2008 Student Exchange

It is hard to believe that our trip has finally come to an end. It still feels like the first week. This week has been spent buying gifts, saying goodbye and exchanging contact details.
 
On Wednesday we had the pleasure of having lunch at Fountain Square and travelling to the top of Crew Tower. This is where we were able to have a great view of all the places we visited whilst in Cincinnati. Other than this, we enjoyed our last bittersweet days at Archbishop Moeller High School. 
Friday night, 7pm, the Lasalle Lancers kicked off heralding the beginning of our final Varsity football game. Not to disappoint The Moeller Crusaders defeated the Lasalle Lancers, a tribute to the Aussies. On Saturday night we had our going away party with all of our families, our last opportunity to be together as one group. Once the party was over we travelled to a nearby Halloween style haunted trial. Here, we were scared out of our pluggers and experienced true Halloween, American style.
 
On that note, we have a lot of people to thank, all of whom helped to make this 2008 student exchange program something we shall never forget. First to the selection committee especially Ms Kopp, Mr Gardiner and Dr Carroll for giving us the opportunity to be a part of this program. Secondly, to our host families; the Mackeys, the Klevers, the Gunzas and the Visagies, that so graciously took us into their homes for the past six weeks we would like to thank you. Thirdly, to the staff of Moeller High School especially Brother Ron and Brother Flaherty for organising the program and making us feel welcome. As well to the students of Moeller High School who welcomed us with open arms and with whom life long friendships have been forged. Finally to our parents for letting us experience this program and being so supportive from start to finish.
 
From this experience we would like to encourage all students in Year 10 to apply for any of the exchange programs. It is difficult to explain the program without experiencing it first, yourself, the friendships, the laughs and the memories are once in a lifetime.
 
We look forward to returning home and seeing you all Term 4.
 
Zach and Matt
 

Hello from Canada – Week 4

As usual, this week has been packed full of excitement and activities to keep us busy. With only a week left, it is strange to think it will be over soon because it has been so much fun the whole time. A little addition to the end of last weeks report is that Stephen won his first ever game of Ping-Pong against Callum. It was a close game but Callum was just defeated 21-19 in an epic six minute game.

This week on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday we had three more fun days at Vancouver College. Our classes are still really great and we are enjoying them very much.

Tuesday, our host dad Mike, took us (Callum, Steve, Sully and Max) to the Caplino Suspension Bridge. It is a suspension bridge that spans 140 meters across the Capilano River. Walking across the bridge showed us typical Canadian scenery with tall trees surrounding the gushing river below. The walk was great fun and we got told to stop shaking the bridge by the operator. Once on the other side we walked through some smaller suspension bridges that were at the top of the tree tops. After lunch and a trip to the souvenir shop, we returned to VC. We watched Sully play an exhibition soccer game were the team were successful with a win.

Friday saw us having another day off school with our host mum Kelly. She took us down to the Supreme Court of Canada where her dad is the Associate Chief Justice. It is a very important job that has lots of perks as he is the longest serving federal judge in Canada. We had lunch in the judges dining room and we got a private tour of the building. It was a very interesting afternoon. Afterwards, we walked through Gastown which is an old area of the city with lots of shops selling everything you could imagine. We spent lots of money in all the souvenir shops.

Saturday was a cold and rainy day, typical for late September. We watched Sam play soccer where they unfortunately lost but it was a good game nonetheless. After an afternoon at the Ladner Leisure Centre using in the huge pool, spa and sauna, we were very relaxed. Sunday was a quiet day just lazing around at home before an afternoon trip to the movies.

With the end of our trip approaching, we are trying to pack as much stuff into the time as possible. We still have lots to look forward to. This includes: another week at VC, next weekend in Whistler and some more shopping in the huge malls.

Until next time,

Steve and Callum in Vancouver, Canada

Hey guys,

Both of us would like to apologise for how long it has taken us to produce this report, as we were about to send it on Sunday afternoon Cincinnati experienced a category 1 hurricane. As a result we have both been without power for the past four days and this has been the first opportunity to send this report.
 
Yet another week here in Cincinnati has drawn to a close and as we are sitting here typing this it is hard to believe that we have been away for a month. This week we would like to explain a little bit more about the way Moeller works as a school. Unlike St Pat's, who run on a week A and a week B schedule Moeller has Day A and Day B schedule. Each student takes 7 subjects and on Day A everyone has 4 classes and on Day B everyone has 3 classes. On a normal B day Juniors and Seniors are allowed to leave at 1:15pm when they finish their third class while Freshmen and Sophomores have a study period. Each period is 90mins long and school starts at 7:50am and concludes at 2:45pm.
 
The subjects that we take are as follow:

• Zach - Chinese History, P.E, Honours English, Fitness for Life, Study Hall, Religion and Psychology
• Matt - Guitar, P.E, Religion, Psychology, Honours English, Anatomy and Physiology and Study Hall.

Some of the biggest differences that we have noticed in school over here in America is that all of their  work counts towards their final grade including homework, class participation, quizzes and tests. They also take tests after each unit of work rather than a big test at the end of the term and all of their grades are posted on the school intranet so that both the students and their parents can see where they stand in a subject at anytime throughout the year.
 
This week we travelled to the Cincinnati Zoo which was fairly impressive considering that the zoo itself is within city limits. Some of the most interesting things at the zoo were the Sumatran Rhinoceroses and the White Lions which were really cool. We also had the opportunity to see the Bald Eagle as well as monkeys, giraffes and zebras. Earlier in the week we also had the chance to attend a John McCain and Sarah Palin political rally which was an interesting insight into American politics.
 
This week the Moeller Crusaders football team took on the Findlay Trojans, Moeller emerged triumphant with a final score of 45 to 32. Until next week.
 
Matt and Zach

Hello from Canada – Week 3

 

This week marked the halfway point in our trip and we are both still enjoying every minute and trying new things everyday.

 

This week has definitely been an exciting one as we had two days off school so we could explore the downtown area of Vancouver. On Tuesday, after one class in the morning, we went into the city and walked along Robson Street, which is Vancouver’s famous shopping strip. We had time to walk through all of the different shops selling everything from furniture, to candy, to Indigenous art. It was an exciting day. After our experiences on Tuesday, we decided to do an open top bus tour of the city on Thursday. The bus was very interesting as it showed us through all the parts of the city. We started in an old area of downtown called Gastown, and then we went through the city, near the waterfront, in China Town, and throughout Vancouver’s city park, Stanley Park. The bus trip was great as there was a running commentary of the city’s history. We also got a chance to go through the Aquarium and up to the top floor of an observation deck. The day had perfect weather so we could see all the way to the mountains in Washington, America, some of which had snow on them, and they are only a fortnight after summer.

 

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday were normal days at school. We are enjoying school very much as we are learning lots about Canada. Our Social Studies class is the most interesting as we are learning about Canadian politics and law. It is very similar to Australia, but there are still many differences. We are also talking about Canada’s identity, so we are often called upon to add our foreign opinions of their identity and they ask us what the Australian identity is.

 

On Saturday, we had the opportunity to watch the Vancouver College Varsity football team, the Fighting Irish, play a game against their arch rivals St. Thomas More Knights. The game was great fun and it was topped off with a convincing win for the Irish, with a score of 20-0. On Saturday night, we went to a fiesta which is a Mexican themed party. There were pineapples, sombreros, nachos and a piñata which was cracked open by a hit from Callum.  The weekend temperature has been hot for the Canadians (about 28 degrees) which has made for a relaxing Sunday arvo at the beach.

 

We have still lots to look forward to including our hike up Mt. Seymour, Capilano suspension bridge, and we have planned a weekend in Whistler with the Servais family,

 

Steve and Callum in Vancouver, Canada.

 

Hola` Como Estas,
 
This week Moeller became a bustling international hub with exchange students arriving from Hong Kong, China, Germany, Japan and last but least, Spain. The week began in spectacular fashion with a homerun from the Cincinnati Reds at the Great American Ball Park. Unfortunately the home team suffered a near loss, the experience was nonetheless a fine example of America's favourite past time. We ate peanuts, spat sunflower seeds and cheered for the Reds until the end.
 
Later in the week we were lucky enough to have a tour of the US Air Force National Aviation Museum. It was filled with planes from the early years to WWI and WWII, from Vietnam to the Cold War, all authentic working replicas or retired. We had the opportunity to sit in a Stealth Bomber and sit on the atomic bomb in the same room. We were lucky enough to have the pleasure of meeting a Pearl Harbor Veteran who was previously stationed at Darwin. He graced us with stories of his time with the Aussie troops, we would like to share one of his stories with you.
 
The night before a flight mission he went to an Australian pub to have a drink, due to his pending mission he only planned on staying for a short time. The Aussies didn’t understand his one drink limit and proceeded to refill his glass. He drained the beer and promptly flipped his glass upside down. He was approached by an Australian soldier who asked if he was serious. Unsure of what he was referring to he replied with a definitive yes, the soldier motioned and he followed outside. As soon as his feet were outside the door, the Aussie socked him twice between the eyes. Afterward it was explained that by turning his glass upside down he had inadvertently challenged anyone in the bar to a fight. Despite the negative aspects of this story he reminisced about his time in Australia with fondness and bade us well. It was something that really stood out to us as something we will never forget.
 
The weekly Moeller football games have been the climax of our weekends and it was no different this weekend. The Moeller Crusaders defied the odds by grinding to a tough win over the Centerville Elks, holding the title of underdogs for the third week in a row, winning 34-30. It was an entertaining game proving to be a tug of war lasting the entire four quarters. We are surprised that the footballers are still standing by the weekend due to their tenacity on the field and their grueling football practice schedule.
 
On Sunday we travelled to 16th century England at the 19th annual Cincinnati Renaissance Festival. Here, we were entertained by a joust between Sir Theodore and Sir Patrick, the latter proving the victor. Whilst traversing through the village we were approached by Vikings, bears, peasants and the Queen. We ate turkey legs and danced around the maypole.
 
Good luck with the exams ya'll.
Talk next week.
 
Matt and Zach   

Hello from Canada – Week 2

 

This week has been an exciting one as we have started school at Vancouver College. VC is an all boys Christian Brothers school. There are approximately 1000 students from Kindergarten to Grade 12. The school is broken up into Elementary (K-6), Middle (7-9) and Senior (10-12). The majority of our classes are with Year Twelve students.

 

A few notable differences from SPC are:

• No bells. Classes are dismissed by teachers and everyone must know the time and when they need to be at there next class.
• Everything is inside. All classes, cafeteria, office building, library, and all lockers are in one main building.
• Students in the Senior school have spare periods.
• No House system. Everything is done in year level groups.
• At the start of school, the national anthem is played over the speaker system, along with a prayer and the daily notices.
• Students in any Varsity teams are allowed into special rooms during breaks. For example, the Varsity rowing team has a room with two TVs, ping pong table, pool table, and an Xbox and PS2. They are allowed to use the room when ever they aren’t in class.
• Classes are much bigger. There could be 35 or more students in a standard class.

 

So far we have enjoyed ourselves at school. The classes we are taking include: Religion, PE, SOSE, and Art (Stephen)/ Math (Callum). It is really great getting lunch from the cafeteria because they have such a huge selection of hot foods.

 

Life with our host families has been very good. The Lattimer’s are keeping us busy with fun stuff around Ladner (the suburb they live in). As they have three boys at VC, and Mrs. Lattimer works as the Business Manager, there is always some one to help us get around and to talk to in our three spare blocks a day.

 

On Friday Mr. Servais (from our other host family) took us for a hike up Grouse Mountain.  It is a 2.9km hike on a 56% slope. It took us about 90 minutes to reach the summit. At the top there is a huge restaurant and some gift shops. After about half an hour at the top, we took an eight minute gondola (cable car) ride back to the base. There is a large wolf rehabilitation enclosure at the base and we got within two metres of white and black wolves.

 

The weekend saw us relaxing after a hard week at school. On Saturday night we went to Granville Island from dinner at a nice restaurant and walked through the Vancouver Art district. Sunday was filled up with a bike ride around the town and a walk through the arts and craft markets.

 

That’s all for this week.

 

Steve and Callum in Vancouver, Canada.

 

 

Speak with you again next week.
 
Matt and Zach

Howdy 
 
It’s nearing the end of Sunday evening after a long week of new experiences, adventures and excitements. It all started from the long plane trip that took 14 hours from Brisbane to Los Angeles and another 5 hours from Los Angeles to Cincinnati. It was very long and we were thankful that the planes had a great range of movies and TV shows even though they became redundant by the end. We were greeted at Greater Cincinnati Airport by a flag that had a picture of a Kangaroo with our names on it, it was impressive. After meeting all of our American families we were straight into it at a German restaurant that was a replica of the German Hofraugh House. This was where we danced on tables while eating dinner as well as participating in the regular chicken dance, a very new experience to us all, even the Americans.

 

The next night was our Australian party where we threw boomerangs, gridiron balls and played cricket. The Americans were amazed by the boomerang and they could not get enough, even when it got stuck in the tree, the guys tried to climb it and grab it but were unsuccessful. It was a good night to have conversations and know a little more about the American guys; Chad, Adam, Tyler, Mark and Paul. As well as the fact that it was our first experience of American food and let’s just say, it is very different.

 

Tuesday, school started and the first thing that was brought to our attention was the length of the periods, 90 minute periods seem to go forever. The schooling system is very different as they have more international languages as electives as well as Chinese history (it is actually called China, The Sleeping Dragon), US Government and Journalism. The grading system is very useful to the students as it is designed to help students who struggle with exams so everything in the classroom has an important part in the grade, ranging from homework to classroom participation. Our billets, Chad and Adam are at practice every hour of the day as Football is a huge thing here. They live it, breathe it and eat it. They had a convincing win on Saturday which was an awesome experience to see the great facilities they have at their disposal, such as a university stadium which is their home ground. The days are very long because it does not get dark here until 9pm. We are enjoying every bit of this new experience and it has felt like we have been here for a month already. We will talk again next week.

 

All the best.
 
Zach and Matt

Hello from Canada

 

This is the end of our first week in Canada and so far our experiences have been all great. The trip started with a fourteen hour plane trip from Brisbane to Los Angeles last Sunday. The flight passed fairly quickly unlike the seven hour lay over at LAX. We then flew for a further three hours to Vancouver Airport where we were met by the Lattimer family, who were bearing Australian flags. The Lattimer family consists of five boys: Thomas, Sully, Max, Aaron, and Sam, all ranging in age from nineteen through to ten. There is always someone to hang around with, either playing cards or ping pong. Our first night was great as we got to meet the family and we got the low down on their life.

 

After waking up at one in the afternoon on Monday we had a bike tour of Ladner. The small town they live in just outside of Vancouver. We had the Servais family over for dinner (our other host family) and we got to talk to them and introduce ourselves. Tuesday saw us at their version of the Ekka called the PNE. At the PNE there was a 50 year old roller coaster that is made out of wood. It is one of the scariest roller coasters ever as the safety bar doesn’t hold you in at all and it is so steep you could fly out of your seats.

 

We went to the Leisure Centre on Wednesday where there is a hockey rink, a gym, and a big indoor swimming pool. We went for a swim and used the rock climbing wall and the diving board and a big slide. Thursday was a quiet day walking around the town and through some of the shops. It has rained every second day so far so we are confined to the inside. We had a ping pong tournament and we played a lot of cards.

Friday we went with the Servais family over to Vancouver Island. We were picked up in a big black police SUV as Mike Servais is with the Royal Canadian Mountain Police. The ferry over to the Island was exciting as Mike used his sway and we got to go into the wheel house of the ferry and see how it operates. On the Island, we stayed in a huge house in the country out near a lake. Throughout the weekend we went to Victoria Harbour and saw a wooden boat festival and got to walk on some navy ships from the 1950s. We saw the parliament building and some huge hotels. We saw an IMAX movie and went to a huge museum that had very cool themed sections where we learnt about the history of Victoria and all of Canada. On Saturday night we went to a corn roast at a log cabin that backs onto a huge sheltered bay. We went kayaking and we ate buttered corn and had a great time.

 

Sunday morning saw us do a small trek through the forest at the back of the home where we stayed. We saw rabbits, squirrels, deer, and a donkey called Bellamy. We then caught the ferry back to Vancouver and were picked up by Kelly Lattimer. It was a great weekend.

 

We can still look forward to many things. These include: starting school on Wednesday, climbing the Grouse Grind (a mountain), shopping in downtown Vancouver, and we have planned a trip to Whistler on our last weekend.

 

Overall we are having a great time and we are really looking forward to the rest of the trip.

 

Stephen and Callum in Vancouver, Canada.