Days 4 & 5

So far, the trip has been incredible!

On Sunday, we went to Dumbhalah (a beach) and played over there. The water looked beautiful however we couldnt swim as there are crocs in it. Nevertheless we still managed to have loads of fun! we were skimming rocks, playing sport, playing with hermit crabs and some of the boys went for a little walk with some of the Aboriginals to a little pond where we found frogs and got to hold them! Following that we came back to the school and made lunch for ourselves, aswell as cooking lunch for our Indeginous friends.

On Monday in the morning we went to the church grounds and participated in circus activities and volleyball, where we had a ball. Following that we came back, had lunch and went off to go to the Elcho Island art shop. A few students bought some amazing artwork which they love. When we got back we cooked the Aboriginals lunch and then put on some activities for them. This includes, tie dying, sport, egg and spoon races, water balloon based games and three leg races. It was amazing to watch how much of a great time we put on for the kids and to see how happy they were (and always are).

Will get back to you soon, much love


Ruby Steinberg and Lyndon Wise (plus the others :P) xxx

Pictures from days 1-3

Hey Guys.

Our trip so far has been awesome! We have met so many nice people, learnt new things about Indigenous culture and about ourselves too. Here in Elcho we had a wonderful shabbas dinner and had some aboriginal elders come... one of them had even travelled to Israel! We have cooked meals for many of The Indigenous people here which has been a really fullfilling experience. We have just been having loads of fun with the kids playing sport, getting to know each other and spending time together.

Here are a couple of photos snapped from the past few crazy meshuga days:

Stay tuned for more!

By: Lyndon Wise and Ruby Steinberg

14 days to go!

With 14 days to go I am getting more and more excited as every day passes by! We are getting our 'Elcho Island Cultural Exchange' Tshirts tomorrow which proves just how soon it is. I can't wait to interact with all the children there. We have some amazing activities planned that we came up with ourselves, which I am sure will be a huge success! I am especially looking forward to meeting new people and learning about the aboriginal culture and teach them a bit about Judaism. Getting excited!!

Hello all,

I am really excited for the 21^st so we can hop on a plane and go to Elcho Island finally. It seems like we have been planning for this trip for ages and suddenly, we are going in only two weeks! I can’t wait to go to Elcho Island and experience something new and exciting!

From Dakota Lipton

14 Days!
I am so excited to visit you all in Elcho Island! I can't wait! We have so many fun activities in store for you and we are all going to have so much fun. See you soon!

Only 14 days to go!!

The excitement is building up and nerves for a successful trip are showing. Preparations are nearly done and the activities are mostly sorted out. We have learnt our dance for the dance competition in Elcho Island and are getting really excited to meet all of the Elcho Islanders and share our experiences with them!

Aria Klein

Natalie Spivak 9E.
We have been learning new dances to compete in the Elcho Island dance competition, refreshing information about the trip and learning more about them. Everyone is sooo excited. There are only 14 more days to go and I can't wait!!! We are soon going to pack our bags, say goodbye to our parents and leave for Elcho Island. The tention is building up and everyone wants to meet them. I can't wait to go!

15 days to go!

Our Elcho Island trip is only 15 days away!

As things are coming together and less days appear on the calendar to the 21st of June, a workshop has taken place to broaden our Elcho Island knowledge and prepartaion for the trip. This including myself making up a dance with our trip helper, Mrs Gualtieri, and teaching to the other Elcho Islanders for a dance competetion. We also finalised things we need for activities and further activity planning. We also conpleted a mural for our school to put up that the Elcho Islanders from 2011 began.

Can't wait to see you all!

Hey everyone,
Its hard to believe how soon Elcho Island is departing, and i'm so excited to experience every minute of it! From exciting art workshops to cool dance moves I hope Elcho is prepared for us-becasue were are surely prepared for them. Every meeting we are learing more in a fun, educational way and I cannot wait for our trip to begin. From all the excitement we've had so far its unimaginable to believe the trip hasn't even started. Once the finishing touches had been made on our trip mural, we could really picture ourselves enjoying what Elcho has to offer.
Can't wait for Elcho!

Been having lots of fun preparing for Elcho Island. Only 2 weeks to go! Flights leaving at 5:30am! we have to get up so early, but i'm sure it will be worth it. Wednesday meetings are fun and informative.
Jordan


 

Hey guys,
14 day 'till we make our way to Elcho Island.
All is organized, just the last minute thing to go and we are ready to move. It will be an early wake up on Thursday the 21st. I am so excited to meet everyone there. We will travel to Darwin stay for a night to then go to Elcho and have lots of fun.
To the Elcho Islanders I am so excited to meet you all. :)

hey everyone,
We are getting closer and closer to the date, only 15 days left. which is really exciting!!!! We have planned all the activities from art to round robin. All i need to do is pack now, wish me luck! :)

Fourteen days to go, wohoo! so pumped, almost there :) just found out how we are getting there, the times of the flights and everything. Our Wednesday lunchtime meetings are so much fun. Finished working out all of our fun activities to do with the Elcho Islanders. Better start packing!!  

Hi Guys,



It’s almost two weeks until we leave for Elcho Island, and we are all so excited!



We now know all the details about our flights and itinerary, and have planned some great activities to do on the Island.

To everyone on the Island, I'll see you soon!!



Love Natasha

IronMan IN:

Been having some fun meeting planning activities to do the with the Elcho Islanders... Just 2 weeks to go, getting pumped! :)

Designed our Tshirts for the trip (good work benj weinmann), they're coming on friday!

Elcho Island Countdown!!!

Time until Thursday, 21 June 2012 at 7:15:00 AM (Melbourne time)

14	days
353	hours
21230	minutes
1273813	seconds      IronMan OUT

The Elcho Island trip is only 2 weeks away!

Every day I’m getting more excited. The trip planning has been great so far. We have learnt a group dance and all of us have contributed to mural which will be put up in the school. I am eagerly looking forward to the trip.

Benji Weinmann

For me, the Elcho Island Cultural Exchange is an opportunity of a lifetime. I am so lucky to be a part of an eye-opening, life-changing experience with my class mates.

I chose the Elcho Island trip because I felt that the morals consisting in the trip not only connected to me, as an Australian teenager, but as maturing young adult. I’m really excited to communicate and connect to other kids around my age and to have a real insight of who they are and what they do. This trip will hopefully spark future visits to a range of different communities around Australia.

At our '4 weeks to go' mark, we have planned activities, choreographed a dance, had a guest speaker and starting to finalise things we need for activities.

Ruby Steinberg J

Hi, my name is Emily Klooger; I am a Mount Scopus year, 9 student. I have chosen to go on the Elcho Island cultural exchange because I would like to make a connection with other Australian children outside of my community. I am overly excited to meet and spend time with the Indigenous community of Elcho Island. It was highly beneficial when Sam Rotberge came to talk to us and informed us on what to expect. I cannot wait to go on this life changing trip and to experience Elcho Island through my own eyes.

Hi my Name is Romy Fischbein. Elcho Island is more than just a trip for me, it’s an experience. The interest of Australian culture has always been with me in my journey through school. Once I was presented with the choice of going to Elcho Island I felt a spiritual connection and couldn’t resist applying. The choice to depart to Elcho Island has definitely paid off. From all the informing meetings and fun we’ve had so far I can’t wait for the actual trip to begin. I am looking forward to this once in a lifetime opportunity and, I hope this trip will be eye opening and give my life a brand new meaning. I can’t wait to share my culture with new people.

Natalie Spivak

I chose this particular cultural exchange to Elcho Island because I hope to be able to make a difference to someone else’s life and learn about them. I am really excited to meet new people and run activities . I know this is an experience I can’t have anywhere else and I can’t wait to go.

Hey everyone!

I am incredibly happy that I have been accepted into the Elcho Island Cultural Exchange Program. I am so excited to go and meet everyone there and learn about a different culture. I know it will be a once in a lifetime experience. To anyone on Elcho Island who might read this Hi, and I can’t wait to meet you all! I have no idea what to expect, but I know I will enjoy it immensely.

Natasha Connors

Ronit Better

I am really excited with the leading up to Elcho Island. I chose Elcho Island because I thought that it would be really cool to meet and immerse ourselves in the culture of the people living in Elcho Island nd the way that they live. I felt that it would be a great experience to interact with people of a different culture. We have had a lot of meetings in the lead up where we discuss what activities to do, update the itinerary and bond with each other.

I am so excited for the upcoming trip to Elcho Island. I chose this program because I thought it would give me a good insight to a new culture. I am excited to experience a new way of living and seeing life. It is a once in a life time experience that could never be forgotten. The previous year of Elcho Island have raved about how good and touching to the heart this experience was. I am not quite sure what to expect in terms of the type of people I am going to meet but am also excited to bonding with the people of Elcho Island and especially the children there.
Aria Klein

Emma Freilich
I guess I chose Elcho Island Cultural Exchange not because I will get time off school but for a deeper and more meaningful education about the culture and to learn about them personally and to overcome those stereotypes about them. I’m really excited about running the activities with the kids because I know from experience that being part of an activity is really fun and just puts a smile on everyone’s day! J

My name is Lyndon Wise and I’m going to Elcho Island with some of my friends in year 9 at Mount Scopus to do a cultural exchange with some aboriginal people. I’m really excited to get to know the people of Elcho Island and just have fun with them! We have already pre-organised some activities do with them such as sport, drama cooking and chilling.

My name is Jordan Davis and I’m looking forward to going to Elcho Island this year.

I chose to go on this trip because it interests me. I want to see how other communities live their lives, compared to us. I am looking forward to meeting the kids there, and making close relationships with them. I think it will be an eye opener to see how different they live compared to us.

My name is Dakota Lipton and I am a student in 9B at Scopus who originally always wanted to go to Cambodia, but when I saw the video on Elcho Island and what the Elcho island program involved, I had second thoughts. I wanted to go on the Elcho island program because I want to learn about aboriginal people and I want to experience something different and I thought that Elcho Island can give me this experience. I felt it was worth going to Elcho Island rather than not go and continue my everyday life because of that reason. We have done weeks of preparations in lunch times and I can’t wait to go!

Pre- trip

Hi everyone,

My name is Benjamin Weinmann from year 9, Mount Scopus Memorial College and I will be going on the Elcho Island cultural exchange program in 2012. I am very excited to be part of this trip and not sure what to expect when I get to the island. I’m looking forward to bonding with the Aboriginal people and the children and will be participating in many activities with them such as sports, dance and art. This will be a fantastic experience to learn more about different cultures and the way others live. It will be an eye opener!