Hello! my name is Sarah Fletcher and I am currently on student exchange in Canada. I sent you a letter explaining where I was going before I left Australia so I thought I would update you on how the last 5 months have been living abroad.

I arrived in LA where I attended a Language and Culture Camp with other Australian and New Zealand exchange students. I went to Disneyland, Venice Beach, Rodeo Drive, Hard Rock Cafe, Universal Studios, Hollywood, Manns Chinese Theatre, Hollywood Walk of Fame and a few more. Then I flew to Vancouver with all the exchange students who were going to Canada and then we all went our own way.

I flew to Edmonton where I met my host dad and then met the rest of my host family. I saw snow for the first time when I landed and it was amazing, I couldn't believe that I was actually seeing snow!  The first three months were hard, my host family and I didn't get along very well but I made it through the first three months and then I went to Hawaii on a discovery tour organised by the exchange organisation.  It was amazing going to Hawaii and I finally got to see the ocean again! I was so excited to see green grass! never thought I would be happy to see green grass as much as I was.

I went to Pearl Harbour, Waikiki Beach, Hanuma Bay, Hiking, Snorkelling and a cruise around Honolulu Bay. I also had a traditional Hawaiian luau which was a fantastic experience. I had so much fun in Hawaii and made so many friends with people from other countries and cultures.  When I arrived back in Canada I changed host families. I lived with my exchange co-ordinator for 2 weeks and then I moved in with my family now.

School is going really good, everyone laughs at my accent, and when I first arrived some people thought I was British!  There is another Australian from NSW in my Social class so we often talk about "Australian" things. There is also an Australian exchange student living across the road from me but he is leaving in a few weeks. He tells everyone that Australia's favourite sport is rugby but I tell him no its AFL, he's from NSW so he doesn't have the same love for football as us South Australians!  It is funny catching the yellow school bus each morning, the first time I saw my school bus I laughed because it was just like the one in movies! I catch the bus for an hour and 15 minutes each morning and night so it is quite a long day by the time I get home I am so tired!

The subjects are quite similar over here, this semester I took, legal studies, mechanics, math pure, social and gym. I had a lot of fun playing ice hockey, ringette, and Canadian football in gym and everyone helped teach my how to skate. There are 1400 students in my school from Grade 10-12, so it is very big compared to what i'm used to. I had my last exam today so i'm glad that it is Summer Vacation now because im going to Florida for three weeks! 

I visited the Rocky Mountains a few weeks ago and it was so pretty. I went to Jasper National Park and along the way i saw some Mountain Goats, Elk, Deer, Marmot and lots of squirrels which are really really small and run across the road.  The first time I saw a moose I was so surprised because it was a funny grey colour and was missing patches of fur but it had a disease called "mange" which is like ticks and lice, apparently lots of the moose get mange.

Well I better get going!

Yours Sincerely