Summer 2016 New Market Lexington Exchange
The
amount of joy and excitement that came when Sarah called saying they were doing
the Lexington Newmarket exchange was insurmountable. As a little back story, one
of my older brothers had participated in the exchange and we had many house
guests that were from Newmarket. You
heard nothing but great things and kind souls come from the quaint little town
North East to London. This is a blog for what all happened after the phone call and the eye opening trip that made all 6 participants teary eyed to
leave.
Leading up to or June 24th departure, Lexington Sister Cities held meetings to make all
participants feel welcomed, informed, and knowledgeable about what this trip would
include. At these meetings we got to know each other, about Newmarket and
matched with our counter parts. They try to match with you someone you are most
similar to, including age and gender. Sometimes
they can’t match you exactly but it will always be to the best of their
abilities. My exchange student was named Lily and she was the greatest exchange
student I could have ever imagined. We
got along so well and I miss her so dearly. As for anyone who is debating
applying for any of the Lexington Sister Cities trips but may be hesitant due
to lack of international traveling I would say APPLY!! Do it!! Sister Cities
prepares you so well and you are with a chaperone and great kids every step of
the way; that’s why they do these meetings and applications are open to
everyone.
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| The group ready to leave at the airport. |
Upon our arrival
in London we were greeted by the always cheerful Mr.Fisher (wearing an Ale-8-One
t shirt). After a quick hour and half
drive to Newmarket and a quick power nap during the drive we were ready to
conquer the next ten days! In Newmarket we met the families with big smiles and
bigger hugs. We had had contact with our families before this so in the
beginning it wasn’t so awkward like you knew nothing about them or what life
was like there. My personal experience with my host family was better than I
could have ever imagined. And to speak
for the rest of the group all the families were so hospitable, kind, and
inviting.
The first
weekend in Newmarket we had all to our host families and the adventures of a
local family.
Saturday June 25th- The beautiful city of Ely! I'm just going to
let pics talk for itself. Breathe
taking. We went in buildings older than America. It was great learning the
history and being able to walk through the actual place compared to reading it
out of a textbook.
Sunday June 26th – LONDON!! Because when you think England, just admit it you think of
London, Big Ben and the Queen! So no meeting the royals for me but I can check
off seeing Big Ben, Parliament, Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace - all the
things when you think England you envision off my bucket list. The best part of
it is, London wasn’t even my favorite thing from England. There is so much more
to England than just London and that’s the great part about this exchange. I
didn’t just stay in a hotel in England. I saw and did what locals did, I
experienced and saw so much more than just what anyone can see when they book a
flight to London and do what thousands of tourists do every year.
Monday June 27th- No one likes Mondays, especially when their school Mondays; but for
that gloomy Monday morning I was pretty excited to get in school. 8 am we
headed out for school - Lily, Owen and Larry uniforms on and little American me
completely sticking out in my pink to their Blue suits. School in England is similar
and different to American school. Same
time frame, same core classes; different
time frame for classes which included them having a twenty minute break ( lunch
being a separate time from break). It makes
every American want to go to Newmarket Academy for a little while, or at least
adopt that policy in America.
Tuesday June 28th- While our exchange students were in school and we didn’t waist all
day sitting in classrooms doing assignments that had no bearing on our grades
in American - we travel the country! First stop Cambridge. Cathedrals, Museums,
Beautiful colleges, and punting! No one fell in!! Very impressive
task.
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| This is punting - it's harder than it looks! |
Wednesday June 29th- Bury St. Edmunds. Walks in historic parks, Museums, shopping,
local markets, and NANDOS! The Americans were pretty excited to try Nandos,
excited is an understatement.
Thursday June 30th- Fish and Chips seaside with a little ice cream, all in great
company and great weather. You can’t beat that.
Friday July 1st- Newmarket is a horse town, so it would be a
sin not to learn about the horses and live in Newmarket. Fun fact: horses get
the right away and on some streets there is a lane just for horses! We learned
all about Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai and his farm in Newmarket. We visited the British Racing School and saw how
horses play such an important part to Newmarket. It really brings the town
together and makes it so special.
Saturday and Sunday time with the family. I LOVE family time. My best memory is
of the trip is a spontaneous game of baseball where we had the father’s god son
(visiting from France who only spoke French) the three Milbank kids, and I use
sweatshirts as bases had a ball, glove, and bat. It was something so simple
that brought the five of us together. We had three different countries, three
accents, two languages, and all different ages laughing and having a good time
over something so simple. Makes the
world seem so small.
I am so happy to share my adventure with you and with my utmost sincerity I hope
you look into the Lexington Sister Cities programs and all their awesome work.
Thank you to everyone who made this exchange possible!
Anne Boggess
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