Albert Einstein Gymnasium

I wanted to do something special, something that I would never forget – I wanted to have a big adventure. That’s why I chose to do an exchange with an organization. As my organization I chose TravelWorks. They found a host family for me and helped me before going to Australia by answering a lot of questions, giving me information and having a meeting with many other people who were planning to do an exchange.

But the big question was: Where should I go? Somewhere in Europe? The USA? Canada? Or maybe New Zealand or Australia?

As I wanted to have an adventure I chose the city Brisbane in Australia – to go to the other side of the world, more than 20,000km away from home, without friends and family. Yes, that sounded like a big adventure. And not to forget, have nice weather, go to the beach, meet kangaroos and koalas, explore famous attractions as Ayers Rock and the Great Barrier Reef and visit famous cities as Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

a2But what else did I expect from going to Australia? Get memories that I will never forget in my life. Go to the beach, learn how to surf, find out if you can really find koalas in trees outside and see kangaroos next to the street. Experience a different culture and a different lifestyle, see how going to school in a different country is, find lots of new friends and improve my English.

But how did it all really turn out to be? In general I think all my expectations became reality: I saw kangaroos and koalas, I went to the beach at lot. I made lots of new and good experiences that I will always cherish and never forget. My English improved a lot and I got the opportunity to experience the Aussie way of life, which is in some parts completely different to what I’m used to from the German culture. I also found lots of new friends, not only from Australia but from all over the world who are amazing and who I had a lot of fun with.

But the biggest difference I noticed was when going to school. Everything – and when I say everything I mean everything – was completely different. Beginning with the school busses which weren’t crowded, then the huge school with heaps of different buildings for the different subjects. Then the teachers who are respected by every single student, but even though they are more like “friends” and they always help students when they have problems, even if these are personal problems! Another difference is that you can choose your subjects, the only subjects you have to take are Maths and English – all other subjects can be chosen individually. School in Australia finishes after year 12 and a very nice difference is that if you’re senior (year 11 and 12) you have Mondays off so you only have to go to school from Tuesday till Friday. School starts at 8.05am every day for seniors and finishes between 2.30pm and 3.15pm, depending on the different days. And the biggest difference for me was probably that I had to wear a school uniform. The school is very strict when it comes to the uniform, black and covered leather shoes have to be worn every day as well as of course our school uniform. Girls are also not allowed to wear make-up and hair that touches the collar has to be tied up. If someone doesn’t follow these rules they get detentions which can be picking up rubbish during lunch, staying longer after school or coming to school on a Monday. If people constantly did the wrong thing this could end with a school suspension for a week or even longer!

Of course it is not always easy to be so far away from Germany but in Australia I found a new home, a second family and wonderful friends. And even though it is sometimes really hard to face all kinds of new and different problems, the time I had in Australia was definitely the best time of my life.