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.
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 15th 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Elizabeth Assimes: Last year, I went on exchange for four weeks to Melbourne, Australia, and attended Carey Grammar School. I was very nervous to meet my exchange and had all the typical ‘what if’ thoughts: what if we didn’t get along, what if I didn’t enjoy school or what if I didn’t like the family I was about to live with? Mainly, I was scared to spend a month on the other side of the world and not enjoy it.
Isabelle Whittall: Last year, I went to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I had already met my exchange, since she came here first, so I wasn’t as nervous. Because I chose to go to Argentina, I experienced culture shock. I had to speak Spanish with my exchange’s family and friends, which was hard at first, but I ended up improving my Spanish a lot and the people I spent time with improved their English as well. I went to a music festival, a lot of quinceaneras (a girl’s fifteenth birthday celebration), ate empanadas, and learned how to play field hockey. Essentially, I experienced life as an Argentinian teenager for five weeks. I became best friends with my exchange, and I talk to her all the time. In fact, I spent a week with her and some of her friends in New York this summer, which was amazing. Becoming best friends with an Argentinian girl ended up being one of my favourite parts of the experience.