Leaving Germany for Australia and New Zealand, the first group of German exchange students of 2017 met at Frankfurt Airport to take their flights bound for Melbourne and Sydney. Those students with host families in New South Wales and Victoria were welcomed at the airport by their host families and host siblings. Students traveling on to Queensland, Western Australia and New Zealand were welcomed by former exchange students of the German Australia Student Society (GASS) before continuing their journey.
2017 marks the 50th consecutive year that Scholarships for Australian German Student Exchange Inc. (SAGSE) and its German partner organisation GDANSA ( http://www.gdansa.de) is operating its successful student exchange program between Australia and Germany. Each year SAGSE organises a reciprocal number of exchange students to travel from Australia to Germany and vice versa.