Alex Kraan’s Report from Switzerland
Our outbound youth exchange student Alex Krann is doing very well and has been a great ambassador for his family, his school, the Rotary Club of Berwick, and the District. He has adapted very well to his surrounds and seems to have adopted the local culture with relative ease!!
Here is Alex’s eighth report… in his own words.
Week 1: This week I had school the whole week, and did not do much after school. However, on Thursday I did go to a Rotary club meeting in St Gallen which is another city in Switzerland. I was invited by another exchange student so I went to that, which was good. After the meeting we met with some other exchange students and spent some time together sitting by a lake, until it started raining. Friday afternoon I went into Zurich to meet with some new exchange students. It was good to finally meet a group of the newbies. Saturday I had my German course in the morning and then after that we went swimming in the river and I spent the rest of the day with a fellow Australian exchange student. We spent 2 hours walking around trying to find food for dinner because we were so hungry but everything was too expensive. We ended up settling for biscuits! Sunday I had an easy day… I used this day to catch up on some much needed sleep.
Week 2: Tuesday I spent the afternoon with a friend from school and we just sat in a park for a few hours and talked. Wednesday I went to a shooting range with my host dad and let off a few shots which was good. Then we went to a birthday dinner for his niece. Thursday I finished school by lunch time so I went to Winterthur which is a small city and met with some exchange students and they showed me around. Unfortunately though, it was raining and ended with us getting wet. Saturday I had my German course in the morning and then from there I met with some friends in Zurich and we went to NRJ AIR which is an open air music festival in Bern. We spent some time there and enjoyed the music before coming home. We got very wet as it rained nearly the whole time we were there. Sunday I had a pretty easy day at home with my host family, we didn’t really get up to much.
Week 3: Tuesday I went to Konstanz for the day which is on the border of Germany and Switzerland. There I met with a fellow exchange student who is also from District 9820 in Australia. We spent the day together along with some other friends and looked around Konstanz. We also went swimming for a while in the lake. Wednesday I only had 2 classes as all of the other classes had been cancelled. I spent the afternoon in Zurich, having a look at one of the main universities there, while also spending some time enjoying the sun. Saturday and Sunday I had a Rotex camp.
Unfortunately for us the weather was not good, it was raining most of the time and just generally quiet and cold. However we did make the most of it by going for a hike to a lake. We also talked well into the night and got very little sleep.
Week 4:Wednesday we had our German course in the afternoon and then after that we went to a food festival and hung around in Zurich for a little while. Friday I went with my host family to a 50th Birthday party. We spent the night in this cabin and then I left early in the morning to go to Zurich for my German course. I then went with some friends to another exchange student’s house and we had dinner there. We also went and saw a local circus which was in the town. That night I stayed at a friend’s house because the next day we would practice our German together for our B1 fluency test for German the following Saturday. I then came home that afternoon and got some much needed sleep.
Week 5: Wednesday I had another German course in Zurich. Most of this week just consisted of me trying to cram in some last minute study for my test on Saturday.
