Article from Sydney
Morning Herald, November 27 2004
What
a chap needs on a pig-slaughtering
trombone mission far from home
By Richard Glover, parent of a SAGSE scholarship recipient
We're in Kmart, the four of us. We refuse to let our anxiety show, even though Batboy is about to leave. He'll be gone for 2 months: overseas, on student exchange. Aside from a week at school camp, it's his first time away.
His younger brother thinks it's funny as he watches us pick through the store, buying final supplies. "Our little boy is all grown up," he mocks, using a faux-American accent. "Oh, I'm so proud."
We all ignore him. This is no joking matter.
"What you really need," Jocasta tells Batboy, "is a ChapStick. You can put it on your lips so they don't crack with the cold."
Batboy says he doesn't need a ChapStick, but Jocasta seems very focused on the idea. "I really think you need a ChapStick," she says, her voice edged with what can only be described as hysteria. Batboy is adamant, and the two of them pause, locked in a stand-off, somewhere between Toiletries and Cosmetics.
"They are really good," says Jocasta, picking one up from the display. "They really protect you." She hits the word "protect" a little hard, and holds the ChapStick upright in her hand, as if it was some miniature wand from The Lord of the Rings. She looks as if she may suffer some sort of seizure unless she somehow manages to get the ChapStick into Batboy's backpack.
"I really don't need the ChapStick," says Batboy, amiably enough.
"Now come along," says the Space Cadet, dancing in between them, and using the same faux-American accent, "let's not have a fight just before our little boy goes."
The Space Cadet thinks he's enormously funny. I think he may be right.
"Well, OK," says Jocasta finally, "you can always buy one overseas, once you're there." I can see her line of thought: the boy is about to handle 10 weeks in an isolated village, bang in the middle of rural Germany. It will be winter, his host family doesn't speak English and a bus goes past only once a day. Given all this, lip-care may be the least of his worries.
Not that the family doesn't sound wonderful. Batboy's host brother has been emailing him every day, describing the farm, the motorbikes and the animals. Only a few days back he emailed very excitedly: "Good news, visiting brother! Father says we will hold off the slaughtering of the cow until the day you arrive."
Batboy took the news surprisingly well. I guess there's no cure for jetlag like a few hours of playful cow-butchering. Already he has been told about how they have their own pigs, from which they make their own sausages. Either he'll come back twice the size, wearing lederhosen, or he'll be a rake-thin vegetarian.
Either way, I'm guessing he'll come back Lutheran. When we first received details of his host family, we sneakily put them into Google, together with the name of the nearest village. What came up was a village diary, showing that their house was used every Tuesday for meetings of a local choir. According to our best effort at translation, the family are the principal members of the local Evangelical Lutheran Trombone Choir.
A picture does form of Christmas Day: Batboy and his host brother working their way through a couple of family pigs, starting at the head and moving down, their lederhosen tightening as their stomachs expand, as the rest of the family pump away on a trombone version of Silent Night.
I'm momentarily concerned, but they send us a photo and everyone looks reassuringly normal. A friend tells me to ignore the word "evangelical" - it just means they are normal Lutherans. He is, however, unable to explain either the religious or musical point of a choir consisting solely of massed trombones.
Back home, it's a few hours before departure and Batboy is packing his last things: a CD of Australian rock, an old hardback copy of the poems of C.J. Dennis, two tubes of Vegemite and his own bodyweight in Tim Tams.
I go to work, and imagine him taking off. I keep looking at my watch, and charting his progress. Above Brisbane now. Cairns. Singapore.
We have dinner, the remaining three of us. There are not many pots and plates to wash up, and I remark on this to the Space Cadet, who's standing beside me as I scrub away, flicking my legs with the tea-towel.
"You know why?" he says, with all the sensitivity of a younger brother. "It's because that lard-arse isn't here."
I glance towards Jocasta, sitting on the couch with a faraway look. I guess she's also charting Batboy's progress in her mind - a dotted line arcing through her mind, stretching from his bedroom to this new world of slaughtered cows, joyful trombones and home-made sausage.
If only she'd insisted on him packing that ChapStick.
Used
with kind permission
of the author.
This
material is subject to copyright
and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited.
Following their exchange
trips to Australia and New Zealand, some of our German
students recall their fondest memories of the wide brown land.
This text is adapted from the Erfahrungen
page of the Gesellschaft für
Deutsch-Australischen/Neuseeländischen Schüleraustausch
e.V. (GDANSA) website.
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“A
thing that I really loved was going on an excursion with the drama
class of my year. We went to Sydney to have a workshop with the
writer of a play called "The seven stages of grieving"
and later on we got a tour of the Wharf Theatre and in the evening
we went into the Opera House (yep, I didn´t only get to see it from
the outside) to see that play ("The Seven Stages of Grieving").
I can honestly say that it was the best play I have seen so far
in my life because it dealt with the situation of the Aboriginals
in Australia, back then and today and I had been pretty interested
in that before.” “The students,
for example, care for older people or they fundraise for handicapped
children. Of course, those examples of good will do also occur in
Germany but the students, in contrast to those in Germany, are officially
asked by the school to do some social service. In my opinion this
is good, because you are really encouraged to take some responsibility
for your environment.” “I noticed that,
having the choice between so many subjects, I spent more time thinking
about myself and my interests and finally, I learned most in Photography
and Visual Arts, because I have always loved doing it in my free
time.” “One unconvenient
thing about the uniform was that we had to wear it even on our way
to school and back home. When it was cold in the morning, we froze,
because we had just the jumper. There were jackets available, but
they cost a lot of money, so only a few students had bought them.
Another disadvantage is, that the uniform shows the school you attend.
Everybody can see how much money the parents have. But this may
be a wanted effect.” “I just found
out that school plays a way bigger role in Australia than it does
in Germany which I thought was really good because consequently
school is much more of a community than it is in Germany.” “I looked forward
to my first day at school, it was not such a normal feeling that
you have before going to a new school. The school I was going to
the first week was the school Jinty goes to, a girls high school.
I was really excited, not only because it's a girls school. There
were so many things to be excited about, the foreign language, the
uniforms, how the students will react to me and much more.” Life
in a Foreign Country “You, as a foreigner,
get the impression that everybody knows each other and I can tell
some very interesting stories about people I got to know there.
For example, the first girl friend of my host mother's brother was
Kylie Minogue, who is probably one of the most famous Australian
musicians and thanks to my host uncle I am now in the possession
of a signed Kylie poster.” New
Cultural Experiences “Milo, the Australian
answer to our common cocoa powder is one of the best things that
I've tried in Down Under. It is similar to cocoa but it doesn't
dissolve completely in milk and when you eat it from top with a
spoon you can hear it crunch between your teeth.” “The second
day we went skiing, all in all nothing typical for New Zealand.
At night we had the obligatory cup of tea and played monopoly. But
the best thing of this trip was that I felt more and more like a
member of their family, and I was very pleased with the situation
that everything is so perfect.” “Because of
the little knowledge about Germany and Europe I was glad to join
different classes to answer questions. They were very interested
and it was nice to give them something back for all the friendliness
they gave to me. All the teachers integrated me very well during
class.” “Three months
full of new experiences, happiness, and friendship. "Difference"
is the best word to describe my feelings about this country... I
think all the members of our group can say that we have left a part
of ourselves there and that we have taken something new back to
Germany with us.” “We, who had
all expected a quite boring and well-mannered discussion were fascinated
at once. I mean, it was ridiculous: Grown-up men and women behaved
like a group of kids from the Pre-school. They talked loudly the
whole time, they stood up and gesticulated wildly when someone from
the opposite party said something they didn't agree with. They interrupted
each other and didn't let people finish speaking and one time the
chairman, who called upon Mr. Howard to speak had to admonish a
man from the other side three times to be quiet.” “The boat stopped
and we had our first chance to snorkel in the real Reef. I couldn't
believe it. Everything was so colourful and the there were so many
fishes. I thought Fitzroy Island was great but this one was one
hundred times better.” “But I also
realised how beautiful Lübeck and Germany is, with its old and traditional
houses, and that I also learned to be proud of my country and culture.” My Role as an Ambassador “My host dad
was very interested in German history and we spent hours with conversations
about the World War II and the former East Germany. For me it was
very interesting which opinion my host dad had and the way he was
thinking of the things that had happened. We even started argumentations
because each of us was convinced of his / her opinion. And we wanted
to explain or convince the other one. It has been a really fantastic
experience. Though my host sister could not understand how we could
talk about such things.” “Many of them
were interested in life in Germany and asked me many questions which
I was more than happy to answer. Most of the girls knew at least
some things about Germany because most had once taken German for
at least three years.” “The relationship
to my host father was different. I didn't spent much time with him,
but when he was at home I had wonderful conversations with him,
till late at night. We talked about our different cultures, the
social systems in our countries and what life is like in Germany.
We compared the German and Australian school system and talked about
politics, the Second World War, the German Wall and the reunification.
He hasn't been to Europe yet. Nevertheless, he was interested in
everything that I told him about our continent. That was great fun
and I tried to do my best, because I wanted to give him an idea
of my life and my home.” |
Personal
Development “My preparedness
to approach foreign people which had always been a difficult point
for me has improved a lot and of course my English is much better
than before. I can speak it fluently now, almost like German and
that gives me the opportunity to speak with half of the world's
population without any language problems - what a wonderful imagination!
But the best is that I have even won a whole country. When I now
hear the word "Australia" I connect it with thousands
of glorious memories and this is an enrichment that nobody can ever
take away.” “I even started
to think in English and so my spoken English improved and could
take part of "normal" conversations and discussions. That
is an important thing to be part of a group. And I was part of their
group after a very short time. It was amazing for me to experience
that you can make friends in such a short time even though speaking
different languages and growing up in different societies... I don't
know when or in which context I will come back but I know that I
can come back to Australia because I have a lot of friendships now
over there. And I know that I can handle a life in this country
which isn't that unknown any more.” “Now after one
month back at home I can say how important Australia was for me.
My language has improved definitely and I learned so much about
this wonderful country and its people. I got experience which I
will never forget. I made friendships with many different people
and I am sure that I will keep in contact forever. I am more selfassured
and self-reliant, I learned to get along in a new surrounding and
with new people. It was the longest time which I was apart from
my family and I succeeded.” “I have seen
all students from Melbourne before at our reception day. It was
in a bank building on the 46th floor. A lot of managers of big companies
like BMW and Lufthansa were there. They greeted us and every one
of us had to held a speech in front of these people. That was a
bit scary because I hoped my English is good enough. But it was.
My host-parents said on the way home: "We were so proud of
you, because you used such great words and you looked so confident."
What they didn't know. I wasn't confident at all. But everything
went the right way and I could talk to all the other students in
Melbourne. By this time we all were already good friends.” About the Exchange “I joined the
society immediately when I came back from Australia and I am keen
to work for and commit myself to the society. I think that the society's
slogan "Goodwill in Action" is even more important nowadays
when people are becoming more selfish and indifferent... I would
like to give something back because I owe a lot to the society which
has given me so much by granting me the scholarship. The time in
Australia has broadened my mind and I became aware of the meaning
of Shakespeare`s quotation 'The world is your oyster' ” “Being a member
of GASS, I am now looking forward to the following camps. I also
hope that with my help I can give another pupil this great chance
to get to know these experiences.” “During the
whole stay GASS Victoria had prepared some program for us, which
we all enjoyed. In the first week we had a reception on the ANZ
Tower, it was great. There were a lot of business people who it
was nice talking to about the exchange, but also about working in
a foreign country, which is something I can imagine for myself.” “This exchange
is a beautiful thing and it is also a good thing to invest in. Thanks
again.” “This exchange
gave me the possibility to discover another country and another
way of life. I found new friends, and met lots of friendly people.
In Australia, I learned to be far away from my family, friends and
home. Now, I have a second family at the other end of the world,
and I know that I'm welcome to stay there in the future.” “The GASS students
had learned more about a country than we could possibly learn in
years of study at home and we had experienced a new way of live.
We had lived for ten weeks in another family than our own. Together
we had made a trip around the world. We had seen our own culture
from another point of view. We had met new friends.” “All in all
these 10 weeks in New Zealand were the ones of my life when I had
so many experiences and learned as much as never before. It was
the first time I felt like being really free and I was able to get
to know another style of living by taking part in their daily life.
Of course it was not easy for me the whole time. But I learned to
handle strange situations like finding the right answer when someone
asks anything about Germany because I was responsible for what I'm
saying.” “After ten weeks
I can say that I developed in many ways. I could never have had
all these experiences in Germany. Coming to a foreign country where
everything is new was not that easy and of course, you are very
nervous at the beginning. I have participated in various exchanges
with my school but only for one or two weeks and not that far away.
So you cannot compare those to an exchange to the other end of the
world for that period of time. You have to adapt to another household
for ten weeks, handle problems on your own and communicate with
people you have never met before... But the most important thing
you can only learn by going to foreign countries is to get more
independent. I did so many things on my own, for example booking
our free travel. I did many things for the first time in my life
without the help of my parents. Of course, your host family is always
very helpful and supports you in many ways but you often have to
and want to decide by yourself.” “I
want to thank you a million times for giving me the chance to experience
a far-away country's culture, landscape and very friendly people
as well as showing the New Zealanders a bit of Germany.”
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