Over the past week, two delightful Lions Exchange Students have been making their home in Nhill as part of their month-long visit to Australia. Alia Mostert, 17 years old, is from Germany and writes a little about herself…
“Here in Germany, I live in a little house with a small yard, together with my dad, his girlfriend Andrea, and my sister Eva.
We live in a town in the western part of Germany with about 65,000 people. Here, I currently go to High School by bike every morning. After school, I normally have lunch, do my homework, play the flute and then go to the gym or Taekwondo practice.
On the weekends, I like to do sports and to hang out with friends, or watch a movie with my family. During the breaks, I love to travel. My family and I like to go skiing, hiking, or sightseeing.
I used my last Christmas break to visit my host family in Michigan, where I spent my exchange year last year. I believe that travelling the world and getting to know different cultures is a big privilege and one of the greatest experiences you can make in life.”
Sara Kuntner is from Switzerland and writes about her life and where she’s from …
“My name is Sara, I’m 18 years old and I’m living in a valley in the eastern part of Switzerland, in the Val Müstair. I’m living there with my parents, my little brother Silvan (16), my little sister Lorena (14) and two cats. I have a big half-sister who’s called Jasmin (32), but unfortunately, I don’t see her often. My grandparents (my mother’s parents) live just next to us. The Val Müstair is just at the border to Italy, so we often drive to south Tyrol in order to visit my grandma (my dad’s mother). My native language is Rumantsch; it’s the fourth official language of Switzerland and only 60,000 people are speaking it. My father speaks German; to be exact, he’s speaking a German dialect which is called Tyroler (it is called that because it is spoken in south Tyrol). At school, we are learning English from the fifth class and afterwards we can choose between French and Italian as a free subject where I decided for French. Since three years, I have Spanish in school too. Obviously, I like languages and as the Lions club asked me if I’ d like to do an exchange month, I saw it as an opportunity to expand my knowledge of one of those languages but also as an opportunity to meet new people, new places and new cultures.
Right now, I am in the sixth year of Matura (high school) in a boarding school in Samedan and I’ ll write my final exams this year. I always wanted to become a teacher, but lately, I recognised that I have much more options, so maybe I’ ll do something with chemistry, pharmacy or even an exchange year. I have not decided yet. In my free time, I do a lot of sports. My biggest passion is skiing. I’ve been doing it since I was two years and now, I’m a ski instructor. But I also have other hobbies, such as biking, playing volleyball and travelling. I like travelling because I love getting to know new people, cultures, and places. Two other hobbies of mine are climbing and riding horses, but I’ve not done them often because I didn’t have the opportunity; therefore, I am not really good at it. And, of course, I like to meet with friends and go out with them too.”
Since arriving in Australia, the girls have marvelled at the vastness of our Australian countryside.
During their time in Nhill, the girls’ “Host Mother” is Lion Lesley Gordon. A full program for Alia and Sara has been organised so they have the opportunity to see as much of our rural area as possible.
Visits so far have been to Halls Gap for 2 days where the girls had fun riding motorised scooters to Lake Bellfield as well as a wonderful visit to the Halls Gap Zoo.
Last Wednesday evening, Nhill Lions members and guests enjoyed a meal at Nhill Dine Inn, where both Alia and Sara delivered excellent audio/visual presentations to the large crowd in attendance.
Thursday was a trip to Kaniva to check out the Lions Wetlands project, as well as the unique Puppet Shop and, of course, the Kaniva Sheep. That evening our exchange students enjoyed playing Badminton at the Nhill Sports Complex – thank you to Carolyn Blackwood for organising this.
Friday, Alia and Sara visited the Natimuk / Mount Arapiles area.
Saturday, the girls enjoyed “the culture shock” of our Aussie Rules footy at Davis Park, along with our Netball games. For the next few days, Sarah and Steve White and their family are hosting Alia and Sara on their farm as well as showing them the region north.
Sarah has sent through information that the Sunday schedule has been taken up with – yabbying, feeding the lambs, a BBQ and a campfire with damper plus golden syrup dumplings, along with some delicious Aussie pavlova.
When the girls arrive back in Nhill on Tuesday evening, it will be time to unpack and then pack another bag as the next day holds a car trip through Naracoorte, the Coonawarra, Penola and Mount Gambier then on to Robe, which will be an overnight stay in villas overlooking the vast expanse of some of our beautiful coastline.
Friday, 21st July, our Exchange students will be taken to Melbourne, where they will fly to Sydney for the rest of their stay.
The Lions Club of Nhill would like to say a very big Thank You to Steve and Sarah White for hosting the girls and giving them a great Australian farm experience.
Thank you also to others who have boarded Alia and Sara overnight in Melbourne.
Finally, it should be noted that although it is a privilege to show visitors such as Alia and Sara our country, it is actually a “double blessing”…
It has been a joy to learn about their home countries, but it is especially rewarding to view our homeland through new eyes.
See all the pictures in the issue.
This article appeared in the Nhill Free Press & Kaniva Times, 19 July 2023.
