A few minutes before I arrived in Melbourne, I was so excited. Excited to see my host family for the first time and to see my Australian uncle after more than one year. I have got magical memories of my first moments in Australia. I fit in very quickly and easily. The normal school days where like this: I got up early in the morning, put on my school uniform, which I loved because it is so different to german clothing rules, had my porridge for breakfast and finally my host mother drove me and my host siblings (except the youngest one) to Sacred Heart College in Kyneton. The school is so different to Germany. It is a catholic school, so we had a prayer in the morning during our ‘Homeroom’. After that, we had 4 lessons, each one took 75 minutes. I had a few exotic subjects in my timetable like Food Studies and Visual Communication. Food studies was especially amazing and lots of fun because we never cook in classes in Germany. I think it is a helpful skill for the future life of students. I also enjoyed the lunch breaks when the whole group of friends of me and Chantelle, my host sister, sat in the school talking and eating our lunch. I loved my vegemite sandwich the most for lunch. After school my host mum picked us up again and we drove home. There we could relax, play games, watch movies and, because it was winter, have a cuppa tea. When Chantelle had a lot of homework to do, I always found a good activity to fill my day. I often spent time with the other host siblings or wrote my journal, to keep the experiences I made during the day in a book. It was my way of remembering my experiences and finishing the day. Once a week, I went dancing in a dance school. This provided a good balance to my daily life in Australia. Sometimes, I joined my host sister playing badminton. I also remember some wonderful afternoons on a paddock having a picnic with my host sister while listening to typical Australian music. I also loved having dinner with the whole family, because it was often the only time in the day where everyone sits together and talks. It gave me a feeling to be home and I really appreciated that. The good thing is that I never felt homesick in a negative way whilst in Australia. I often thought of my home and my life in Germany, but more so to compare and find differences between the countries, the culture and the lifestyle. On the weekends, we often visited Melbourne or explored regional places like the Gisborne Market, Hanging Rock or Sovereign Hill.
The best time with my host family was definitely the holidays, when we went to Phillip Island and Wilsons Promontory. We visited a penguin show and went for some walks in this beautiful landscape of South Victoria. I loved going for wombat walks at night where we saw 10 to 15 Wombats. Another amazing experience was watching the sunrise early in the morning at the beach with Chantelle. This time helped me form a really strong bond with my host family, which had by now become like a second family. We had a great relationship, the most important for me in Australia by the way, and I am sure that I will visit them again. The school friends were really nice to me and we had a lot of fun. It is just not that easy to keep in touch, although I still have got a letter friend or ‘penpal’ from Sacred Heart College.
Eleanor Mueller
2018 Stipi
