This is Amelia Craig - our outbound student for 2016. Amelia is in Switzerland.
Latest Update From Amelia (our outbound student in Switzerland)Hey everyone!
I hope everyone is going good back in sunny Sydney during this holiday season! It is freezing here, I mean cold as! Currently minus degrees outside and I'm rugged up to the max! I've had a great time since I've updated you all. Every exchange student in Switzerland went to Matterhorn as our final weekend away with rotex- was very sad but very beautiful.
Unfortunately last Saturday, was my last Handball match with HC Amriswil. I've really enjoyed my time with these girls and it's been one of the best times of my exchange- I am very sad to leave them.
I hope everyone back home has a safe and merry Christmas- I'll see you all very soon!
Liebe Grüße, Amelia.
August
From: amelia craig [mailto:amelia.craig@outlook.com] Sent: Friday, 2 September 2016 7:01 PM To: Hansjorg Stahel; Dave Rayner; Andrew Little; Andrew Little Subject: Monthly report Hallo! I've had a very nice month so I should probably tell you about that :)I hope the club night went well back in Australia- I remember going last year and it was great fun! This month my holidays finished and my school started again- horrible now I have to wake up at 6 every morning! But I really like school- my German has improved and my teachers can tell and are impressed and happy for me. I will not lie, I had a little breakdown this month. I was very tired and lonely- I didn't know if the family liked me or not. I felt stupid A lot. But I had my 6 month meeting and I think they realise what I'm like now. So just a summary of what I did in the holidays: during my holidays I travelled 11 countries in 15 days, spent 2 weeks inthe Italian part of Switzerland, discovered Bern, climbed up two Swiss mountains, went up another mountain and listened to alp horns, finally got to speaking German 24/7 and can now understand more Swiss German- a successful holiday? I think yes!
Handball is going good- I need to buy a licence which is expensive and then I can play- I'm really enjoying it! My German course is going well- I've learnt a lot. I've decided though, I will not sit the final exam for the test. I've thought long and hard about this- I've stressed all my life over exams, and I don't want that stress now, because I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life and I don't want to ruin that and a certificate doesn't validate my efforts at learning German. I hope everyone back home is good and ready for summer to come! Have a good one and until next time! Viele Grüße -Amelia Craig.
Sent: Friday, 29 July 2016 1:43 AM To: Andrew Little; Andrew Little; Dave Rayner; Hansjorg Stahel; Janelle Craig Subject: MONTHLY REPORT Hey guys! I hope everything with you all are good and I hope Australia isn't too cold ;) These two months were amazing, I honesty will struggle to write this much in English and sometimes I have no words because Eurotour was just that amazing. Biggest thing? Of course Eurotour! 15 days, 11 countries and we did it. Exchange students from around the world on one bus, making dreams come true- sorry this is so corny but it's honestly true. My favourite countries are definitely Amsterdam, Brussels and Budapest- why? Everyone thinks exchange students love Amsterdam cause of parties- no way. There's so much more to the country then the stereotypes. Like the Anne frank house, riding bikes and the canals! Brussels was awesome because of some groovy vibes and I caught up with a girl from my district! Kate was a fantastic tour guide! And Budapest- oh how I love you Budapest. My obsession with Wes Anderson films helped this- I truly wanted to see Budapest because of the Grand Budapest Hotel( it had nothing to do with the city but I don't care) it was beautiful!!! There's so much more to say but I can't write everything or this email will be wayyyy too long. If you want, on my Facebook I have a daily log of what we did :) I filmed a lot of it and hopeful next month I can upload a video of my adventures- I'll keep everyone posted!
Okay so now that the Eurotour spam is over, another big thing happened, I moved host families.
At first, I will not lie, I was so sad- I truly loved the Muntwylers and I will never forget the beautiful memories I had with them and I am forever grateful for everything they did for me- the best host family.
I am now with the Kempfs. I really like it now! I will be honest- at first I was a bit lonely on the holidays in Tessin- the kids had to go home for 4 days and the cousins and they're partners came up- so I was a little alone. But now that I'm surrounded by kids again, it's great!!! And yes we were in the Italian part for two weeks, was beautiful! Very thankful for the opportunity! But yes I'm very happy now!
So this month- I missed 4 rotary meetings. I was devastated! That's the most I've ever missed because I normally go each week but of course I was away I couldn't go. I saw them last Tuesday in a beautiful golf course- it was so Nice! Everyone was happy to see me and I was so happy to see everyone also! Some even remembered it was my mums birthday and said happy birthday! Just little things like that make me love them more and more each week. I am so happy I have a great club- some people don't understand why I go to meetings so much- so I will tell you;) I honestly love meetings, I find them interesting and fun because I get to see people who care for me and I care for them back. I know other exchange students haven't come much but I'd like to change that, I think it's good to go to meetings.
I hope this isn't too long and I hope to hear back from y'all :) PS- Thank you so much to everyone who's gotten me this far, 6 months is already finished and 6 months left- not leaving here! But thank you for everything everyone has done for me no matter how big or small- everything means so much to me:) Freundliche Grüße -Amelia Craig
Sent: Tuesday, 5 July 2016 6:47 AM To: Hansjorg Stahel; Dave Rayner; Andrew Little; Andrew Little Subject: HELLO Hello! I'm not dead! Haha yes I'm still alive, four days late but I do have a good reason! I am currently on my Eurotour and have not had the time to write it up- I hope you guys understand that I'll do it straight after Eurotour! Many thanks -Amelia Craig (currently in Prague)
Sent: Wednesday, 8 June 2016 7:44 PM To: Hansjorg Stahel; Andrew Little; Dave Rayner Subject: Monthly report
Hellloooo Okay I'm going to start by saying I'm so sorry for being late- I've just been so busy :/ I will also apologise now, my English is horrible- like it's hilarious but it's hard to write long texts now- I thought I was crazy but this has happened to my other friends here too- so sorry for my English. And all is good. School- school is good, lots of tests now and I'm finally able to do the homework properly now!!! (Yay but also sad that means work hahahah) Host family- I MOVE IN LIKE TWO WEEKS AND IM SO SAD BECAUSE I LOVE MY HOST FAMILY NOW BUT I ALSO AM TORN BECAUSE THE KEMPFS ARE AWESOME TOO. Language- I finally feel like I can have a good conversation without being awkward now- progress!!! Deutsch course is helping but I'm very terrible at grammar in German- I'm not sure if I'll pass the exam but I've come to accept that it's better that I've learnt things and it's good to try things:) I was so worried about failing, but now I've come to accept that it's better to learn and give it a shot then not trying :) Rotary club- I love my club, they are so cute! I gave them a kangaroo at my presentation from my club back home and I saw it with all the flags and things ;) was very pleased. It's also great because I'm going golfing with Lorenz( a good mate from rotary) and two other men have invited me for dinner at they're houses with they're wives and kids. The highlight of my month was the Rotary tessin weekend with all the exchange students in Switzerland. It was great to see the oldies one last time and see my other friends and rotex buddies :) This month I've done so much I can't remember but I hope the photos are enough:)
Well that's all for another month :) hope all is good for y'all. Freundliche Grüße -Amelia Craig
Sent: Monday, 9 May 2016 5:32 AM To: Dave Rayner; Andrew Little; Andrew Little; Hansjorg Stahel Subject: monthly report :) Hey guys! IM SORRY I AM LATE I KNOW! I've just had some exciting stuff and I just really wanted to include it with this email:) lets go So this month was pretty good- I've just been getting more settled! My German is probably the hardest thing. I know my German is not good- but don't think I'm not trying- I am trying so hard it hurts sometimes!!!I'm doing everything I can (flash cards, apps, notes ) and the biggest thing I need to do is speak more German- that's my 'goal' for this month and it's already off to a good start- spoke all German today and even spoke Swiss German with a few kids( it was shocking but I tried) I am so sad. I have 2 months left with the Muntwylers and I love them to death- they are like family to me now and the fact that I have to leave makes me so sad but I'm excited for a new family! School has been great! I'm finally starting to get into The classes and understand things without having to ask- feeling very cool! The two biggest things this month was going to Europark with some children from a orphanage ( or a house for kids not exactly sure) with my rotary club and we took them out and we had a awesome time! That was actually today! So today I spoke heaps of German with them and it was cool because kids don't usually correct me and make me feel stupid and they helped me structure sentences properly and it really helped. I'm really thankful for my rotary club to invite me along- it was awesome and I'm giving the two men who came some of my thank you cards :) But last but not least the biggest thing this month was my presentation. And I was pretty darn happy with it. I invited my friend Natalie and her YEO Andreas ( he is a great dude!) from the St Gallen club to come along because they are close and I really love them both( great support!!) I even baked some ANZAC biscuits and Lamington cupcakes which they loved! Also thanks to my host mum who saved the day because I think I suck at cooking :))) It felt great to put on the blazer again and talk- my German was okay but some people laughed because apparently when I speak German I sound funny- I second that! Is it bad I love my rotary club? Like they are the coolest! They now remember my name fully and even today a guy remembered some stuff I thought he forgot about me! I hope everything is okay back where you are and I hope my club back home is good :) Best Regards -Amelia Craig Attachments This is the Bulletin from Amelia's Club in which she features - RC Oberthurgau Bulletin Nr. 45 vom 03.05.16. Courtesy of Janelle, this is a translation - Translation
Let's start this report by saying; I have no idea how to write these reports- I never know how start but here we go?!
Traveling- I find this so funny! Everyday is something interesting and new- I could talk about everything but I'll save the rant ;) my highlight was my trip to Appenzell city and Austria with my host family. I love them both so much! Appenzell city is so old and it's like your typical Swiss town. I went to Austria!? Amazing! I find it utterly ridiculous that I live so close to different countries! It's amazing!
School- school has been good. We had some exams that I tried tot take- I'm proud of myself because I learnt some German as I was studying! And our school prom is coming up soon! I'm soooo excited! The girls from my class and I might go shopping together for dresses and I love them so much because this month I tried hard to get to know them. Host family- I love them, words cannot explain how much I value everything they do for me. I'm actually really sad because I don't want to leave them even though it's in over 3 months time. I love my host brother, It's like his my actual brother! We get on really well and it's nice to know I can go to him for help or advice. Friends- from my school paragraph you can tell I've had a good month friends wise :) I'm going to Geneva with a friend I made here- amazing things come out of friendships!
Rotary meetings-I've been to every rotary meeting this Month! I go every week and it's great because a man came up to me and told me how great it was that I come each week and how nice it is! I also attended a art exhibition for a man from my club- it was great!
Language- honestly I was a bit worried about the b1 exam this month( the B1 exam is a German exams you can take in September) I was worried if I should bother with it and if I'm even good enough. But apart from that my German is okay- I've never been a language kind of person so it's the hardest part so far but I have the confidence to try and speak with someone in German which I think is good. Culture- I'm now going to include a culture part of my reports because I know some other exchange students aren't getting into and understanding the culture-so I'm going to learn as much as possible to almost become Swiss :) at the end of last month I had the pleasure of being invited to the rotary club of St Gallen's lunch meeting from my friend Natalie. It was awesome and I loved all the people- but as we were in St Gallen we popped into a bookstore and brought a book on Switzerland ( yes in English, too soon ) and I've learnt so much! Like did you know Switzerland invented Velcro and LSD? Yeah pretty sure you didn't, they are two most useless facts but one day they'll save you in a quiz.
Anyways my monthly rant Is complete. As per usual Meli is well and fine but never wanting to go home. I hope everything back home is good and I send my wishes to everyone. Xx
February 29th Hello Everyone! Can't believe how quickly time is flying! Second report so soon! This month has honestly been amazing! So much has happened and I can't wait to tell you all :) So one of my biggest things that happened this month was that I started school at Kantonschule Romanshorn in the first class. I was very nervous about school but I instantly felt at home- I love my class so much! Everyone is so nice about my German! They help me translate and they include me in so much! Another big thing that happened this month was my 16th birthday. I didn't think I'd do much but my wonderful host family gave me tonnes of presents and the ones from home eventually arrived! It was a very nice day and I owe that to my host family. In Switzerland this month was fasnacht- I went to Luzern, Zurich and Basel for fasnacht- it was amazing! So much confetti and i made so many new exchange student friends who I love so much( we're like a little family). I also saw them later at the rotexwinter weekend- which was very fun. This month I also met my rotary godmother Ania, who went to Australia. She goes to my school also. One day Ania took me to Luzern with her Danish friend and we went and saw all that Luzern has to offer like the lion statue and the beautiful bridges- it's very nice to know that Ania is there for me if I need help! I also went to two rotary meetings- which are in a castle with a moat around it! I find that so awesome! I love my club so Much! The men there are very nice and it's great to speak German with them because even though I make mistakes they know that I'm trying and help me! I even saw them at some volleyball games I was lucky enough to go to. So that was my month in a nutshell! I would write more and more but I know that I'd ramble on too much! So this month I've been feeling great! No homesickness like other people but sometimes when mail comes I cry mainly because it's nice to know people care and want to know what your up to. I know I should be writing more on how I feel but I don't know how to describe it- i feel so good, I absolutely love everything and I'm getting on with everyone. Next month I'm going to throw myself into the language more- I'm not the best at it and I would love to spend more time on learning German. I have a textbook from the language camp that I can use and during some classes the teachers let me read a book- I'm currently reading Heidi in German- it's hard at times but it's a great learning tool.
I hope everything is well for you all- hope you guys get this soon :) freundliche Grüße -Amelia Craig
It's been almost two weeks in Switzerland and it's time for my monthly report to tell you guys how everything is going. It's been great in Switzerland! I had a good flight over via Singapore. I was greeted by my wonderful host parents at the airport and stayed with them in Amriswil for two nice nights ( we had cheese fondu!) before being taken to language camp by my awesome YEO Hansjörg Stahel. Language camp has been great- lots of German but it's great practice and will be very useful! I've made some great mates- 19 Australians, 2 New Zealanders, 3 Argentinians and 1 Namibian. We've visited the reinfalls (Europe's largest waterfalls) which was amazing and we also visited St Gallen and I loved them both so much!
I don't have much else to say since I've been at the camp for most of the time- let me know if you'd like more :) All is well with me- not homesick or anything! I had no problems with language camp, no hiccups or anything which I'm extremely happy with-Just enjoying Switzerland! Hope you all had a good month! Best regards