This year Berkeley was graced with the presence of a few English exchange students: Michael Cotter, Charlie Oster, Jonny Huang and Daniel Discombe. Visiting Berkeley from The Tonbridge School in England, they got to experience the U.S. for a full four weeks. Tonbridge School is a day and boarding school, founded in 1553, in Kent, England. The boys became part of the Berkeley community during their visit, dining at the new Café, making new friends, and interacting with teachers and students alike. Though the boys were happy to go back to England, they said they were going to miss several things about Berkeley and America in general. They love the relaxing nature of Berkeley, which is much less stringent than their school at home.. In comparison to Tonbridge, Berkeley is far more informal, from the student-teacher relationships to the closely knit community Berkeley promotes.

Another more notable difference between England and America for them was the food. They claimed there was much more choice and diversity in America.. This seems to ring true about the shops as well. They remarked that the shops in America are much more specialized than those in England, and there are so many more from which to choose. They also pointed out the difference of moods between the people of America and England. They said that in America everybody is so nice, relaxing and welcoming, and people back home aren’t as warmhearted. Daniel Discombe said, “From the moment I came to Berkeley everybody was so kind and inclusive. I never felt without a friend and everyone was happy to help whenever I needed it.”

Though only visiting America for a month, they felt they had ample time to learn, not only about Florida, but also about the world in general. Michael Cotter said, “Berkeley has given me an insight into the diversity of the world and taught me about the different cultures it possess that I would not have experienced if I did not embark on this voyage, across the pond, to the beautiful place of Tampa Bay.” Berkeley was lucky to host such an interesting group of people, and our community looks forward to hearing the stories our students bring back from Tonbridge.