27/2/2008 - Back from Bratislava
A life-changing year…
Jonathon Anderson really only had one expectation of Slovakia: that it would be cold. It turned out to be spot on, with the weather below freezing when he arrived in Bratislava in January last year. The 16 year old has just spent the last year living and studying in the Slovakian city of Trebisov as part of an AFS Intercultural Programs high school exchange, the lucky recipient of an AFS Commonwealth Department of Defence scholarship. Now, he is back on Australian soil, but the memories he gained over the past year will stay with him for a long time to come.
Despite his first impressions of the country, Jonathon was very quick to learn that there is more to this Central European country than the weather! “Within a week of being in the country, we were off skiing. I went with my host family, relatives and their friends to the Tatra Mountains, which run along the border with Poland… Throughout the long summer holidays, I went for countless hikes with my host mum, going along almost every single hiking path in Slovakia,” he says.
The exchange provided a great opportunity for Jonathon to broaden his horizons, meet some new people, and even pick up a little bit of Slovak. Though in the process, he admits he did lose some of his English!
“My year on exchange has been a great experience not only for me, but I’m sure also for my own family and my host family… I have changed, and for the better. I’m more confident, happy with myself and fully appreciative of what everyone has done for me on my AFS exchange.”
Media Contact:
Barbara Ratusznik
barbara.ratusznik@afs.org
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