After twenty-two hours of flying and layovers, I finally got to Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport on Sunday, February 26. I got my bag in less than 15 minutes and met my exchange, Sarah, at the arrivals gate. When we stepped outside, it was very humid and I was thankful for the shorts I put on before landing. I slept for about ten hours on the plane so by the time I landed, I wasn’t tired, and I had enough energy to walk around.

Sarah’s dad dropped us off in downtown Sydney, and the two of us walked around the water. We went up to the Sydney Opera house and continued into the area known as the Rocks, where there was an outdoor market. Then we got lunch from a really good bakery and ended our day in the city by going to Woolworths, a grocery store, to get different types of Australian food. I tried a whole bunch of Aussie treats and, of course, I tried Vegemite: a mixture of salt and yeast that tasted like salt water to me.

When we went back to Sarah’s house at the end of the day we got our things ready for school, baked muffins, and ate dinner outside. Their backyard was filled with different types of parrots that were flying all around us while we ate.

The next day was my first day at school and it was really nice. The school is on two separate campuses that are just down the street from each other. Instead of advisory, they have something called lunary, which we have twice a week with our house, Whitley. At Methodist Ladies’ College, we have to bring our own lunches and snacks, but they do have a nice cafe that they call the canteen, where you can buy food.

So far, this trip has been amazing. I was able to travel here on my own through three different time zones, I’m on the other side of the world experiencing new cultures and going to a new school, and I’m having a lot of fun. – Ella Waxman ’19, Student Exchange at Methodist Ladies’ College