Julia Esser, Germany, Year 12

 For example I noticed how important my family is and you can be very happy with the little things. Of course I improved my English skills a lot. Here I detected my love for cooking and baking and I can’t wait to try new recipes at home. Additionally I liked to try lots of new foods which I didn’t know before. I learned lots of funny things like eating kiwifruit with the skin and it doesn’t taste bad. In Germany I would have never even thought about it.

Before I came to NZ I wanted to go skiing and riding. I went on a school ski trip in the beginning. It was quite different to Austria because it was so empty. I didn’t ride until now, but I hope to do that before I leave. I also started rowing. It’s beautiful when the weather is nice but it’s so early in the morning. It’s a shame I can’t go on with rowing in Germany.