One month ago, I woke up on a plane to find myself in Amsterdam, Netherlands. I am now living with a wonderful host family in a cold, quiet town close to Germany. It hasn’t been long, but I have learned and noticed so much, from language, to school, to culture and food. Lots of food.
Going on exchange is a life-changing experience, but it can also be very challenging. It requires you to literally leave your whole life behind, and build up a new family, friendships, school life and everything else in between, only to leave it all behind in a matter of months. (Sounds pretty similar to a break up if you ask me!) It can be really hard, when you have zero clue of what’s going on around you, but making friends along the way makes it so much more fun and easy. You have to let yourself be uncomfortable at times and just go with it – who knew I could actually enjoy riding 30 km a day to school and back!
My Family
From the day I met my host family to now, it has been a great experience. They are very open minded, friendly people. They’re very funny and lovely. It’s quite different to live in a home with teenagers my age. Back in Sydney I am used to having several obnoxiously loud ten year old boys fighting over the Xbox every afternoon. Here, with three teenagers in the house, we are hiding in our rooms 80% of the time. The other 20% is us either making food or eating food!
The most important family member, Nelson, pictured in my suitcase, who ate my breakfast
two days in a row when I had first arrived!
Language
One thing I don’t think I appreciate enough, is the fact that English is my native language. We as native English speakers take for granted our ability to fluently speak and understand such a universal language.
Not knowing the language has been very daunting at times, like when I’m alone at the supermarket and don’t know how to pay, or when I don’t know what people at school are saying.
“IT’S NOT RIGHT OR WRONG, JUST DIFFERENT. IT’S NOT BETTER OR WORSE, JUST DIFFERENT.”
Southern Cross Cultural Exchange
Culture
Staying in a quiet town compared to the Inner City life I led in Sydney, I have noticed that there is a lot less social awareness compared to my life. There just don’t seem to be as many hardcore teenage protesters and activists in the rural town of Doesburg! I found it quite surprising that the people around me didn’t know as much as I did about such social issues.
There is a popular European celebration of Santa Claus – ‘Sinterklaas’ which is very different from Western culture’s take on the Christmas celebration. Sinterklaas travels from Spain to the Netherlands by boat to deliver presents with his character sidekicks, ‘Zwarte Pieten’ which translates to ‘Black Pete’. In the celebrations, Black Pete is played in full blackface, usually by a white person. Many other factors, like their personalities, roles and general portrayal establishes racial stereotypes and discrimination.
The Dutch often say, “it’s our tradition” but many, see it as racism.
Typical Dutch Costume of ‘Zwarte Piet’ 
Cleo and I enjoying presents from Sinterklaas
School
Going on exchange, I was very excited to be attending a co-ed (mixed) school. For some reason, Sydney has never gotten rid of the British tradition of single-sex schools. It is a very different atmosphere, and I have found that the boys are very loud and aggressive, while the girls are either quiet or talk a lot.
I have also noticed there are a lot less opportunities in this small town compared to back home, within my school excursions, climate activism, musical opportunities and more. This has really helped me realise how influential Futures Learning was on me. One thing I do have to give to them, is their ‘no uniform’ policy and no private schools. This not only allows freedom to express ones’ self and offers a sense of individuality, but also gives students an equal opportunity to learn and access education.
Here are the things I’ve learned and realised so far:
- It is so important to push yourself out of your comfort zone, otherwise you will regret missing out on experiences
- Say yes to everything
- Learn that it’s okay to not understand things and to ask for help
- You are allowed to be confused, unsure and overwhelmed
- Talk to everyone, about everything. Not just yourself!
unprecedented 
This is a great update and I am glad that you are are finding it a great experience. That includes all the discomfort for being out of your comfort zone even though so many things are still the same. Hopefully you will find some hardcore teenage protestors soon 🙂
LikeLike