Si Deane: Christ Church Grammar School 2014

Jacob Lothers and I had the incredible opportunity to become the first students to make the 29 hour flight to the remote city of Perth in Western Australia. This was a brand new exchange.

 I remember standing in Mr. Gioia's office as he read off the list of names of who had the opportunity to go on exchange this year. I heard my name, followed by the school "Christ Church Grammar School, Perth, Western Australia." I became extremely excited. It was always a dream of mine to travel to Australia, but then I became nervous when I remembered that no one had ever been to this school or have even heard of Perth.

This turned out to be one of the greatest trips of my life.

First arriving in Perth

First day we arrived Jacob and I were exhausted from the flight which took us about a day and a half over all. Our host families were waiting for us and we immediately got in the car and went surfing.





















After we went surfing, we had to get to school. I was a boarder, and Jacob was staying with a family. This was my view every morning from the boarding house.

Christ Church Grammar School: a beautiful school located on the Swan River in Western Australia.

I got to play the sport "Footy" while I was in Australia. (It is basically Rugby with no rules). It is the equivalent to American football in Australia. This was my favorite time of the week. We practiced three times a week with games on Saturday.

My Footy Outfit                                   My host family's cousin was Pro Footy player Roy Sloane

                          

The Fremantle Dockers Footy Stadium                            The Fremantle Bazaar

       

I had the opportunity to miss a day of school with the other exchange students and travel to Rottnest Island, home of the Quokka, voted the happiest animal in the world. We got to ride around on bikes, play in the ocean, and explore this incredible island. 

Christ Church was an incredible place. I met many great friends here who I still talk to today.

I became really good friends with the two French and the two South African exchange students as well as countless students at the school.

On my last day at Christ Church, the school wanted me to play a song for the 1,700 students. I met 3 other students at the school, one being a French exchange student who could barley speak any English. We practiced two times the performed "Canon Rock." We received the first standing ovation in CCGS history. Watch the video here.

Jacob and I were lucky enough to spend the last week of our visit in Broom, in the North Western area of Australia. My host family, the Sloane's, owned and lived at one of the nicest resorts in Western Australia, Eco Beach, an hour and a half away from the nearest ambient light, it was the most amazing place I had ever visited. At night, it was so dark that one could see the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy wrap around the Earth. You could not look up for more than 5 minutes without seeing a shooting star

This trip turned out to be one of the greatest experiences of my life. I enjoyed every moment and am very gracious to the Warner family, Mr. Gioia, Montgomery Bell Academy, the Sloane family, and everyone else who helped with this incredible opportunity. I would highly recommend to any rising senior to take advantage of this amazing time.