I can’t believe I am actually here, it feels like just yesterday I was filling out what seemed to be the endless exchange application form and forcing my mom to make up mock interview questions. But I am now really here, halfway across the world in South Africa! I didn’t really know what to expect when I was told I was going to Africa, the first thoughts that came to mind were grass huts and lions. But I arrived to find something very different; I arrived to find civilization similar to the one I know so well but different in so many ways.

Before I get to that I should probably do a quick recap of my first destination. I met the Pugin family in Innsbruck, Austria and snowboarded in the Alps for four days with my exchange family; it was absolutely beautiful and an amazing start to my exchange. We then flew down to Johannesburg and on the way back I also got to visit BMW World in Germany, which was heaven for me, being a car fanatic. After an 11-hour flight I finally arrived and was greeted by a warm 30-degree weather. At first the heat was unbearable but within the first few days I got used to it.

Boarding school was something that I was nervous about but it has been great so far. I have made lots of friends who have been extremely helpful in showing me where to go for classes because the school schedule is more complicated than a game of cricket!

On the weekends, I have seen not the Africa that I arrived in but the Africa I dreamed of. I have visited such places as the rhino and lion park where I got to get up close with lion cubs (maybe a bit too close for comfort) as well as the Cradle of Human Kind where I got to explore the cave where the oldest human ancestor was found (an Australopithecus named “Little foot”).

The hardest part of an exchange is keeping up with school but I think I am managing pretty well. So far this has been an amazing experience and I can’t wait to see what other adventures are to come. As much as I miss my friends, family and home, what I think I miss the most is the cold but I think for now I am going to enjoy the sunny 30-degree weather! – Nicolas Brière ’16 (LCC exchange student at St. Stithians College in South Africa)