Abingdonian 2017

9 www.abingdon.org.uk Michaelmas Term believe the trip was over, a whole week had passed and all the moments we had all lived would never come back, although I am sure that the majority of us will treasure those memories in a special place in our hearts. When I first met my English family, just like nearly everyone in the Spanish exchange, I felt quite nervous because I was going to meet the people who I would be living with for a week but that feeling quickly disappeared when that night at dinner we started chatting as if I was another member of the family. The following days were full of learning. One of the most interesting things was becoming familiar with the different culture and habits our English partners had as well as attending lessons in our corresponding schools. We were also very welcomed by the schools we attended, Abingdon School for the boys and St. Helen & St. Katharine School for the girls. The contrast with our school, Manuel Peleteiro, was noticeably big. The first thing that is clearly visible is the architectonical variances that the buildings have. Our school is a brand new building with a modern design whereas the host schools were composed in their biggest part of historical buildings, founded at the start of the twelfth and twentieth century respectively that follow the canons of the unmistakable and beautiful English architecture. From their educational system it drew my attention they were divided into boys and girls as well as the fact that different children in some of the families were attending different schools. These are not very common things in Spain. The way of teaching is similar. They even prepared some specific lessons for us: I would never have imagined receiving a Chinese lesson in English! The rest of the trip was completed with the excursions we went on. We were transported to different historical times walking around the Oxford colleges with their impressive buildings where you could breathe history, tradition, culture and knowledge. It was also interesting to visit the city of Bath and its majestic Roman baths which remain in a very good state of conservation. All of these activities not only provided us with knowledge about the region and their way of life but helped us to lay down strong ties with our exchange partners and our schoolmates. Our daily cohabitation with our partners made us establish a strong bond of friendship that I hope to conserve for a long time. Something I think I will always remember about the exchange is the feeling that I had when we were leaving. On the one hand, I was very glad of having had this experience as well as to have met such fantastic people and making new friends with whom we lived lots of experiences and shared many things. On the other hand, leaving them, it hurts, because after living a week in someone’s house and sharing everything with them, you make more than just a friend, in some cases, you make a brother or a sister and to have to leave without even knowing when you are going to see them again, it is a hard thing to do. But we always have to say goodbye, or see you soon. Despite the fact that time will pass, I will always have these memories that will help me in my personal journeys, because, as José Saramago said: “The journey never ends. The objective of travelling is just to begin another journey.” Alejandro Garcia