When you sit on the plane to fly to the other side of the world, to live with a family you’ve never met before, to go to a school where you know literally nobody yet, and they all don’t speak your first language, you may think, “what am I doing”? Was this really the right decision? Turns out it was probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!

When I first arrived in my host family, it felt like home right away! My host family, the Willacys, are such a lovely family. I couldn’t imagine a better place to stay. We went on many weekend trips and they showed me some wonderful places in this fascinating country (although I had seen a lot of beautiful places when I traveled around the North Island with my parents before school began)!

School in New Zealand couldn’t be any more different from school in Germany! You get to choose your own subjects from a huge range of different, exciting and interesting subjects. I chose, for example, English, geography, fabric, outdoor education, drama and coasties. I really liked my choices.  I went on a really adventurous kayak and camping trip with my outdoor education class and I was surfing at the beach every Tuesday afternoon in coasties!

I was also involved in the wonderful project called Surfing for Farmers where you come together with local farmers every Tuesday night to go for a surf and have a BBQ in the evening! This project with a really strong community, impressed me a lot and I could just wish for a similar project with such a supportive community in Germany!

The Kiwis are the most friendly people I’ve ever met before. They are all so welcoming, caring for each other and positive thinking, that you feel comfortable around them right away. The teachers at school are really nice and the student to teacher relationship is lots more personal than in Germany. You really find a solution for any of your problems with your teachers.

I will miss Katikati College, my lovely host family and my friends I made over here so much! Thank you to everybody who made my time on the other side of the world so memorable :)