1985 School Magazine

LETTER FROM AN EXCHANGE STUDENT

EXCHANGE STUDENT SOUTH AFRICA

Saturday 15th june

Hei, Mita kuulluu kaikki? Hi, How are you all?

After looking back on last year's magazine to get an idea of what to write, I now fe el quite homesick, so ignore the tear stains on this le tter. I really miss Grammar. It's summer in Finland now- I know that because th e name of this month, JUNE, is Kesa kuu - summer month, but it 's raining outside and about 15 °C. However, after just returning from Lapland over the Arctic Circle where there is still snow, it seems quite warm. I saw lots of reindeer and moose, which are really big and quite ugly. Turku is a gorgeous city, with a beautiful cath edral and castle seven centuries old, used when the city was capita l and Finland was under Swedish rule. After a fire here in 1827 in which much of Turku 's centre was destroyed, Helsinki became cap ital. It is closer to Russia, as Finland was then under Russian domination. Turku is now the th ird largest city, with about 165,000 people. I adore sk iing, though I am apparently "comic relief" to the other Finnish skiers. They don't ask me to go skating anymore because I'm too dangerous. I've been to Stockholm (Sweden) by boat over an ice-covered Baltic Sea; Leningrad (Russ ia), where I was impressed by lots of big red posters featuring "Le nin "; and to London fo r a three-day vis it. I leave on a four-week yachting trip th is Thursday, around the islands between Finland and Sweden. I also have a tour of the Lakes District in central Finland planned for August and a skiing trip to Lapland in Novembe r. Then home in january. School is radically different here. Naturally, being in the No rthern Hemisphere, it begins in August and ends in june. They have lessons from 8-4p.m. in between which, they get 75 minutes break outside, even in -30°C! They have school lunch provided and have absolutely no inter-school activities like sport or music. They start school when they're seven and finish at 19. Th ey must study English and Swedish from the start and then take up one more compuslor y language later. Finland is the land of: Sa una, fir trees, bread and cheese, snow, cold, ice, skiing, blood pancakes, pine furniture, blue eyes, cold and snow. Well I'll say goodbye for now. Hope your year has been as much fun as· mine.

Hello. My name is Fernita van Rensburg and I come from the Transvaal province in the Northern part of South Africa. I am Dutch and therefore my home language is Afrikaans, a combination of Dutch, German and French. So I'm having quite a time speaking English all the time! I live on a tea plantation and our nearest town is Nelspruit. It is also th e town in which I completed my highschool years. I've been attending Grammar since january and have enjoyed it tremendously. The subjects I studied were a new experience for me and my teachers were a big help. I thank them for their f riendliness . I have made so many good friends with whom it will be difficult to part. My memories at Grammar will always be specia l and I thank Mrs Hancock for letting me be part of this sc hool. I have come to love Australia through t he year. I like vegemite sandwiches, kangaroos, koalas, its c ities and its people. I am also definitely going to miss all the Violet Crumble and Mars Bars when I go back! I have lived with various host fam ili~ s throughout the year and I now know what family life is like in Australia. I will go back with a very dear idea of Australian ways and I will spread the word that Australia is great, mate! Fa ir dinkum! mooi bly en groetnis dan almal !

Chris Farmer

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