political process. What a sad paradox. I guess we don’t need to be concerned. Someone else will run our democracy! No need to accept the responsibilities that come with our democratic rights!

I think we should call the Economist magazine and ask who really needs an awakening, the countries of North Africa or perhaps it’s us, the sleep walking citizens of Canada. I suggest we all wake up. I asked our senior students this week to pay attention to the issues in this election campaign. They need to become familiar with our political processes as many of them will be voting next time. We will all be better off if they connect with their local communities, their Canada. —Chris Shannon, Headmaster