I had the fortune to be a Rotary International Exchange Student in Australia from August 1962 to August 1963. My memories of that year are kept vivid by detailed day books which became a journal of experiences and impressions. What follows is a little bit about who I was then and some recollections of my experience at Camberwell High School.

I came to Camberwell from Kingston, Pennsylvania, a small town in the northeastern region of that state. I was 17 years old. I attended an independent school (what you call a public school) and had completed all but my senior (last) year. Before coming to Australia I had never been west of central Pennsylvania, although I had travelled throughout the Middle Atlantic and New England states.

At home I lived with my parents, two younger brothers and a younger sister. We had a dog, cat, several turtles, and a toucan. At school my interests were History and English. My most difficult subjects were Math and French. I enjoyed playing tennis, drawing cartoons (which I did for the school paper), and reading. I spent my summer vacations working as a research assistant and guide at the local historical society museum.

In the spring of 1962 I started dating a girl in my class and we became quite attracted to each other. Thanks to an active correspondence, our romance survived my year in Australia and another four years at college (university). We were married in 1967 and are still so today.

I am now teaching high school history, presently in my 31st year at a small independent school for girls in Buffalo, New York.

In the Melbourne area I was hosted by seven terrific families belonging to the Camberwell Rotary Club. Each of my Rotary families had children, but none went to CHS.

At CHS I entered the Fifth Form and completed the 1962 academic year, and was part-way through the Sixth Form when I returned to the US. As I had completed all but one (English) of my graduation requirements from my school at home, I had no academic accountability at CHS except in English. To fulfill that requirement, I took English Expression and a very enjoyable British Literature class with Mr. Robertson. My other courses included French with Miss MacMillan, Geography with Mr. Gibb, and US History with Mr. Jones. I was advised by Mr. Andrews, then the Principal, not to take the US History course because the last American student at CHS had failed it! Well … that spoke well for Americans, didn't it? I had no difficulty with the course!

I found CHS just as academically demanding as my school at home. The classes required attention and the homework was time-consuming. The school uniform, however, was not altogether a new experience as boys had to wear coats and ties at my school at home. I liked the uniform with its green blazer, gray pullover, and green tie. It was easy to figure out what to wear to school each day! I did not like the cap and readily learned from others how to fold it so it would fit in the back pocket of my trousers. I remember we were supposed to wear it when in transit to and from school, but no one did. On arriving on school grounds, on went the cap. I still have the cap however. It's a great souvenir.

I remember the periodic outdoor general assemblies of the entire school. I even addressed one once about my school at home. It seemed strange to me to see us all lined up in orderly uniformed ranks, our respective prefects making sure we were presentable. Boys on one side of the assembly; girls on the other. What was striking was that a few of the older "boys" were actually young men, some in their twenties, who had earlier left school, served in the military or another occupation, and had returned to complete their education. I found it amusing that when Mr. Andrews addressed us, he began with "Good morning, boys and girls." What must a former soldier have thought on being addressed as if a child?

I was assigned to MacArthur House. With one exception, I honestly cannot remember how MacArthur did in intramural competitions back then. My day book for 1962 shows that in the House Sports competition (track and field) on October 3, Churchill apparently won and MacArthur placed second. Later on October 15 Mr. Andrews announced that a miscalculation in scoring officially made MacArthur the champions by one point! In March at the House Swimming competition, Montgomery won and MacArthur placed last. At that event Mr. Andrews was taking photographs. A group of us were watching him. At first he forgot to remove the lens cap. He'd look up at the sun then again, seemingly bewildered, through the camera. When he realized what was wrong and removed the cap, he got a great cheer from across the pool.

Mr. Andrews' public address announcements were always predictable. One knew they were coming because we could hear the grinding sound of the microphone being screwed into the sound system. Then came "This is the Principal speaking…" To my knowledge no one else used the p. a. system except Mr. Andrews.

I remember that when one did not have class one was required to do private study by taking an empty seat in another class. I was either assigned to or assigned myself to one of Mr. Press's math classes. I needed to be in a setting where I would not be distracted and figured that since I had no interest whatsoever in mathematics, a math class would be perfect. I found, however, that Mr. Press was quite a show. His black academic gown was always covered with chalk dust. He would fill the boards with long and complex equations seemingly getting lost in his numbers while his students resignedly copied them down or sought ways to distract him. One day a student suggested that a number in an exceptionally long and complex equation should be another number. He agreed, replaced the number and then continued to work out the formula. When the equation did not work as expected, he traced it backwards to the offending number and reworked it to its correct conclusion. This took about ten minutes. He never seemed to catch on as to what had happened!

French class with Miss MacMillan was another of my strongest memories. She was known as "Black Mac" (because of her academic gown, I assume). She was a slight woman with great intensity. Our secret motto for her was "Tenez le fouet" (hold the whip). I really did not have to do well in French, but she intimidated me such that I worked harder in that course than any other. She made us all memorize a poem, "La Beauté," by Baudelaire, which we had to recite to her individually. I can still recite it after 41 years! She accused me of speaking French with an American accent. A group of us, taking our cue from French reactionaries in Algeria, used to arrive in class early before she got there and write on the board "Algérie Française!" Somehow we managed to avoid detection. Only once do I remember her smiling and that was when I told her that I would be leaving CHS for a month to go to Queensland. Then she made me clean the boards!

As a representative of the Rotary student exchange, I was expected to be a model of proper behavior in my host country. Although I tried my best to live up to that noble expectation, I did once get after-school detention. Mr. Jones found me, then a fifth former, having my lunch in the park in an area apparently reserved for sixth formers! I thought I was in the legal proximity for fifth formers (near the pool), but he did not see it that way. My punishment was to pick up litter in the park.

As a foreigner unfamiliar with Australian culture, I found one school ground custom quite fascinating. This took place before classes began or during lunch. I have no idea what it was called, but it involved a group of boys with a rubber ball or tennis ball. The one would throw the ball down hard bouncing it high. The others would then all come together as if a human wave rising up to seize the ball on its descent. The one who successfully "marked" the ball was apparently the winner. This was my introduction to an aspect of Aussie Rules Football.

Debs - Harry barracks for Collingwood!