1998 School Magazine

I^iris Grammar ^, rhool agrisbane 1998

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Rotary EXchange to Solingerr

cake and ham are just some of the things I will find hard to live without. School in Germany in structure is the opposite to BGGS although the teaching methods, discussion in class time and subject matter are similar. My favourite subject is Social Science

his year I am living in Germany in Solingen, a town about the size of Toowoomba, as a Rotary EXchange Student. When I explained that I was going to Solingen for a year, nearly everyone I met mentioned that was where knives and cutlery were made. After hearing this I imagined an ugly

grey town with industrial smoke stacks dominating the skyline, but when I ar- rived I saw none. Solingen has a long tradition of making knives, scissors and cutlery and because of this tradition the production is on a small scale. Solingen is surrounded by forest and from most parts of Solingen the forest areas are within walking distance. My first home over- looked fields and I often went walking or running with my host mother, or alone when I needed time to think. I was able to see the fields of wheat grow from winter through spring, something foreign to me as I ITave never lived near farmland. On clear days I could see the industrial areas of Leverkusen, famous during WWII

which is similar to Modern History, and despite my limited German I still manage to express my opimon in class discus- School begins at 8.00, there are two breaks, and it finishes at 1.30 pm, arrow- ing students to go home and have a hot lunch. As an eXchange student having the afternoon free is good as I have more free time but not being in school for as long every day meant at first that there was less time for me to make friends There is no untonn, no roll-call but also no school spirit like that at BGGS. in- stead there is a more relaxed spirit be- byeen students and teachers. At first entering a school and having to work out the friendship groups was the hardest for 510nS

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Soni" Attheft a) tit the snow

for its armaments factories. Solingen is definitely not a large sophisticated European city, but only twenty minutes by train are Cologne and DOSseldorf, the two famous them cities. The Rhein is reininis- cent of the wide brown Brisbane River. The two cities are similar in size to Brisbane but totally different, also from one another Kan has the favourite beer KOIsch Froh, the 750 year old Cathedral and lots of second hand shops. DOSseldorf has all the international fashion houses and an old quarter which in summer is filled with the chairs and tables of open-air pubs and cafes. This year, unfortunately, we have had no summer with rain and 18'C during my SUITuner holidays! The basic outline of a rotary eXchange is that you are hosted by a club, go to school like a regular student and have four host families, each for a period of three months. For me, a year in another country was mainly to give me an extra year to decide what I wanted to study, to make friends in another country and make contact with other eXchange students. I knew it would be a challenge but I didn't realise how hard it would be untit I arrived in the middle of a German winter with Year Ten standard German behind me! When I first arrived I was assured that it always rains in Solingen. Coming from sunny Queensland I initially refused to believe this, but after six months and discovering that Solingen has two companies which make umbrellas, I faced the truth sunshine is the exception. I have found that Germans are nearly always punctual and in some ways more sincere. The punctuality is amazing with buses arriving on the exact Thinute as they are meant to, a foreign concept for Brisbane buses. Another positive aspect of German life is the food. The bread, chocolate, mineral water,

me. This was also compounded by the language problem. Now I look forward to going to school for the same reason I did when I was at Grammar: to see my friends When asked what the most memorable times have been up to this point, I think firstly of the trips I have made. in the Easter holidays I spent two weeks skiing in ATosa, Switzerland, with my first host fanitly. Living for two weeks in an alpine village, skiing in the morning and then going in the heated pool and spa in the afternoon, and feasting on Swiss food at night was really the perfect life. I have also spent a couple of days in Zurich with family friends of my host family. in May I was lucky enough to be able to meet up with old friends from Brisbane in Paris for a week, who are also in Europe for a Gap year. These times, when I was allowed to carry my camera everywhere as a tourist, were great but what is more special to me is having a life here that is similar to mine in Brisbane. This does not mean that I do the same things but rather that I have a routine and my friends here are nearly as good as my friends from my five years at Grainmar. I play basketball for a Solingen Club, give tutoring to two Year Eight students in English and have managed to borrow a cello and will play in an orchestra soon To go jogging in the snow with my host mum, to experience my first true sauna, to invite friends over to my place and go to parties and nightclubs together, are things one does not experience as a tourist My decision to apply for a Rotary EXchange was inspired by a report in this magazine and a speech from a returned eXchange student. Both girls said it was the most amazing experience, which my time so far has proved SONIA A1TKEN

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