By Leighton Maynard
“Australia is unforgettable,” junior Amelia Minutelli said after her experience on the exchange trip to the land down under. She visited Zoe Fritsch in Sydney NSW. She flew over to Australia with a few of her other friends from Lovett. Zoe was there waiting for her, very excited to officially meet Amelia. When they met they were beyond excited to start their journey together.
Amelia had no fear of being away from her family. Whether at camp or on other trips, she has had a lot of experiences on her own, and she’s never gotten homesick. “It was hard to be homesick because I was having so much fun,” she said. And with this trip, there was a 14-hour time difference with Atlanta, so it was not easy to contact her parents. “We mainly texted,” she said.
The time difference even extended to the seasons. When Amelia went she left Georgia in the beginning of summer, she went to Australia in the middle of winter. “It was never really cold though so it was kind of funny seeing people wearing heavy jackets when it was like 50º out,” Amelia informed me. Because it was winter she got the opportunity to experience a light show. “It was something I wish I could experience over and over again,” she said.
Amelia had many memorable experiences, including going to the zoo, driving a tractor, riding a motorbike, and going go-carting. Zoe’s house was on a farm so Amelia was able to drive a ton, which did come with some challenges.
“As you can imagine driving on the left side of the road is very different from driving on the right side of the road,” Amelia Menutelli said. Even the blinker and wiper shifters were on opposite sides from where they are in American cars. So when she drove on their farm she kept accidentally turning on the windshield wipers.
Amelia was a big fan of the way things were lit up in Sydney, like the harbor bridge, the Opera house, and a ton of businesses. “It was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” she said, which means a lot coming from a girl who has traveled more than half the world.
Not only did Zoe and Amelia enjoy the lights on the bridge, but they climbed it. She told me it was a little bit of a struggle climbing up to the top of the bridge because it was 1332 steps to the top. Still, it was fun to do with her new best friend.
While Amelia was in Australia, she met lots of cool people like Zoe. “It was like I met a new person every day,” she remarked. She made many friends and was sad to leave them all at the end of the trip.
Zoe is super excited to come to Lovett and meet all of Amelia’s friends. To prove their endless friendship with one another they got “forever bracelets.”
While there was a lot of fun and games, Amelia still had to go to school. She enjoyed learning what school was like in a different place. Amelia had already completed 10th grade, of course, but Zoe was still mid-way through.
Amelia noticed that “they did give a TON of homework,” but fortunately for Amelia she only took art and electives. Now that she’s back at Lovett, she has a few more classes to take, and certainly more homework.
