Student Exchange: Experiences at a New School

Posted on April 4, 2019 by admin

Clara_Hamilton_002 My exchange has been amazing so far and it just keeps getting better and better. As soon as I reunited with my exchange partner at the airport, I instantly felt a part of the family. Since I arrived on a Saturday, Renata (my exchange partner), planned for us to go out on Sunday to get to know the city a bit and meet some of her friends. They were so welcoming and tried their best to include me in every conversation even though they weren’t very comfortable speaking English.

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I have to admit, I was really nervous for my first day of school. As Renata lives in walking distance of the school, I get more time to sleep which is great. The moment I walked into school, I could immediately feel everyone’s eyes on me. I panicked a bit, but as soon as I started feeling these emotions, a group of girls ran up to me and hugged me and welcomed me to the school. I later found out that these girls were in Renata’s class and were so excited to meet me. Eventually, I walked into class and everyone was so sweet and welcoming, I immediately felt a part of their class. It felt so natural.

The difference between LCC and Belgrano Day School was evident as soon as I walked in. First, the classes range from about 22-25 students per class. Periods only last 40 minutes, but they have eight in a day. School starts at 8:15 am and finishes at 4:10 pm. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, senior students have gym, but as the school is located in the middle of the city, they have to take a bus to a separate campus, called a talar, where they play sports. Girls have the option between field hockey and volleyball, and boys have the option between rugby and volleyball.

Another difference is lunch. Students are allowed to leave school to get lunch in the area, as long as they don’t have sports that day. Otherwise, they can bring their own lunch or get food from the cafeteria. I’ve already been to two quinceañeras (celebration of a girl’s 15^th birthday), met so many amazing people and experienced so much of the Argentinian culture. I can’t wait to see what happens during the rest of my stay, but I’m already having the time of my life and it couldn’t be going any better. – Clara Hamilton ’21, Exchange Student at Belgrano Day School

Student Exchange: Eye-Opening Experience in South Africa

Posted on April 2, 2019 by admin

The past week of my life has been incredible. Exactly one week ago, I landed in sunny Johannesburg, South Africa, for a six-week student exchange and the amount of exploring and learning that I have already experienced is astronomical.

As an only child, I have never experienced what it’s like to have siblings or live in a big family. So, coming to a house which, at times, can have six teenagers is interesting. While living here, I can certainly say that I haven’t been bored once.

Almost every day, you experience “load shedding” while living in South Africa. Load shedding is when all of the power gets cut off and it can be off for two to six hours a day. Many people lack generators and as I woke up on my first morning, my exchange handed me a lamp and I got ready for my first day at St Stithians Girls College in the dark. This was certainly a change and it was cool to experience something so different within the first twelve hours of my exchange.

Another difference is that people walk between the lanes at the traffic lights, selling items, such as hats, sunglasses and phone chargers. Again, this was completely different and quite eye-opening. It is also common to see ten people sitting in the back of a truck in the open while driving around. Many people here get to places by taxi. Even though they do have taxis and Ubers as we do in Montreal, the taxis that most people take are minibuses that can fill up to around 12 people!

One thing that I still can’t get over is the campus at St Stithians which is an incredible 105 hectares. It has a pool, multiple fields, netball and basketball courts, a small dam and even a restaurant located at the top of the campus where you can see the city of Johannesburg! I actually have managed to get lost during a run but eventually found my way back. It’s definitely taking some adjusting but I’m sure that, by the time I leave, I will be able to get around the school without getting lost.

2018_2019_Jessica_Hyland_Student_Exchange_002 Last weekend was a long weekend for Human Rights Day, so my exchange family took me to a lot of different places. We went to Maropeng, an area nicknamed “the cradle of humankind” because bones from some of the earliest living humans have been found there. We later drove to the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden to have a picnic and walk around. It was absolutely stunning and I saw an incredible waterfall.

2018_2019_Jessica_Hyland_Student_Exchange_001 On Friday, my exchange and I went to Gold Reef City amusement park with some of her rowing friends. I was also able to go down into a mine while there! It was again, very eye-opening, as we were only on the second floor, which was 75 metres deep and there were a total of 49 floors! Then on Saturday, I went to an Ed Sheeran concert, which was one of the best concerts I have ever been to and I was able to bond even more with my exchange family. On Sunday, my exchange family had 23 members of their relatives come over to their house for lunch/dinner. This was very different for me, as all of my relatives live in different continents and I barely ever see them. To see 23 people from the same family all in one place was something I had never experienced before.

I have been to so many places and done so many things in such a short amount of time. I’m so excited to see what the rest of my exchange has in store. It already has truly been one of the best experiences of my life. – Jessica Hyland ’21 Exchange Student at St Stithians College

Student Exchange: Journey to South Africa

Posted on February 25, 2019 by admin

Margo_Baltzan_2018_2019_001 As soon as my plane hit the ground in Cape Town, South Africa at 12:06 am, I knew the six weeks to follow would be some of the most incredible weeks of my life. I was greeted by my host family which included my exchange, Rosie, and her wonderful parents, sister, and three dogs. Over these past two weeks, the once foreign city of Cape Town has quickly become my home away from home and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the differences as well as similarities this part of the world shares with my own home.

First of all, I have to admit that the weather here is in every way better than in Montreal: in the past week, it has been nothing but sunny and 35 degrees, a definite improvement to the temperature back at home. In terms of the country itself, my host family lives in a small estate called Pear Valley, which is surrounded by tall mountains and lush vineyards. The drive to school is, in one word, breathtaking.

The schools here are very different compared to LCC. First off, instead of walking through a hallway, you walk through gardens or across grassy fields to get to your next class, which I enjoy. Additionally, students in grade 10 are given more freedom when choosing their elective classes. I am currently taking a course in business studies as well as another one in Afrikaans, a language spoken by many South Africans. The sports are also quite different. Netball and water polo are very popular, as well as “social tennis” which, summed up, is tennis for people who are not very good at tennis.

South Africa is currently experiencing a drought as well as electricity shortages, which lead to something called “load shutting”. Every day, for two to six hours, all electricity is cut off, which is something I am not used to, having lived in Montreal all my life. Although it is hardly an inconvenience for people like Rosie’s family who have a generator, many families and most schools are affected by it. That being said, not everything here is different in terms of day to day life and school; the classes are structured more or less the same as LCC and the people here, although from a different hemisphere, are still just as warm and welcoming as my friends back at home.

When I am not attending school, my exchange and I are either meeting up with friends at one of the neighbouring towns of Paarl or Franschhoek, or just relaxing outside in our friend Eva’s pool. Last weekend, I had the chance to visit Cape Town, known as the “cultural capital’ of South Africa. We had lunch on the waterfront, a lively part of the city filled with music, food and tourists. After that, we embarked on a five-hour tour of Robben Island, the infamous island where Nelson Mandela and many other political prisoners were detained between 1964 and 1991, during the apartheid era of South Africa. Many of the tour guides had been prisoners themselves, and it was incredible to hear their stories. To top off the weekend, we visited a cheetah sanctuary and encountered cheetahs, and Rosie and I fell in love with a meerkat named Sebastian.

All in all, it seems impossible to have done so many incredible things in such a short period of time, and yet I can’t believe two week have already gone by. I look forward to my next four weeks here and I can’t wait for whatever this wonderful country has in store for me next! – Margo Baltzan ’20, Exchange Student at Bridge House

Student Exchange: Welcome to Australia!

Posted on February 19, 2019 by admin

2018_2019_Alexandra_Payne_004 I arrived on a Friday and, that weekend, we had a lot of fun. On Saturday night we went to Brighton Beach, where there are famous beach boxes. It was beautiful and a good way to see what Australia was like, though I was a little jet-lagged. We swam in the ocean and hung out with a couple of my exchange’s friends. That week, I went to Carey Baptist Grammar School and met all of her friends, who were very welcoming! It was really fun and I was excited to meet so many new people.

On the weekend, we went up to Bundalong to the Murray River where we waterskied and kneeboarded. It was so exciting and a great way to get to know my exchange. It was really hot – almost 32 degrees – which is the opposite of home. All in all, it has been a great experience so far and I’m looking forward to the rest of my time here! – Alexandra Payne ’21, Exchange Student at Carey Baptist Grammar School

Head’s Blog: Appreciate the WOW Moments!

Posted on January 31, 2019 by admin

wow-2780576_1280 We all live in a digital information and innovation age, and every day we see or consume hundreds, if not thousands, of images and stories through various forms of media. Given that tsunami of information, I sometimes worry that we have all become somewhat immune to wonder and what I like to call WOW moments. That’s when an idea or development stops you in your tracks because it is simply awesome in every respect. Sometimes, we need to stop and think: WOW, that’s truly amazing! That’s happened several times to me in the past few months and I’d like to share a couple of my personal WOW moments.

Seven years ago, Quebecer Maurice Desjardins lost his nose, lips, teeth and upper and lower jaw in a horrible hunting accident after being shot in the face. Consequently, he couldn’t breathe, speak or swallow properly. After healing, he was so disfigured he hid away from the world.

Last fall, all of that changed with Canada’s first successful face transplant. Montreal plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Borsuk performed the 17-hour procedure with the support of dozens of medical specialists. Desjardins also had prepared for two full years for his face transplant, including many hours with a psychiatrist to prepare for the possibility that his body would reject the face or the reality of taking on a whole new identity with a new face.

Dr. Borsuk and his team also practised for two years. The face is not a single organ, but involves many muscles, nerves, bones and skin. The new face came from a brain-dead man whose blood-type, skin tone and facial measurements closely matched those of Desjardins and whose family gave permission for the donation after his death. And a few months following the face transplant, things seem to be going well.

I find the whole concept to be astounding – in a good way – and clearly life-changing for the recipient, with incredible implications for people in the future who may be injured or disfigured in some way. For me, that was a real WOW moment!

Another WOW moment happened for me in December when I watched a segment of the CBS news magazine show 60 Minutes. It profiled Marshall Medoff, an 81-year-old eccentric genius inventor. Inspired by the beauty of his regular visits to a local nature reserve and the constant doom-and-gloom stories about our global environment, Medoff felt compelled to address significant issues harming our natural world. Despite his age and lack of formal science training, Medoff put his personal life on hold and concentrated on finding solutions in a rented garage for some fifteen years. He emerged with piles and piles of papers and hundreds of ideas, many of which he has since patented after seeking support from scientists who helped him move forward.

Three of his ideas are particularly notable and he has managed to receive private funding and turn the ideas into reality. First is the development of a completely plant-based sugar that is not harmful to teeth or the human body. Second is the creation of a kind of plant-based plastic that is fully biodegradable, and third is a fully renewable plant-based fuel that can power vehicles and heat homes. Each of Medoff’s initiatives has the capacity to address major environmental issues that threaten our sensitive global environment. Despite his lack of training, his ideas have developed into reality and the board of his company, XYLECO, is now populated by notable scientists and inventors. Amazing. Another WOW moment!

So I urge you to try and not be too casual about all the news that you absorb today and every day. Seek – and hopefully feel – your own WOW moments in the next several weeks before our spring break. Maybe you’ll be inspired and the next great innovator, just like Marshall Medoff or Dr. Daniel Borsuk. May the force be with you! – Christopher Shannon (Pre-U ’76), Headmaster