Make a Friend for Life! - Host an Exchange Student like the Turk Family Did!

Fri 22 Aug 2008

My name is Rima Turk and I am married with 3 energetic children aged 10, 9, and 6 years of age. The reason we decided to host an exchange student was to simply give back to society as we live in such a wonderful laid back country with beautiful scenery and friendly people.

Anna, our 17 year old exchange student arrived in Australia from Germany on Saturday 26 April 2008 for a 3 month stay. We were very eager and excited to greet her at the airport. Her warm and gentle nature made it easy for all the family to get along with her immediately.

We went to various places with Anna, such as the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Darling Harbour Art Gallery, Bondi Beach, Taronga Zoo, Fox Studios, a rugby league game, World Youth Day, feeding the homeless and many other events.

Anna also shared with us the simple family pleasures, such as family BBQs, watching our kids play sports on a Saturday and going shopping with our daughter Shania. Anna became the sister that Shania never had and would always cherish her opinion and feedback.

The boys loved playing board games with Anna but they could never admit defeat as they are very competitive young people.

Anna made us aware of the German way of life and cooked some German meals like rice pudding and pancakes. They were delicious!

Anna also had the opportunity to experience life as a Year 11 school student in Australia. She took a packed lunch and wore a school uniform for the first time (back in Germany students finish school by midday, and therefore have lunch at home).

Anna was always a polite, sensitive and mature young lady. As time went by she became a more confident and independent individual as well.

Before we knew it the time had come around to farewell Anna. We were very sad to see her go and didn't realise we would become so attached to her! We now all miss her a great deal!

It was however a wonderful and fulfilling experience and we know we have made a friend for life. We plan to see Anna again when time permits and we know that Anna has also had a memorable experience.

Rima Turk

If you're interested in hosting an exchange student click here for more information.