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.