School visit and Harbour cruise

July 26, 2012

SYDNEY, NSW, AUSTRALIA -- We had a very busy day today, though ironically with "only" three things in the calendar for Sydney.

The first was our school visit at St. Mark's Primary School. Two or three of our students were grouped with two or three St. Mark's sixth-year students, who began by hosting a school-wide assembly introducing everyone. In talking with some of the teachers, they hosted a PTP group two years ago, wanted to last year, but it didn't work out - some of the students remembered the group a couple of years prior, and they had been spending weeks looking forward to hosting us! Needless to say it was a very exciting day for students and teachers, Aussies and Americans alike.

July 26, 2012 - Group photo after the school assembly at St. Mark's Primary in Sydney.

After the assembly the combined Aussie and American students went around in their small groups and visited with the various younger grade-level classes, introducing themselves and also answering any questions they had about living in the United States or anything at all. Us leaders went around from classroom to classroom taking photos and answering a few questions too. At one point, one of the younger third-year Australian students asked one of our CA PTP students about what Australia was like compared to California. In a gut reaction, before even really thinking about it, she answered "Australia is SOOOO much cooler! I love it here!" The Australian student's gut response was, "Uhhh... really?" Haha - everyone was laughing and it was pretty funny to witness in person.

Three PTP students with four sixth-year Aussie students, taking questions from a class of fourth-year students.

Following questions, the students broke off for snacks while us leaders met with school teachers and had some morning tea. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, and the snacks were great too! We set off to the school library, where students made lists of similarities and differences in their small groups, and then got to present a few of their results. Some groups focused on food, others on sports, schools, animals, and everyday life. What everyone seemed to realize after presenting was that while the differences are interesting, there are many more similarities than there are differences - regardless of the category they focused on. As a well-traveled adult, this is something I am keenly aware of. What was interesting was watching the students figure it out over the course of an hour - their enlightenment was inspiring.

From the library we headed out to the park to play cricket, touch footie, and another capture-the-flag-esque game. The students broke into three groups and rotated, while some very nice volunteer parents cooked us a BBQ lunch in the park. 

Australian students made up their country border, with PTP students spelling "P2P" in the middle. 

Alas, it was already 2:30 and time to say goodbye! The students exchanged emails, and I would in no way be surprised to learn of some life-long friendships emerging out of our school visit. It was truly an exceptional day.

Amazingly, our day was not even close to over yet. For the first time since arriving in Sydney, we headed down to world-famous Circular Quay to board our Sydney Harbour cruise! As soon as we got to the ship, everyone saw the Sydney Opera House for the first time.

A lovely afternoon cruise past the Sydney Opera House.

We also passed right by the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which I climbed to the top of in 2011!

The Sydney CBD on the left and Harbour Bridge in the middle, as the sun sets.

Coming back towards the CBD after sundown - looks like we got a little wind! :) 

All told, we got some great pictures from the Harbour and the students really got to see the scenic side of Sydney for the first time. Following the cruise we set off to our home-hosted dinner, where a dozen or so volunteers cooked us a wide array of delicious local dishes. The great meal was a fitting end to an excellent day!