Nine months ago, it was the start of a big adventure in my life. I had made the decision to go on a “high school year” to New Zealand. These programmes are quite popular in Germany, my home, but not many students go as far away as New Zealand.
How would it be to live on the other side of the world, talking in English all the time, and staying with another family? I wanted answers for those questions.
In October , I finally went on the airplane, heading towards this beautiful country, called New Zealand. I loved Christchurch right from the beginning. The people were friendly, the school was relaxing and I found many great friends. My host family was just perfect and I had no doubts that the nine months were going to be great.
It was true, I had a dream of a life. Especially when my host family took me on holidays with them. We spend more than three weeks in Totaranui in Abel Tasman National Park, which was such an awesome time. Yes, the summer holiday will always be one of my best memories about New Zealand. But also the life at school was nice. In Term four , I enjoyed being a Year 12 student and wearing a school uniform, as we don’t have one in Germany. My half a year in Year 13 (February – June ) started really exciting with my role as a peer support leader of one of the new Year 9 students (hello guys ).
All my subjects were very interesting and my English improved from week to week, so that in the end, I could even understand complicated Maths expressions. As a member of Stage Challenge, I had the pleasure to perform for Papanui High School on stage. That was a great night and we won!! During the Easter holidays, my friend Samantha and I spent ten days in Central Otago and Dunedin, which was amazing. The landscape down there is so different from the middle and north of the South Island, I realized. We had trips to Wanaka, Queenstown, Cromwell and Alexandra and I enjoyed every single day. The Formal was the last big event I could share with the Papanui students. I loved dressing up and dancing, the decoration was lovely and I can proudly add this school ball to all the other fabulous things that happened to me in New Zealand. Now, after nine wonderful months in New Zealand, I look back at all the fun I had with my friends and family, all the laughter, the photos we took, the advices I got. It has probably been the best time of my life and I am going to take so many great experiences and memories with me.
Thank you to everyone who made me laugh, because I love laughing . Thanks to Papanui High School, the Wards, Sammy, Bex, Marilyn, Aimee and everyone else, of course. Auf Wiedersehen, Jenny Klug Papanui High School