Horsham East Rotary Club has said goodbye to a German exchange student.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Rotary exchange student Vanessa Six has called Horsham home for the last 12 months. Vanessa travelled from Iserlohn, which is near Cologne in Germany.
Vanessa had many countries to choose from for her 12 month exchange adventure, but she said Australia was her first choice.
“It sounds strange, but I wanted to go as far away as possible from Germany,” she said. “I wanted a completely different environment that I was use to.”
Vanessa said she was able to see every corner of Australia – visiting each state over her stay.
“My host family took me on a houseboat on the Murrary River, I went to Sydney for Christmas and I went on a safari with Rotary and other exchange students,” she said.
Vanessa said the Wimmera River, the Silo Art Trail and Pink Lake were the places she loved most about the region.
She said it was too hard to choose just one highlight from her trip, but the friends she had made over the past year was memorable.
While living in Australia Vanessa had the chance to attend Horsham College. She said she was in year 11 and 12 classes.
“School is very different here and it was very interesting to see what and how the students learn in Australia,” she said. “The student, teacher relationship is also very different and in Germany we start school at 7.30am, but in Horsham we started at 9am.”
Vanessa said she enjoyed subjects such as food studies and legal studies.
“There were many subjects that we don’t have in Germany. Students are given more chances and choices with the subjects they can do.”
Vanessa said she was grateful to Horsham East Rotary Club for giving her a great exchange experience.
She said the chances for her coming back to Australia in the future was very high.
“There is a high chance I am coming back – maybe during the Easter break and I’ll come with my best friend,” she said.