A Year On Teacher Exchange in Canada by Luciana Ciaccia

I have to be honest and say my prime motivation for doing an exchange to Canada was to spend time with my brother and his family. A minor, but just as important, reason was to experience the execution of our profession in another country.

The year provided a number of social, spiritual, professional and personal challenges for both myself, and those I shared it with, and proved to be an inter and intra personal journey.

I participated fully in the school life of All Saints, an elementary catholic school in Toronto. Although the students, and some parents, didn't always exhibit qualities true to their school's namesake, they were, in all, much like students and parents anywhere. It was not an easy year for the school as we coped with the many dramas related to a new school being constructed on site. This meant restricted playground access, using the gym and the library as classrooms, teaching with constant external noise and at times 'mud and slush' everywhere. A wonderful sense of humour shared by all helped to relieve many a tense moment during the process and we finally moved into the new building in late November.

The teachers' patience was further tested when after going on a 'Work to Rule Campaign'(Toronto-wide), they had to endure being 'Locked Out' for two and a half weeks by the Toronto Catholic District School Board. This meant they could not set foot on school property, even though they were required to turn up everyday, and could not participate in any school related events. Fortunately, the students stayed at home and a skeleton staff made up of the Principal and Vice Principal, the school secretaries, the caretakers, the teachers' aides and myself reported in each day and endeavoured to maintain the teachers' morale. We did this by providing a variety of refreshments for them before they set off to that particular day's picketing destination. From a union perspective it was a great show of solidarity and comradeship, even though for many it meant hardship at the loss of both family incomes for the entire period.

The 'Lock Out' coincided with an extremely busy May during which the Year 8 students were preparing for Confirmation and Graduation. Those of us "Locked In", as it were, undertook the preparation of the many aspects related to both ceremonies and the rehearsal of the children. The teachers did miss Confirmation, being able only to attend Mass but not help the students, but were fortunately back at school to oversee the Graduation Ceremonies.

As it happens the school was very close to my brother's home and this afforded me the luxury of dropping in several times a week to dine, cook, share an outing, help bath the kids or read a bedtime story. I never take for granted how privileged I was able to be part of their life for a year, or how lucky I was to have someone I knew intimately to greet me when I arrived in freezing conditions or to call on in an emergency. My neighbours were also great and helped out with orientation in the area, snow blowing and trips to the local doctor on just a few occasions.

2003 was not a particularly good year for Canada in many ways with the negative effects brought on by the SARS outbreak, the West Nile mosquito virus and the

'Mad cow' disease fiasco. None of this affected me directly and it never dampened my desire to travel and experience as much of the country and culture as possible.

Canada's close proximity to Europe meant I could also manage a holiday to Italy during the summer. Unfortunately, on my return from Italy I broke my wrist but I also experienced the miracle of life in the arrival of a new niece.

I happened to be in Toronto when the North American Electricity Grid collapsed and we experienced a severe Black Out for 24 hours and then rolling Power Outages for up to five days. Many places in Ontario did not have power restored for over a week.
It served as a reminder on just how much modern society depends on electricity. All stores were closed for several days and even the petrol pumps stopped.

Although all this seem very negative, in reality, it is just all part of the life experience wherever you are. 2003 wasn't such a great year in Canberra, either. It all contributes to building resilience and, with faith and courage, the willingness to let go and move forward.

I took full advantage of the variety of activities organised by CLEE (Canadian League for Exchange Teachers). This not only gave me the opportunity to explore parts of Ontario on the cheap and to do outdoors stuff, but to bond with my fellow exchangees, including non Aussies. Sharing our stories was one of the highlights of the whole experience.

There were many other great things about an exchange to Canada. In particular, its close proximity to the USA, banks that stayed open 'til eight, the best shopping in the northern hemisphere with an incredible number, and variety, of discount outlet stores, shops that stayed open 'til nine Monday to Friday, cheap petrol prices and the distinctive seasons, even the snow! There were many opportunities, for those who wanted it, to experience the 'wilds' of Canada such as hiking, canoeing, skiing, dog sledding, observing wildlife and viewing spectacular scenery. One of the things I loved most was learning about the history and culture of the First Nations people and I did go dog sledding! What a buzz!

Among the good advice we were given before we left Australia was to be open, flexible, diplomatic and friendly, and, 'If you expect it to be like home then don't go'. Well, it isn't home and it is different. Accepting this from the beginning will make all the difference between a 'good' or 'bad' exchange. If you're considering an exchange you need to be open to the possibilities it presents and embrace all the experiences, positive and negative. If you do this you will walk away with a tapestry of memories that will weave themselves into a wonderful rug rich in texture, colour and design. It is a great way to experience another culture and the truly interesting and amazing things that a country has to offer.