Life Down Under
My most striking experience was definitely through music
By Samia Bedoui
This summer, I spent eight weeks in Australia, with a girl from the school of MLC in Melbourne.
Everyday, I attended the school and had my own IB schedule, which enabled me to get in touch with another culture and experience different ways of learning, as I did a project on “bush poetry and nationalism”.
In this school and in other Australian schools, my most striking experience was definitely through music. MLC is a great school, as the emphasis is not only put on work, but also on people’s creativity.
On the 11th of August, I was allowed to participate in the Yara School Valley concert. I played the flute in the senior school orchestra along with Jessie, Linda, and Madie. I truly was amazed at how friendly these girls were, at how warm relationships through music could be.
We played “Carmen” from Bizet, “Pennywhistle Jig” by Henri Mancini and “Manon”, from Puccini. The audience was composed of parents from different Australian schools.
That night, we also listened to what the Trinity and the Yara Valley School were playing. I was, I must say, utterly astonished to find out how professional these musicians were: even though the age difference could be quite big, that is about a 5 year gap (14 to 18 years old), all these musicians tried to get along together to play good music.
We all had to wear the concert uniform, that is, a long black skirt with a green top. For the orchestra, we rehearsed every Thursday from 3:30 pm to 5pm. I also attended the choir rehearsals.
Another aspect of MLC that I also really liked was the fact that the girls there were really nice and caring, including Elise, my host sister.
Furthermore, my host family took me to visit places in Australia. First of all, we spent four days in Sydney: there, I went to the Opera House, China town, and saw the different museums.
We also went for walks in the botanic gardens. Back in Melbourne, my host sister took me to many great restaurants, such as Yam Cha, a Chinese restaurant, and Gaylord, and Indian restaurant: I know that the name is weird, but the food was good!
I was surprised to find out that Melbourne was a very multicultural town, with many international students coming there to study from all over the world.
In Melbourne, I visited the Anzac memorial, as well as the shine of remembrance, which commemorate the soldiers that died in both World War one and World War 2.
I also visited the art center, the Rialto tower, from which one can have a very nice view from Melbourne, the casino, and often went feeding the possums at night!
We also went to Ballarat, an ancient gold mine. Philip Island was another place we visited, and the most beautiful according to me: the landscape was marvelous, and looked wild, as if untouched by man. I saw many birds there, and was able to glance at the 30 cm tall penguins at night.
Contrary to Philip Island, I found Melbourne to be a very organized city with its skyscrapers that look marvelous at night, very much like an American city.
Australian winters are definitely warm! Elise’s friends were all very nice to me, even though disruptions were multiple in classes, with people looking at the internet on their laptops while the teacher was talking! I was even allowed to go to their year 11 formal, where girls were looking like goddesses to me.
I wish I was at MLC, for the students’ talents are clearly displayed through the senior art festival, in which each of the four houses of the school (Fitchett, Cato, Berry, Nevile and Krome) sang house songs and performed plays that they had written and organized all by themselves!!
I also attended the ceremony where the colors were given; this is, when people with outstanding commitment to one of the school’s activities are rewarded. MLC is extremely different from the French school...and much more fun !
Dernière modification le 20-05-06 par
