Schulalltag als Abenteuer? Klar, in Australien!

30-31_Germans_0310 04.02.10 14:52 Seite 30
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podcast
22.3.-28.3.
W
ould you be ready to pack your bags,
leave home and live on the other side
of the world? Hannah Kraus, 16, and
Constantin Stegkemper, 18, have done just that.
Both decided to follow their dreams and go to
high school in Australia. “I did it, and you can too,”
says Hannah. “It’s such an amazing experience!”
For five months in 2009, Hannah, from Bens berg
near Cologne, went to a high school in the state
of Victoria. “Since I was eight, I’d dreamed of going
to Australia,” she says. “Friends of mine had a fantastic time on exchange programmes, so I decided
to go too. My exchange was organized by Southern
Cross Cultural Exchange.”
Hannah flew to
Sydney with other
exchange pupils
and spent four
days in seminars
learning about
Australian culture.
Then they travelled
to dif ferent parts of
Hannah with her friends
the country to meet
their host parents.
Hannah’s host par-
ents live on a huge
farm in a town
called Yinnar South.
“I loved feeding the
cows and seeing all
t parents
Hannah’s hos
the wild animals
there – especially
kangaroos, koalas and wallabies,” Hannah
explains. “My school was about 30 minutes away
by bus. The pupils and teachers were really friendly.
Some of the pupils had been to Germany, so we
had lots to talk about.” School was very laid-back.
“I had six subjects, lessons didn’t start until 8:30,
and we had a really long lunch break.”
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Spot on3/10
30-31_Germans_0310 04.02.10 14:53 Seite 31
HOW TO DO IT
• Southern Cross Cu
ltural Exchange (SCCE
)
www.scce.com.au
• GLS Sprachenzentru
m
www.gls-sprachenz
entru
m.de
• The Institut Ranke-H
einemann will help
with
applications and vis
as. It’s free, but th ey
don’t
provide a support pro
gramme.
www.ranke-heinem
ann.de
• The StudyWorld 20
10 hi gher-education
fair will
take place from 23-2
4 April in Berlin. It
offers
information about ex
change programmes
and
studying in other co
untries, including Au
stralia.
Spot on will be there
too.
www.studyworld20
10.com
At first speaking English all the time was
support
fair
difficult. But now Hannah says she even
hier: Betreuungshier: Messe
thinks in English. “Plus, I’ve learned lots of
Australian expressions – like ‘No worries!’
and ‘You reckon?’”
Leaving made Hannah sad. “Australia is special
“My host family lives in an area of rainforest,” Constantin explains. “Every
horse riding and camping with m y host family,
apes. My family is an example of the mix of cultures here.” The mother is
because of all the fun things you can do. I went
snorkelled on the Great Barrier Reef, and saw
baby crocodiles on the Daintree River. And I loved
going to barbecues.”
Australia is so cool and so far away that some
pupils want to stay for much longer. In July 2008,
Constantin, from Donauwörth, moved to the
Sunshine Coast in the state of Queensland, where
he goes to school in the town of Mooloolaba. He’ll
leave in December – more than two years after he
arrived – with an International Baccalaureate. This
qualification is recognized by universities around
the world.
“I’d always wanted to spend time in an English-
speaking country,” Constantin says. “Australia is
great because it’s so far away. You
can’t just give up and fly home.
The weather is a big plus too. It
never gets cold here.”
Constantin applied eight months
in advance at the GLS Sprachen-
Fotos: privat (7)
zentrum in Berlin. They helped him
with his application and prepara-
tion – including a language course
before he left.
morning, I’m woken by kookaburras, which are birds that sound like laughing
from Cambodia, the father from France, and the son grew up in New Zealand.
“Creativity is a big part of school here, and there are cool subjects like marine
studies, hospitality, film and television,” says Constantin. “We have two uniforms
– on Monday a white shirt with a tie and blue shorts, and on other days a blue
polo shirt with the school’s logo. After school, I often swim at Mooloolaba beach.
I always put on sun-tan lotion – otherwise
I’d look like a lobster in ten minutes!”
high school
Constantin has also been able to travel
amazing
Cologne [kələυn]
to learn about something
host parents [həυst]
wallaby [wɒləbi]
laid-back
no worries
you reckon?
barbecue [bɑbikju]
baccalaureate
a little. “My favourite place was
Whitehaven Beach on the Whitsunday
Islands, which has white sand and
turquoise water. It’s the most beautiful
place I’ve ever seen.”
Talitha Linehan / Toby Skingsley
[bkəlɔriət]
to recognize
to apply [əplai]
in advance
(laughing) kookaburra
ape [eip]
marine studies
hier: (Aus) Schule für 12- bis
18-Jährige
hier: toll, fantastisch
Köln
mehr über etwas erfahren
Gasteltern
Wallaby (Känguruart)
✌ entspannt, locker
(Aus) ✌ hier: kein Problem
(Aus) ✌ meinst du?
Grillfest
Abitur, (Nachweis der)
Hochschulreife
hier: anerkennen
sich bewerben, sich anmelden
im Voraus
Lachender Hans
(Menschen-)Affe
Meereskunde
[mərin]
hospitality [hɒspitləti]
sun-tan lotion
lobster
Whitsunday Islands
(Whitsunday
turquoise [tkwɔiz]
Bewirtung, Gastgewerbe
Sonnencreme, -öl
Hummer
Inselgruppe und Nationalpark
im Bundesstaat Queensland
Pfingstsonntag)
türkis(-farben)
3/10 Spot on
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