Burlington, Week One.

Well, a lot has been happening since I arrived here nearly a week ago...

I spent most of sunday unpacking my bags, and getting settled in. I hadn't actually realised how much stuff I had brought, so it took longer than I had expected to get my clothes all put away in the drawers. That afternoon I went out to the supermarket with Terry (my host-dad), to pick up a few things for dinner (or supper, as they call it here). The supermarket was pretty cool, I have to say. It was a lot bigger than New World or Foodtown, and everything was sold in larger amounts than you could normally buy in NZ. One thing I found fascinating, was that every thing there was labelled in bothe English and French! I was very confused at first, as to why a pie was called a 'pie-tarte' instead of just a 'pie'. I did figure it out eventually...
Terry's son and his family came over for dinner, so I got to met them which was lovely, and then their kids Ben (2years old) and Sarah (4months old) stayed the night.

It was nice having the kids around, and we spend Monday playing with them, and watching 'Mickey Mouse' and a Canadian kids show "Toopy and Binoo" - look it up
:P Sandra Strauss from the Burlington North Rotary Club came over in the afternoon, to see how I was doing, and also to drop off some clothes left behind by a previous exchange student, Shauna from Australia. There were mountains of sweaters and hoodies, which I am sure will be great, as it is very very cold here.

On Tuesday I had an appointment at Corpus Christi, the school will be going too. I picked my 'courses': English, History, World Religion, and Drama. I was given a tour around the school, which is three storeys high, but not as big as Howick College. It is only two/three years old, and only about 900 students go there. They have the American lockers!!!I don't actually start school until Monday 8th February,but it was nice to go in and get sorted out.

On Wednesday I got to sleep in, and then in the afternoon Laurie (my host-mum) took me around town. She showed me the swimming pool, the bus stop, and then took me to the Mapleview Mall, one of the biggest in Burlington. It was fun looking around there, as all of their stores are totally different to ours - The Body Shop was the only store I recognised!

Laurie and I drove into Hamilton on Thursday morning to get my school uniform - but when we got there we were told that they don't infact stock Corpus Christi Uniform, and the we needed to go to Oakville - on the other side of Burlington. It wasn't too far however, and I did get to see Hamilton! I was amazed at the choice all the schools have when it comes to uniform!! I could choose from a button up shirt, a formal shirt, or a long sleeved polo shirt, in black or white. There were three types of pants for girls, and a skirt/kilt to choose from (you think Howick had a short skirt...), and then three options when it came it sweaters - a striped rugby jersey was even available! I have the white polo shirt, a pair of pants, a skirt, and a plain sweater.. though it was very hard to choose!
I had 'Kraft Dinner' for lunch, which is one of Laurie's favourites. It is that Macaroni Cheese in a box kinda thing, and while it was nice, the powdered cheese was a little disturbing..
That evening, I got to go Iceskating with Emma, Ashley, Misaki and Jesse, some previous exchange students and their friends! It was lots of fun, and was in an Outdoor rink, something you would never find in New Zealand! I only fell over a few times, and didn't crash into anyone (not too hard, considering we were the only ones on the rink!).

This morning I got to attend my host club's Rotary meeting. They have a breakfast meeting, which started at 7.00, so Terry and I had to leave the house by 6.30 :S, far too early for my liking. However I did enjoy it, and I got to see Misaki (student from Japan) and Emi (soon to be going on an exchange) again, and meet a previous exchange student Connor, who had gone to Equador. I was introduced to lots of the Rotary members who I had only spoken too over email, so it was nice to be able to 'put a face to a name'.

I miss you all,
Sarah
xxx