Anja Anders is the club's current outbound Youth Exchange Student. She is spending a year in Austria, hosted by Rotary families from her host club. She reports:
How is everything going on back home?
I'm currently now 5 months into my exchange and still loving it. I've learnt so many amazing things and seen so many incredible places. We recently went on a Europe Tour and we travelled through France, Monaco, Italy and Croatia. It was absolutely amazing and I think I am now in love with Italy (largely due to great food). I got to know a lot of other exchange students who are all sadly on their way back home now as they are finishing their exchanges. Even though I only got to know these people for such a short time, we still were able to become close and share really memorable experiences whilst travelling through Europe.
I think I’ve gotten to the stage in my exchange that I feel completely comfortable and have accommodated to the Austrian lifestyle. There are the occasional hiccups now and again but life would start to get a little boring if it were always smooth running.
We’re now coming up to summer holidays which I am incredibly excited for. Hubi, an exchange student from Austria who was in Australia is also coming back soon and I can’t wait to catch up with him. My mother is also travelling with her school around Europe and happens to be staying in Salzburg for 3 days, which I am also very incredibly excited for. During the summer holidays my host family will be taking me to Croatia sailing for a week, and some of my friends are planning on taking me to Vienna or to go sailing. There are so many things that I’m looking forward to and as much as I miss my friends and family back at home I have to remember how lucky I am to be in Austria and experience all these things.
I hope all is well and please pass on my greetings to the other club members,
Anja