Good evening to the Consul General and his wife, distinguished guests, sponsors, ladies and gentlemen, GASSies and the new highly excited, soon-to-be crowned Stipis. My name is Robert Imberger and I have had the privilege this year of being the 1st Year Representative from the 2000/2001 group of scholars. And I stand before you tonight with mixed emotions- I feel an overwhelming sense of nostalgia in remembering this time last year when we had our Banquet; I feel great joy to once again be together with some very special people, a very unique and precious bunch that is GASS; I feel like being back in Rastede with my host family, whilst meine Mutti baked Bretzeln in the oven, and I stood gazing in awe as the snow drifted down, able to share that memory with my Germany family...

But after some thought, the emotion that shines through would be my absolute sincere feeling of excitement for these young people with us tonight, who have achieved this wonderful accomplishment, and who will (in about 6 weeks), embark on an experience that will undoubtedly live in their memories and in their hearts for many years to come. Those of us in this room who have had this experience, who have all at some stage received THAT letter, who have worried furiously about the size and weight of THAT envelope, because we thought (did we not?) that a thin envelope meant you hadn't got it as there was no information inside, or maybe you did get it and they were sending a thin letter to everyone, but then what about the... and so on and so forth until we all just ripped that damn thing apart, and looked for where it said CONGRATULATIONS! For all of us who have gone through that, it almost defies description as to how we are inside yearning to be back especially on an occasion such as this, but that in itself gives these new scholarship winners an idea of what they have to look forward to. And if you haven't gathered already, there's a lot :)

I am a mouthpiece for my group's experiences when I say that our time in between this occasion last year, and now back again this year, has been... how shall I put it... truly extra-ordinary, in every sense of the word. Some of us departed the "Land Down Under" with somewhat of an informed knowledge of what GASS and SAGSE was all about, some of us (like myself) had had no contact with it up to that point. Some of us had completed VCE, and some of us had it to awaiting us when we got back. Some of us were city slickers, others country bumpkins. But put us all together on a plane headed for Deutschland, and you had one very energised, nervous, grateful, 'you-couldn't-contain-their-happiness-even-if-you-tried' group of teenagers. From what we had heard, this trip held out a promise that this was going to be something we'd never forget, for a huge variety of reasons and experiences. Our ten weeks in the land of Schokolade und Sauerkraut was simply a fulfilment of that promise. Everything from embarrassing mistakes in the German language (by the way, half past 8 is not a shoe size) to dreaming of (and being awe-struck at) a white Christmas; from GASS camp in Monschau to happyhappy Berlin; from Jugendherberge's to strolling arm-in-arm down the Strasse, TOOTing all the way: all of these things and so many more meant something special to each of us. Something that makes us go "ahhh schön" every time we think of it. And it's something that we would not trade for anything. It's too special, and special in so many different ways... No siree, we wouldn't trade any of it for anything, not for a Monschau bakery crawl, or even a certain 'little basket' of cookies.

With cliches and insincerity aside, none of this I have described would have been or would be possible, without some very generous companies and associated individuals. With their undying support, both financial and practical, SAGSE continues to be able to offer annually around 20 young Australians a life-changing experience. The sponsors' presence here with us tonight is truly symbolic of the spirit to always grow and be open in our international identity, to educate tomorrow's children and expand their horizons, and indeed to build lasting bridges between Australia and Germany. In these times of international distrust and calamity, a little reciprocal goodwill and global understanding is certainly what we need. To these our sponsors, past andpresent, our most sincere thanks. And it takes a very special group of people, year after year, to be a powerful and passionate force behind the logistics and organisation of the scholarship, and tonight is another opportunity to recognise how much both the Society for Australian-German Student Exchange, and the German-Australian Student Society invest of themselves in time and efforts, to get young people like myself over to an amazing place like Germany. To them also our heartfelt thanks.

So finally to the Stipis, but first just a reassuring word to their parents. If you have any apprehension/anxiety/a little niggling thought that your child will come back near unrecognisable, not your same little angel, changed forever, take comfort in the knowledge if they do change, I suspect it will be for the betterment of their everything- their global attitude, their personal growth, their appreciation for culture, and hopefully their appreciation of you. I can tell you now, since coming back, I never go to bed without kissing Mum goodnight, because believe it or not, meat pies and footy aside, that's what I missed most. And to the Stipis, a final thought to leave you with; it's not every day that a hand stretches out and says: "You want to fall in love with Germany? Follow me...". My advice? Follow with vigour and live Deutschland to its max. We all look forward to hearing how you fell in love with Germany next year.

Thankyou