Student exchange
New Zealand

Overseas experience. Exchange year. Exchange student. 

These are big words. They expect you to be independent, open minded and strong enough for all problems you´ll have to face – may they be big or small. They expect you to leave everything behind you are familiar with to start a new life far away from the place and the people you call your home.

My story already started years before my actual flight date. Since I´m in year six I wanted to do an exchange and since year seven I knew that this dream should come true in New Zealand. 17000 km away from home. I got obsessed by this dream. Spent hours with reading books and blogs, writing my hostfamily letter, searching for the best agency and finally the best school for me. I wanted this six months to be as good as possible and did everything for it. I was looking forward to it and if I couldn´t be bothered to go working, doing art for my scholarship or filling out forms I just tried to motivate myself with thoughts about a perfect life down under. 

And then I got nervous. I had nothing left to do besides waiting for my hostfamily. When I finally got them I was excited as. From one minute to the other it all got so real. I went to buy presents for them, had all my “last times in Germany” and packed my bags. It was sad to say goodbye to all my friends and family but I didn´t even realize I´ll be gone and I knew I would see them again in six months. 

My plane started and I got even more excited because I love being in the air. When I was sitting in the second plane – from Hong Kong to Auckland I just started crying. In this moment I just wanted to go back home. Back to my family. I realized that I had left everything behind for the next half year. My family, my friends, my hobbys, my school, my hometown, my room, … - just everything! 

But after more than 24 hours I finally got to New Zealand. The first weeks were pretty awesome and so hard at the same time. It was winter in the land of my dreams so it rained a lot. I also found it hard to find Kiwi friends and I could barely understand some of the people because they had so much Kiwi slang. One of these persons was my hostdad unfortunately. Another thing I felt was that I missed people who showed me that they love me, especially when I was sick. Even normal things like hugs. I never thought about stuff like that before but I really missed it. I mean, I understood it, I was coming to another country without knowing anybody, what could I expect? 

But all these things had also positive sides. All this rain created a beautiful bush with a completely different green than I was used to from Germany. Even though I couldn´t find Kiwi friends at the beginning I could make awesome friendships to other Internationals and the fact that I still tried to talk to the Kiwis made me coming further out of my comfort zone. I loved and love listening to Kiwi slang and if you can´t really understand it it sounds even more mysterious. I got used to it pretty fast though and used some of it as well. And because of the fact that I missed hugs they got so valuable for me when I got some from my hostsiblings and later on my friends. 

After school activities were also important for me. I lived at the beach and my school was about 15 minutes away with the car. The school bus is just driving twice a day and other public transport didn´t exist. Most of the activities that are happening here in New Zealand are at school so it was difficult for me to find something to do as I didn´t wanted my young hostfamily to drive for me all the time. In the end I found an activity at the beach – karate. I never tried anything similar before and I was always afraid of hurting somebody but it was a sport I could do. 

Then the trips started and I got to see a bit of New Zealand´s variety. When it got warmer I took part in the surfing lessons and learned how to scuba dive – one of my big dreams. The longer I stayed down under the more relaxed I got. School was pretty easy, I had mainly fun classed and most of my teachers were awesome! It was more like a friendship than anything else. 

Throughout this whole process my hostfamily was there for me and encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone. I was probably a pretty exhausting exchange student for them as I was really shy when I first came to New Zealand and often didn´t knew what to do because I was used to a busy schedule in Germany. They were relaxed, just wanted to know where I am. Both of them were kinda naughty when they were Teenager so they couldn´t really understand how I was just trying to do everything for everybody all the time. Sometimes I thought maybe it would have been better to live in another family but then I wouldn´t have become who I am today. 

And then my time was almost over. I couldn´t even believe that I just had a few weeks – and later on days – left. The relationship to my hostsister was difficult in this time. At some days she wanted to do stuff with me all the time and on others she started insulting me and said “You´re going soon, anyway”. Saying goodbye was hard for me because I saw how sad my hostsister was but once again I couldn´t really realize it. 

And now I´m back “home”. At the first days it was just awesome! Finally I got to see my family and friends again. My parents even organized a welcome back party for me! 

But then the problems started. I had a big jetlag and most of my friends here in Germany weren´t really interested in my experiences. I´m also missing my friends and hostfamily, even though my hostfamily didn´t seem to be really interested in me when I got back either. That made my jealousy of the girl that´s staying there now even worse. But I know I will come back to them and they are going to stay my hostfamily forever – no matter weather they like me or other hostchilds more. 

Everything is slowly getting back to normal now. I´m back home. And at the same time I´ll stay homesick for the rest of my life no matter where I am and I will always wish being with people who are living all over the world. I left my second family, my new friends and new hobbys, my new school my new hometown and my room behind. And I won´t be able to go back to it in six months. Some of it is gone forever. 

Overseas experience. Exchange year. Exchange student. These are big words. It isn´t always easy. And it´s definitely not like holidays. But it is the most valuable experience I have been able to make in my life so far because I got to become so much more myself. 

I am so grateful for all the people who made that possible and who helped and still help me to get through the tough times in life. A big Thank You to all of you. 

Hello, my name is Vincent and I'm 16 years old. I spent the summer holidays abroad in New Zealand this year, and I have to admit that I was very worried before my trip. I was worried that I might not like it or that I wouldn't make new friends here. In retrospect, however, these worries were completely unnecessary, and I wish I could stay here a little longer, as two months definitely isn't enough, and I feel really comfortable here. I've made a lot of close friends here in a very short time, with whom I hope to stay in touch in the future. I must also say that the school and the surrounding area, as well as pretty much all the people here, are absolutely amazing and, to be honest, actually better than in Germany. I've asked other (German) friends of mine, and they said they don't really miss Germany, which doesn't mean that they don't have contact with anyone in Germany anymore or anything, but it's just a good sign when you adapt so quickly to this new, yet very different life. The New Zealand school system is also much better than in Germany in my opinion. It's obviously simpler here, but you can also choose your subjects (especially as an international student you have complete freedom). My school (Botany Downs Secondary College) also has a separate office for international students and people who are there just to look after the internationals (I'm sure this is the case at other schools too, but of course I have no experience with that). Unfortunately, it's time for me to say goodbye to New Zealand again, but I have to say that I don't regret it at all and, above all, I'm happy that you meet so many different cultures and people from different countries in New Zealand, something I've never seen before.

From Western Heights High School I would like to sincerely thank you for all your hard work during the fairs this year.  Patti and I felt that the fairs were extremely well organized and students were well informed prior to the event.  We had ample space to promote and market our school and the families felt very comfortable at all the locations.  We were particularly impressed with the care you took to make sure that we felt welcomed and knew exactly what to do and where to go at all times.  We also were impressed with the extra fun activities you provided for us directors. 

Vincent is back from New Zealand safely and has made lots of new friends there. He really enjoyed it, and the school and family were just right for him. Thank you so much for your efforts. Family N. I just wanted to let you know how happy we are 😊… Tom really has come to live with the most amazing family in New Zealand, and not only has he become part of this family - we were practically adopted too 😂 We are in contact (almost) daily - not about topics that concern Tom, but to share our past and discover how much we have in common 😊 Truly a dream: Tom is currently on his way to complete the Tangariro Cross Walk with his father and older brother. On this journey - THANK YOU 🙏🏼 Family M. Thank you so much for all the information and the lovely mail! A. is always delighted to receive your brochures, emails, and cards - about anything to do with her New Zealand plans. It's really great how you take care of her, and of course, you're welcome to ring the bell if you drop off anything again! J. and I also feel well informed, so a heartfelt thank you from us as well. A. really wants to start in January and obviously has a great gut feeling about the school. So we're eagerly awaiting the criteria for January and, of course, hope that A. will be able to join the "small cohort." Family H. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn about a school stay abroad. Switch You can draw on years of personal experience and offer truly comprehensive advice! We organized our daughter's stay in New Zealand ourselves because we didn't want to go through one of the (quite expensive) organizations and weren't familiar with Switch You at the time. The school year abroad was "the absolute best time of her life," says our daughter, with many new friends and incredible personal development. We'll definitely do it again, but this time only with Switch You, as we would have been spared a few sweaty moments. Luckily, Switch You was with us during that time. The personal care, even though we hadn't arranged it through them at the time, was simply incredible! 👍🏻 Family U. Saskia has just arrived in her new home. Everything went smoothly, thanks to your excellent organization and support. Family K.

Here you have the opportunity to share your experiences directly with our returnees. Simply contact us using our contact form, and we will forward your inquiry accordingly.