Michaelhouse, Jordan Rosdeutscher

I was honored to receive the exchange to Michaelhouse in Hilton, South Africa for the summer. It was a great experience and one that not many people are able to have. While I was there, i met some great people like my host family, the Prices. Mr and Mrs Price are working to put different stores and restaurants at the train station in Santon, the business district of Johannesburg. Sean-Michael and his older brother Ryan treated me like one of the family. By the end of the exchange, i didn't want to leave.

Me in the Johannesburg airport after the 16 hour flight

After the Prices picked me up in Johannesburg, they took me to their farm about a 4 hours outside of the city. Here, Sean-Michael and I ran around and did all sorts of things. We went for a little (2 hour long) hike through the hillside of the farm where I saw some pretty amazing landscape.

 
From the farm, the Price's took me to Kruger National Park. Kruger Park is one of the largest game parks in Africa. It is larger than England, from what Mr. Price told me. I saw some things i never before thought i would see. I was like a little kid in a candy store with all the animals.

Lioness standing between the cars at Kruger

After the trip to Kruger, we went back to Johannesburg. The next day, we went to the airport so i could fly to Durban. There was one slight problem. I ended up getting bumped from the original flight and had to take a later one. It all worked out though. I landed in Durban only an hour later than i would have originally. Here i met up with Davis and my second host family. Matt, my host brother, was a really cool guy. With them, we went to the beach and a second game park called Pindah. Pindah was fun because it was guided game drives as opposed to our driving ourself in Kruger. Everything was much nicer also. We only stayed for a day though.

African Rock Python sitting in a tree

After a goodnights sleep in Pindah and an exciting morning of driving away the monkey who tried to steal Davis's shoe, we drove back to Durban to get ready to head off to Michaelhouse. We arrived at Michaelhouse on Monday. I had no uniform at the time and being surrounded by everyone else wearing coat and tie was a little intimidating. It all worked out though. My roommate, Jono, was a very cool guy. He showed me the ropes of Michaelhouse. I probably owe him a lot of money since i ate so much of his food, but he did offer it to me.

Statue of the Arch Angle Michael at Michaelhouse

There was one final trip to a game park. The school organized this one and it was with the other Michaelhouse exchange students and the exchange students of the sister school. There were 2 boys from Australia and 1 from New Zealand. All of the girls were from Australia. It was fun to hang out with them and get to know them, even though Davis and I were out numbered by a lot.

Davis chilling at the game park

This was the trip of a life time and one that I have been looking forward to since i was a little seventh grader. I had so much fun and I'm looking forward to seeing Sean-Michael and Matt when they come to MBA. Thank you so much to Mr. Gioia and Mrs. Warner for this amazing trip.

Petting a Cheetah

The Exchange Students