Exchange student experiences Germany during a pandemic

Rotary Youth Exchange student Nadia Britz (17) enjoyed a unique experience in Germany for 10 months.

She arrived just weeks before countries around the world went into hard lockdown due to Covid-19 infections.

The exchange programme is for high school students, who are sent around the globe to experience different cultures.

Nadia was meant to go on a European tour, however, due to the pandemic, it was cancelled.

“We had to stay indoors most of the time as we were on lockdown and only went to school after six months of staying home.

“The restaurants were closed for nine months but we were allowed to order take away,” she said

She highlighted meeting different exchange students and making friends made her trip special.

“I experienced a lot of new cultures and leant a lot from the other students who became my friends. I also learnt a lot from my host families, including how to speak German fluently.

“The schools in Germany are a lot stricter,” she added.

Celebrating Christmas during a pandemic was hard for everyone and it was the same for Nadia, She said her host family ensured that she had a wonderful white Christmas as she was told that it had snowed for the first time in10 years.

For the duration of her stay, she had two different host families that exposed her to different cultures.

The first family she stayed with for eight months were both doctors who were very conservative and imposed strict rules, while her second family who she only stayed with for two months were less strict and gave her the freedom to explore the country as best she could.

One of her hardest moments being away from home for a long period meant that she could not celebrate her birthday with her twin brother and she was stuck in quarantine on the day.

Being exposed to the different cultures inspired her to return to Germany once she has completed her high school career to study law.

President of the Rotary Club of Benoni Aurora Sonia Shear said that on March 19, they were notified by the Rotary International board of directors that they have decided to cancel all exchanges until the end of June 2022.

“They will do another investigation into the viability of exchange later this year or early next year.

“We have been monitoring the situation together with our exchange partner countries and we all agree that the safety of our students is and always has been of critical importance to us,” Sonia concluded.

For more information on the Youth Exchange visit https://youthexchange.co.za/

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