2015 School Magazine

AFFILIATE SCHOOLS

FRENCH AFFILIATE SCHOOL VISIT — LYCEE ST PAUL, ANGOULEME ISABELLA RINAUDO (11G)

The group of twenty French exchange students from Lycée Saint-Paul in Angoulême, arrived in Brisbane in February and stayed for three weeks. The students were billeted out to host families from the School to be fully immersed in the Australian culture and lifestyle. I had stayed with my French exchange student the previous year in France, so when she came to visit me in Australia, I was able to show her the similarities and differences between our lives, and I absolutely loved the entire experience. We organised many group activities with the other host students, such as taking them to South Bank, going to the beach and going out

for dinner. I took my exchange student to Noosa for the weekend, we went stand up paddle boarding, attended a friend’s wedding, and cruised the Brisbane River on the City Cat. Not only did I make a life-long friendship with my exchange student, but I also became friends with the other French exchange students who visited Australia, and I met BGGS host girls from a variety of year levels. I would highly recommend hosting a French exchange student, and believe that it gives both the host and exchange student a once-in-a-lifetime cross-cultural opportunity.

092

GERMAN AFFILIATE SCHOOL VISIT — MARIAWACHTLER GYMNASIUM KATIA PEDEN (12R)

In June, BGGS welcomed two fifteen-year-old exchange students from the Maria Wachtler Gymnasium high school in Essen, Germany, for a six week exchange. Maike and Alina were each hosted by a family for their stay, which included three weeks of the winter holidays and three weeks of school-time. Both Maike and Alina enjoyed a typical South East Queensland winter holiday with their host families — at the beach! Maike was able to get to know the southern end of the Gold Coast during a week long stay at Currumbin, including paddle boarding and whale watching at Byron Bay. Alina enjoyed Stradbroke Island, which also included whale watching.

Back at school for the first three weeks of term, the girls participated in German classes at different year levels and helped out our students with their native pronunciation. Maike and Alina each had a memorable time and all the Grammar girls who got to know them enjoyed having them around. The real benefit of the exchange program for us was the fantastic opportunity to share life and school experiences with students from the other side of the world. Our family particularly enjoyed Maike’s German baking skills!