Austausch

We (Anneke and Clara) have been offered the chance to experience a new country. We are in South Africa on exchange!

The adventure started in Frankfurt on  Sep 24. At the airport a stamp was missing in our papers, but in the end everything worked out. The night flight to Johannesburg took about 10.5 hours. In the morning, we were welcomed early by Ariné (Anneke’s partner), Shannon (my partner) and Ariné’s father, who took us to their home.

It was really impressive to see so much of the countryside from the car. The drive from Johannesburg to Harrismith took about 3 hours and the next drive to Shannon’s home in Durban  a few days later was another 3 hours. The interior of the country is very dry. By contrast, the land is much greener on the coast like in Durban.

We spent the first few days at Ariné’s home in Harrismith. We had much fun together and our English worked well. Together we explored  part of the region and saw many things. For example, we had the chance to see buffaloes at a friend’s  farm. On another day we visited the little town of Clarens.

It helped both of us to spend the first week with families instead of going straight to the boarding house. Together with our exchange partners we slowly got used to the English language.

We spent the next days in Durban. Like Ariné´s , Shannon´s family was very nice and welcoming. They had something very special planned  for us! A three day stay in a Game Reserve named iSimangaliso. We stayed at a lodge in St. Lucia. We are very grateful for the incredible chance to see hippos, crocodiles, zebras, cheetahs and so many more species! A special memory for us is that we saw a rhino. Unfortunately, there are less rhinos every year because of poachers.                                                                                  After this adventure trip we went back to Durban and relaxed on the beach for a few more days..

Then the day came that we were taken to the boarding house. We were very excited! The house mothers and Mrs Fryer, the exchange coordinator, welcomed us very nicely and the students helped us to settle in. The beginning was difficult despite all efforts. On the one hand, there was the language barrier. On the other hand, there were all these new people and a completely different life style to what we know from Germany. But gradually we have got used to it. We have met many girls our age, especially while playing sports. The school offers a variety of sports such as water polo, indoor hockey, team swimming, running and many more. We are going to spend this weekend in Harrismith again. We are both looking forward to relaxing for some days and to sleeping in, which is uncommon at school. We have to get up at quarter past six six days a week. After breakfast there is chapel every morning. It is very different to Germany. All are singing full of joy and you can decide whether you want to receive the blessing or not.

We are looking forward to a great time in St. Annes and to the half term holidays,when we are going to travel to Mozambique with Shannon’s family.

Thank you to Mrs. Temming and Mrs. Fryer for organizing this exchange. We are very grateful to all pupils and teachers who helped us settle in in a completely new world. Last not least, our host families encouraged us to persist and not to give up when we were feeling homesick.