School: a Massive Maze

As I said in my previous blogpost, Wednesday was Orientation Day. First time I'd see the school and I was so excited! Bella had to wear her uniform, which I will tell you more about later, but I was allowed to wear my own clothes. We were dropped off at school by Bella's father Hans and, because we were a bit early, Bella showed me around the school. First thing I noticed: THE SCHOOL IS GIGANTIC. I am going to get so lost, that's for sure.

It consists of lots of seperate buildings, which serve as blocks of classrooms for different kinds of subjects, rather than one connected building like my own school. This means there are different buildings for maths, science, art, french, etc. However, St Hildas has many more facilities than merely classrooms, such as a swimming pool, a sports field (the oval), a multipurpose centre and a chapel. That's one of the main differences I noticed between St Hildas and the RLW. Besides actual classes, the girls here also have periods in their timetable for assemblies, chapel, house meetings, and so on. These, in turn, each take place in different buildings as well...

Also, they have a rather strange way of naming their classrooms. On your timetable it might say English R10, which apparently stands for Reeves 10, but if you don't know where the Reeves building is, you have a serious problem. The campus is so big that you might spend half an hour walking around to different buildings, trying to find Reeves, which obviously results in you being late for class. When you're finally familiar with the location of the Reeves building, your next period might be in OS4, T1 or H1: impossible to find. So after a few unsuccessful attempts to find my classroom (resulting in very awkward sorry-I'm-late-because-I-couldn't-find-my-classroom-situations), I simply gave up trying and followed people who were in the same classes as me.

 

Anyways, back to Orientation Day. After my pre-tour of the school, Bella and I joined a group of new students, listened to a talk of the Head of Year 11 (comparable with our Year 5), who's name I already forgot, and got another tour around the school. Have you ever heard that if fish swim around in their fish bowl and go past one of those little decoration castles, they think they pass a new castle each time they see it after having swum another round? Well, that's exactly how I felt each time we got to another building during my second tour around the school. All the buildings and paths just seemed so similar and, well, I think you get the idea of how big the school campus is.
 

Afterwards, the school had provided lunch for us, including Subway sandwiches and Subway chocolate chip cookies (HEAVEN). During lunchtime Bella and I joined some of her friends and just chatted for a bit. Then the Head of Year 11 gave another (long) speech, which was quite irrelevant for me.

Oh right, there's something major I haven't mentioned yet. St Hildas is an all girls school. This is (obviously) very different to my co-ed school back home. On the one hand, I like it, but on the other hand, not so much. It's good because you don't have to worry about what you look like in front of boys. It might sound strange, because it's not like I really try to impress boys, but subconsciously, I think most people do pay more attention to their physical appearance on co-ed schools. So I like the fact that I can sleep a little longer, not worrying about what I'm wearing each day (my uniform). On the other hand, however, I think it's a bit of a pity that you don't spend any time with boys throughout your schoolweek. Most girls here, except for the ones who have boyfriends, only hang out with boys on the weekend.

 

After Orientation Day, Bella's mum picked us up at school. We did some grocery shopping at a supermarket nearby and I had a lovely strawberry smoothie. We then went to her father's radio station (right next to school), because Bella had an appointment with a teacher an hour later. It would take about half an hour to get from and to school, so there was no point in going home. After Bella's appointment we got picked up by her father and drove home.

THURSDAY: MY VERY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

It's 6:30 am, my alarm goes off and I get out of bed. Before deciding what I want to wear on my first day of school, I have a quick shower. I stand in front of my closet, unsure of what would be appropriate to wear, since apparently the teachers are quite strict regarding clothing. Do and I didn't have to wear a uniform the first day, so that teachers and other girls would know we're exchange students and not just new girls.

Bella and I had a quick breakkie (breakfast) with avocado and egg on toast, and were dropped off at school. After a lovely first week of holidays and relaxing, my school life as an exchange student would really begin now. Since I hadn't chosen my subjects yet, I didn't have a timetable so I went to all of Bella's classes. It was a lot busier than it was at Orientation Day, and it was quite impressing to see all the girls perfectly dressed up in their uniforms. I think I didn't mention this in my previous post, but the classes here all go for one hour instead of 45 minutes. Frankly, every class feels like it goes for ages, but I hope I'll get used to it over time.

Today, we had Form (comparable with mentor lesson in Holland), Economics, CSP (Core Skills Practice) and something called the Presentation and Induction of the Seniors and Prefects of 2013. This was a 2 hour (yes, that's a hundred and twenty minutes...) assembly with the entire Middle and Senior School, in which each and every Year 12 student (there's about 120 of them) walked up the stage, received a badge and shook the principal's hand. Imagine watching this for two hours when it's 30 degrees outside. Yes, indeed, many people (including me) were having much trouble staying awake and were constantly dozing off. Occasionally, we had to stand up and sing the School Song, the School Hymn, the School Prayer or some other religious song. Of course, I didn't know the words, so I just pretended like I was singing along without actually making a sound. It got even worse, because when the Year 11's had to stand up to face the school and say a prayer, everyone was staring at Do and me because we were the only ones not wearing a uniform...

After school Bella and I took the school bus to TSS (St Hilda's brother school), and from there we took another bus to Sorrento (a little shopping centre), where we had some sushi. Then Rory came to pick us up and drive us home. Right now, I'm in my room and I'm about to pack my bag, because tomorrow we're going to Sydney! I'm really looking forward to it, and I'll tell you all about my weekend when I'm back home on Sunday evening!

Wacky Weather and Australia Day

I’m back! Excited to continue reading? I hope so, because I’ll now tell you how the rest of my first week here has been. You don’t have to keep reading though, unless of course you’re my IB teacher…

So where did we leave off? Right, on Friday, my second day here in the land of the Aussies. I slept in till quite late because I was still tired of travelling the day before and I wasn’t really over my jetlag either. 

 

After a yummy first breakfast with eggs and avocado on toast, Craig (Bella’s boyfriend) and his friend Jack came to pick us up to go to Sea World. We saw some shows, went on rides, petted stingrays and saw all kinds of animals like sharks, polar bears, dolphins, etc. Unfortunately, the day remained mainly overcast with a little rain from time to time. EVEN SO (you won’t believe it but it truly happened), I GOT SUNBURNT!!! When we got back from Sea World we went over to Jack’s house for a bit, and afterwards we had dinner with the four of us at Bella’s house.

Saturday was Australia Day! This is a public holiday held each year in Australia on the 26^th of January. They celebrate that the First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove. Reason enough for a little party, don’t you agree? Dressed up in our shorts, Australia tattoos and other Australia gear, we were dropped off at Craig’s house. He’d invited some people over to chill by the pool. Only one problem: it was raining again. So instead, we just chilled inside, listened to some music, etc. When we got back home around 11 pm, Rory (Bella’s brother) was still partying with some friends, so Bella and I decided to join them and spent the rest of the night with them. All in all I had a great Australia Day!

The following day Bella and I slept in till late, since we were really tired of partying the day before. Also, the gentle rain and overcast sky had turned into a tropical cyclone! This, and the fact that we couldn’t really be bothered to move anyway, resulted into a lazy day in bed, watching series with a cup of tea and Tim Tams. In case you don’t know what Tim Tams are, I assure you your life hasn’t been complete up till now. They are legitimately the BEST cookies ever. I don’t think I’d be able to live without them anymore.

On Monday, more than a metre of rain had fallen in the 24 hours to 9 am, and according to Bella’s parents, out to sea waves with a height of 10 m had been recorded!!! Bella, Rory, Kaia (Bella’s mum) and I went to this place called Burleigh to watch the sea and the waves there, and it was just unbelievable. There was so much foam on the path and the wind was so strong that we were covered in dirt and foam up to our hips by the time we got back in the car. On our way back home we grabbed a coffee and did some grocery shopping. I noticed that the cashier already put all our food in plastic bags for us, which I found funny because back home you usually have to get plastic bags to do it yourself.

Back home we made the most amazing hamburger sandwiches with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, baked onions and ketchup and they were just SO yummy, I don’t even know how to describe it. Afterwards, Craig came over and drove us to Jess and Kate’s house (they are twins), where we just chilled for a while and played with Kate’s new kitten Benji. Then Craig, Bella and I went to a chocolate bar called Max Brenner’s with Hayden (a friend of Craig) and his girlfriend Remie. We shared a chocolate fondue and banana split waffle sundae, and again, it was so amazing. Ok I take back my words; You haven’t lived yet if you haven’t tasted Tim Tams AND Max Brenner's yet.

(By the way, I’m starting to feel like I’m talking about food all the time. Believe me, I do other things here than eating. The food here is just so delicious that I get really excited talking about it. Haha okay that sounds retarded, but the food here really is amazing.)

Almost done guys, bare with me for a few more minutes. On Tuesday, Do and Nay came over and I actually saw the sun for the first time since I’d been here. We first made strawberries dipped in chocolate. Then we tanned for a while and went canoeing (Bella lives in a house by a canal). For lunch, we had some very tasty sandwiches (there we go again…), and the chocolate strawberries for dessert. The rest of the day we just chilled by the pool and Do and Nay also stayed for dinner.

 

School doesn’t start until Thursday, but tomorrow is Orientation Day. This means all the new girls come to school to get a tour and information and stuff, but since Do and I are exchanges we also have to be there. I’m actually really excited to see the school and how everything works here, but I’ll tell you all about it later!

I'm Still Alive!

So, it's no news flash that this is my first post from Australia. Now you're probably wondering why I didn't start this post with an overload of smiley faces and a capitalized description of my excited feelings, aren’t you? Well, that's because I've already been here for quite a few days, so the I'm-so-super-duper-excited-to-finally-be-here-feeling has slightly faded away. That does not mean at all though, that I'm not enjoying myself so far. I just don't really know how to describe how I felt after I arrived.

As a matter of fact, the past few days have been ABSOLUTELY GREAT (there you go, capital letters). It's actually been so busy and fun that I just couldn't find the time to update my blog. But here we go, a detailed description of what I've been up to since the moment I set foot on Australian soil.

 

After a long and tiring flight and another not-so-great-plane-meal, we landed around 7 am. We got off the plane, and instantly forgot our tiredness as we observed some typical Australian surfers (you know, the ones you always see in movies). Unfortunately, it took a while before we actually met up with our host families, because Australia is, well let's say not the easiest country concerning customs, goods to declare, you know the whole caboodle. With hindsight, maybe it wasn't such a good idea that Do bought orchids in Singapore as a gift for her host family. It took the lady at customs at least TWENTY MINUTES (if not more), to check whether the orchids, brought by two lovely young Dutch girls, were allowed to enter the country or not. However, the worst thing was that we especially bought the sealed packet to avoid having to wait this long at Brisbane Airport...

 

Unaware of the fact that Nay's dad was running late for a business meeting, Do and I figured we might as well take 10 more minutes to freshen ourselves up a bit so that our host families wouldn't have been waiting so long to subsequently find themselves embracing two sticky, smelly, gross looking exchanges. When we finally did meet them, it was awesome. They were standing in the arrival hall, still holding their banner (after they'd already been waiting for 40 minutes), dressed all nicely and wearing Australia hairbands (which they then gave to us as you can see in the picture), and it was just great to finally see them again after having spent 6 weeks apart.

After saying hello to everyone and hugging our exchanges, we left for the parking lot and split up. The trip from Brisbane to Gold Coast took us about an hour. In the car, Bella and I chatted away and I could barely come to term with the fact that I had actually arrived. The very first thing that struck me was the fact that in Australia, they drive on the left side of the road. It was quite confusing at first, but I guess it's not that bad if you don't actually drive the car yourself. I also noticed the grass is a lot browner here compared to back home. It obviously makes sense, because Holland gets a lot more rain than Australia does, but I hadn't actually thought about it before. (Also, I finally get why all the exchanges took so many pictures of our vegetation while they were in Holland). There was one major disappointment though: IT WAS RAINING. Yes, you read that right. It was raining. In Australia. Where it's supposed to be sunny and 25 degrees all year round. Mother Nature conspires against me.

 

I wasn't all that upset about the weather though, because Bella's parents assured me it would get better soon. Plus, they were actually happy that it was finally raining, because they hadn't had any in a very long time. So I guess I was happy for them too.

 

When we got home, Bella showed me around the house. I have a lovely room with aircon (legitimately my new best friend), a double bed (so comfy), a desk, a tv, a walk-in closet (LOVE IT!!!) and my own bathroom. 

 

After I'd taken a quick shower to freshen up, Bella's mum dropped us off at a sushi train nearby. This was, again, different to what I'm used to, because back home we cycle basically everywhere. I’m not quite sure if I like to be driven around, because it makes me feel dependent on other people whenever you want to go somewhere. Bella, on the other hand, feels like it does give you independence, in a way that it would take so long to cycle to a friend's house if you live in Australia, that it’s just so much quicker and easier to be dropped off by your parents. Also, her parents are used to driving her around and they don’t mind it at all, so I think that makes you feel less bad for your parents as well.

 

We had some delicious sushi and chicken teriyaki, and walked to a shopping mall called Pac Fair afterwards. I bought new sandals and I got an Australian sim card for my phone.

 

Back home, Bella helped me unpack my suitcase and put my clothes on coat hangers (luckily for me, because I hate the job). Later, some of Bella’s friends came over and we just chilled at home for a bit, after which Kate, Jess, Bella and I were dropped off at a vegetarian restaurant called Cardamom Pod. We had dinner there with the four of us and Nay, Do and a friend of Nay called Emma.

 

Your eyes are probably tired now and so are my hands, so I decided to continue my post tomorrow and go to bed now. Don’t worry guys, I won’t take this long to describe every day of my exchange, I just had to catch up with the past few days. ;)

G'day Mate!

At this very moment you’re all probably either at school, working or doing something else, which cannot possibly be as exciting as what I’m doing: WRITING THIS BLOG ON MY WAY TO AUSTRALIA! Not nearly as exciting, was I right? 

So, I’m all settled: I’ve got my little pillow, my headphones on and just finished my let’s say not-too-delicious-dinner (yup, despite everything they try I can’t say the food has improved a lot, well basically, not at all), and I’m about to watch Taken 2, but before that I’ll give you a little introduction to my blog, since this will basically be a virtual diary of my exchange. I probs (Aussie slang, learnt from my exchange Bella) won’t write down everything in detail though, cause there’ll be teachers reading this too and we want them to keep thinking I’m a super hard-working, well behaving, model student, don’t we?

Anyways, so I’ll be telling you what I’ll be doing, for the most part, and things like the cultural differences I experience. As I already mentioned, my exchange is called Bella (her real name’s Isabella, but I actually think I’ve never even called her that), and she has already lived with my family and me for 9 weeks in fall/winter. During those 9 weeks we became really close, and we’re basically like sisters now, so I’m really looking forward to seeing her again and sharing stories about what we’ve been up to after she left. Bella lives in the Gold Coast, a city, obviously on the coast, beneath Brisbane. This is where I’ll be staying for the following 7,5 weeks. She has one brother, Rory, who’s 22 and goes to university in Brisbane. Her mum and dad own a restaurant/pub and her dad also works at a radio station right next to St Hildas, the school Bella goes to.

I actually left Holland a couple of days ago, because Dominique, her parents and I spent a couple of days in Singapore before Do and I went to Brisbane. Luckily, we’ve already had the longer flight (13 hours!!!), so we’ll only have to fly for another 8 hours to Australia now. We had a really good time in Singapore and the city was truly amazing! We went to universal studios, lots and lots of shopping malls, China town, Little India, we had a mani-pedi, went on a night safari and just walked around the city. I won’t go into too much detail though, because this blog is about Australia, plus, I don’t think you really care about what clothes I bought and what food I ate at which fancy restaurant, do you?

So here I am on the plane to Australia, about to see my exchange sissy again and finally experience what I’ve been looking forward to for ages (I think I even set my mind to going on exchange before I went to high school, which was about 4 years ago). Anyways, going to watch Taken 2 now, the next time I’ll post something I’ll be in the land of the Aussies!!!

Do and I at Schiphol

Some friends and I at the airport before I left for Singapore

Me at a shopping mall in Singapore

Tanning at the pool

Night safari with Do

Universal studios Singapore