Student Exchange Tazmania: Soaking It All In

Posted on March 19, 2013 by dlevy

About 10 days ago I was fortunate enough to visit Stanley,Tasmania. Stanley is a cute little town on the northwest coast of Tasmania, a three-hour road trip from my ‘house.’ We left Saturday morning and arrived around lunchtime. For lunch we went to a seafood place where I enjoyed a delicious plate of fish and chips. I also drank the best milkshake I have ever had! We spent the afternoon driving around Stanley and stopped at some lookouts with beautiful views of the town that consisted of roughly 500 people. I believe you could walk through the whole town in about two hours.

Sunday morning we went to one of the local beaches. It was great fun to swim and jump in the waves for a couple of hours, especially since it was 30 degrees! Later that afternoon we climbed the Nut, a mountain made up of the core of a volcano. The Nut could be an easy climb, however, the heat made it pretty tough. At the top of the Nut, there were lookouts as well as a path to walk along the summit.

We awoke early Monday morning (we didn’t have school) and headed towards Cradle Mountain a well-known tourist attraction, with a beautiful lake surrounding it. The mountain is home to many animals and plants. You can climb or drive up it, to a certain point, to get a nice view. We did not have the chance to experience the view because it was rainy and foggy.

On our way back home, we made two stops: a Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park and Tasmazia. The devil conservation park was especially interesting. During the tour, I learned so much information about these animals and their habitat – and I actually got to pet one of the Tassie Devils. There is a cancer spreading amongst these animals causing a consistent decline in their population. The park was built so the animals could breed and try to prevent the possibility of extinction.

Finally, our last stop on the way home was Tasmazia. Tasmazia is a huge hedge maze that consists of smaller mazes and little villages. It was honestly one of the coolest things I have ever seen. At Tasmazia, there is also a little café known for their pancakes, which we did indeed have the chance to eat. They were absolutely amazing!!

I have four more days in this wonderful state of Tasmania and then I am off to Sydney for a weekend before boarding a flight home to the snow. As keen as I am to see my friends and family, leaving here is going to be really sad because of all the wonderful people I have met and the constant 30 degree weather. –Leah Salzman ’15

Student Exchange Tasmania: Different “Beasts” – Literally

Posted on March 1, 2013 by admin

This past weekend was honestly, INCREDIBLE! I would say the overall theme was…. animals, but really different animals. We visited a zoo on Saturday and a seahorse and platypus well on Sunday. I had the chance to see some great Tasmanian animals and learn so much more about their lifestyle.

The zoo is about a five-minute drive from ‘my’ house. Ashley’s mom, Rachel, dropped us off and together we walked around in the hot sun on a self-guided tour. There were plenty of birds, all from Tasmania and very colourful. There were also, emus, lambs, sheep, alligators, monkeys, wild dogs and my personal favourites, kangaroos and a Tasmanian devil!! The kangaroos were especially cute; we had the chance to feed them and the next thing we knew they were following us and jumping around to go wherever we were going. The Tasmanian devil is a whole other story. I don’t know what I was really expecting but I must say it was adorable. It kind of looked like a tiny black bear. While we were observing it, an employee was feeding it a wallaby bone, which was actually a little disturbing. Although it seemed like a lot of animals to me, the zoo actually had a limited number because of some policies that made it difficult for them to receive and cage animals in their zoo.

Sunday was very exciting as we went to Beauty-Point to see platypus and seahorse wells. We also had the chance to see echidnas, which were actually just crawling around as we walked into their room. The seahorse and platypus well was really interesting because I got to learn about their habitat, diet, genetics, class and so much more. I was even given the chance to hold a seahorse!

Anyway, this was another amazing weekend and I honestly can’t believe how quickly my trip is going by. —Leah Salzman ’15

Student Exchange: Settling Into Life in Tasmania

Posted on February 25, 2013 by admin

Another fantastic week in Tasmania! There must be some unspoken Tasmanian rule about being hospitable: my host family and schoolmates have helped me feel quite settled and comfortable in a short period of time. At school I am starting to make some really good friends, which makes the days even more enjoyable.

I started my new schedule (separate from my exchange) at school this week.I am attending some really interesting classes—some with grade 10 others with grade 11 students—such as textiles, cooking, photo media and advertisement. In fact, Thursday, I had a cooking class where we made rice pudding and “toad in the hole,” a Tasmanian dish that consists of a sausage with a sort of salty pancake around it (kind of like pigs in a blanket). I am taking French here, too, which has been entertaining, and actually helpful. Since we are learning the basics, it’s kind of like a review. All the classes have been great and I love having the chance to experience some different courses than those I take at home.

One of my extra-curricular activities is basketball. Playing on an exchange school basketball team is proving to be another great experience. This is not only a sport I really enjoy; I am also happy to have the opportunity to become friends with the girls on my team. We even won our first game on Thursday, 42-4!

This week I participated in the school’s swimming carnival, where students from each house (there are four) compete by age and category. I swam in the under 16, 25-meter breaststroke, backstroke and freestyle. Other people also did 50-meter and 100-meter races. Everybody wore their house colors and cheered on their teammates.

Overall, this past school week was amazing and, I am looking forward to the exciting activities we have planned for this weekend.—Leah Salzman ’15

Student Exchange: Appetizing Tasmania!

Posted on February 18, 2013 by admin

I have now been in Australia for one week and three days. My experience has been incredible and has exceeded my expectations. I landed in Hobart, Tasmania on the 7th of February where I was greeted by Ashley (my exchange) and her mom. We then drove two hours to Launceston (after 33 hours of traveling, I fell asleep about ten minutes into the car ride!). Once we arrived in Launceston, I met the other members of the wonderful family: Craig the dad, Taylor who is 12 and Payton who is 5. The Brown family was (and is) so welcoming and kind; from the very beginning they made me feel at home. Well, not exactly … the sun was ridiculously strong and seeping through the windows, which, wasn’t exactly like home, neither was the huge garden with endless vegetables, fruits and herbs. Oh, and the homemade pizza we had for dinner; that was nothing like my usual Domino’s!

The next day, I started off with a nutritious breakfast of Milo and Tim Tams (chocolate and more chocolate!!), and a relaxing day, which was followed by an amazing weekend. When Saturday came, the first stop was the farmer’s market, an outdoor market that consists of roughly 50 stands where people were selling fresh foods. I tried new and delicious vegetables and fruits, homemade raspberry ice cream and cheeses. The fruit here is unbelievable and we always have tons in the house (e.g., nectarines, apples, peaches, cherries, strawberries and apricots). During the afternoon Ashley and I went into town and browsed some of the local shops. Sunday was yet another beautiful day spent outside in the sun. We went to the ‘Festivalie;’ a three-day festival that occurs once a year in Launceston. Food stores from all over Tasmania set up stands to sell their provisions while people enjoy entertainment, such as dancing, singing, acting and more. Not only did I get to watch tons of performances but I also tried some great local Tasmanian food such as sausage, chocolate-covered raspberries, pancakes with ice cream, and ginger beer. To end the weekend, Sunday night while we were sitting on the porch, believe it or not, there were wallabies and kangaroos sitting and hopping in the backyard!

Finally Monday came and it was time for me to go to school. I was nervous, excited and hot in my LCC uniform. School has been nothing but fantastic from the people to the classes and the environment to the activities. For the first few days I joined Ashley in all of her classes. Their timetable is very different than ours. They have double periods (two of the same periods, back-to-back) for a total of 90 minutes, and therefore, they only have three subjects per day. In addition, the senior school alone (there are different campuses for middle and senior school) has seven buildings, each containing different classrooms. Therefore, we are fortunate enough to walk outside to get to all of our classes. Also, for lunch, we can eat wherever we want with whomever we want! I have eaten lunch outside everyday so far which I really do appreciate. I am looking forward to what next week will bring and I can easily say I am having heaps of fun! –Leah Salzman ’15