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Canadian Teen Looking Forward to His NZ Experience
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
Corey Anderson turned 17 on Thursday, but his champagne birthday wasn‘t the only cause for celebration. Anderson‘s birthday party doubled as a going away party for the Westgate student, who left on Friday for New Zealand to study.
(via Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal)
After a talk with an uncle inspired him to travel the world, Anderson said he started to look into the places he could explore.
And although he may have chosen to start on the opposite side of the globe, Anderson said he picked New Zealand because it seemed similar to home.
A self-proclaimed outdoorsman, he said he couldn‘t think of a better place to go.
“Like Thunder Bay, New Zealand is very connected to nature,” Anderson said during a phone interview Thursday.
“It is exotic, it sounds adventurous and it should be a ton of fun,” he added.
During his nearly six-month trip, Anderson will live in the city of Tauranga with the Smiths, a family of three. Tauranga has a population of about 100,000 and is on the Bay of Plenty.
He will attend Grade 12 at Otumoetai College, a co-ed government funded high school with about 1,900 students.
“I can‘t wait to start school down there. I can‘t wait to start studying and to immerse myself into a different culture,” he said.
Since New Zealand is a common-law country, Anderson explained, the curriculum should be fairly similar to what he is used to at Westgate. But he said it will be interesting adjusting to a school system with four semesters a year, rather than two.
“I‘m really big on history and geography so it will be nice to get a chance to learn about their history,” said Anderson, when talking about his eagerness to learn.
Anderson said he is grateful to his mother and step-father who are paying for the majority of the trip. Donations from his grandparents and Gull Bay First Nation are also helping make his dream come true. The traveller managed to save some money earned through his part-time job at Zellers.
After arriving in Toronto this morning, Anderson will travel to Vancouver and San Francisco before arriving in New Zealand 39 hours later.
He will be home in time to celebrate Christmas back in Thunder Bay.
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