Maddy’s August Report

Maddy is certainly enjoying her exchange year. Read below.

I really believed this month was going to be the hardest of exchange so far because

1-         I was leaving my amazing host family that I’d become comfortable in and moving in with a new family that seemed great but none the less different

2-         I was moving onto year 11 with all my friends but didn’t know if school would be stricter and give me stress.

But I have now found out it has all taken the opposite effect that I thought it would be

1-         My new host family is a lot like my old family in Australia and so I fit in here amazingly well, I speak and understand German ok so we don’t have the language barrier again.

2-         Moving into year 11 was sooo simple because I’m in the same classes as all my friends, I’ve met new amazing people and we don’t have 10 hour long days anymore the max would be 6 hours.

So really I have no stress at all! I’ve gotten to the part in exchange where everything is right and perfect.

On the 3rd August was the day I was leaving my old family and moving onto my next, I’d cleaned out my room and packed my bag, I was nervous! We were just about to drive away when I realized I’d forgotten to say goodbye to the dog, I’d kept strong that long, saying goodbye to everyone but when it came to saying goodbye again it suddenly hit me that I was indeed leaving this amazing family, so a few tears leaked out and that sort of set off everyone, my host mum even started crying! When I arrived at my new host family though, as soon as I felt my new host mum give me a hug that was full of love and warmth I knew I would like it here. On the first day we went cart driving, which was a lot of fun. Over the past few weeks I’ve really gotten to know my new family, I’ve become close with my 2 host siblings and we’ve had a lot of fun together. For a family day we all drove to Oldenburg for a shopping trip, that was a very nice bonding experience, I’ve been to Bremen twice and discovered it’s a wonderful place to go shopping! September and part of October is going to be a month of travel for me because my parents from Australia are coming to Europe, so I will be travelling to Amsterdam and meet them there, from there on we will catch a train to Paris and meet my last host parents there, we will stay in Paris for 4 days then ride back to Holland and catch up with family there, then drive back to Wilhelmshaven in Germany and show my parents around where I live for a few days, THEN they will head off to the north of Germany and hopefully meet up with Nici (our exchange student from Germany) while at that time my host family are taking me with them to a Spanish island for a 2 week holiday!!!!! I AM SO LUCKY! THANK YOU SO MUCH ROTARY!

Maddy’s July Report

It certainly sounds like Maddy is having a fantastic time and gaining a lot from the experience. Maady also visited Nici. read below.

At 6am on the 6th July 2010 I woke up with butterflies in my stomach knowing today was the day we were flying to Spain and spending a whole week in the magical place. By the time we arrived in Italy and waiting for our connecting flight to Barcelona we were all feeling pretty relaxed and confident thinking we’d made it this far with no troubles that do normally occur. Sadly that was not to be, in the airport in Barcelona my host fathers bag we discovered was missing, but we didn’t let that break our holiday, simply just hoping Luftansa would keep their promise saying it will arrive tomorrow. We arrived at our hotel (that’s 1 hour away from Barcelona) reasonably late that night and all immediately ran to the beach for a swim as soon as we could. I’d say it was the most magical night I’ve ever had, there was a full moon shinning brightly giving us the perfect amount of light needed, the water was a superb warm and to top it all off, my host sister running desperately to reach the water tripped over nothing and fell flat on her face in the sand (she always laughs about my clumsiness). To say it was a perfect night does not give it justice.

The days in Spain were hot, so we would spend the whole day by the beach that was just a few steps away, then later in the day tour the place. On the 3rd day we drove to a beautiful city called Tarragona, it was my heaven, with thousand year old buildings with a history that sent waves of recognition and admiration through me. On Saturday we drove to Barcelona and in the first 5 minutes there I knew for sure this was my city, I first liked it, then as the hours past I fell in love, I know I will live there when I’m older. We toured the city and it just so happened that on this precise day at the exact hour we had arrived was the start of a huge protest. The protest was about the state Catalonia to become an independent country from the rest of Spain, it was a huge protest with 1.5 million people protesting in one huge street.

It seemed it was meant to be that I- Madeline Jane Stroot was to witness Spain in the most amazingly busy and best time because on Sunday Spain was to play in The FIFA World Cup soccer Grand Final- Holland vs. Spain! It was a torturous game to watch without knowing what was to happen; with the Spanish screaming in all directions the atmosphere was overwhelming. Spain of course won and even when we went to bed at around 3am the horns and screams were still as loud as 6 hours ago.

The next day was the last full day we were to spend in Spain so we planned to enjoy it by simply spending it as a normal day. Waking up and eating breakfast together, soon after enjoying the sun and water by the beach, Julia and I walking to our favorite restaurant and ordering the same we had for the whole week for lunch- Batats Bravas. Then shopping for a little while and eventually back at the beach, then later that night heading down to bar and playing card games.

Looking back at Spain now fills me with joy because I have such fond memories and experiences that I will remember forever.  

This week I also went to Kapplen to visit Nici! Nici was an exchange student in Australia from Germany for a year and she stayed with my family for about 5 months, while I was there Glenn Methven from Australia and Lisi Casper from Germany who was also an exchange student in Australia were there. I was there from Sunday till Wednesday and it was so much fun, I met Nici’s beautiful family and saw more of Germany.

            I have to say August is going to be the beginning of a very different and new month for me, I shall be moving families on the 3rd August and school will be starting again on that Thursday and there I will be moving onto the 11th class with all my friends but we’ll all be in different classes.

Maddy’s June Report

1-         If Germany wins- I will suffer public humiliation and have jokes thrown at me about how bad Australia plays soccer the next day at school OR

2-         If Australia wins- chased by an angry mob of Germans with an evil, deadly look in their eye.Either way I was going to loose but I still had a plan, run away as fast as I can after the game finishes. As you all probably know Germany won extensively, 4-0, I was a little disappointed but sadly known Australia would loose before but that does not change the amount of fun I had there, the atmosphere of excitement was felt by everyone there and the thrill of it all was mind blowing.  I just returned from Lubeck, where my host sisters grandparents live, we spend 1 week there with just Julia, her 2 cousins, Oma, Opa and I. It was wonderful; the whole week was full of beautiful weather so we were outdoors the whole time, driving to the beach, going to an adventure park and to my delight water skiing! In Australia my family went regularly on the boat- skiing, fishing, travelling so to go water skiing again was amazing! It reminded me so much of home. I’ve also learned during my stay here the Germans love their ice-cream, we ate it in winter when there was snow and -8 degrees so in summer it’s nearly every hot day, if you open an ice-cream shop in Europe I guarantee it will succeed. Earlier in the month I also went with some friends to Hannover for the Plaza Festival, it was the most beautiful, hot day so far in the year- so said the radio and I completely agree. We went and saw Milow, Silbermond, and Xavier Naidoo, it was a great, fun day. This month also included the start of the summer holidays, but also the end of my class, they had been together for 5 years and now they would all be going different classes or schools it was incredibly sad because I love my class they are amazing people and have so far made my exchange the best, I remember it was my 3rd month and they were discussing what was going to be on their class jumpers for the end of the year, I’d only known them for a little while but they made sure my name was included in the jumper with all their names, claiming I was part of the class now. My class and friends have included me in everything, in class activities, and outside school activities, so for it to end like this is sad I’m going to miss them all.