Australia: An Unforgettable Experience

Posted on March 16, 2015 by admin

The idea of going somewhere you have never been before and being surrounded by people you have never met either is quite scary. I never thought that I would have been able to do that and let alone apply for it myself. I am so happy that I got over that fear of going on exchange and I had the experience of a lifetime.

After 20 hours of flying, I finally arrived at the Melbourne airport. I was greeted by a tall family holding signs with my name written on them. It was so welcoming and I felt comfortable with the family immediately. After an hour and a half car ride to a small town called Ballarat, I arrived at their home. After two hours of being home, I experienced culture shock. Not only were there kangaroos in the wild, only a ten minute walk from Lisie’s house, but two donkeys, two alpacas, three chickens, a dog and a cat on their property!

In Ballarat, we went to the Wildlife Park. All animals are in paddocks except for the kangaroos, alpacas and emus that walked around the park freely. It was so cool to be able to feed the kangaroos and pet them. I even saw a joey come out of the pocket of his mother. It was adorable! We also went horseback riding. That is something that I have never done before and it was awesome!

Throughout my time in Australia, I went on three big trips. I went to Apollo Bay, Phillip Island and Melbourne.

On the way to Apollo Bay, we drove on a road called the Great Ocean Road. Soldiers who returned from war between 1919 and 1932 built it. Along the road are the names of soldiers who passed away during World War 1 and it is the largest war memorial in the world. It goes along the ocean and it is absolutely beautiful!

The next morning, we headed off to a zip-line course through trees called Otway Fly. It was a thrilling experience that showed me that my time in Australia was going to be full of adventure. The next day was spent on the beach, boogie boarding in the ocean and playing soccer in the sand.

On Phillip Island, we went boogie boarding down a sand hill into the ocean. It was so enjoyable and it reminded me of tobogganing in the winter. Except for the fact that we were in bathing suits and that it was not -5 C weather. For dinner, we sat by the ocean eating fish and chips. I felt like a true Aussie!

In Melbourne, we visited a couple of chocolate shops and ate lunch on a tramcar that went around the city of Melbourne. We also went to a building call the Eureka Sky Deck. It is the tallest residential building in the Southern Hemisphere. We did something called the edge where you sat in a clear box, which pulled three metres out from the building 300 metres above the ground. That night, Lisie and I also went to go to see a concert. It was amazing! The next morning, we went swimming with dolphins and seals. It was so cool to see them in their natural habitat in the ocean.

Even though I was only there for seven weeks, I feel like I have made friends and memories at Ballarat Grammar which will last a lifetime. I will never forget the friends that I have made and it makes me so sad to realize that I will not see those people for a while. It is insane how close you can become with people in such a short time. I cannot wait to spend more time with my exchange, Lisie, in Montreal! – Annie Wiseman ’17, Exchange Student at Ballarat Grammar

Ma première semaine à Paris fut spectaculaire!

Posted on March 16, 2015 by admin

Quand je suis arrivé à Paris, j’étais complètement bouleversé. J’eus le temps de dire au revoir à ma famille et à mes amis, puis brutalement, je fus libéré comme dans une jungle. Malgré un début de séjour compliqué à Paris, à cause d’une gastro toute la première nuit, j’étais prêt à commencer mon voyage avec un bon état d’esprit.

Habituellement, un correspondant ne connaît pas son nouvel environnement. Il ne possède aucune idée de l’école, de l’accueil qui lui sera réservé, et sans certitude de se faire des amis. Mon cas fut différent de celui-ci et j’en suis très chanceux. En effet, la première partie de l’échange se déroula à Montréal : j’accueillais mon correspondant français, Tangui. Notre relation s’améliora de jour en jour et nul doute que Tangui fait désormais parti de mes meilleurs amis. Il m’a donc été possible de nouer de fantastiques liens d’amitié et de ne pas être apeuré par la rentrée scolaire à Paris.

Par conséquent, mon arrivée à l’École alsacienne fut plus facile et je pus tirer de ma première semaine de meilleurs bénéfices. Tangui joua un rôle majeur dans mon intégration et dans mon adaptation à ce nouveau lieu. Le premier jour, Tangui m’attendait devant l’école avec plusieurs de ses amis. Très gentils, ils me posèrent de nombreuses questions et tout de suite je me sentis à l’aise. La sonnerie retentit alors, synonyme de début des cours. La première semaine fut superbe: les enseignants ont été bienveillants, les étudiants chaleureux et surtout la météo plus clémente (il fait plus chaud qu’à Montréal!). Si ça continue ainsi, je n’aurais jamais envie de partir!

Pour conclure, ma première semaine à Paris fut spectaculaire. La famille qui m’accueille dans sa maison est vraiment fantastique et aimable. Même si j’eus d’abord une expérience difficile, mon voyage se déroule de mieux en mieux et m’a déjà beaucoup appris. Ce séjour m’a complètement changé en tant qu’humain, et ça ne fait qu’une semaine que je suis ici! – Ryan Garber ’17, Exchange Student at École alsacienne

Student Exchange: Week 1 – My Thai School Experience

Posted on March 3, 2015 by admin

Friday, February 20 was my date of departure from Montreal to Pattaya, Thailand. I could hardly contain my excitement during dinner with my family earlier that night. I was driving my mother crazy by talking and acting like I had drank ten cups of coffee! I am still consumed by my passion for planes, although a bit less than when I was younger; when I wanted to quit school to become a pilot to fly all over the world, so the thought of flying alone on an airplane was very exciting.

After a long twelve-hour flight to Doha, a three-hour layover, a six-hour flight to Bangkok, and an hour and a half drive to Pattaya, I arrived to an empty school, with an empty stomach. After a snack, the head of boarding, Mr. James Grey, told me that the boarders were still on break, and they were going to come back in a couple of hours, before supper (6 pm). After learning that, I fell asleep, as it was 4:00 am in Montreal, and I hadn’t slept in a day.

I woke up to all the boarders and my roommate Osman returning. The Regent’s School Pattaya consists of 100 boarders (boys and girls from year 1 to year 12 (kindergarten to grade 11 in Canada)), and 900 non-boarders.

At dinner (and breakfast and lunch), we had the choice of Thai food or Western food. Of course I opted for the Thai food because I wanted a taste of what I spent a day travelling for.

My year (year 10, which is grade 9) consists of mostly Russian, Thai and British kids. I was the only Canadian in a grade of 100 kids. Everyone greeted me and treated me well on my first day, and if I got lost, there was always someone to show me around. They are also one year ahead of us, because next year (our grade 10 and their year 11) we get to choose our courses, and we have career fair. They do it this year.

The rest of the school days were uneventful as my schedule consisted of:

6:45 am – Wake up and complain to Osman that it’s too early to wake up!
7:20 am – Eat breakfast
8:20 am – School
3:30 pm – Go back to boarding
5:00 pm to 6:00 pm – Homework
6:00 pm – Dinner
10:00 pm – Lights out and complain to Osman that it’s too early to go to bed!

On Friday nights, the boarders go to Central – a big six-floor mall in downtown Pattaya. It is so large I would have gotten lost if I had been by myself!

On Saturday we got to sleep in until 9 am (yay!), then we went for a fifteen-kilometer bike ride to Horseshoe point, and went swimming there.

On Sunday we got to sleep in until whenever we wanted to (yay!), so I slept in until noon. Sunday is a relax day, so I spent all day with my friends having fun.

Some facts that you should know before coming here:

Soccer is football
Supper is dinner
We are allowed phones in class
Spicy for Thai people is killer spicy for normal people
Thai people drive on the wrong side of the road – or do we drive on the wrong side…
There are a lot of motorcycles
Water is non-potable, so you must buy water bottles which are very cheap: 10 baht ($ 0.39)

So far, Thailand has more than lived up to what I expected it to be in terms of people, food and how can I forget about the temperature? It is always around 30˚C – 35˚C, but it feels much warmer with the humidity and in the sun. I bet everyone in Montreal is jealous. Thailand is amazing and I can’t wait until this Saturday, when we are going paintballing! – Eli Samuel ’17, Exchange Student at Regents International School Pattaya

Student Exchange Australia: G’bye Australia

Posted on February 24, 2015 by admin

The last two weeks in Melbourne have been absolutely wonderful. Time flies when you’re having a good time! I still can’t believe I’m heading back to Canada tomorrow. As much as I want to see my friends and family back in Montreal, I don’t want to leave what has become my second home yet. I have developed a lifelong connection with my exchange, Erica, and her family, the Gikovskis. Luckily, I have made many memories here that I will cherish forever.

Contrary to being “Down Under”, as Australia is known, last weekend I went to the Eureka Skydeck, the Southern Hemisphere’s highest viewing tower. It was absolutely stunning looking over the city 300m in the air. An elevator transported us from the ground, to the 88^th floor of the tower within 45 seconds! My ears got blocked so I ended up shouting with my already-very-loud voice at Erica and her dad. (It probably didn’t help that I was already half deaf from going to a One Direction concert the night before. It’s fascinating how loud teenage girls can scream…) I had to yawn about ten times before my ears finally popped! The view was gorgeous: the blue river running through the city, the open green land where kangaroos lived, the mountains in the horizon, and even the tennis courts where I watched the Australian Open a few weeks ago. It’s not something I could see when I’m standing on flat ground. After getting a 360° view of Melbourne and all its landmarks, I went on the Edge. Basically it’s a glass cube that projects three meters out of the building with me standing in it. It actually wasn’t all that scary! It was fun to see miniature people and tiny little cars running around through the glass floor while I was on top of the world!

My last weekend here was full of fun (at least for me!). I had told my family a few weeks ago I wanted to see something historic in Melbourne. Yes, it seems really weird and nerdy and the Gikovskis looked at me like I was from space and not Canada. But I don’t feel like I have really gotten to know a city if I haven’t seen it’s history. This weekend, Erica’s mom, Anna, took me to the Melbourne Museum. Despite Daniel’s (Erica’s little brother) protests, we dragged him along. We saw lots of dinosaur bones, and other animal skeletons. The history part was interesting as well. It’s amazing how much Montreal and Melbourne have in common. I really enjoyed my trip to the museum!

On Sunday, we took another trip to the zoo. This time, we went to Healesville Sanctuary, a zoo featuring Australian animals. My first stop was the koalas, which were absolutely adorable! They pawed at tree branches and took their time chewing the leaves before proceeding to take a nap. Australia has many species of exotic birds (unlike the seagulls and the pigeons that poop everywhere in Montreal…). I got to see these upfront and personal at the Spirits of the Sky Show. One bird swooped so close to my ear, I thought it would clip some of it off! I also saw emus, kangaroos, platypus, dingos and many different types of venomous snakes. I heard someone say to their child, “We are really lucky to live in Australia. We have the top ten most venomous snakes in the world!” I don’t know if she was being sarcastic… My favourite animal I saw at Healesville was the Tasmanian devil. It was like a huge, chubby black mouse that jiggled when it ran. It was really cute! It became less adorable when I saw it eat its dinner: a dead wombat. Is it a coincidence I also saw wombats that were alive at the zoo a few hours before?

I can’t believe I’m leaving Australia tomorrow morning. Six weeks have zipped right by me. I’m very sad to be packing my bags, I will not only miss Melbourne, but I will sincerely miss the Gikovskis who have been truly wonderful to me. I could not have asked for a better family to stay with. From the moment I arrived, they made me feel like part of the family. They have made every experience here fun and unforgettable. I will miss Emilyan’s jokes, Anna’s laugh, Erica’s stories, and Daniel’s craziness. Daniel was the little brother I never had (my brother from another mother) and Erica was the person I could turn to and have a good laugh with.

Today, I did not say “G’day mate!” but “G’bye.” I’ll even miss the times my friends laughed at my imitation of the Australian accent. I knew the day would come where I would have to say goodbye to my friends and my family, but I did not realize it would come so soon.

Words cannot describe how I feel about Australia and the time I have spent here. I can ramble on for hours and it still would not serve the experience justice. I think this exchange has had a big impact on me. I will return home with a different perspective, as a more independent person and most importantly a lifelong friend! – Lucia Huang ’17, Exchange Student at Ivanhoe Grammar School, Australia

Student Exchange Australia: Everyday an Adventure!

Posted on February 18, 2015 by admin

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