I went on an exchange to Germany for four weeks during November of my TY school year. It was my own choice to go as I really wanted to experience life in a different culture and country since I had the time in TY. I stayed with a family of 5 in a house in small city called Schwerin, in the north of Germany. During that time, I attended school everyday, did various activities with the family and friends and improved my German.
WHAT DID I ENJOY DURING MY TIME IN GERMANY?
1) On my second weekend, the family and I travelled to Berlin to visit and stay with the oldest sister in her apartment in the city. We went sight - seeing, shopping and went to some lovely restaurants where I even tried my first Currywurst!!
2) Although some of the meals were quite different than in Ireland, overall I thought the food was very tasty and I ate a lot of very delicious, German, new food which I really enjoyed and had never tried previously.
3) I really enjoyed improving my German vocabulary and learning new words practically in every conversation. I loved being able to see my own improvement in German conversation and understanding from the start to the end of my time in Germany.
4) Although sometimes it was very cold or wet, I liked cycling to and from school everyday because of the fresh air and how quick it was to get to school as it was only a five minute cycle. This then meant that I could cycle home when we had a free class or cycle home early myself and I really enjoyed this convenience, independence and exercise.
WHAT DID I MISS OR FIND CHALLENGING DURING MY EXCHANGE?
1) Of course I did struggle with understanding and speaking German, especially in the beginning, because I have only been learning it at school for three years. I found myself zoning out of conversations because I couldn’t focus on what they were saying but this got easier as time went on, but it was frustrating.
2) I found a lot of the classes at school quite boring because a lot of the time I did not understand what the teachers were saying or teaching, but also because they were doing quite complicated or hard topics in classes which I didn’t really understand anyway. Some classes such as English, German, C.S.P.E and P.E. I did enjoy, but a lot of other classes such as Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Music I found extremely boring and long.
The Oberländer family were extremely welcoming and accommodating to me which made everything so much easier. They provided me with everything I needed or asked for and they always made sure that I was getting enough to eat. They made me feel very at home and were really kind to me.
I got on very well with my exchange partner Lilla and she always made sure to include me in plans or conversations or to translate for me if necessary.
I would definitely recommend to anyone to do an exchange if they have the time and opportunity as it is a brilliant way to improve your cultural knowledge, to make friends from a different part of the world, to make once in a lifetime memories, and of course to improve your foreign language and to come back with a much better understanding of and confidence in speaking the language fluently.
Thank you :D
