On 10^th February 2016 I met the other 20 exchange students at the airport in Frankfurt. I was happy that I already knew all the other students, because there had been a preparation weekend before. The flight to Singapore took twelve hours. We had to change planes there and after another ten hours we landed in Auckland.

I was looking forward to seeing my new “home and family” and to meeting my partner Vlad again. The first day started with a welcome BBQ, where I was introduced to Vlad’s whole family and a lot of his friends. Everybody was very friendly.

On Monday my first school day started at 8.40 am and I had to choose five subjects for the next eight weeks. In New Zealand the students have the same timetable every day and lessons are much easier than in Germany. The teachers talk and the students just have to listen or to write; there was no interaction. The size of the school with 2,500 students was bigger than I had expected. There were five buildings and each of them was an independent part of the school. Wearing a school uniform is normal for the New Zealanders. However, I didn´t have to wear one. I attended a college where the students from year 8 to 12 had to wear a uniform, but the students in the final year were allowed to wear normal clothes. At 3.15 pm the lessons usually ended.

Since we didn’t have to do any chores at home, we had enough time to spend our free time at the beach and playing basketball or rugby. Very often we played pool billiards with friends. During my stay I got to know Vlad´s friends and we had a lot of fun. But it was not easy to get into contact to other people, since the people in New Zealand are quite reserved.

I had the chance to visit Auckland (2.5 million inhabitants) with its Sky tower, Rotorua with its hot springs and geysers and the Maori, who are the native people of New Zealand, in a small village. My highlight was to see “Hobbiton”, where several scenes of the films “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” were shot. New Zealand is a very impressive island with wonderful nature and beaches.

Unfortunately, the farewell party date came much too fast and the eight weeks where too short, because I really had a great time in Vlad´s family in New Zealand.

D. Helmer (10c)