1973 School Magazine

bled together before leaving for their own countries. A part of us went with them, as does a part of them remain within us. So it is for all the bonds of friend- ship established which made our year so real, even though now, we 3{g fe!-arated by such long distances' Amanda Greaves was attending the Waterloo Col- legiate lnstitute, the high school in Waterloo, a town 75 miles West of Toronto. "As far as teaching goes, schools here are similar to those at home. There are five years of high school (Grades 9 to 13). I'd say that probably, year for year, the standards just about correlate. tr've been doing exams all this week (1% hours each) and the standard of those has been fairly similar - maybe not quite as difficult. The credits obtainable are comprised partly of term assessment, and partly of exam results. If a student obtains over 60% during the year in a subject then he doesn't have to sit for the final exam in that subject. Discipline in all the classes I take is very good - there is much freer conversation during the lesson between students and teacher. One thing I notice is how very seldom we see the headmaster (some students never see him during their entire five years at school, I'm told!). There are no morning assemblies and prayers and notices are given by a student over the loud speaker system (a different student reads these each week). X wear jeans to school, in fact I rangq from wearing my blue crimplene suit with skirt and stockings, to wearing my blue jeans and teeshirt. So you can see that anything goes! Yesterday afternoon, I went snowmobiling with Connie O'Neil, a friend from school - and I don't think I've ever had a more terrifying experience in all my life! The snowmobile is like alarge dodgem car whichis straddled rather than sat in, with skis attached to the bottom. We went careering around in the snow on some slopes at the back of her place, and I thought my heart would stop with the sensation of speed (only about 30 m.p.h. - but it seemed like 100), the feeling of unprotectedness, and the horror of hitting humps and turning sharp corners. But it was an experience, nevertheless ! " With the beginning of the new academic year, she is taking two subjects, French and History of Drama, at a Canadian University. Jo-Ann Wood has now been in Japan for over nine months and it is more and more obvious with each letter or tape that she is very much in love with Japan and its people. With little or no knowledge of language or customs stre started off very carefully but her host 'parents' were most understanding. One of their sons had been in America for a few months as an exchange student. and had a working knowledge of English. He is a year younger than Jo-Ann and welcomed the opportunity to improve his own conversation. Her home is in Ishioka which is 60 miles north of Tokyo and (she quotes) "On arrival everyone stopped and stared as I walked by, one poor woman nearly fell off her bike. I was most embarrassed. However, now that I am known in the town everyone goes out of their way to be helpful."

t-Fr.e-r.scets Nenxvg [n August, tr972 Wendy Fage and Val Brownlie went for a year as A.F.S. students to California. At the end of 1.972, Amanda Greaves won a Rotary Scholarsirip to Canada, Jo-Ann Wood and Carolyn'sandercoe Rotary Scholarships to Japan, and Robin Mackay, and Ma{orie Mantle Rotary Scholar' ships to U.S.A. Here is some news of their doings:- VAg,, AND WENDV'S VE,AR. W[T'F{ A.F'.S. M{TER.- NATIONAT. Before we left Australia we were told our year would be an experience and what a positive, exciting, challenging and rewarding one it was. Both our place- ments were in California and although only 160 miles apart, our communities differed greatly. Valerie: Home for me was a 2O0 acre apple ranch, 4000 ft. up in the scenic Sierras and i5 miles from the El Dorado High School, Flacerville, "a town awaiting its second gold rush." El Dorado County is close to the U.S.Als largest Ski Ranch at Fleavenly Valley, Lake Tahoe and the famous casinos of Reno, which are all in some of the most beautifutr country of the U.S. This is "where it happened for m9," where people told me that I "sure picked up English quick," where I was told that kangaroos act as shopping baskets and are our chief means of transport, where faces changed to disbelief as tr told them that they drove on the wrong side of the road, where coke and root beer are the drink, where I became familiar with the class concluding as soon as the bell rings, and where a whole year of living with my family in this community gave me one of the richest and most rewarding experiences possible. Wendy: My home was an apartment in the heart of the U.S.A.'s Golden-gated City, San Francisco. Beauti- ful, imaginative, continental San Francisco has a soul which creates an atmosphere of easy-going permiss- iveness in which a person's right to be different is always respected. As one of the 3000 academic students attending Lowell High, it was made plain that everyone was in a minority ethnically with Asians, Black Americans, Jews and Latin Americans predominating. There was a great diversity in subjects, my most interesting and fulfilling being Community Laboratory which involved numerous field trips, sur- veys and projects. My specialty was being a volunteer with Consumer Action which is associated with Ralph Nader. The challenge of living in another family unit in a very different environment has given me deep satisfaction. The grand finale was a tfuee week's bus trip where various communities in San Diego, New York and Washington D.C. accommodated us. This gave LIs an opportunity to put into perspective our year's environ- ment and our ,experience within it, particularly through communication with other AFSers. The climax was reached when 2600 AFSers from 66 countries assem-

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