The Yepper
Youth Exchange Bulletin District 9650
June 2016
Welcome to Youth Exchange for 2016
Chair:
Peter Paff [email protected]
Secretary:
Allan Brown [email protected]
Treasurer:
Michael Parry [email protected]
District Coordinators:
Bev & Daryl Bartlett [email protected]
Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Brazil
Stephanie & Allan Brown [email protected]
France, Austria, Belgium,
Japan, Taiwan
2015- 2016 Inbounders
Anna Theresa Schauss Austria RC of Port Macquarie Sunrise
Violette Yernaux Belgium RC of Dorrigo & Bellingen
Guliherme Moraes Brazil RC of Tamworth
Anne Sophie Olsen Denmark RC of Armidale AM
Ida Sevon Finland RC of Gloucester
Lucie Canon France RC of Narrabri
Romayne Teyssier France RC of Coffs Harbour & Coffs City
Phelina Schuettke Germany RC of Wingham
Greta Rimoldi Italy RC of Gunnedah, Gunnedah
West and 2380
Reiko Izumi Japan RC of Tamworth First Light
Gina Held Switzerland RC of Taree on Manning
Heng Lee Taiwan RC of Walcha
2016 OUTBOUNDERS
Clarence Harre Austria RC of Woolgoolga
Kael Stace Austria RC of Uralla
Mitchell Huthnance Denmark RC of Woolgoolga
Sophie Pole- Cini Finland RC of Wingham
Abbie Bartlett France RC of Narrabri
Mia Bowden France RC of Gloucester
Lucinda Caton Germany RC of Narrabri
Makayla Randall Germany RC of Great Lakes
Sophie Wunder Japan RC of Taree on Manning
By the time you read this most of those students who have been a big part of our clubs for the last twelve months will have returned home. I know their effects on many of our clubs will be long lasting just as the experiences they have been open to while
here will go with these students for the rest of their lives. Speaking to an exchange student recently she made the comment that whatever happens in the rest of her life she will always be an Exchange Student and will never want to change that. From talking to some clubs they stil l have regular contact with past students
decades on. This is best evidenced by a group from one club who are currently in Brazil to be a part of the wedding of a student they hosted years ago. The tentacles of Youth Exchange definitely cross many miles and many years. Clubs who have not been involved in Youth Exchange do not know what they have been missing.
As we farewell the last of these students over the next couple of days we welcome the first of our incoming group with students arriving from the 10th July. These students will be hosted by clubs in the towns of Taree, Port Macquarie, Gunnedah , Narrabri, Coonabarrabran, Coffs Harbour , Wauchope, Woolgoolga , Bellingen and Sawtell . These clubs are excitedly looking forward to new experiences and adventures as they embark on the journey of these young students. We would also
like to welcome a few clubs who are embarking on the experience of hosting for the first time in many years. We look forward to working with them over the next twelve months.
Later this month we will be holding our first briefing session for those students who have been selected to represent our District overseas next year. This weekend will be held in Armidale and we are very excited to get to know these students as they prepare for their great adventure.
This is definitely an exciting time and we look forward to being a part of these experiences.
Allan Brown
Secretary
12/7 Phelina Schuettke
June
The month of June has been rather uneventful, or it seems that way looking back.
Unfortunately, I’ve stopped writing in my journal, so I no longer have that as a reference for
these situations.
For a major lack of photo’s, I must simply write about the month:
Weekend #1
I went with my host family to a rock music festival in the province next to Vienna called
Burgenland. It was fun, although it did rain quite heavily. We heard many a song in the
German language, topped with Red Hot Chilli Peppers for the finale. My 17 year old host
brother had just finished school on the Friday before, so he went there for 3 days – the rest
of the fam came on Sunday to pick him up.
Weekend #2
This weekend saw all of us exchange students coming together for the last time for the
District Conference 1920 in Kitzbühl. There we rehearsed for a day, and performed the
following day for Rotary representatives from all over the district, as well as the current
Rotary world president Ravi Ravindran and his wife Vanati. I was the MC of the event –
therefore obliging me to make an introductory speech (during which the president fell asleep
– must’ve been a long flight) and welcome all performers as they take the stage. It was a fun
weekend, mixed with sadness. We are now oldies. We are the future. The new generation
begins.
Weekend #3
Summer truly begins, if it had not already done so. We went to the Donau Insel Fest (DIF),
where we saw Seiler und Speer, a very popular German duo. Of course, we also went
swimming the river, and sold pretzels because food at the fest is super expensive. This took
place in Vienna.
Clarence Harre
To Austria
2016
Weekend #4
The final weekend of the month – farewell parties for all the exchange students in Vienna.
Legit, BBQ after BBQ after... Again, a great time, albeit a tad disappointing to see them all
disappear for 10 years*.
*In Kitzbühl, during the farewell dinner, I was thrown into a situation where I had to
improvise a speech to the departing oldies. For lack of nice words to sooth the holes in our
hearts, I promised that we would have a 10 years reunion... on my private yacht... in Monte
Carlo... so yeah, got my work cut out for me.
The Rotary Club of Woolgoolga sponsors Clarence
This month was pretty cool, at the very beginning of the month on the 5th, I made a trip to
Italy with my school, which was really cool, we stayed in a city called Lignano on the north-
east coast, where we learned wind surfing and also met another school.
On the first day of the trip which was a Sunday, we met at a school in a town 50km away
from where I live, which was a little annoying but anyway.
We left from the school at around 9:30 and arrived in Lignano at 4:30, when we went to our
Hotel, the Hotel was really clean and nice, and the beach was a 2 minute walk from the front
door, which was awesome.
On Monday we began with our wind surfing lessons, which were really fun, then we had
lunch which of course was a pizza the size of a small country, and tasted much better than
anything you would ever buy from dominoes or pizza-hut, then it was back to lessons.
Same routine on Tuesday, but Wednesday was a little different as we went to Venice for a
look, where we were set loose on the city for 6 hours to go where we pleased, explore and
eat amazing food, we went on a sea taxi thing which was pretty cool, but never managed to
get on a Gondela, ah well, next time perhaps. After our exploration of the truely awesome
city we returned to Lignano by train and had dinner and went to bed, then on Thursday we
had one more wind surfing lesson, where i finally got it down and can add that to the list of
sports I've learned on exchange.
On Friday we all piled back on the bus and made the journey home.
Not a whole lot else happened during June, I did attend a rotary event in my state where a
new president for the whole of my state was sworn in, that was a nice evening mingling with
other Rotarians, and I made sure my Rotary smile was firmly affixed to my face for the
evening.
Not much else to report so ill sign off here, enjoy these few pictures I have taken of various
stuff.
Kael Stace
To Austria
2016
The Rotary Club of Uralla sponsors Kale
Mitchell is currently doing his Euro tour with a group from Sweden and is having a great time
The Rotary Club of Woolgoolga sponsors Mitchell
Mitchell Huthnance
To Denmark
2016
Sophie is sailing around the Baltic Sea with her host family and in the last contact she was in
the Stockholm Archipelago . We expect some great stories next month.
The Rotary Club of Wingham sponsors Sophie
Sophie Pole-Cini
To Finland
2016
This month was a month full of tears both good and bad. The start of June I did my first assignment at school in French ( It was my English class but my professor let me do it in French). It was nice to hear all of my friends tell me how much my French has improved already. That weekend I played golf for the first time with one of my closest friends here and her dad. I enjoyed the day out but I don't think i'll ever play professionally. I returned home to get ready to go to the movies with my family, we watched Alice through the looking glass in 3D which was a good movie with the moral about time. The time really does pass quickly as it was already the last week of school before the summer vacation, the Wednesday when school finished I went out with my class and we ate lunch all together at a pizzeria. I find it really good in French that the classes organize days out together to do things, I wish we did those kinds of things at my school. The next day I finished school and sadly said goodbye to my friends because I am changing schools after the holidays, I hope I can see them throughout the rest of the year. My birthday was 3 days away and my host family let me invite my closest friends for the afternoon for a party. Seeing as the day was warm we spent time in the pool playing volleyball and mucking around. After we were all changed and dry we went indoors to eat the cake my friend had baked (its her birthday the day after mine so we celebrated together) However the chocolate cake quickly became orange as she accidentally spilt her drink on the cake, i'd also managed to make a rice pudding after ringing up my dad for the recipe (thanks dad, I was really craving your rice pudding) I made one the day before my party but it ended up looking like a mess. My second try was perfect and my friends all tried my dessert. They were all kind enough to give me a gift and my two closest friends recorded them playing piano and singing my favourite song 'Hallelujah' (there were some tears after I listened to the song). They also gave me a photo album for all of my memories in France especially my photos with them. The Sunday I went with my host father and Aino to pick up her sister at the train station. I could tell that she was nervous about seeing her sister after so long and it made me think how weird it will feel when i come home. When we returned home my host mother told me to go change into something nice before lunch and when I walked upstairs the dining table was all nicely decorated but I thought it was because of Aino's sister arriving. I was watching tv with my host siblings when my parents called on Skype and my host sister told me to go sit at the computer. My parents had printed out "HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY" before I could say anything my host family and my parents started singing happy birthday as my host mother came in with my birthday cake.
Abbie Bartlett
To France
2016
It was a sponge cake cut in half with cream kind of like custard with raspberries (which was delicious in case you're wondering). After I blew out the candles we all raised our glasses and said cheers. I talked with my parents for a little while before I ate lunch with my family. Before dessert my host mother suddenly jumped up from the table and said to call my parents quickly because they'd forgotten to do something. She came in with a package that my parents had sent with my birthday presents and a card my grandparents had sent. (sneaky people.) After opening my gifts and trying not to cry we finally ate the cake. My host father left the table and returned with a present from them. They gave me Alice in wonderland and Alice through the looking glass as they know i love the story and a bottle of perfume by Taylor Swift which I have always wanted. The afternoon we drove to a castle where there just happened to be a medieval day with people dressed up and games to play. We participated in a medieval role play in the costumes and being knighted where they most us promise to stop eating at fast food restaurants and be good children for the family. It was the best 16th birthday i could of every imagined. The next weekend I went to "Le Corden Bleu" and made macaroons with Aino and Constance to help. In three hours we learnt how to make the mixture, how to pipe the correct amount for the macaroons, leave them to dry, bake them and after prepare the filling and create our macaroons. Together we ended up making 120 in total with the flavours chocolate, strawberry and raspberry. Sunday the family went out to lunch to a type of restaurant that is a specialty in France. We drove half an hour in the mountains and countryside with the paddocks with the sheep to the restaurant. There were 6 courses, the first being 'tarte a la Fourmi de Montbrison' which is a type of pie with a cheese (Fourmi) which is made in the region (Montbrison). The second being 'Salade au noix' which was simply lettuce and oil made from nuts, also typic of the region. (which I couldn't eat with my allergy's). The third was 'Patita' made with potatoes and cream slow cooked for four hours and the fourth was lamb. The fifth and sixth were dessert, we could choose 'fromage sec' simply cheese or 'fromage blanc' which is basically milk that has gone sour and sterilized which is a specialty in France. The sixth was 'gateau aux abricots' an apricot cake with vanilla ice-cream. After leaving the restaurant we decided to walk for a while because we had all eaten too much. Coming to the end of the month Aino (the finnish girl) year on exchange was ending too. The Saturday night was Constance's dance concert were we all went and watched before coming home and celebrated her 18th birthday and farewell together while watching a classic French We laughed, cried and shared all the good times together until 1am. Sunday we drove to Lyon and said our goodbyes before she left on the train, and now there's one less person who has left a hole in the household.
The Rotary Club of Narrabri sponsors Abbie
The halfway mark of my exchange is creeping closer and closer. I don’t know how to feel. I’m
not ready to give in to the fact that six months of my exchange is almost complete and I have
only six more months to go!
The first week of June I spent enjoying my classes and trying my hardest to connect with
friends. It was my last week of school before the holidays so I wanted to cherish and cement
in the memories of my teachers and classmates from 1ES (my class). The last day of school
was on the 7th and we spent it watching movies in class and munching on junk food. It was
an enjoyable spring day and it felt so good at 4pm*to walk out of the school gates and
commence my three month summer holidays.
The 5th of June was my birthday. It was such an
awesome day and the sun was shining for the first
time in weeks, which made it even better. My
birthday was on the same day as the communion of
one of the Canon’s cousins. There was lots of food
and family that made sure I had a great day. When
the desserts were being served, my little host
brother, Samuel, pulled me away to look at
something with him. I went with him and when we
came back, everyone was singing “Joyeux
Anniversaire” (Happy Birthday) and there were 17 candles in one of the desserts. I felt happy
tears in my eyes as they were singing and I blew out the candles.
The first week of Summer Holidays I spent
relaxing at the farm. On the Sunday, Odile
and Eloi took me on a village tour of
houses that are built into rock. We walked
around the village stopping into people’s
houses. The habitants were all so lovely
and eager to educate us about the history
of their rock houses. It was so generous of
them to invite us into their homes.
One of the rock houses
Mia Bowden
To France
2016
My surprise birthday cake
Friday afternoon when Laetitia and I got back from Paris we headed with the family to the
airport to pick up Abbie! Abbie is my Irish-born, Australian friend born. She was visiting
family in Ireland and decided to fly over to France for four days. At the airport I was shaking
and crying and as soon as I saw her step out of the plane I started banging on the glass to
grab her attention. It was so great having Abbie here. I felt like she brought a piece of
Australia to me in France and it was so good talking and catching up on all the news from
Australia. It was strange talking two languages and having to translate. I kept slipping up by
talking either French to Abbie or English to my host family. My brain was a mess over those
four days. It was so strange, at times I couldn’t focus on anything because I felt like my brain
was running one million times per hour. While Abbie was here my family took us to the
Chateau of Usse. It’s a really beautiful Chateau and it centres on the theme of sleeping
beauty. It was wonderful stepping back through time and touring the chateau and grounds.
On Monday, I was sad to have to say goodbye to Abbie. A part of me wished I could be going
home with her to see my family and friends.
After Abbie left I had another relaxing week at the farm. I spent my days reading books,
playing the piano and enjoying the warmer weather. The sun has finally arrived and slowly,
it’s starting to feel a little like Australian Summer… or maybe Spring. I’m still wearing a
jumper and jeans when I go outside but I think it’s mainly the wind that’s making the days
feel cold.
You wouldn’t think it was possible but yet another family member has been added to the
Canon Family. Flavie is an agricultural student at University who is completing her
traineeship with the Canons. Every year the Canons host a University student who completes
their traineeship on the sheep farm. Now that Flavie’s here and when Lucie comes back to
France, there will be 9 of us in the Canon family!
The 25th I had a Rotary Conference. Like at most Rotary meetings and conferences, we ate a
big lunch and then performed a little spectacle for the Rotarians. We were told the month
before we had to prepare a poem from our country to read. I decided to read the lyrics of “I
am Australian”. It all went smoothly and I read it without fault in front of about 150
Rotarians. I was proud of myself but then I was asked to explain what the poem meant. I had
to talk in French and that didn’t go to well. I
stuttered and stumbled with my words from being
put on the spot and I’m not even sure if what I said
made any sense but I gave it a go.
That same night, when I got back from the
conference, the Canon Family, Flavie and I headed to
a music festival, ‘Kampagn Arts’. The atmosphere at
the festival was awesome and I had such a great
time dancing with my host sisters.
The next week, my host sister, Laetitia, and I travelled to Versailles. For the next four days we
stayed with Odile’s parents and did so many touristy things in Paris and Versailles. It was a
wonderful four days. We explored so much of Paris including the Opera, Champs Elysees, The
Arc De Triomphe, Jeu de Paume, The Louvre, Sacre-coeur, Notre Dame, underground
archaeological sites, and we spent the Wednesday at the Estate of Versailles. The chateau
and the grounds at Versailles are just breathtaking and I loved being able to walk through
the history of the kings and queens.
Pictures from Paris &
Versailles
Lately I’ve been really trying to understand the
past, present and future tenses with the
language. It’s super hard. I can’t speak using
them because I’m always concentrating very
hard on actually forming a sentence. However, I’m finding that when I read books I am able
to sometimes pick up the tense. This last week at the house we haven’t had Wi-Fi. It’s been
hard trying to improve because when I read
I normally google translate the difficult
words I don’t understand.
I’m at a really good point in my exchange.
The weather is becoming warmer and I love
living in the serenity and quiet of the farm.
The Canon Family are so great and I’m
anxious about leaving them and moving in
September. I’m so excited about the next
two months of holidays. The Canon Family
and I already have so many wonderful
things planned. I’m so conflicted, I can’t
wait to experience all these things but then
again I plead for the time to slow down.
The Rotary Club of Gloucester sponsors Mia
Me & Abbie at
The Chateau
d’Usse
Sunset on the farm at 9:45pm
This month has been the best month so far; I had the best two weeks of my life on my Europe
Tour!
Day 1:
On the 5th of June the bus with twenty seven other exchange students, two Rotexers and
four Rotarians came and picked me up from Bünde as it was on route to our first stop of
Berlin. Twenty five exchange students are on exchange in the Netherlands, this is where the
tour originated and two are exchange students in Iceland. Out of the twenty eight of us,
three of us were Aussies which was great. That evening we arrived in Berlin, we ate dinner at
Taverne Athena, which is a Greek restaurant, we then checked into our hotel and all got to
know each other a bit better.
Jordy (from Australia who is on exchange in Iceland) Eating at Taverne Athena.
and I in the hotel drinking freshly made juice.
Day 2:
On the Monday morning we were woken up in time for breakfast before we had a guided
tour on the bus. On the tour we stopped and saw:
The shopping streets “Kurfurstendem” and “Unten den Linden”
The “KaDeWe”, a prestigious department store during the Cold War
Check Point Charlie, the famous crossing between East and West Berlin
The last remains of The Berlin Wall
The Brandenburger Tor
The “Potzdamer Platz”
The Holocaust Memorial and many other things.
In the afternoon we had free time, so my friends and I went shopping and looked around.
Later we visited the check Point Charlie Museum which was very interesting, people had very
Lucinda Caton
To Germany
2016
Lucinda Caton
To Germany
2016
inventive ways of getting over the wall! For dinner we had a Bavarian meal at
Maximillian’s. After dinner we had free time, but we had to be back at the acquired time,
my friends and I went for a walk - naturally we got lost and we were a little bit late back, but
all was ok.
in
Day 3:
On Tuesday morning we had an early start as we had to pack. After breakfast we walked to
the Bundestag, which is the equivalent of parliament house, after walking for about an hour
we arrived there. We had a security check it was like going through customs again! On top
of The Bundestag is a giant dome where you walk around with an audio guide, which
explains what you are looking at, it had a great view. At lunchtime we left for Prague and
arrived there in time for dinner in the hotel.
Jordy and I at the
Brandenburger
Tor
Gabby (from New Zealand on exchange in
the Netherlands),Nick (from USA on
exchange in the Netherlands) and I at the
Brandenburger Tor.
Group photo in front of the
Brandenburger Tor.
Berlin Wall!
Jordy and I at the Berlin Wall.
Sebas (from Ecuador
on exchange in The
Netherlands) and I
at the Berlin Wall.
Berlin Wall!
Alex (from Mexico on exchange in the
Netherlands), Jean (from Peru on
exchange in the Netherlands), Sebas,
Andres (from Chile on exchange in the
Netherlands) and I at the Berlin Wall.
Berlin Wall!
Statue of
Neptune
Dinner at
Maximillian’s
Day 4:
Wednesday we were up early to catch the Metro to the Castle of Prague. We had a guided
tour, but oh my golly gosh we had to walk SO MANY STAIRS! But the view was worth it at the
top; they’re so many beautiful old buildings. After the tour we had free time, so naturally I
went shopping I also tried Trdelník which is Czech pastry. After free time we went back to
the hotel and changed for the opera, we had dinner at U Fleka then walked to the Estate
Theatre. At the theatre we watched The Magic Flute by Mozart it was my first opera it was
very interesting.
Group photo in front of the
Bundestag.
Group photo on top of the
Bundestag in front of the dome.
Jordy, Cleo (from Australia on exchange in
the Netherlands), Gabby, Emmi (from
Finland on exchange in the Netherlands,
Reina (from Japan on exchange in the
Netherlands) and I in front of the
Bundestag.
A Garden in Prague.
The view from the Prague Castle.
St. Vitus Cathedral
Canal in Prague.
Cleo and I in Prague.
Luuk (Rotexer from the
Netherlands and past
exchange student) and I.
Opera
!
Day 5:
Thursday was a really chilled day we could get up when we wanted and go into the city, I
went to the city to do some shopping, Prague is really cheap so it was great. In the
afternoon we left for Vienna and arrived there for dinner at Salm Brau Klosterbraueri, as
usual we had free time after dinner, but had to be back by an appointed time.
Day 6:
We had a late breakfast, and then took the train to the bike rental place. We spent the
morning doing a bike tour which was really good, it bet walking! After the tour we had free
time I was with Cleo and some other friends, we then met up with a boy from her district in
Australia and a New Zealander. I also went to Mozart’s house which was
really interesting for me. We had dinner at Brandauer Schloßbrau which was
really nice as we ate outdoors. After dinner we went and sat by the canal.
The area by the canal is really cool as the council let people graffiti there, the
whole place is designed for younger people so it was fun for us to hang there.
Day 7:
On Saturday morning we took the train to Schloß Schönbrunn we then had the Imperial Tour
around the castle it was spectacular. After the castle we went to the gardens which were just
mesmerizing they were just so perfect and precise and absolutely ginormous. In the
afternoon we had free time so I took the train into the city where I met up with Kael which
Some buildings.
A fountain.
A garden that we found on the
bike tour.
Dinner at Brandauer Schloßbrau.
was great to hear how his exchange was going. After I saw Kael I went and joined the others
in the park we were all eating cake and listening to music, as it was Camelia’s (from
Paraguay on exchange in the Netherlands) birthday. That evening we ate Flororino, it was
leckere (yummy) we had ribs, there was so much food no one could finish their plate. When
dinner was over we went to the Prater which is a theme park in Vienna it has the oldest
ferries wheel in the world. It was unfortunately bucketing down with rain, but that didn’t
stop us going on the rides. At twelve we all hoped on the bus and left for Italy.
Day 8:
We travelled through the night and arrived in Lido di Jeslo which is a small town
in Italy at six thirty in the morning. This day was our rest day so we had no plans.
We spent the whole day at the beach, Rinus one of the Rotarians bought us all
gelato and I’ve got to say Italian gelato is the best in the world! As it was Italy we
had a delicious Lasagne for dinner.
Day 9:
On Monday morning we went to Venice by boat the ride was really pretty. We had the whole
day to do what we wanted. My friends and I wandered the streets of Venice, which were
truly beautiful. We also did what you’re supposed to do in Venice; we had a
Gondola ride which was so cool. For lunch I had pasta, in the restaurant I
found some other Aussies who just happened to know where Narrabri is,
which was bazar, as no one normally does. In the
afternoon we took the boat back to Lido, that
afternoon I just walked on the beach with my
friend. Dinner was terrific we had PIZZA! It is the
best pizza in the world, no doubt about it!
Schloß Schönbrunn
In the Garden.
Elena (from Canada on exchange in the
Netherlands), Amanda (from Brazil on
exchange in Canada), Elsa (Rotexer), Jessica
(from Canada on exchange in the
Netherlands) and I in the gardens.
Gondola Rides!
Day 10:
On Tuesday we left for Luzern in Switzerland, we arrived mid-afternoon. That evening we
had dinner at Paterre. After dinner my friends and I walked around. Luzern is so pretty at
night the lake glistens and reflects the mountains off it.
Day 11:
In the morning we had a tour around the city then some free time. In my free time I met up
with my cousin from Scotland who now lives near Luzern it was really nice seeing him, as I
hadn’t seen him since I was in Scotland in 2014. That afternoon we took the bus through the
mountains to a cheese factory where we learnt to make cheese. The mountains were so
beautiful some even still had snow on them. For dinner that night we had cheese fondue I
also got to try Swiss chocolate it was so yummy.
Some of the Beautiful
views.
Lake Lucerne
Tour
around
Luzern.
Mountains and Cheese Factory
Day 12:
Thursday morning we left for Paris, it was a long bus trip, but we arrived early in the
evening. The dinner was an ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET! After dinner we took the bus and
visited Disney Village for a while.
Day 13:
On Friday we had a tour through Paris we saw:
La Norte Dame
Bld st. Germaine
L’Assemblé Nationale
Place de la Concorde
L’Opera
L’Avenue des Champs Elysees
L’Arc de Triomphe
Le Grandis Palais
Hotel des Invalides
Tombe de Napoleon
L’École Militare
Eiffel Tower
Trocadero
Statue of Liberty
It was wonderful to see all these sights, then in our free time some friends and I went to the
Catacombs, which is a basically a tunnel filled with bones, but they are really well stacked.
In the evening we met everyone at the Sacre Coeur and as a group we visited the L’Arc de
Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower, unfortunately we couldn’t get too close to it as there were
riots and police, but there was a fantastic light show on the tower.
L’Arc de Triomphe Tuileries Garden
Group Photo in
Front of the Eiffel
Tower
Nick, Nora (from
USA on exchange in
Iceland), Jessica,
Elena, Luuk, Elsa and
I in the Catacombs.
Day 14:
On Saturday we all went to Disneyland it was so much fun, at eleven in the evening there
was a beautiful firework show. At midnight we had Farwell drinks and then went to bed.
Day 15:
Sunday was unfortunately the last day we all hopped on the bus and left for the Netherlands
were the tour ended, we all said our goodbyes, it was really sad I met the nicest people on
this trip, I hope to see them all again one day. That night I stayed with a family who were
hosting one of my friends from the trip who is from Brazil. The next day I took the train back
home to Germany.
After my Europe tour the rest of the month was pretty chilled, people asked me about my
trip, etc. I also had a couple of school projects as it is the end of the school year. I’m pretty
sure my Europe Tour was the best part of my exchange.
Tschüss/Doei (Dutch)
Lucinda The Rotary Club of Narrabri sponsors Lucinda
Eiffel Tour
Jordan (from Québec
Canada on exchange
in the Netherlands)
and I.
Elena and I.
Disneyland!
Farwell until next time.
This month went crazy fast! I had my Europa tour which was absolutely amazing and
indescribable (but I’m going to try!)
My Euro tour started on the morning of 28 of May. My train to Oldenburg was at 8:45 so
early! My host mum was so kind to bring me to the Bahnhof. I actually felt a bit sad saying
goodbye to her! On the train I met with a group of exchange students. As we were all
speaking English a boy came over and talked to me. He comes from Brisbane and is here in
my district on exchange but not with Rotary. It’s such a small world! We got to Oldenburg
and later we headed with the bus to AMSTERDAM! As the crossed the border there was the
biggest of cheering going on, everyone who was sleep was not anymore! That evening we
walked through a park in the near from our hotel.
29th-> The 29th was a packed day. We went to Anne Frank’s house, which is really emotional
and tiny. I could not have lived there! We got free time in the city for lunch before going on a
2-3 hour bike ride through the city. We went to the Western Islands, over many of the
thousand bridges, saw many tiny, tilted houses, then the Red Light District. That was
different. I felt so uncomfortable with the men standing there staring at the girls and
knocking on the glass. EWW! Then just as we thought we were over for the day we had a
beautiful tour of the canals with a boat. The boat took us to Hard Rock Café where we had
our dinner. That was my first time at Hard Rock! I can’t believe I haven’t been there before,
it’s amazing!
30th-> Breakfast in Amsterdam, lunch in Brussels and dinner in Paris. Talk about living the
European dream. We started early and got out of Amsterdam and went to Brussels. It was
pouring down rain and we couldn’t do the original plan. So we quickly stopped at the
Atonium for like 2 minutes to get our pictures and we went to a comic museum. Did you
know the Smurfs came from Belgium? I didn’t! Normally we do a scavenger hunt around the
city but because of the rain we had a challenge of going to find one of the items off the list
and make a good photo and post it on Instagram. Only 4 of us did it. But in admist seeing the
5 things including the Manikin Pis and the girl version, my group ended up getting Belgium
waffles, trying the chocolate and getting the chips! We completed Brussels in 2 hours!! From
Belgium we headed to Paris but got stuck in 3 hours of traffic, so we got to Paris very late.
31st-> We started our tour by Notre Dame in the pouring rain. We looked around the
amazing church before doing a bus tour. We got off and went to saw the Louvre. We didn’t
go inside. But we got photos with it. Then we continued to walk along till we got to the
Concord and it was bucketing down with rain. Our bus driver or hero picked us up and took
Makayla Randall
To Germany
2016
us the Arc de Triomphe. We got free time for lunch and 2 of my friends and I climbed the
tower before going and getting some pastries and macrons. Then we went to the Eiffel
Tower!! It was amazing! The view of white was the best. It was so foggy and rainy we
couldn’t see anything but that didn’t really matter. We didn’t have too long there but it was
good and so we headed to the Galarie le Fayette for some shopping.
1st-> More croissants! We did a walking tour up to Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur.
Spectacular! We saw the amazing church and got the crepes and saw the view. Breath
taking! Then we headed down and to the Louvre. We did a really quick tour and saw the
main things, and then one of our own tour guides took us running around to find the
Egyptian things. That night we went to a fancy restaurant and we walked and caught the
metro and we went and saw the Eiffel Tower at night. It’s so beautiful!
2nd-> To Geneva we headed, we got off and saw the jet of water and the flower clock. We
then walked around and got to look around. Everything is so expensive!
3rd-> VENICE after the stop at the United Nations. We did an amazing tour through here. We
got to see different rooms and got taught about some of their work. Very interesting. Then
back on the bus to Venice. It was a beautiful drive through the mountains. There was snow
covering the tops! That night we got to see the beach and got our first Gelato.
4th->We drove to Venice and caught a train into Venice and we got a tour guide. We started
doing the back streets of Venice. It started thundering and raining so bad so we had to stand
under an awning waiting for it to pass. We ended up at St. Marcos Square. We got to go
inside. WHOA!! It is amazing! So much gold everywhere. We got free time and I went and
found hot chip pizza! So YUMMY!! And of course we got gelato! We caught a boat to the
Mirano Island where there was a glass blowing demonstration. I even got to blow some of
the glass. I was the only one chosen, so I felt real good then. That evening we went to the
beach together, then had a party on the top of our hotel. Which was amazing in the sunset.
5th-> Breakfast in Venice, lunch in Protsojna and dinner Budapest. We got to Protsojna and
we went to the caves. We had to go with a train for 2 km into the centre and we walked for
1km around the spectacular caves. There were 3 main galleries, the red, white and
spaghetti. It was so amazing. The colours were so crisp. We got in late to Budapest.
6th-> Our first stop was the Parliament Building. It’s so beautiful, inside is a letdown but the
outside makes up for it. We got to go up the mountain to the castle and got to see the
amazing view over the Danube. As a little extra thing we got to high further up the mountain
to get some more photos of our group. In the centre we got free time for lunch before
heading to the Great Market Hall. Then we went to the Thermal Baths. It was amazing and
so warm! But it was tiring.
7th-> We drove to Vienna to the Schonnbrunn Castle. We made a picnic in the gardens. So
lovely sitting in the sun. Kind of felt like home. Our tour guide met us and she spoke to us in
a crazy German accent. We went inside the castle. It is huge! Somehow I understood most
things even with her crazy accent. Then up the hill we went to see the amazing view of
Vienna.
8th-> We did a tour guide around and went to a castle and to the biggest rose garden in
Europe, we saw the Parliament building. For lunch we went to Stephansplatz. I met with
Clarence before splitting off again to find our group. From the lunch meeting place we went
to Mozart’s House. I was so tired and wasn’t really too interested. We all wanted to go back
to the hotel and rest but we had a carriage ride throughout the city. After that we went to
the hotel and got ready for the opera. Everyone got dressed up so beautifully. In the opera
though we were the only ones really dressed up.
9th-> Breakfast in Vienna, lunch in Bratislava, dinner in Prague. We got to Bratislava and did
a really pretty tour through the city. In the free time we all ate in a market before getting
one of the top ten ice creams in Europe. After we headed to Prague, we did an amazing night
time tour. Everything sparkled.
10th-> Our last official tour day! We did a crazy long tour of 6 hours but split into 3 hours in
the morning and 3 in the afternoon. Our tour guide was from Newcastle!! Everything in
Prague is so beautiful and sparkly! That night was our official goodbye night. We signed
flags and books. I cried so much!
11th-> Our 9 hour bus drive was terrible but fun. It was some of our last times together so we
hung out and laughed the whole way.
That week I was so tired but I went back to school. All my friends welcomed me.
Now I’m on school holidays. My host brother just arrived home from exchange in America
and it is so weird having him around the house!
I think I wrote too much but anyhow.
Tschüss!!
(only a little collage because I have so many photos)
The Rotary Club of Great Lakes sponsors Makayla
Once again this month has just flown by, I had yet another rotary weekend. This time in was
held in my town of 金沢 (Kanazawa). During the rotary weekend there was a big
parade/festival going on. All of the exchange students got to watch the parade and look
around the festival. It was all mostly traditional Japanese, so it was really interesting and
old. During the rotary weekend we got to go to this sports games centre called; Round 1. At
Round 1 we did heaps of cool activities like, badminton, rollerblading, tennis, baseball,
bubble soccer (my favourite) and lots of arcade games. We all enjoyed it so much. Also at the
rotary weekend it was the last time I saw most of my friends who live in different towns, who
have now left to go home.
.
Sophie Wunder
To Japan
2016
Halfway through this month I swapped to my 3rd host family, they have 3 daughters. One
who is in Tokyo for university, another who is on exchange to Canada (but will be coming
home soon) and my last host sister who is still in junior high school. My host grandparents
also live with us, which is pretty cool.
This month I haven’t travelled anywhere, or done many exciting things.
However it still has been a really fun month. I have gone out to lunch and dinner many times
with both my friends from school and also my exchange student friends. We have taken lots
and lots of puri-kura (Japanese photo booth) which is so much fun.
At the very end of this month my best friend here in Japan left to go back to America. I was
lucky enough to be able go to the airport to say goodbye. We where both very sad and didn’t
want to say goodbye to each other, but I am sure one day we will meet again.
That’s pretty much all for this month.
ソフィ－
The Rotary Club of Taree on Manning sponsors Sophie
The Rotary Club of Port Maquarie Sunrise hosts Anna Theresa
Anna Theresa Schauss
From Austria
2015-2016
and Gunnedah. This month went really quick, and there are only 3 weeks left until the safari
finally starts, I am so excited.
The Rotary Clubs of Dorrigo and Bellingen hosts Violette
Violette Yernaux
From Belgium
2015 - 2016
The Rotary Club of Tamworth hosts Will
Guilherme Moraes
from Brazil
2015 -2016
was so good. And of course I had a really good time.This was my very busy month, thanks for
reading this.The Rotary Club of Tamworth hosts Will
The Rotary Club of Armidale AM hosts Anne Sophie
Anne Sofie Olsen
From Denmark
2015 - 2016
The Rotary Club of Gloucester hosts Ida
Ida Sevon
from Finland
2015-2016
The Rotary Club of Narrabri hosts Lucie
Lucie Canon
from France
2015 -2016
The Rotary Clubs of Coffs Harbour & Coffs City hosts
Romane
Romane Teyssier
from France
2015 - 2016
The Rotary Club of Wingham hosts Phelina
Phelina Schuettke
From Germany
2015 -2016
The Rotary Clubs of Gunnedah, Gunnedah West and 2380 hosts Greta
Greta Rimoldi
From Italy
2015-2016
The Rotary Club of Tamworth First Light hosts Reiko
Reiko Izumi
From Japan
2015 - 2016
The Rotary Club of Taree on Manning hosts Gina
Gina Held
from Switzerland
2015-2016
The Rotary Club of Walcha hosts Henry
Heng Lee (Henry)
from Taiwan
2015 -2016
