Vive la France! Semaine 1: Je découvre…la neige?

Posted on March 26, 2013 by dlevy

Après plusieurs mois d’attente et d’anticipation, je suis enfin arrivé en France. J’aime beaucoup vivre avec la famille de Gaspard. Ses parents, Jérôme et Olivia, ainsi que ses trois frères, Barthélémy, Anatole et Octave, sont très sympathiques. Sa mère Olivia cuisine d’excellents repas!

Lors de mon arrivée à Rhuis, j’avais bien hâte de faire des découvertes et vivre de nouvelles expériences. Gaspard et son père m’ont fait visiter Rhuis et Senlis où se trouve le Lycée St-Vincent, ma nouvelle école pour les 7 prochaines semaines. Rhuis est un joli village en Picardie, un arrondissement de Senlis, où on ne compte que 144 habitants. Les maisons et bâtiments de pierre sont fantastiques et riches en histoire. Dans le village de Rhuis, on retrouve deux monuments historiques. D’abord, l’église romane St-Gervais et Protais, qui remonte au 11e siècle. De plus, on retrouve un menhir (et oui… comme dans Astérix et Obélix). On nomme ce menhir “la demoiselle de Rhuis”.

Senlis est situé à environ 20 minutes de Rhuis. Ce village médiéval est pittoresque et riche en histoire. On y retrouve 2 musées, des petites rues piétonnières et des cafés où je peux manger des délicieuses crêpes. J’ai visité la Cathédrale de Senlis et bien sûr, le Lycée St-Vincent qui était autrefois l’Abbaye St-Vincent.

Après ces visites, j’avais bien hâte de commencer l’école et rencontrer les amis de Gaspard. Cependant, dès la première journée de classes, que se passe-t-il? Une tempête de neige! Au Québec, on n’aurait même pas remarqué ces 15 centimètres de neige. Mais ici, cette tempête a créé un véritable désastre. Le Lycée a été fermé pendant 3 jours. Les routes ont été bloquées. Le père de Gaspard a pris plus de deux heures pour rentrer à la maison (plutôt que 20 minutes). Les Français n’ont pas l’équipement nécessaire pour nettoyer cette neige.

Que faire avec toute cette neige? Comme un bon Québécois, j’ai montré à la famille de Gaspard comment s’amuser avec la neige. Nous avons construit un fort dans la neige. De plus, j’avais apporté du sirop d’érable dans mes valises. Nous avons donc fait de la tire d’érable sur la neige! — Zachary Shine ’15

Student Exchange Melbourne: Feeling at Home

Posted on March 21, 2013 by dlevy

This past week has gone by very quickly. On Tuesday, Georgia and I went to a movie “Safe Haven”. On Wednesday, I watched Georgia practice netball, which is a sport I had not heard of before in Canada. But I soon learned that it is similar to basketball, except the nets are different and you aren’t allowed to dribble. On Thursday and Monday, I helped her coach her sister’s netball team for community service hours every week.

I have adjusted to their school classes and activities and I received my own school computer this week. We take approximately the same classes, and even if Georgia is a year older than I am, we are learning around the same material. I was able to complete a math test and a SAC in religion class without trouble. I also started a project in textiles, which is one of the selective classes Georgia takes. I learned how to use a sewing machine and I am sewing a pillow with my name on it, which is more difficult than it sounds.

On Friday, we went to a relative’s home for a birthday party. We watched a scary movie and went home around 11 pm. On Saturday we drove to Melbourne, which is 30 minutes away, shopped all day and then went out for dinner. In the city, life is very similar to Montreal, especially the shopping complexes and dinner restaurants. The city reminded me a bit of Toronto and this made me feel very at home.

On Sunday, we went to Geelong beach and rode a Ferris wheel. Then we went out for lunch and ice cream and drove back home for dinner and movies. I feel more comfortable at this home than I did before and I’m hoping to create friendships with the girls at Georgia’s school and her family members. This trip is going by very fast and I’m excited to see what it will bring. — Arianna Galbraith ’15

Travel and Experiential Learning

Posted on March 19, 2013 by dlevy

Spend a few minutes reading the LCC blog or our school Facebook page and it becomes abundantly clear, there was lots learned over the March Break. The school sanctioned three separate student trips this March: a Duke of Edinburgh Gold service/adventure trip to Peru, service in the Dominican Republic, and a hockey and cultural tour of the Nordic countries.

Travel and active learning translates into memorable experiences that shape and change young people, usually for the better. In recent years, service opportunities in particular, have allowed LCC students to learn more deeply about foreign cultures and a host of development challenges. The learning engages all the senses and broadens the awareness of teenagers to issues they had probably never even considered in their comfortable Canadian lives. Experience matters and that’s why these trips and foreign exchanges are important ingredients in the development of global citizens at our school.

Read the blog entries of our students or read exchange journals to see how engaging and transformative active learning can be. It takes courage and a degree of resilience for students to leave their world of comfortable opportunities.

Commendations to all those who wanted to seek cultural differences and know them better. Now we can all learn from them. —Chris Shannon, Headmaster

Duke of Ed Gold Trip Peru 2013: LCC Pride in Service

Posted on March 6, 2013 by dlevy

Reflecting on our experiences in Las Palmas, we are proud of the improvements. Even though there is still much more progress to be made, we have no doubt that their living conditions will continue to improve. While it is extremely upsetting to witness their lack of proper housing, food and other materials we are fortunate enough to have, the kindness and compassion the community has shown us has left us with fond memories.

Though the citizens of Las Palmas benefited from our efforts, we believe that they have impacted us to a much greater extent by demonstrating important, yet too often forgotten values in our society like teamwork, kindness and compassion. Even without commodities that we value, they have found happiness in their lives, and have reminded us how to do so in our own.

Although this was our final year of service with them, we hope that the micro-loan project will allow us to maintain contact with Las Palmas and continue to show our support. – Sarah Salzman ’13 and Kelsey Wiseman ’13

South Africa Exchange: Perfect Finale to a Perfect Trip!

Posted on March 5, 2013 by admin

We wake up at the crack of dawn. Today, we are going to Kruger National Park, one of the world’s largest parks. I am excited beyond belief. I am going on a real African Safari. I can cross one thing off my bucket list because yes, at 14, I have a bucket list!

Leaving so early in the morning already feels like an adventure. The Park is just far away from Johannesburg to remind us that this is an expedition, but not so far that the drive becomes unbearably tedious. The Park is huge, and in four days (four days!) we will only cover perhaps 1/8^th of it. The names of the different gates sound so exotic. Pretoriuskop Numbi Gate, Orpen, Phalaborwa, Shingwedzi. I have been warned that we might not see the big five, lion, buffalo, leopard, elephant and rhinoceros. Hannelie and Dirk have been here countless of times, and there are bird species and animals that they have never yet spotted. I am happy just to be driving on this road; so similar to those I’ve seen in movies that I have to pinch myself.

To our delighted surprise, we see all five (though of course not all at once). We see the very elusive leopard, so good at hiding that it takes us several minutes to spot him. He crosses, right before our car, right before our eyes, and I try to snap pictures, knowing full well that there is no way I can capture the beauty of the leopard, and more importantly, our feelings of awe and gratitude. There is no way I can capture with my small camera, or with my oh so inadequate words, the wonder of being here in Africa, with the sun beating on my head, and the thrill of adventure squeezing my insides. We see wild dogs, very much an endangered species. Elephants pass before us- twice- with their very cute babies in two, and we are so close that we have to retreat 600 meters to let them pass. We see five different types of eagles, at least 27 rhinoceros. I scribble madly in my Kruger National Park booklet, trying to mark all the animals sighted, but I’m sure I miss a few. Hannelie keeps saying that seeing so many animals is unusual, and I’d love to think that this is somewhat due to my presence here.

I privately think that this is South Africa’s way of putting on a grand show, just to make me regret, a little more than I do already, my very imminent departure! Dirk knows so much about animals, and being with him is like being with the greatest of guides. He is funny too. This safari is the perfect finale to a perfect trip. In two days, I’ll be home. Sort of. Parts of me, I think, will stay right here, in Africa. – David Elbaz ’15