Secondary News

Trafalgar Castle Student Exchange – Toronto, Canada

Letter from our exchange students

The flight over was long, especially the one going to San Francisco. Then at San Francisco we unknowingly had to change transit through two terminals but we made it with plenty of time to spare. The flight to Toronto was shorter but the turbulence was horrendous. Luckily, we had an ex-flight attendant next to us helping us and telling us it was okay. After roughly 24 hours of travel we made it and found the person from Trafalgar who was picking us up. After getting hit with the cold wind (it was 0 degrees when we landed) we found out that we were getting picked up in a yellow school bus. After an 1 hour drive we made it to the Trafalgar Castle School, where we were introduced to some people, then we all went to bed very exhausted.

Afterwards, we explored the school, the town and the local shopping mall. Locals say this mall is little but is like Chermside with the amount of shops it has. After the weekend we went to school and we were introduced at assembly and everyone can not get over that we wear hats. Then that Friday we all loaded on the bus and after a 9 ½ hour bus ride we made it to the ‘Big Apple’.

New York was a highlight. We went to the Hard Rock Café in Times Square then went to "The Edge by Hudson", which is an observation deck 100 stories up and looks over the whole of the city. Even though it was windy, the view was spectacular.

The next day was action packed. First we caught the subway to the Statue of Liberty ferry and we caught the ferry that goes around the lady and we disembarked and explored the island. It was much bigger than we expected! After about half an hour taking photos, looking up and spending way too much money at the gift shop, we then went back onto the ferry and had a pretzel.

We were also lucky enough to walk past the bull, Wall Street, Alexander Hamilton’s grave and finally the 9/11 memorial, seeing the size of how big the towers really were was a big shock. Then we went to Chinatown and Little Italy, finally making it to the MET. That night we experienced ‘Some Like it Hot’ on Broadway. A massive day with over 21,500 steps and 15km of walking.

The school day at Trafalgar is long, from 8:30-3:30 everyday and we have to go outside for 40 minutes even though it has been 0 degrees!! Our winter uniforms help but they are designed for a different winter!! The classes here go for 1hour and 10 minutes. We have experienced some sightseeing in the city, even visiting the Eaton Centre which is 5 levels and has every shop under the sun.

Finally, we are all excited to have started rowing even though we will not get onto the water for a little while as the lake still has ice on it. We have been going onto the ergo machines and we have been going to the gym they have here.

We are loving our time at Trafalgar Castle School.

Bridgette, Milly, Tilly and Meghan