exchange students have come to the conclusion that Bermuda is a paradise that is being taken for granted. They also felt that Bermudians are too absorbed in their own, relatively insignificant problems.

It was rather sobering, too, they said, to realise that, in both cases, their host countries' sole knowledge of Bermuda was confined to joking references about the Bermuda Triangle.

And although South Africa and Indonesia partially share a common heritage in that both were colonised by the Dutch, they are geographically and culturally far apart. Yet they also share a problem that has brought conflict to many countries around the world, for in both nations, immense wealth and grinding poverty exist side by side.

Claire Mancell, 19, who completed the Saltus post-graduate course before flying off to South Africa, stayed in Port Elizabeth, a city of 1.3 million inhabitants on the southern coast of the country.

"It's so beautiful, from the coast to the hills and mountains. South Africans call everything `stunning' -- and the scenery really is,'' she laughed.

Although Claire lived with three different families, she attended school, which was run on similar lines to Bermuda's, even down to wearing uniform.

"When I went there, the school was all-white, but in January it was integrated, so that was very interesting. In my area, they had formed special committees to make sure all went well and, in fact, it was pretty uneventful.

But another Rotary friend had her school surrounded by sub-machine guns, so I was glad I wasn't there!'' This, she explained, was because she was in a predominantly English-speaking area, which was far more tolerant than Afrikaans-speaking regions. "When they had the referendum, my area voted 73 percent in favour for the `yes' vote.'' She believes, however, that total integration of the races will take a long time, "but the ball has started rolling and it will happen.'' One of the aims of the Rotary exchange programme is to ensure that participants see as much of the host country as possible, so Claire went off on extended visits to the capital of Capetown, Durban and South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg.

"We toured the Transvaal, and went down a gold mine. That was where I saw segregation at its worst. The conditions were very harsh. I spent three hours down there and that was more than enough. I don't know how those people stood it for eight and nine-hour days.'' Through her membership of the Girl Guides, she also went on a game safari, where she saw zebra, springbok and elephants in the wild.

"I had a very happy time there. The people were wonderful. I think that as Port Elizabeth is coastal, it's very laid-back and has the friendliness of Bermuda even though it's a big city.'' Besides getting to school every morning at 7 a.m. for band practice (Claire plays the clarinet) and joining the school swimming team, Rotary activities formed an important part of her year, with meetings to be attended every week.

"They take enormous pride in their exchange programme, even though they haven't gained acceptance by all countries yet.'' After spending a year in South Africa, Claire Mancell feels that the biggest difference between apartheid and other countries where racial segregation is practised is that their race laws were actually written into the country's legal system. "I don't think the day to day situation was probably that much worse than the situation that existed in the southern states of America in the '50's. It's just that they are about 30 or 40 years behind the States. It's an odd situation because South Africa is by far the richest country on the African continent, the cities are as modern as anything in the States or Europe.

"But just round the corner you find a township, so you have this strange situation of a westernised city and the Third World all mixed up together.'' Christian Dunleavy, 18, had the added complication of a foreign language to cope with when he arrived in Djakarta, the capital of Indonesia.

"The national language is only about 50-years-old because when Indonesia was the Dutch East Indies and ruled from Holland, the language was banned.'' He stayed with two families, both Moslem, but he said that Djakarta is very westernised and one of the richest cities in south east Asia, with a huge business centre and a population of ten million people.

"There is a huge gap between the upper class, who are disgustingly rich and the majority who are on the poverty line. I met one family who had three Mercedes, two BMW's and a Jaguar, but the poor, who earn about $1.50 a day, have to get their water for bathing and drinking from the polluted river and there are lots of beggars and lepers on the streets.'' Although Christian learned to speak conversational Indonesian, he found he was at a complete loss, following lessons in school, so from last November onwards he spent most of his time touring the main islands that make up Indonesia.

He took the ubiquitous ferry to Bali, which has maintained its Hindu heritage: "Temples everywhere -- and far more foods that I was allowed to eat after the restrictions of the Moslems! The beaches are not nearly as beautiful as Bermuda's, but once you get away from all the vendors and Australian tourists and into the mountains, it is wonderful.'' There, he immersed himself in the Hindu culture, watching their dances and spiritual trances which enabled them to run through fire. "They believe in inner strength and even taught me how to break an iron bar with my hand!'' After a two-day ferry trip to Borneo he took an eight-day boat trip into the rain forest to see the cannibalistic head-hunting tribes, travelling everywhere by canoe to visit the river villages. Here he found a hidden land of spectacular waterfalls and deep forests, filled with exotic birds and huge monkeys.

Christian stayed in a `longhouse', built on stilts on the river bank, where the villagers organised a big ceremonial celebration in his honour, where they also taught him how to use a blowpipe.

"The missionaries had got to these villagers, so they were Christian, but deeper in the forest (where we were not allowed to go), there are apparently tribes who still practise cannibalism.'' He found that Indonesia is still a very militaristic society and strictly ruled by President Suharto. "The Moslems stop to pray five times a day, whatever they're doing -- even the TV stops during prayer time. And the Catholic schools spend a lot of time praying, as well,'' he said.

For this 18-year old, the value of his year in Indonesia was seeing how different societies work and the realisation that Bermudians are fortunate to live in such an affluent society.

"When you see these poor people working one month for what we earn in two hours gave me an insight into how very lucky we are in Bermuda. In comparison, most of the things we think are bad here are really inconsequential.'' They both felt that the year abroad, living in completely different societies had broadened their horizons and had provided an experience they would cherish for the rest of their lives.

LOOKING FOR GOLD -- Rotary exchange student Claire Mancell tries out the drill during a tour of the Hartebeestfontein Gold Mine in South Africa.

BLAZING A TRAIL -- Claire Mancell in her badge-studded blazer.

BORNEO BARN-DANCE -- Rotary student Christian Dunleavy seen with one of the Dayak warriors who entertained him during a visit to a Borneo river village.