Matthew Mackay - TAS to Germany

Fri 11 Jul 2008

Matthew Mackay from The Friends School in TAS is currently on our ten month program to Germany. Here is his latest news.

I have been in Germany since late January, 2008. The last five months have been a fantastic experience, the kind that helps you develop as a person and that you will always remember. One thing I will also never forget was how surreal it was on my flight on the way over to Germany, and the reality of the fact that I was in Germany didn´t sink in.

I arrived in Frankfurt on the 25th of January, and after the two day orientation that I received with the other Australians I travelled to Munich. I remember exactly the moment I was greeted by my host family at the central station. It was the exact moment that the reality of my situation sunk in, and it was then that I realised that I was
really in Germany for the next 10 months.

The first few days were quite difficult. I was extremely tired from jetlag, and the school, the cold weather and the language were all overwhelming. Although I had learnt German at school and I thought that I was already quite competent in the language, I clearly wasn´t. A language as it is spoken is different to a language as it is taught in the classroom, and it took me at least a month before I was able to have basic conversations. After two months, however, there was no problem, but now I will emphasise that it is important to have realistic expectations for an exchange, especially when going to a non English-speaking country.

I also feel extremely lucky with my host family. I have a host sister who is my age, host mum and her partner. There are also two older brothers but they are both studying at the Munich university so they don´t live at home. They are all super helpful with my German, and never hesitate to helpfully correct me when I make a grammatical mistake.

Icking, the neighbourhood that I' living in, also really suits me. Our house is about 4 minutes walk from the local train station, and from there it is about a 20 minute ride into the inner city. Munich is also a really beautiful city, and when one ignores all of those cliched touristy impressions of Munich such as oktoberfest and beer-halls, you can see that there is a momentual amount of culture and history that can be found within Munich.

My favourite place in Munich would have to be the Englische Garten. It is the second largest public park in Europe and is really pleasant for going swimming or simply lying in the sun.

The food here has been a bit of a shock I have to say. In the German diet, it has mostly been bread, meat and potatoes. However the sausages and pretzels are fantastic, and an absoloute must whilst enjoying the German diet.

It is also great that it's so easy to travel in Europe. Coming from Australia it still amazes me how quickly and easily one can get from one European country to another. I have already visited Köln, Frankfurt (twice), Malta, Italy and Paris.

The people here are really nice, and all of the people with whom I have had dealings have taken a great interest in me and where I come from.

I am very much looking forward to my next five months here, as I have found that the more I get settled in, the more I enjoy the experience.

I am very grateful to the exchange organisations (both in Australia and Germany) who have facilitated this experience for me, as well as my family in Australia and my host family here.

Matthew