Ernst Haeckel Gymnasium Werder (Havel)

Family members:

New Zealand host families can vary greatly. Some families consist only of the parents and the child who is hosting you, while others have two or more siblings. It is also possible that another exchange student from a different country is staying with the same family at the same time.

Everyday life:

The day begins with breakfast, which everyone eats on their own. Then the students go to school while their parents go to work. At school, your exchange student will take you to your classroom, or you may even have lessons with them. During breaks, you can either stay with your exchange student or talk to the other New Zealand students. After school, you go home and do something with your family or meet up with friends. The students at Lynfield College either come with us, go home and do their homework, or go to work. Dinner is then eaten together. Afterwards, everyone retreats to their rooms and goes to bed at the appropriate time. Of course, we don’t have school at the weekend, and the host families often have an outing or something else planned for you. Otherwise, the daily routine is the same.

Personal experience:

My host family gave me a warm welcome and helped me settle in. We got to know each other well through lots of messages before I arrived in New Zealand, so we have no problems with each other and already know quite a bit about each other. Here’s an example of their hospitality: in the messages before my arrival, I learned that my exchange student’s father not only plays the guitar like me, but also builds guitars. When I arrived at my host family’s house, there was already an acoustic guitar he had built in my room, and he said I was welcome to play it. A few days later, I asked him if I could try one of his electric guitars. Not only did he agree, but he also allowed my friends, who had dropped by spontaneously and whom he didn’t know, to play his guitar.

Today was such a cool day! Our group visited the Waitomo Glowworm Caves and an rainforest with collapsed caves. We had to get up really early at six in the morning to pack our things and get ready. Everyone was still a bit tired, but you could already feel that everyone was in a good mood because we were all excited about the trip.

For breakfast, we had pancakes with syrup, so good! And it was Milos birthday today.

He turned 16, and of course, we all sang for him. It was really nice and made everyone smile, so we started the day with a good vibe.

After breakfast, we quickly packed our stuff and got on the bus. The ride took a while, but it didn’t feel that long. We talked, listened to music, laughed, and just chilled together. Some people even fell asleep because the bus was so comfortable. It was just such a relaxed and fun start to the day.

When we arrived, we first had some time to look around in the souvenir shop and the café. Some of us bought postcards or little souvenirs, and others got a cup of hot chocolate. After that, we went into the cave for our guided tour.

The tour guide told us to use our imagination and look for shapes in the rocks, like an organ, or even a kiwi bird doing bungee jumping. It was really fun trying to spot them. Then we got into a small boat, and suddenly everything was completely silent.

Above us were thousands of glowing blue lights, like a thousand liftle stars. It was so breathtaking, I’ll honestly never forget this moment.

Afterwards, we got back on the bus and drove a few minutes to our picnic spot. Soon we’ll continue our trip with a walk through the forest.

After our picnic, we went on a short walk through the forest, which took about 40 to 50 minutes. It was really relaxing, and the air was warm and a bit humid. On the way, we also walked through two small caves, which was pretty cool.

Our guide, Simon, showed us an edible plant and explained which leaves you could actually use as toilet paper in the wild, everyone thought that was super funny!

Afterwards, we got back on the bus and drove to Lynfield College, where our host students were already waiting for us. The rest of the afternoon everyone spent individually with their host families. It was the perfect way to end such an amazing week.

The day started with breakfast at 7:30 a.m. After that, we went on a hike to a waterfall. The path led over rocky ground and through low bushes, and the sound of the water could already be heard from a distance. At the bottom, fine mist rose into the air as the water crashed down onto the rocks. After the hike, we walked back and then drove up the mountain by car. From the top, there was a wide view over the landscape, with snow on the peak and a clear sky above. In the evening, we went bouldering. The climbing hall had many different routes, and everyone was focused on climbing. It was a full and varied day.

The morning of the 15.10.25 we had breakfast at 7:15 a.m. Simon made it for us like always. The food was really good
and everyone was happy but tired. But we were all excited for the trip!
At 8 a.m. we left our place to see Rotorua. First we went to the geothermal park. It was crazy to see the hot water and the steam everywhere! Then we went to the lake, the Government Gardens, the Redwood Forest and the Blue Lake. Everything looked so nice and we took a lot of pictures. And Simon toldus amazing new information.

Later we went to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. Wow, it was so cool! The colors were amazing, green, yellow, orange and blue. It smelled a bit funky, but it was super interesting. After that we drove to Taupo. The big lake looked beautiful with the volcanoes around it. We also stopped at Huka Falls. The water was so strong and blue, it looked awesome!

At 5:00 p.m. we arrived at Waimarino Village. Everyone was tired but really happy. It was such a fun and exciting day! I
think it was one of the best days of our trip!