I arrived here in Sydney almost five months ago. And I can’t believe that the time passed so quickly. Before my departure back in Austria, I was, to be honest, a bit worried about my cultural exchange experience: Is the host-family gonna be okay, how is school gonna be…
But when I was sitting in the plane to Australia I realized that it’s too late to go back now anyway and so I thought, I’ll just have a look how it is and make the best of it.
In fact it turned out to be really good, and now, only four weeks before I go back to Austria I’m a bit sad that it is already over.
My host-family seemed in the beginning not as good as the other people’s families they neither had a swimming pool nor a big luxurious house, but now I find that I get along with them better than most of the other international students I know who are also here on a cultural experience but came with other organisations Choosing a host-family is not about how much money they have, it’s much more important, that you get along with them well. This is where CEA is really good as they look at placing you with a compatible family. CEA did tell me that by the time I leave I will really enjoy my host family very much – and guess what – I really really do and I am really part of the family. I make dinner or dessert with my host father and mother and just love feeling needed and part of the family.
We laugh a lot and have fun and even go and kick the ball around at the park. One of my chores is to take the dog out for a walk and I really enjoy this, so I would not really call this a chore, but part of life.
Moreover I’m also living in a great location: the northern beaches in Sydney. I’m living in a nice little house, only 15 minutes away from the lake where you can go sailing, kayaking and the ocean -surfing, body-boarding & swimming and still it just takes me a bus ride to the heart of Sydney – which is pretty close and easy.
School seems a bit strange at the beginning, but you also get used to it actually I got pretty lazy because it is so easy. But if it were too hard, I would not have time to really do and see what I have done. Simply the best experience of my life coming a cultural exchange as a high school student to Australia. Georg- Austria
