Our host family, the Baus
Week 1: We arrived in Johannesburg late August 10th after a grueling 25 hours of travel in preparation for our exchange at Michaelhouse. One of our host families, the Baus, greeted us at the airport and took us to their house outside of Johannesburg. Both the Baus and our other host family, the Ramsays, welcomed us into their homes and gave us a glimpse into South African life during our first week. Some interesting activities that we got experience in this first week included The Lion Park outside of Johannesburg, the Apartheid Museum, a city tour of Johannesburg on a double-decker bus, an exotic marketplace in the inner city of Johannesburg, and FNB stadium, the 2010 World Cup final stadium. Some South African food we tried that we really enjoyed included biltong, koeksusters and milk tart.
Weeks 2-4: After a great week of introduction in “Joburg” with our host families, we rose early on the 16th to drive 5 hours out of the province of Gauteng and into the KwaZulu-Natal midlands, where lies Michaelhouse school, our home for the next three weeks. Upon arrival, we were amazed by the school’s main facade’s striking similarity to that of a castle. The first night, only a few hours after our arrival, we had to attend chapel in our traveling clothes, which made us stand out in the sea of black coats, a part of Michaelhouse “Number 1’s,” or their nicest uniform reserved for coming/leaving campus, chapel, and special events. The next day, we got outfitted for all our uniforms, including the sport uniform, the day uniform, the cold clothes that can be worn over the sport uniform, and of course the “Number 1’s.” We also got our fingerprints scanned to get in and out of buildings and got our new Michaelhouse clothes washed. Now set as Michaelhouse students, we blended in nicely and began to make friends with the students close to our exchange partners. Zach was in Pascoe house, boarding with fellow C blockers, the Sophomore equivalent, while Joel stayed in Farfield house with B blockers, the Junior equivalent. Both of us were in 2 person rooms, and both liked our roommates. While Joel enjoyed a nice view from his 4th floor window, he had to travel down and then back up 3 floors just to use the bathroom or shower. Both of us by the end of the trip came to love our houses and were very sad to leave.
In our Number 1's
That second day was also the first day of sports. Since we came at the beginning of the Term, (Quarter) that day was soccer tryouts. Since hundreds of kids were trying out for 23 total teams across 4 age groups, we were easily lost in the crowd. This resulted in a 5th team finish for each of us, which ended of being a really fun group. Their fixtures for soccer occur each Saturday morning, so we got to play our first week. Zach was asked to play up to 4th team for a half as a test, and he didn’t disappoint. In just 15 minutes, he both contributed an assist and broke his wrist. This was devastating at the time, but looking back, it wasn’t too bad. Zach got a glimpse of the South African hospital system, which wasn’t as bad as expected. Within an hour of the break, I was back on campus in a cast and a sling. The wrist made boarding life much more difficult, especially with uniforms that include buttons, ties, zippers, belts, and shoelaces. Thankfully, Zach had Joel to cut his food and tie his ties.
Joel at the Michaelhouse game reserve
During school days, we would attend the classes we want or just follow around a friend. We visited a wide range of classes including math, economics, geography, English, biology, and of course Afrikaans, the class which we visited the most. On Mondays, there was an assembly that was extremely similar to that of our school, with students, faculty, and guests all speaking. After classes we would either attend our sports practice or go up into Michaelhouse’s private game reserve, property bordering the campus that extends up into the mountains. From the top of the mountain, you could overlook the campus as well as spot zebra, monkeys, and serval roaming the high grass. Afterward, we would go to the tuckshop, their version of the snack bar, to load up on tuck for the night. Then, we rushed back each day as did all on the race for the showers. Later, we had to put the day uniform back on for dinner before we returned to the dorms for 3 hours of prep, what they call homework. After that, our day ended with time to brush teeth before we sleep.
Boarding meant that we were eating 3 meals a day at the school. We quickly realized how nice MBA’s dining hall is as well as the food selection is in comparison. We are both very excited for MBA lunches once school starts.
Nambiti Game Reserve: On our last weekend at the school, we got to go on leave to the Nambiti game reserve and N’Daka Lodge about 2 hours from Michaelhouse. We went with the other exchange students from Michaelhouse, 2 of whom were from Australia, and one who was from Scotland. We also met other exchange students from St. Annes, Michaelhouse sister school. We arrived at Nambiti on a Saturday afternoon and immediately left to go on our first game drive. These game drives were 3 hours long, which at first seems long, but getting to see a myriad of wild animals, in addition to seeing the beautiful sunrise and sunset, made the long drive worth it. On our first drive, we saw mostly giraffe and zebra, while also encountering a pack of elephants that gave us a brief scare when about 20 of them aggressively approach us, although our guide reassured us that it was just a result of their momentum taking them down the hill.
We did not get much sleep that night, as we arose Sunday morning at 5:30 to go on our next drive. While it was quite early and also quite cold, we got to see the sunrise, which reminded us of the opening scenes of The Lion King. The goal of our next two drives was to see the entire Big 5, which includes lion, water buffalo, rhino, elephant and leopard. We got lucky, seeing all 5 of these animals on Sunday. In addition to these animals we saw many others, ranging from hippo to kudu to warthog.
After a long day Sunday, we woke up again early Monday to go on our last drive. The highlight of this drive was definitely having a lion walk right by our vehicle, so close that we could have reached out and touched it. Nambiti and N’Daka lodge was an awesome was to end our time in South Africa, and definitely will be remembered as one of the highlights of our trip.
Us with the Pascoe boys
Final Days: After returning from Nambiti, we had a few days left before we began our journey back home. These days were difficult, as we had to say leave the people that we formed friendships with during our trip. On our last day, our friends gave both of us South African flags that everyone signed so we would remember our trip. The soccer team we played with also got us jerseys that they all signed. These gifts will be great ways for us to remember our trip for a long time.
Thank You: Thank you to the Warner Family, Mrs. Scholer, Dr. Gioia, our parents, our host families and all of the “good oaks” in South Africa for making this trip possible. We had a great time, and will not soon forget the memories made during our time at Michaelhouse.
In our Number 1's
That second day was also the first day of sports. Since we came at the beginning of the Term, (Quarter) that day was soccer tryouts. Since hundreds of kids were trying out for 23 total teams across 4 age groups, we were easily lost in the crowd. This resulted in a 5th team finish for each of us, which ended of being a really fun group. Their fixtures for soccer occur each Saturday morning, so we got to play our first week. Zach was asked to play up to 4th team for a half as a test, and he didn’t disappoint. In just 15 minutes, he both contributed an assist and broke his wrist. This was devastating at the time, but looking back, it wasn’t too bad. Zach got a glimpse of the South African hospital system, which wasn’t as bad as expected. Within an hour of the break, I was back on campus in a cast and a sling. The wrist made boarding life much more difficult, especially with uniforms that include buttons, ties, zippers, belts, and shoelaces. Thankfully, Zach had Joel to cut his food and tie his ties.
Joel at the Michaelhouse game reserve
During school days, we would attend the classes we want or just follow around a friend. We visited a wide range of classes including math, economics, geography, English, biology, and of course Afrikaans, the class which we visited the most. On Mondays, there was an assembly that was extremely similar to that of our school, with students, faculty, and guests all speaking. After classes we would either attend our sports practice or go up into Michaelhouse’s private game reserve, property bordering the campus that extends up into the mountains. From the top of the mountain, you could overlook the campus as well as spot zebra, monkeys, and serval roaming the high grass. Afterward, we would go to the tuckshop, their version of the snack bar, to load up on tuck for the night. Then, we rushed back each day as did all on the race for the showers. Later, we had to put the day uniform back on for dinner before we returned to the dorms for 3 hours of prep, what they call homework. After that, our day ended with time to brush teeth before we sleep.
Boarding meant that we were eating 3 meals a day at the school. We quickly realized how nice MBA’s dining hall is as well as the food selection is in comparison. We are both very excited for MBA lunches once school starts.
Nambiti Game Reserve: On our last weekend at the school, we got to go on leave to the Nambiti game reserve and N’Daka Lodge about 2 hours from Michaelhouse. We went with the other exchange students from Michaelhouse, 2 of whom were from Australia, and one who was from Scotland. We also met other exchange students from St. Annes, Michaelhouse sister school. We arrived at Nambiti on a Saturday afternoon and immediately left to go on our first game drive. These game drives were 3 hours long, which at first seems long, but getting to see a myriad of wild animals, in addition to seeing the beautiful sunrise and sunset, made the long drive worth it. On our first drive, we saw mostly giraffe and zebra, while also encountering a pack of elephants that gave us a brief scare when about 20 of them aggressively approach us, although our guide reassured us that it was just a result of their momentum taking them down the hill.
We did not get much sleep that night, as we arose Sunday morning at 5:30 to go on our next drive. While it was quite early and also quite cold, we got to see the sunrise, which reminded us of the opening scenes of The Lion King. The goal of our next two drives was to see the entire Big 5, which includes lion, water buffalo, rhino, elephant and leopard. We got lucky, seeing all 5 of these animals on Sunday. In addition to these animals we saw many others, ranging from hippo to kudu to warthog.
After a long day Sunday, we woke up again early Monday to go on our last drive. The highlight of this drive was definitely having a lion walk right by our vehicle, so close that we could have reached out and touched it. Nambiti and N’Daka lodge was an awesome was to end our time in South Africa, and definitely will be remembered as one of the highlights of our trip.
Us with the Pascoe boys
Final Days: After returning from Nambiti, we had a few days left before we began our journey back home. These days were difficult, as we had to say leave the people that we formed friendships with during our trip. On our last day, our friends gave both of us South African flags that everyone signed so we would remember our trip. The soccer team we played with also got us jerseys that they all signed. These gifts will be great ways for us to remember our trip for a long time.
Thank You: Thank you to the Warner Family, Mrs. Scholer, Dr. Gioia, our parents, our host families and all of the “good oaks” in South Africa for making this trip possible. We had a great time, and will not soon forget the memories made during our time at Michaelhouse.
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