Back to School

On Tuesday, I started my first day at Durban Girls’ College. The day started with a rough 5:45am wake up, but other than that, it was pretty good. It was weird to be back at school, but it was fun to meet all of Jenna’s friends. On the first day, I did not wear a uniform, and some of the younger girls thought I was a teacher! They would move when I walked through the halls and say ‘excuse me miss’! There are few differences between DGC and DS, except for the uniforms, lack of boys, and the teaching style. At DS, I’m very used to in-class discussions and conversations, but at DGC, most of the teachers just talk and expect you to take notes. On my first day, I just followed Jenna to her classes. We went to Biology, English, PE, Afrikaans, and Science. Biology was pretty simple and interesting because it was very similar to what I learned in 9th grade (the nervous system). In English, we were discussing Animal Farm, which I have never read, so it was hard for me to keep up, but I managed. PE was by far my favourite class! PE here is very different than at home because you don’t actually do anything you just sit on a field and chat and play the occasional game of volleyball, which no one really knows how to play. It was really nice because I got to talk with the girls and get to know them more, there isn’t much free time for chatting, so this was a nice break. I skipped Afrikaans to have a meeting with Mrs. Meehan, the exchange co-ordinator. That was also really nice because I got to meet all the other exchange girls. There are eight others and they are all incredibly sweet. Science was last, and it was also pretty simple because we just went over material that I learned a few months ago in Chemistry. One thing that was super different than home, was how quickly people left the school at the end of the day. The school day ends at 2:30, and instead of staying around and chatting for a while like at home, everyone left the school immediately, which was really strange to me.

Overall, my first day at school was great, and I really like DGC so far. The photo above doesn’t do it justice, but DGC has an incredible view of downtown Durban, I will put in a better one soon. This week has been crazy busy, even though they don’t give out much homework here! One Monday and Tuesday, I am staying in the dorms at DGC to experience what it is like to be a boarder. More updates about my time at school coming soon!