#Comunidad
The last report, just before getting back to BA and BDS
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After enjoying the snow, Martina Díaz Fernández (S6H) gets ready to say good-bye. Here's her last report from California:
"On Friday last we hung out in the centre of Walnut Creek with Kelsey’s friends and at night we packed and got ready for our skiing trip. The next morning we left early and after a four-hour car ride we arrived at Kirkwood mountain ski resort, near Lake Tahoe. On the way there we had stopped to have breakfast at the city of Jackson. Once in Kirkwood we stayed at a cabin that belongs to Paige's family (a friend of Kelsey’s ). On the first day we rented our skis, rested, watched some movies and had dinner all together.
Saturday was a long and awesome skiing day! I found Kirkwood similar to Bariloche. The resort was not so busy and the day was beautiful... Just see the pictures! On Sunday, unfortunately we could only ski half the day, because we needed to get ready to leave. I had a great time skiing and Paige’s family were all very nice! I loved that place...
Tomorrow is my last day at Athenian and on Wednesday 20th I am returning home to start my school year at BDS. I must say I had a great time during this trip: I met new people, practiced and improved my English and I was able to fully immerse myself in another culture. Living with an US family and attending such a different school made my experience unique and I am very happy I had the chance to be a part of it. I will take great memories with me. Moreover, not only did I get to know a new city but also let the people I met learn something about my country. I am very proud to be one of the first students in the school to have gone on exchange with Round Square, and I really hope this policy will continue... It's been a unique experience indeed!"
Latest Californian News
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A new report by Martina Díaz Fernández (S6H) about her exchange experience at The Athenian School, in San Francisco Bay:
"Last week went by very fast! It was my last full week at Athenian... I am enjoying this wonderful experience and practising my English a lot, because although some people speak a little Spanish, they are not used at all to the Argentinan accent and it is hard for them to understand me! Anyway, my favourite classes are those of Spanish, where I have helped my classmates and also provided them with information about Argentinian culture, which they knew nothing about! I also took a 3D Art class, where I've been working with metal to create an owl neckless, sawing and melting metal. In Economics, I attended a Skype session with a Bangladesh Economic teacher, in which I learned about the Grameen banking system... After school we usually either go back to Kelsey's to study (where I work on my summer reading for BDS), or go to a gym to work out.
On Thursday, Mark introduced me to Michaela and Sarah at lunchtime, the two girls who will be probably visiting BDS in August as exchange students. They asked me lots of questions about the school and the country, and I'm looking forward to seeing them in BA. Friday was a holiday and so is next Monday (President's Day), so we are going skiing!"
Prevoius reports:
More News from San Francisco
Martina Díaz Fernández (S6H), currently enjoying an exchange experience in The Athenian School, San Francisco, reports on the last few days and shares some more photos.
Friday, 8 February (2nd report)
My first week at The Athenian School is over and I'm starting to get used to the school and the people. It has been a hard school week for Kelsey, who had lots to do after class! I'm really looking forward to visiting San Francisco City over the weekend.
It may be worth sharing that during a Spanish class, as an assignment the teacher asked the students to think of three questions to ask me about Argentina. It was very fun! We talked about sports -both in the country and in BDS- about our popular "asado" and about the differences between both schools and countries.
On Fridays, there is an "Advisory" period, something like our "tutorías" but joining students from different courses. I was happy to hear two students of Athenian may be coming to BDS in August and I'm anxious to meet them next week!
About the last weekend (third report)
I got to know new places such as Golden Gate Bridge, Mount Diablo, Chinatown and Ghirardelli Square!
On Friday night, Kelsey, her brother Eric and me went to the theater to see the movie Identity Thief and did some shopping at the downtown of Walnut Creek. The next day Kelsey had to do her volunteering in a local hospital, so I went with Kelsey’s family to have a car ride all to the top of Mount Diablo. We were able to breath some fresh air, admire the beautiful view and visit a museum right there, in the midst of the flora and fauna of Mount Diablo State Park. That night we had dinner at a Mexican food restaurant and had some spicy and delicious food that’s very popular in California.
On Sunday, we went to the city of San Francisco. Hannah, another student on exchange came with us, too (by the way, in my first reports I wrote she was Australian, but in fact she is from Scotland). We were lucky because it was a lovely sunny day and the city was not that busy as we had expected. The first stop was at the Golden Gate Bridge. We walked across and took some pictures with a beautiful view of Alcatraz Island, the city, and the Pacific Ocean. After that, we went to Chinatown. San Francisco’s Chinatown is the largest outside Asia and that day happened to be the Chinese New Year's Day (the Water Snake year started). We had some green tea with tapioca. We next went to Ghirardelli Square. We visited the beach, had dinner watching a marvelous sunset... and dessert at the famous chocolate factory, Ghirardelli. It was, indeed an interesting intercultural experience: US, Scotland, Argentina... and China!
To read Martina's first report, clic here.
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Exchanges: Californian News
After hosting The Athenian School's student Kelsey Strand in July 2012, Martina Díaz Fernández (S6H) now reports on her own current experience in the US:
"I arrived in San Francisco on Sunday, which was a very important day for them as the San Francisco 49ners were playing the Super Bowl that night.
Kelsey and her family live in the outskirts of San Francisco, in a city called Walnut Creek, where the houses are surrounded by mountains and lots of trees. That same day we went to the downtown of Walnut Creek and visited shops and places to eat. The next day was my first day at Athenian. Kelsey introduced me to her friends and Kathleen, the head of Round Square Association, showed me the school and introduced me to the principal, teachers, nurse and other people. The Athenian is very different to BDS! It consists of a 57- hectare campus located in a valley of mount Diablo. The classrooms are like small houses all around the place. It really called my attention to walk my way to the next class just beside a mountain side! This, and the fact that there the groups are small in number, makes the school particularly peaceful place in my opinion. And I now understand why Kelsey was so surprised with BDS and our big city. One day, at lunch time, we went to a Round Square meeting, where students who had gone (or want to go) on exchanges get together.
Here, classes change each semester and I have been given my own schedule with the following subjects: Maths, Spanish, Global economics and 3D Art!"
About the photo: Here's a view of the school campus. The building behind us is the Science Department, and following the path there are more classes. In the picture I'm with Hannah (another Round Square exchange student, form Australia), Kelsey and Paige.