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

Volunteering without Borders – Bénévolat sans frontières

Posted on December 12, 2017 by admin

Raymond_Opolot_Blog This past summer, I went to Uganda, a country in Africa that is about a 20-hour flight from Canada. While there, I volunteered at my grandmother’s school – Namutebi Nkata Nursery and Primary School – as part of my Duke of Edinburgh service hours.

The work I did consisted of compiling an index of newly received library books. These were some of the over 3,000 books collected so far by my two sisters and me since 2013 from friends and well-wishers in Montreal.

While doing this, I came up with the idea of starting a book club. I developed a draft concept and presented it to the principal who loved the idea! The purpose of the club is to expand the students’ vocabulary and to strengthen their reading, writing and presentation skills.

In order to promote the club, I organized the first meeting where I read to 21 of the students at the school. The thing that fascinated me most was their love of reading. The children seemed very excited to receive so many books because of the lack of accessible literature in Uganda. Here in Canada, we are very fortunate to have both school and local libraries, while in Uganda this is not the case. – Raymond Opolot ’19

A Moving Inaugural Event at the RSIC

Posted on October 4, 2017 by admin

2017_2018_RSIC2017_SA_005 2017_2018_RSIC2017_SA_006 On the first morning of the Round Square Conference, we headed to the Cape Town International Convention Centre to take part in the Opening Ceremonies. Our delegation, along with many others from around the world, was very excited for the inauguration of the conference.

Once everyone had been seated, a group of three musicians came on stage with some odd-looking instruments. Using only her actions and no words, the leader of the group instructed us to reach under our seat where we were all surprised to find a tube with a wooden stick. The audience then began copying the musicians’ rhythms and joined them in a couple of neat patterns. My favourite part was when we were instructed to each play a different beat depending on where we were sitting in the auditorium. Every section’s tube produced a different sound and we united with our separate rhythms to create a beautiful song. It was lots of fun and a great way to get us excited for the rest of the ceremony.

Another part of the ceremony that I really enjoyed was the presentation of the flags. One by one, every school was called and a student walked across the stage holding their flag. I thought this was very interesting since every school had something that was unique and different. Some of the uniforms were particular to the region they were from, while others had different emblems and flags that didn’t at all resemble the others. It was also a special moment when the name Lower Canada College was said out loud and our flag was proudly walked across the stage.

The rest of the ceremony was filled with different cultural performances by the host schools, award presentations and a couple speeches, but none was as memorable as His Majesty King Constantine’s speech. The current president and one of the earliest members of the organization, King Constantine attended the ceremony and we were fortunate enough to hear him speak. However, when he started speaking about Round Square, he began to choke up and shed a few tears. This was a truly touching moment for everyone in the audience and it was at this moment that I realized the full extent of Round Square’s influence and the power that it possesses to bring together people from all four corners of the world who share the same values.

Overall, I felt very lucky to have been in that auditorium for the Opening Ceremonies and I think that it was a phenomenal way to kick off the festivities. – Andrew Fata ’19

Student Exchange: Discovery in Johannesburg

Posted on March 22, 2017 by admin

Constitution Hill 2 I have been in Johannesburg for a little over a month and this exchange is going by so fast! I wish I could stay longer but sadly I only have two weeks left. I have experienced so many new things and discovered the history of their beautiful country.

In the past month, I was lucky enough to go on two community service days. We visited two different schools and they were both amazing experiences. The first school we visited was one for refugee children. These children have gone through so much in their lifetimes but they are all happy and so interested. The second school was for children with learning disabilities. This school surprised me because there are only three classes. It was so nice to meet all the kids.

I visited Constitution Hill and the Apartheid Museum and learned about the history of the Apartheid government and their oppression of coloured people that ended only in 1994.

We went to Cape Town for the weekend and I got to visit so many different places such as Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years), Two Oceans Aquarium, the Cape Wheel, V&A Waterfront, Table Mountain, Camps Bay Beach and a market with local vendors. I met a man who was put in Robben Island Prison as a political prisoner for standing up to the Apartheid government. I heard his story of the horrible treatment of prisoners and the way that they were forced to live. I was surprised to learn that many former political prisoners still live on the island! Cape Town is a beautiful and historic city and I would love to go back someday.

Saints is very different from LCC in many ways. With their extra-curricular activities, people often finish school around 10 pm even though classes end at 2:40 pm. Their sports are also different. I have tried new sports such as netball and diving. They are both fun and popular here. Also, some sports that are popular in Montreal, such as ice hockey and basketball, are not popular here. Lastly, their campus is huge compared to LCC, with a labyrinth of boarding houses, a chapel, two field hockey turf fields, a dam, three pools, tennis courts, netball courts, seven separate schools, as well as countless sports fields.

I have gotten used to the girls-only school but it is very different from LCC. Even though the boys and girls are on the same campus, they are very separate and boys and girls rarely see each other. I think that coed is a nicer way to go to school.

My host family has been so nice and welcoming and has worked hard to make sure that I enjoy my time here. I will be sad to leave all my new friends who have made me feel like South Africa is my home. I will miss South Africa and I hope that I can come back one day.– Natasha Ryan ’19, Exchange Student at St Stithians Girls’ College