Benjamin reports from New Zealand (07/28/2015)

Dear Miss Hoetzel,

I spend nearly half a year in Tauranga (NZ) and I just wanted to say thank you, that you gave me the opportunity of doing this exchange.

When I arrived in New Zealand I was quiet nervous about my host family and the new school. But this concern was unnecessary. My host family was very nice and from the first moment they involved me in their family life. Additionally I got a host brother from Brazil and all together there was a great atmosphere in my new family and we had a lot of fun.

Right at the first school day I obviously didn’t know anyone but during lunch time I already knew some nice guys, I had lunch with. Due to the fact that you are able to choose the subjects, I had some very interesting subjects like Technology Metal and Technology Engineering which we do not have in Germany. In those subjects I learned some new things like welding and working with metal. Some friends I met in school invited me to come to their Youth Group on Wednesday and Friday nights. I always had a lot of fun there and I again met new people and made new friends. On those nights, we always did some sport activities, talked in groups and had dinner together.

During the two weeks of Easter vacation I made a guided trip to the South Island with other international students. Everyone of the group enjoyed the trip where we saw everything of the beautiful South Island, for example the wonderful landscapes and also the high number of sights and attractions. It was an unforgettable time, leaving was very hard for me and after three weeks in Germany I am still missing all those wonderful people I met there.

Therefore I want to say thank you that you made it possible for me to live in this amazing country.

Benjamin Schönhofen

Natalie reports from New Zealand (05/07/2014)

Dear Miss Hoetzel,

I thought you would be happy if you would hear something from me. Probably you know that i am the happiest person in the world, because I love my hostfamily, I found kiwi friends, doing trips to the south island, to whangamata, to auckland, to taupo, .... I am grateful that you gave me the chance to see new zealand and I want to say `Thank you very much for all of this!`

Today my holidays ends and that means tomorrow school. I like my school, my teacher, my subject and I am working hard. It is really hard in this moment, because we are starting to work for credits and the normal school plan, but hard is dinfinitely better than to simple.

You might want to know what i did in my holidays. At the beginning i did a trip to dunedin, the catlins, invercargill and queenstown with my family. All in all that was 5 days. Than i had two days to study for history and physics and than I went with my kiwi friend and her family to whangamata for a week. I had a really good time. My friend and I cooked german for her family and we went to the beach, did a bike tour on a tandem, ect..

So I hope you have an imagination how i enjoy my time in new zealand. Thank you very much again for the change to be here and have a nice sunday <3

Natalie Wiesinger

Sarah and Josephin report from New Zealand (07/11/2014)

Dear Mrs Hoetzel,

From July to September we have lived in Tauranga, New Zealand. We started our journey with mixed feelings. On the one hand we were really excited, on the other hand we didn’t really want to leave Germany because we didn’t know what to expect. Already in the first week we felt very comfortable in our host families and in school. Our host families were nice and took care of us. We got along with them really well, also with our host siblings.
We went to Otumoetai College and were truly happy with it. We really enjoyed these different subjects.

Tauranga is a beautiful city and we spent much time at the Mount and the beach with our friends. Despite the fact that it was winter, the weather was pretty good and we had some really sunny and warm days.

Unfortunately after only two and a half months we had to go back to Germany and had to leave this beautiful country and our friends. Saying goodbye was really hard and looking back now it was the best experience we’ve made so far and we’d do anything to go back.

Thank you for offering this great possibility to us!

Sarah and Josephin