Testimonials

My name is Nina Koch, I’m sixteen and therefore I’m in Year 11. I’m only staying for six weeks because I have to be back for school in Germany where I live. I arrived two and a half weeks ago.

Even it’s a really short time, I’m enjoying my stay here in Adelaide and at Henley High.

So why did I come to Australia? Well, of course I came to improve my English. But more than this, I wanted to make new friends and discover your culture. I heard many stories of Australia from my grandma who have been to Australia to visit her sisters who immigrated. Europeans who have been to Australia are normally very fascinated by your beaches, the outback, the cities, the koalas, the kangaroos and all the other Australian animals. So I wanted to see them on my own. But I also came to experience the Australian way of live and your easy-going way. And I really can say that everyone here is more relaxed and open than in Germany that doesn’t mean that Germans are rude. It’s just different and I really enjoy it.

I’ve chosen Adelaide as I wanted to live in a city but also because the surrounding of Adelaide is really nice and you can discover many things. Furthermore, it’s also the ‘Festival State’ and this means a lot of fun and no boredom.

I’m going to Henley High because I love its big sports offerings and the laptops used during your lessons. Of course it is well located, not too far from the city centre and close to the beach.

Until now, I can definitely say I did the right choice and I’m looking forward to the next few weeks.

Good morning Ms Schneyder, staff and students. My name is Thany, and I came from Cambodia on a study tour with five of my classmates. We are so honoured that we have the chance to stand on this campus. We are students that come from Cambodia, which is a tropical country in Southern Asia. We live in rural villages of Siem Reap. Cambodia is an unindustrialised realm in this region, so the technology and ways of living are not moving smoothly as other nations because it just established its independence for about over thirty years. From 1975 to 1979, Cambodia was in a chaotic situation suffering under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. Many buildings were destroyed and people were slaughtered.

Right now the education system in Cambodia is not as stable as here because the teachers are not qualified and they cannot do their jobs properly. Many of the schools are old and they are not properly rebuilt. Students still ride their bikes to schools, which can be very dangerous because the traffic there is not very organised. Some of the new foreign organisations are opening schools for new people to strengthen the quality of education. It is very lucky for young Cambodians to have the opportunity for this chance. It is not very easy for them and us to go to school every day because we live in poverty. Most of their parents are going out for work legally or illegally, so they leave their children at home under their grandparents’ care. You can see the difference between Cambodia and Australia by the description above.

Cambodia’s main economic activity is agriculture, which means that we farm for living. In the past we used animals to do work, but now some people change to use machines, which is a big improvement.

Despite all of this information, there are many valuable temples that still stand proudly in different provinces. This is Angkor Wat that is located in the town that I came from, Siem Reap. This is the independence building for Cambodia that was built after King Norodom Sihanouk gained our freedom from the French.

Finally, I want to say that is a nice time to share information about my own country with you.

Thank you.

Thany Thao

My name is Luke Ling. I am 19 years old and currently doing year 12. I was born in Canton, it is located in Southern China, next to Hong Kong. I have been living in Adelaide for more than 2 years. The reasons I came to Adelaide were, Adelaide has a wonderful environment for studying, and a better education system, and also, it was my parent’s decision.    

I imagined lot of things before I came to Adelaide, for example, ‘what does Australia looked like?’, ‘Are Australian people friendly?’ I arrived in Adelaide in 2010, I missed my family and I talked to my parents on the phone every day. Everything was so strange to me. There were big differences between Australia and China, for instance, the buildings, the people and education system. When I was in China, I had to go to school every day even on the weekend. I was so stressed about school. Now I only need to go to school from Mondays to Fridays. Now, I am happy that I don’t have to go to school on weekends anymore.

I am so glad that my agent and parents helped me settle into Henley High School and a fantastic homestay. Henley High School teachers and students are very friendly; I always get support from my teachers like Ms Bond and Ms Dolman. I have an excellent relationship with my homestay parents, they came from Italy and they have been homestay parents more than 10 years. Therefore, they know how to interact with students. Their support is important in my life, for example, when I had trouble with looking for a part time job and they taught me how to find a job easily and write a resume perfectly.

Since I have been here more than 2 years, my English speaking and listening have improved a lot, I have made a lot of friends who have different background culture, I always talk to them in English even though I have an accent when I speak English. Now I am not afraid to talk to other people, because I have enough confidence. My friends come from everywhere like Korea, Thailand and Afghanistan. Therefore I have increased my knowledge and understanding of different cultures.

 My aim is very clear, to stay in Australia until I become a local citizen. This is why my parents wanted me to come to Australia. I will always remember what my parents said, I will lend money to you and let you study in Australia, and please don’t waste this opportunity and pay me back the money one day when you are successful.

I will keep studying hard and complete my studies until I graduate from university.

Finally I want to thank all of the teachers and students who are very friendly to me and have supported me. Thank my homestay parents who took care of me for two years. I have the best memories from attending Henley High School and I’ll never forget all my life.

Hi! My name is Gary. I’m 18 this year and I’m currently doing year 12 in Henley High School. The reason why I chose to come to Australia was because I was tired of living in stress and boredom everyday and really looking forward to a brand-new life in another country. In Australia, I have more opportunities to meet people from different countries, have a better education and have a fantastic career in the future. My parents were very supportive of my idea.

I’m enjoying studying and living in Australia. I’m totally impressed by the laidback lifestyle and pleasant learning environment here. As an international school, Henley High provides me with a lot of opportunities to meet people from different countries. I’ve got my circle of friends. They’re made up of Australians, Chinese, Germans, Singaporeans, and Vietnamese. 

In my spare time, I’d like to go to different parties with my friends. Also, there are so many local entertainments in Adelaide, such as the Asian Festival, Guitar Festival and Royal Adelaide parade.     

To be honest, I was very nervous when I first arrived in Australia because of the culture shock. Back then, I was still struggling with my English expression and I didn’t really understand what was going on around me. But the support of homestay, teachers and friends helps me retrieve the confidence. That is something I really appreciate.

I’m going to graduate from Henley High School in December and hope to take ‘secondary education’ at university. I dream of becoming a maths teacher in Australia, and sharing my knowledge and experiences with more students.

I arrived in South Australia in July 2009 and stayed here for nine months. I chose to study at Henley High school because I liked the subjects which are taught at Henley High School especially Chemistry and the different Sport Programs. In Germany every student studies 10-12 from which he can choose 2-4 subjects so I was really surprised that in Australia every student just has to choose 4-6 subjects. However, because of this the school days down here are more relaxed and you can specify on the topics you really like to do. The subjects I most enjoyed were Soccer and Chemistry because the easiest ways to make contact with Australian students were sport and the practical parts of Chemistry. The most memorable experience of my studying at Henley High was probably the day when we built our own fire extinguisher in Chemistry and a student blew up his beaker.  I think I will never forget his astonished face. After these nine months I go back home with great memories and friends who I hope to see again one day. However, first I have to finish school back in Germany and then we will see what comes next.

My name is Lisa Wueterich and I am 15 years old. I am from Germany and I was in Australia, studying at Henley High School for 3 months. I wanted to do an exchange because I wanted to learn better English and learn more of a different culture. Besides, I also want to go to Australia because my brothers were also here for an exchange in Australia and they told me a lot of things and it sounded really interested.

I flew to Perth and had holidays there with my mother for four days.  The first three days we went into the city and visited different things. On our last day in Perth we rented a car and went to the Pinnacle desert. I liked the Pinnacles because they looked different.

Then we flew to Adelaide and where we met Charlotte and her family at the Airport.  On this day we also met our hockey trainer at the Port Adelaide Club because we wanted to play hockey there. He was very friendly to us and he told us different things about the Port Adelaide Hockey Club and the Henley High School hockey program. On the next day we went to a state hockey match and then Charlotte and I went to our homestay. I was very nervous about the homestay.

On the last day I was to see my mother for three months, it was her birthday, so we celebrate her birthday and the birthday of Charlotte’s mother also. After the celebration we went to West Lakes and then our families met our homestay.

The next day was our first school day at Henley high School and I was excited to go to “my new school” for three months.

After few weeks in Australia, I went with Charlotte and Helen to the Outback for five days. On our first day we flew with our travel agent to Alice Springs and then we went to Uluru and to the Olgas. We slept two nights in swags. We were allowed to climb on the Uluru but I didn’t do it because it was too hot.  We slept on our first night in an underground hostel.

Just before my last week in Australia, I went with Helen and Charlotte to Kangaroo Island.  We drove with eight other peoples in a bus. We had a lot of fun and we saw a shark and some amazing waves. Besides we also saw (baby) sea lions. On the ferries back to Adelaide we saw dolphins and the dolphins also jumped and it looked so beautiful.

I am from Stuttgart, Germany. I flew to Australia three months ago landing in Sydney where I spent two weeks driving by car with my family from Sydney to Melbourne and then from Melbourne to Adelaide!! I was so excited and looked forward a lot to my first school day and to meet my homestay family.

The first week I was very homesick and couldn’t believe that these three months will be a good time! I couldn’t believe that in the end I don’t want to leave. But now I can say: It was a beautiful time here and I really don’t want to leave!!

I came to Australia, because my brother has been to Australia a few years ago. Moreover, I wanted to experience a new culture, country and to improve my English.
The reason why I chose Henley High School was, because they have a very good sport program. I participated in Special Sport Hockey and I played Hockey for the Port Adelaide Hockey Club. Through the hockey I made lots of friends and I felt very welcome.

From Adelaide I did lots of trips: to the outback and to Kangaroo Island and  two different wildlife parks. It was such a great experience. If you have to opportunity to experience the life in another culture or country, take the opportunity and go away from home! You will never have to chance to go to school, to high school in another country. I will tell you some experiences that I had.

Near Uluru, I slept in a “swag”.  A swag is a big sleeping bag, where you put your sleeping bag in. It protects you from the weather, especially from wind and the coldness. That means I slept without tent!! So I looked into the stars during the night- it was amazing!

On the ferry from Kangaroo Island to Adelaide, I saw dolphins! They were jumping in front of the ferry, it was so exciting!

The school system here in Australia is so different to what I am used to in Germany. At Henley High School every student has a laptop, a locker and a school uniform. We are not allowed to carry our bag with us, we put every thing in our locker and take the stuff out before the lesson.

I am very happy and lucky that I have seen Sydney and Melbourne! Both cities are beautiful! It is really great to visit such beautiful cities, and it is very interesting and scary to drive on a road, where there was NO house for 2 hours!

Conclusion, there is just one thing I would suggest: if there is the opportunity to go to another country, live with a homestay family away from you parents and go to another school. Take to opportunity and go to another country.  In the beginning it will we hard, but the beginning is just one week, after this week the time flies away and you have to leave when you would like to stay! I am very happy, that I did the exchange and spent three amazing months in Australia.