Photo: Cooper, Rotary Youth Exchange student on the left.
Hello, I’ve been in Germany for nearly eight weeks now, and I’d like to share some of my experiences with you!
I’ve had a lot of fun since I got here, I’ve been on day trips to cities, I’ve seen centuries old cities, I took part in Carnival (a massive German celebration at the start of March where everybody dresses up in costumes and attends big parades) I worked at a hospital for two weeks and so much more!
I’m staying in the suburb Kettwig, which is very beautiful and very old, most of the buildings look as though they were pulled from the middle ages, and some of the roads here were built by the Romans. Kettwig is positioned very conveniently in relation to the cities in my area, as it is in the middle of Cologne, Dortmund and Dusseldorf, making it VERY easy for my host family, friends, and Rotary to take me to other cities to see the sights. Last week my host club held their meeting in the K21 museum in Dusseldorf and we got a free guided tour of the exhibit. Because Kettwig is so old there are 2 castles near to where I’m staying (15 minute drive) which are all older than Australia as a country.
For year 10 students in Germany, they have something called the Praktikum, which is essentially German work placement. I arrived two weeks before the Prakitkum started and was allowed to complete at the hospital where one of the rotarians in my club works as a surgeon. I acted as an unpaid nurse, moving patients, measuring blood pressure, and cleaning bedpans. It was a bit disgusting at times but it more than made up for it because at 2 o’clock every day I was allowed to watch some of the surgeries, which was very very interesting. My time at the hospital hasn’t made me want to become a doctor, but it was still very entertaining and I feel like I’ve grown because of it.
Carnival was very fun, because it was a long weekend I had multiple days of celebration. On the Sunday I stayed in Kettwig with my school friends and we watched a smaller parade, but it was still incredibly fun because the friends I’ve made at school are really funny people and I enjoy their company a lot. On the Monday (school was cancelled) I went out with some of the other exchange students to Cologne to see a bigger parade. This parade was a lot more full-on, which I enjoyed very much, and they gave out a lot of lollies, which I enjoyed even more.
Overall my stay in Germany so far has been nothing short of extraordinary, everybody here is so kind and welcoming. I’m sorry I haven’t been giving many updates since I arrived, but I’ll do better from now. My Eurotour starts soon as well so expect lots of photos! Thank you for reading this, and for taking an interest in me.
Cooper :)