Eton College Exchange 2018

Introduction

My interest in the Eton exchange began when my good friend, Joe Spear, was abroad on his exchange at Eton. He spoke very highly of it, and the differences between MBA and Eton, that he mentioned, were very intriguing to me. Joe was a great help to me when writing my application for the Eton exchange, as he gave me in-depth details about his experiences at Eton College, which were much more valuable than anything I could possibly find on the school's website itself; however, the information on Eton's website was not lack-luster. Founded in 1440 by King Henry VI, Eton College has housed many famous people, such as Winston Churchill, Prince Harry and William, Bear Grylls, George Orwell, and former PM, David Cameron.

The yard in front of my math building

School Yard

The chapel (right building)

Academics

While at Eton College, I took German, Economics, Biology, and Math. Both the schedule and the way the classes were taught were a bit unusual to me. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, school ended from 5:10 to 6:00pm, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays, school ended at lunch, which was at 1:15pm. Eton uses a rotating schedule, which was much better than I thought it would be. German class took a little time to get used to, as it was much different than what we do at MBA. German was broken up into two separate classes, Culture/Film and Grammar/Vocab. Both of these classes were taught largely in English, which came as a surprise to me, as I am used to only being allowed to speak in German at MBA. The way math was taught was also very different from how it is taught at MBA. The reason the class was just called math was because it covered a multitude of subjects. I learned Calculus, Statistics, and some Algebra. Even though the classes were a bit different, I had a great deal of fun in them. The teachers were fantastic people and very passionate in the way they taught.

Extra-Curriculars

Since Eton allowed us so much time during our day, there were a lot of different activities that we could do. The boys in the Manor house invited me to play Field game with them. Field game is a game that was created at Eton and is like a mixture between soccer and rugby. Everyone told me that there were too many rules to Field game, and the seniors told me that they didn't even fully understand the game after having been at Eton for 5 years. Although the rules were a little complicated, Field game was a lot of fun, because we looked like a bunch of fools chasing a ball. Another fantastic activity I did was Beagling. Beagling is an activity in which you set a trail using a cloth, soaked in fox urine and attached to a string. There are many students whose jobs were to keep the pack of beagles from straying off from the trail. Another exchange student from Boston and I just watched everyone. After a couple of hours, we went back to the bus we took to go beagling, had a snack, and headed back to school. Just like MBA, Eton had a great deal of speakers come. I was fortunate to listen to some fantastic speakers. I heard a Senior Michelin Star Inspector speak about the whole process behind Michelin Stars and their restaurant list. David Cameron came and spoke as well, which was an amazing experience. He spoke about Brexit, immigration in the UK, and his experience as the prime minister.

The pack of beagles that were lead on the trail

My Travels

During my school break, my father flew out to London, and we visited London and Edinburgh. At first, we visited museums and other touristy places in London, but we later went to an extremely anticipated soccer match. My dad was able to get us tickets to see the Arsenal vs. Tottenham game at Wembley stadium, which was awesome to say the least. The stadium was packed, and the fans were chanting an array of cheers they had specifically for both teams. The energy in the stadium made the match much more enjoyable. After we finished our time in London, we took a train to Edinburgh to explore a bit of our family history, as my grandmother is from a small town just outside of the city. We went to see the Six Nations game of France vs. Scotland the next day. I got the full Scottish experience there: below 0 degree weather and an environment full of rowdy, drunken Scots. The next day we went to the town where my grandmother lived, Tyninghame.

The Arsenal vs. Tottenham game

Tyninghame house, where my grandmother lived

View of the coast at Tyninghame

My Takeaway

My exchange to Eton was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Getting to learn about about life in England and at one of the greatest schools in the UK was an amazing experience, as I am thinking about going to the UK to pursue my career. I cannot thank the Warner family, Mr. Gioia, Dr. Boyd, and Mrs. Scholer enough for giving me this opportunity. I greatly appreciate their generosity and help in setting up my exchange.

Michaelhouse Exchange

Michaelhouse Exchange - KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa - Joel Elasy and Zach Garfinkel



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.

Christ Church Grammar School Exchange 2018

Flight over

We started our trip with an enormously long journey to Perth, Australia. We left Nashville on a Friday afternoon and arrived LA at night. We spent several hours hanging out in the International terminal and eating PF Changs. We left LA at midnight at tried our best to sleep for the first few hours of our flight. We were able to finish several movies on our flight and spent time discussing our excitement for our adventure ahead. We landed in Melbourne around six in the morning and rushed to our next gate. We were held up for a while in customs but were finally able to make it through. We were very tired on our final flight but were served a very nice in-flight meal. Our host families were able to greet us at our gates and welcomed us to the country. We spent the rest of our day relaxing around the house and getting over our jet lag. Both of our families took us sight seeing around the city and we made sure to stay up late that night to get over our jet lag.

School Experiences 

At Christ Church Grammar School, we were year ten students and spent the day taking sophomore classes. Our classes included Marine Science, Design and Technology, Psychological and Spiritual Development, PE, Sport Science, and other core curriculum. At CCGS, it is a block schedule and all classes are 50 minutes long. Everyday we brought our own lunches and would eat in the quad since there was no formal dining hall. Two days a week we would attend rugby practice after school at their training facility. We were a part of the year 10 team and played in two games. Our American football experience lead us to be star players on their team. 

Home Experiences

Both of us had the privilege to stay with kind and open families. Joe had three host brothers and would spend time playing xbox with them at night. They also had two smaller dogs named bobby and billy. Joe's host mom would make delicious dinners every night and we would discuss our days at the dinner table. Alex had two host brothers and a host sister. We would spend most of our time throwing the football or walking around the neighborhood. Also, the whole family loved learning about American gun laws, Trump, and life in America during dinner conversations. 

Week 1

We spent week 1 adjusting to our new schedule and battling jet lag. We were both able to experience the Perth Zoo and see the deadly wild animals that roam Australia and the countries surrounding Australia. We saw a multitude of animals, including kangaroos, koalas, dingoes, quokkas, tigers, and kookaburras.  Joe's host family took him to their beef farm outside Perth. There he was able to experience the Australian country side. On Thursday nights. Alex's family went to the Rugby club and would eat dinner there.  

Week 2

During this week, Alex and Joe would spend afternoons exploring downtown Perth. We also attended rugby practice to prepare for the games the following week. We took the bus and train around Perth to see the sights. While exploring, we discovered a delicious sushi restaurant in the middle of downtown. That weekend we watched the state of origin rugby game at Alex's host families house Also, we played a rugby match that weekend. 

Week 3

This week was probably our busiest.  We both had tests and themes in school.  Also, we went to a footy match and watched the West Coast Eagles versus the Essen-don Jets.  On the weekend, Joe and Alex went to Joe's family's farm in Yallingup, which is about three hours south of Perth. At the farm we enjoyed feeding large shire horses and billy goats. We also went canoeing in their pond before traveling to the beaches in Busselton and walked on the longest jetty in the Southern hemisphere.  Finally, we took the ferry to a nearby island called Rottsnest, which is in inhabited by quokkas.  

First off, we would like to thank the Warner Family, Mr. Gioia, and Mrs. Scholer for giving us the opportunity to go on this life changing experience. We loved every minute of our trip and will remember it for the rest of our lives. 

Lindisfarne College Exchange Blog

Lindisfarne College Exchange by Jackson Link and Ian Hall

First we would like to thank the Warners, Mr. Gioia, Mrs. Scholer, and the school for giving us the spectacular experience.

After skipping an entire day when we crossed the international date line, we arrived in Napier and met our exchange hosts. The first thing we did when we went home is turn on the test rugby match between the All-blacks vs France. We both were very exhausted and barely made it through the explanation of how the sport works. That Monday we went to school where we discovered a school with some similarities and many differences than MBA. The boys had a tight brotherhood similar to MBA and supported their friends in "exchanges" where they played multiple sports against the same school. We were able to practice Rugby and Ian was able to play in a game.




On the weekends and over our school holiday we were able to travel to places such as Wellington Rotorua, and Lake Taupo. In Wellington, we toured around the wellington visited Te papa the national museum of New Zealand. In Rotorua, Jackson went Luge racing, ATV Riding, and Geothermal Spring touring while Ian was also able to see a sheep show and a Maori cultural presentation.

Finally, we again would like to thank the Warners, Mr. Gioia, and the school for this life-changing opportunity. We also would like to thank our host families for opening their homes to us and making us feel comfortable and like we were at home. The memories and friendships we made at Lindisfarne will never be forgotten.

The Southport School 2018

Week 1: We arrived in Southport, Australia with only four weeks to experience everything the country had to offer. It was July 16 around 8 a.m. when we arrived at the school. We were exhausted after the grueling 22 hour travel day, but thanks to a nearby coffee shop we were able to stay awake for the day. After arriving, we were given a quick tour of The Southport School until it was time for us to select our classes for the month. We both took a variety of classes including: accounting, economics, business management, legal studies, and art. We were then taken to be introduced to our new home, the Thorold Boarding House. The day after arriving, we immediately got introduced to an Australian University, Griffith University. We got to go with our new economics class to an economic seminar hosted by the university. The remaining part of the school week consisted of getting adjusted to boarding school life, meeting new friends, and sitting in on our new classes. Next came the weekend. On Friday night, we visited a nearby beach with some of our new friends. Saturday, we watched the school rugby team dominate at home and the basketball team play a close game. Sunday, we visited a massive shopping mall downtown known as the Pacific Fair.

The Nimmo building                                                                       The Pacific Fair


Week 2: By the second week, we began to get into the routine of classes. Along with normal classes we would occasionally be taught bout how to avoid fake news, as well as leadership lessons in a class they called "life and faith". After school we would typically go to nearby shops and restaurants with friends. Our favorite spot to hang out became Pizza Hut where lots of the students would go. After a week of listening in on the fascinating classes, the weekend finally arrived. Friday night was another night down by the beach; however, before going we grabbed dinner and explored downtown Surfer's Paradise. On Saturday, there was no home rugby game, but we still got to see the basketball game. Later, that afternoon, we went to a different shopping mall called the "Australia Fair" where we went to go see a movie with the boys. The following day was spent mostly at Movie World, a popular attraction of the Gold Coast, where we got to ride some insane roller-coasters.

Movie World

Week 3: Week three was different from most school weeks. We started the week taking leave from school on Monday to check out the local Wildlife Sanctuary. We saw lots of new and exotic animals that we had never seen before like, koalas and kangaroos. The next couple of days we spent attending school regularly until Friday. Friday, we took leave off school again, this time to visit the Burleigh Head National Park. While there, we hiked trails through one of the last remaining forests in Australia that sits on a beach. After a long hike, we spent the rest of our afternoon in the boarding house. The next day was our last Saturday of the trip. To celebrate, we spent the night at a friend's house who lived nearby after the rugby game. On Sunday, we took it easy and stayed at boarding house with friends.


                                            Wildlife Sanctuary

Burleigh Head National Park

Week 4: We began our final week with one last excursion. This time we visited Gold Coast's Sea World. We got to see even more animals here including a native tiny species of penguins, polar bears, and dolphins. Our favorite part was the dolphin show. The rest of our week leading up to our departure on Friday morning was full of final goodbyes with all the new friends we made. We would like to thank Mrs. Scholar, Mr. Gioia, the Warner Family, and all those at TSS that showed us so much hospitality throughout our stay. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. Oath.


World's smallest species of penguin

Winchester College 2018

We departed Charlotte International Airport a few days after graduation. After an eight hour flight, we finally landed at Heathrow airport in London. Upon our landing in England, we were picked up by a driver and were taken to Winchester College, which was an hours drive from London. Once the both of us arrived in Winchester, we were dropped of at our respective boarding houses, Marshall at Cook's located centrally in town, and Tillman at the historic college located on Winchester's campus.
The city itself was amazing. Winchester itself is a relatively small town that was once the capital of England in the 9th century. The high street, the scaled down equivalent to Nashville's Broadway, was filled with local shops, monuments, and a statue of King Alfred the Great at the end of the street.

For exeat, a long weekend giving the students an opportunity to go home, we were fortunate enough to be invited home with our different families for the weekend.
Marshall stayed with the Czartoryski-Bruseth family, who had a home in Sherfield English close to Winchester and a home in South London. He spent the first day of exeat at the families home in the country where he was able to explore the area and play air-soft and cricket with his host Stan. After a day at their home in the countryside, he went with them to their home in London. In London, his host showed him around the city, stopping by parliament, the royal palace, and China Town.



                               
                                                 At Stan's Home in the Country                               

Tillman went to stay in London with his friend Tele Agusto from College. Tele had an apartment in Paddington, and he took Tillman around the city to the iconic sites. They also watched a lot of the World Cup and visited Damola, another boy from their boarding house.

We both took English, Philosophy/Theology, and Div. Div is a class in which the don (teacher) in charge could choose the subject material. In Tillman's Div, they talked about the use of narcotics to fuel the war in the Middle East. In Marshall's Div, they talked about fragmentation in certain literature such as Shakespeare's "King Lear". Marshall also took French, and Tillman took Art History.

The day started at 8:45 each day, and each class was only 35 minutes. The schedule was different everyday, and the classes were often in blocks of two such as double English. Free periods were called bookies, and during them the students could study in the library or their dorms. Lunch was at 1:00 everyday, and teachers would often eat with the students. Lunch was served in each boarding house. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, the day ended after lunch, but on other days besides Sunday, there were afternoon lessons until 4:00. After school got out, the students could go to sports. Tillman played with the cricket team, and Marshall rowed with the school team and tried cricket. After sports, tea was at six, which was dinner.

Near the end of every school year, there is a school wide event called "Winchester Match". It is a showcasing of the school, its clubs, and sports teams. Parents of the students are allowed to come and see their children participate in their sports whether it be cricket, football (soccer), or rowing. The boarding houses are also open for parents to visit. The lunch at the houses was lavish. There were large buffets with a variety of selections for the students and parents.

We would like to thank the Warner family, Mrs. Scholer, and Mr. Gioia for giving us this amazing opportunity to go on exchange at Winchester College.

Hutchins 2018 (John Curry and Jackson Lyell)

-John-After a twenty two hour flight, Jackson and I arrived in Hobart, Tasmania. I found the the cool breeze and brisk air a refreshing change of pace. My host mother Helen greeted me with a warm hug and a lengthy apology for the length of the flight. She then told me I cannot rest or I will feel the pain of jet lag (I did anyway) . Helen first drove me to a zoo with native Tasmanian animals where I braved feeding emus, a camel named Huey, and a zebra named Beyonce. After the excursion, we went to the home. At the time, I did not know I was about to have the most enjoyable experiences. I met my host brother Simon who turned out to be a reminder of myself. He had a major cyclist and comedian as a father, an intellectual for a mother, an international jewler for a sister, and two brothers making it on their own dime. To top it off, I stayed with a Japanese school teacher named Ayaka.
On the first full day, the whole family and I went the isle of dogs. It was a beach full of bashful pups and beautiful views. Later on we traveled an hour to Cygnat to see Helen's mother and off to Eggs and Bacon bay. I fondly remember riding in the car while listening to loud music with a full car of people and the father, Tom, driving around windy roads as if it were Mario kart. The conversations comparing Australian and American government and social values. These conversations gave me tru insight into the mind of one who lives in Tassie. I was surrounded by smiles and cynical jokes(my favorite). The people made the trip for me.


-Jackson-After arriving in Tasmania, my host family welcomed me to their home with a steak dinner. After taking a nap to get over the jet lag, my host brother Noah and I went to the weekly farmer's market called Salamanca. Following the cultural market, my host parents drove me to the top of Mount Wellington where I experienced the best view of my life. John and I both traveled to an odd museum called Mona which had a sole purpose of being contrary to societal norms. Within the first week, I had tried all new foods including veggie mite, tim tams, and wallaby. Since I arrived during the holiday break, school did not begin for a few days. After a few days of traveling and site seeing around Tassie, I enrolled in the Hutchins School where I would take Physical Science, Psychology, English, Computer Graphic and Design, and Sports Science. After my first week of school and seeing the beauty of the geography where I was living, I had immersed myself in a new culture and had gotten to know the members of my host family better than before.

View of The Hutchin's School campus

Our most memorable time in Tasmania was undoubtedly on Bruny Island. We took a ferry over to the island with the car. Simon had a previous engagements and the trip only consisted on Helen, Tom, Ayaka, and myself. We first visited a place to try fresh caramel, coffee, and cheese (they love their cheese). However, more importantly it was my first time trying kangaroo. My mouth watered at the first taste. I can understand why it is such high demand in Tassie. We found a grill and went to work. The first aspect I noticed was the water. It was green. The view felt as if it came from a movie. After the gourmet meal, we traversed the beach that did not have a walkway into a cove. After perfectly timed jumps, we made it to the serene area where Captain Hook allegedly visited. We became makeshift mountain climbers to avoid the impending tide. We then found the view of a lifetime, seeing all of the water that lay before us. Lastly, we traveled to a lighthouse on Bruny Island that overlooked the ocean and the cliffs that ride upon the coast of Tasmania.

Ayaka and I enjoying a view

Coastal Cliffs from Lighthouse

Our lovely trip came to a quite eventful end in the form of a going away get together. The last day of school consisted of an athletics carnival where I ran a 3000m race for my house. However, the night brought the most joy. I felt a exceptionally strong rapport with the guys I had befriended through singing Country Roads at the top of our lungs and screaming song lyrics at each other. We feel that the personal connections made during our time made it as amazing as it was. We thank the Warner family for providing us with such a remarkable opportunity to immerse ourselves in an entirely different culture!

Remarkable Cave

The boys