Every journey has a destination, although the obstacles that the traveller has to overcome to complete the quest inevitably challenge them to question and change their perspective. The destination is a place for reflection, as it is the journey and the myriads of experiences, both positive and negative that occur, that make a big impact on one´s life. My journey started on January the 21st and what I just wrote about journeys perfectly reflects mine here to Australia. I started planning my exchange year half a year before I left Austria. My organisation is called “Travel works”. I stayed in Sydney for half a year, and although it is very expensive I can only recommend everybody who has the chance to go abroad, to DO IT! Not only do you learn how to connect with other people from different cultures, but you also gain confidence of going your own way and doing what you like. You really develop your personal skills and that´s really important in our modern world. The actual purpose of going abroad is to study English and I think I have really improved mine here. I stayed in a host family with two children. We had a dog, chicken and a rabbit. They gave me a lot of freedom so I was an exchange year abroad my time in australia allowed to do things with friends and on my own whenever I wanted to. But still I had to study a lot. Not only for school in Australia, but also Austria. The school system in Australia is very different compared to the one in Austria. Here you can choose the classes and subjects you want to do and cancel those you don´t want to do. Also the grades are not from 1-5. Here you get a grade compared with the average performance and outcome of your classmates on a scale. There you can see if you are above or under the average. I learned so many things here in Australia: From inner strength to having a different worldview and also a different view on people and things surrounding me. I am thankful for making so many great experiences that no one will ever be able to take away from me. All together I can say that I am very grateful and happy for having such a great opportunity to getting to know a foreign culture, learning English and also for having the best time of my life. For sure it´s not always easy, but exactly those things that aren´t easy make you stronger. Magdalena Sikora, 3AK Fremdsprachen 43 Aussicht vom Sydneytower auf die Stadt Beach mit anderen Austauschschülerinnen links: Maya (Italien), Karo (Deutschland) und ich.
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