Schoolio...

Hi there!
Believe it or not, as of this Wednesday, it has been 3 weeks since I left New Zealand, and as of this Saturday, 3 weeks that I have been in Canada. 1/17 of my year!!! This is unbelievable; the time seems to have gone so fast! I am being sure to keep busy, as that distracts me from all you awesome people back home. So, even since last Sunday I have been busy….
On Sunday the 7th February, the SuperBowl was played. Misaki and her host-sisters invited me over to their house to watch the game along with a couple of friends. As a New Zealand girl, I had no idea what the SuperBowl was. It came as quite a shock to me to see how worked up over it people were getting. It turns out that the SuperBowl is one of the biggest North American sporting events of the year, and is an American Football match. This year the Colts and the Saints had made it into the finals, and while everyone was sure that the Colts would win, the Saints pulled their game together, and won! However, despite watching the game, I still don’t have any idea how it is played, so if you want any more detail than that, Wikipedia it. It was really interesting watching the game, and the halftime show was awesome - The Who played, and they put on a fantastic show. After watching that, we all watched Madagascar on DVD, I am sure that every time I watch it I love it a little bit more. <3 King Julian…
Then, on Monday I had my first day at school. I had forgotten just how terrifying would be, starting at a school where I knew no-one. But, as always, it turned out that I had nothing to fear. Everyone was really nice, and I think that I will really enjoy all of my classes. School here is rather odd though, only 4 classes per semester, and the same schedule, with all 4 classes, everyday. Each class is about 1hour and 20mins, which is a long time (esp. in religion)! I have my first three classes all in a row, and then I have about 40mins off for lunch, before I go to my fourth class. School starts at 8.10 in the morning – I know, torture! However it ends at 2.20, which isn’t so bad.
I have World History first period, with Miss Ianni. She seems like a fantastic teacher, and so far I am really enjoying her class. Second period is Drama. While it is relatively fun, it is nothing compared to Howick’s drama department! I do miss all you Year11 Drama kids! Third period I have English, with Ms Sarjas. At the moment we are looking at short stories (believe it or not, I prefer Sonnets!?!), and ways in which you can interpret them. Apparently we will be moving onto a novel study of ‘Catcher in the Rye’ later in the semester, which is apparently a quintessential Canadian book. First comes Love, then comes Marriage, then comes LUNCH! Ok, so maybe just lunch on its own. They have a cafeteria where we eat, but you are allowed to leave the school grounds to eat if you want. Meaning that if you live across the road, or have a car, you can do what you want. Apparently you can buy food there, but I have been taking my own lunch – Cheese and Marmite (have to represent NZ) sandwiches. I know, shock horror, a normal lunch. Sorry guys, no cornflakes and coconut (yet). I am really enjoying my sandwiches, though it is a vague reminder of Singapore, processed cheese on white bread… Anyway, fourth period is World Religion. I started off in Mr Eves’ class, but as there were too many people in the class I have been transferred to Mr Macdonald’s class. So far all we have studied is Christianity, and Mr Macdonald is a devout Christian, making us pray from the bible before each class. Then, after school I catch the 11 bus to the Appleby station, before transferring to the 10 West, and catching that bus all the way home.
On Tuesday, Mille (a Danish Exchange Student) and her Host Father picked me up from school, and took me and Misaki back to their house. When we got there we had Ice Cream and Cookies ( =D ) for afternoon tea, before her host parents drove us into a restaurant to meet us with the Exchange Students for Kricia’s (from Brazil) 18th Birthday. We met at the Mandarin, a restaurant that has Chinese style food, as a buffet. Mille was very excited to be a part of my first ‘Mandarin Experience’ – apparently it is her favourite place to eat. We had lots of fun there, although I ate a lot – it’s surprising that I didn’t explode, and spray my organs all over the room! In the evening Misaki’s host sister Ashley picked us up, and dropped me home. The evening was heaps of fun, and I enjoyed seeing everyone again.
Since then, I have just been settling into a school routine. Corpus Christi has their ‘semi-formal’ tonight, a school dance. I didn’t hear about it until Tuesday, by which point it was too late to get tickets etc. This is quite a shame but apparently this is not their major dance; ‘Prom’ and other dances are still coming up, so I haven’t missed out entirely.
Anyway, time for dinner now (steak – om nom nom).
I miss you all,
Sarah.
xxx