A Warm Welcome to our German Exchange Students

During Term 4, we have welcomed a group of exchange students from Germany into our high school classroom. We sat down with them to hear about their lives back home, their experiences here in Alice Springs, and what has surprised them most about Central Australia.

Q: What part of Germany are you from? Can you tell us a little about your hometown?
We are from Müllheim, in the southwest of Germany — a regional centre with around 20,000 people. It’s cold in winter! One of us was born in California but moved to Germany at nine months old. Another has lived in Müllheim their whole life. Müllheim is not a big city, but it is surrounded by villages and has five schools. One of these is a Steiner school, which runs from Class 1 to Class 13 and has about 500 students. Every city in Germany has a Steiner school.

Q: What is your school like in Germany? How is it different to ours?
There are 35 students in our class. We have larger buildings, and our classrooms include specialist spaces such as a woodwork workshop, smithing and gardening areas, and a large school garden just five minutes away.

Q: What subjects or activities do you enjoy most back home?
We love sport — especially basketball, gymnastics, and volleyball.

Q: What made you want to come on exchange to Australia?
In the past, our school offered exchanges in Year 11, but not anymore. Coming to Australia felt like a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the other side of the world. In Germany, people imagine Australia as very dangerous and exciting!

Q: Why Alice Springs? What did you know about the Northern Territory before you came?
Alice Springs was our only option. We stopped in Adelaide and Melbourne on the way here but not for very long. We didn’t know much before arriving — except that there might be crocodiles! One of our relatives had visited Alice Springs two months earlier, but for us it was all new.

Q: What has surprised or stood out to you the most since arriving?
We like the snakes, but not the spiders! There are lots of ants and flies, but also amazing animals, the red sand, and such a unique landscape.

Q: What do you think of the desert landscape?
It’s very different to home — the colours and the space feel incredible.

Q: Have you had a chance to visit any local places?
Yes! We’ve been to Uluru, Kata Tjuta, the Telegraph Station, Hermannsburg, and the Desert Park. We are here for 8 weeks total, so we still have more time to see other local sites.

Q: What Australian animals have you seen so far?
We’ve seen lots already, snakes, lizards, kangaroos and heaps of birds.

Q: Have you tried any new foods you don’t usually eat at home?
Yes, Vegemite was new for us — an Australian experience.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share?
We sometimes miss our families back home — in Germany it’s already zero degrees back home so it is nice to be here! We are grateful to have other German students here to help explain things, and the support from everyone at school has been wonderful. We have studied English three times a week since Year 1 and learn Russian. From Year 5, we add French. Being in Australia has been a great way to use English every day.

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It has been such a pleasure to have our German exchange students with us in Alice Springs — we wish them all the best for the rest of their journey! In early December, six of our year 9 students will be going to Germany, and we can’t wait to hear about their experience.