We had a lovely night last night visiting the parents of a girl that Donna works with in Sydney. Dons works with a delightful Canadian girl called Melissa, and when Melissa found out that we were going to Oakville she suggested we contact her parents in Mississauga, the city next to Oakville. Donna made contact with Melissa’s mum Carmella a few days ago and they went out for a coffee together, and Donna had a lovely day.

Then Carmella and Doug invited us all over for dinner last night and they went to so much trouble… we had a lamb roast (with Australian lamb!) and some really delicious deserts, then the kids went down to the basement to watch TV while Donna and I sat around chatting with Carmella and Doug for an hour or so. I even got to have a blow of Carmella’s didgeridoo, after fixing the wax mouthpiece which got damaged in transit back from Australia.

This is one of the best things about being on exchange, and not just visiting as a tourist… you get to meet real people and get to know them, find out about how people live, and share a bit about ourselves and Australia.