Exchange to Australia
Hello Springers, how are you?
Did you know that Spring School does exchanges every year?
If you already knew, it means that you are already following our social networks and are in the know, but if you didn't know, run there to like our page on insta, @springschool_insta and stay on top of everything we're doing.
This year (2023) we did our first post-pandemic exchange, finally the gates opened and we were able to return with our international activities.
Every year we do 3 exchanges, Australia in the first quarter of the year, Orlando in October and Thailand in December and now we are also doing another surprise exchange in the middle of the year.
Today I came to tell you about the experience of our exchange to Australia.
For those who don't know, we do an exchange of experience where students have the experience of studying, and walking around with the assistance of one of our teachers.
Before starting to tell you about our experience, I will tell you how this exchange of experience works.
We spent around 3 weeks on Australian soil, during this period students go to an English school 5 times a week and study an average of 4 hours a day, at school they have the opportunity to have contact with numerous cultures as students are from different countries, students have the opportunity to make friends and, the coolest thing of all, having to communicate 100% in English.
We also rent a house and all the students who go with us stay there with the assigned teacher. In the house, they have the opportunity to feel firsthand what it's like to share a house with people they didn't know before (this is the reality of exchange students).
In the house they have to live together, cook and work as a team to eat and keep the house clean. This experience makes students grow and often value simple details that they normally don't realize in everyday life. They have to resolve issues and disagreements of opinion and resolve among themselves to maintain the welfare of the group.
Students also develop a greater sense of responsibility in terms of getting up for school, a sense of direction and the ability to use public transport and the ability to socialize in groups.
Spring School provides assistance from applying for a visa while still on Japanese, Brazilian soil or anywhere in the world until returning to the country of origin. As already mentioned, students also have the assistance of a teacher 24 hours a day with the students during the trip, and in case of extension of the course or applying for new visas on Australian soil, we also have the assistance of the person responsible for our office in Australia.
Well basically it works like this guys, now I'm going to tell you about our experience.
We were 9 people, 8 students and me. We left Anjo (city located in Aichi Prefecture in Japan) on April 19, 2023 towards Iwata (city located in Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan) to pick up a student, and from there we continued on to Tokyo.
We arrived at the airport around 5 am and our flight was leaving at 10 or at least that's what was supposed to happen. Anyway, our flight was canceled and changed to 17:00, so as you can imagine we had the opportunity and time to get to know Narita airport from end to end, all the shops and restaurants.
I can't forget that we won a wonderful 1,500 yen voucher that we used in various restaurants and cafes around the airport while we waited for our boarding. Our plane arrived and we boarded towards Malaysia where we would stop for 2 hours and continue towards the long awaited Sydney. However, as not everything is rosy, as our flight was canceled and we arrived at another time in Malaysia, our flight to Sydney had also been changed due to the fact that we missed the flight.
The company provided us with a hotel to spend a few hours while we waited for our flight that would leave in the morning. We were surprised when we arrived at the Hotel, it was a very good hotel, surpassing what airlines usually offer.
All bathed, we left in search of food at 2 am at the airport, ate and went back to the hotel to enjoy the 2 hours of sleep that remained until we had to wake up, have a hearty breakfast and go to the queue boarding.
We boarded and headed to Sydney, arriving at Sydney airport 2 friends and former students were waiting for us there. (a few weeks before boarding I had contacted them and asked for assistance, and they promptly offered to help) they also brought cell phone chips and transport cards already loaded for all the students, they took us to the house where we stayed for the next few days and they even ordered pizza, the students ate and went to get ready in their rooms.
We arrived on a Friday night and early on Saturday morning we went out for a walk, we went to a zoo on Saturday and then to the city center to do some shopping. On Sunday we headed to Sydney Harbor where we took a ferry to Manly where we met more alumni currently living in Australia. We drove along the Manly waterfront and even had a tour guide (an ex-student) who very helpfully offered to show us around Manly.
On Monday we went to school first thing in the morning, and when I say morning I really mean morning (I woke the students up at 5:30 every day).
Arriving at the school, I registered them while they took the leveling tests to decide on the class schedules and classes. Decided schedules and the classes too, we left again for the supermarket to buy everything we need for breakfast and also much more chocolate.
In the next few days our routine was to wake up very early, take public transport, go to school, study a lot and after classes walk a lot through the streets and restaurants of downtown Sydney known locally as CBD (Central Business District). We usually have breakfast at the house, lunch at the center and dinner at the house again.
During the week after classes we went to the beach a few times, which by bus from the school was around 30 minutes. We visited museums, an aquarium, 2 zoos and walked a lot downtown, several attractions such as the Sydney Observatory (Sydney Eye) we crossed the Harbor Bridge on foot with some fearless students and walked through Darling Harbor where there are several restaurants and a very lively nightlife. We even ate a very good crocodile burger at one of these restaurants.
The 21 days passed very quickly. Some students were homesick, after all they were sharing a house with 8 other people they didn't know before, but the vast majority of students didn't want to go back, they wanted to stay in Sydney for good. Some students even have a date set to come back and stay for good.
We left Sydney for Japan amid mixed feelings between missing those who stayed in Japan and the desire to stay on Australian soil, but soon we'll be back.
I believe that the trip was a turning point in the lives of many if not all of the students who accompanied us, they certainly grew and matured a lot in this short but intense period of 21 days.
I truly believe that this will be an experience that everyone will carry with them with affection and a very good memory and that will make them think outside the “little house”.
I usually say that traveling is one of the best pleasures we have in life, getting to know new places, new cultures, people with customs and beliefs that are often different from those we were taught.
Understanding that agreeing is different from respecting and that is the basis of everything and that we often realize that we know so little and that there is still a lot to discover and learn.
The world is so big and there is still so much to be explored and discovered, and in the end the perrengues simply become stories that we will laugh and remember fondly.
I hope that this report has somehow inspired you there who also dream of traveling and doing your dreamed exchange.
I leave a message of encouragement and support for your goals and dreams: study, chase your dreams and never let someone say that something is impossible.
If you also want to have an experience like this or want to provide it for a family member, please contact us, it will be a pleasure to serve you and be part of this adventure.
Ass: Murilo Saito
Ps: God Bless you and Spring Your Life.