Exchange with the International School of Geneva

Remember those simple things we had in our normal lives? Going back home once you were done with school. Living in a populated place. Having good food and your own room. Bárbara, Irene, and Motaz were fortunate enough to experience those again for one week as part of an exchange with the International School of Geneva. Cassie, Irene, and Amr came here to live our lives, while we went to Switzerland and attended a (somewhat) normal school, visited the UN, Red Cross Museum, International Car Show (including the Porsche VIP section!) and Geneva’s famous fountain, the Jet d’eau , but it wasn’t on... Chocolate, fondue, civilisation - it was truly a great experience in Europe’s most international city!

This was the small summary that we wrote after our exchange with the International School of Geneva (ISG); but of course it was this and much more!!

My first impression when we got to Geneva was that of a place representing the opposite of what we are use to in RCN; it was shocking after being on campus for months! Crowded streets, traffic jams, expensive shops, lights, people always around... It was not very different from what I had back home, but after living for one year in the Norwegian countryside, everything seems new and exciting.

I was very lucky with my family. They were caring, welcoming and very interested on getting to know about my new life in RCN.

I had the pleasure to share my week with Eirini´s parents and also her younger sister, Stephanie, who was always cheerful. They live in Copet, in a village called Fournex. I was also very lucky due to our cultural similarities: the mother of the family was born in Istanbul, the father was Greek and they were living in Greece until 2001. Even though Spain and Greece are not really close, we share a Mediterranean culture which, I realized then, brings us closer than to other European nationalities.

I am really thankful for their hospitality and attention. On the very first night, right after my arrival we had a dinner all together bringing back the feeling and environment of those family dinners back home.

Regarding the ISG, we realized comparing it to RCN they have different characteristics given that we are in a boarding school and this is a day school. The environment is different but we are sharing a common aspect: the international component in between the students.

 In my opinion, students in the ISG don’t have enough celebration of their culture in the school. I saw that most of them have been living in different countries, and maybe their parents have different backgrounds. When we had a meeting with the IB coordinator of the school, I proposed him to have cultural days, bringing students together in a celebration of their original culture. This will not just reinforce a cultural identity, but as well, it will bring together students, working and having fun together, what will create stronger relations outside their every-day group of friends.

Regarding the exchange itself, we really valued all the activities that we did; some of them very simple, but at the same time exciting since we cannot do them in Norway. The theme of the exchange was “Human Rights”, and this brought us the chance to visit the UN, or the Red Cross Museum.

Among other moments that I will always remember are the visit to the Red Cross Museum where apart from learning about its history we saw an impressive exhibition of pictures from wars; the International Car festival, were I got to see for the first time some of the most valued cars in the world;...

...this countries´ passion for chocolate (an my passion for their chocolate too); our adventures in the public transport getting lost in the Swiss countryside, and our resources to find the way back; the dinner in a typical Swiss restaurant with a delicious fondue; the “Bal de Neige”; going to a real cinema after months; my discussions with the family about immigration, education, refugees, surprising myself with all the view points that I have gained in RCN; visiting the UN and imagining ourselves walking in those corridors in some years time....working there!;...

 ... or giving a presentation in their “Global affairs” session. There we talked about the UWC movement, living and studying in RCN, and answering questions from curious students about our particular way of living, which some of them found fascinating while others kept asking “but how can you live without a TV, your parents, discos or shops?” Well, this brought us back to the reality of how many teenagers think... 

I was very happy after talking with my friends in Norway and hearing that my exchange partner really enjoyed the exchange too. I think that for them was really interesting to get to see the way in which we live.

To conclude, I want to say thanks again to our families because they really helped us and made us feel as in a family again. Thanks to the students that helped us in the everyday life in the school, and who were so willing to do things with us. Thanks to all the teachers and school staff that were also interested in knowing more about our life in Norway, or that simply help us greatly in their classes. And thanks to Mr. Hughes (the IB coordinator there) because of being always so concern about how we were doing, if everything was fine with our subjects, being so welcoming, inviting us to a great dinner, and specially being so interested in our opinions about the school or our thoughts.

Love form Geneva,

Irene