Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Germany!

Hey everyone!!

I know,  it has been ages since my last post :O I feel sooo so sorry about that!!!! :/ As I am in my last year of school, it's very stressful at the moment and I often even have to spend weekends and holidays learning for school and doing homework :( I'm sure you guys know how time consuming school can be, so I beg you pardon again for letting you wait for so long.
Anyway, let's now jump back in time to the end of summer when I came back from pretty New Zealand.


When I got on the plane that brought our group of students home, I felt sad at the beginning, sad that all these lovely people I had to say goodbye to in the last few days were gone now and would be separated from me by over 18.000 km after the flight, sad that these 6 months I had been so much looking forward to were already over and felt more like 4 weeks, sad about the fact that I don't know when I will see the country and my new friends I have made again.
There are still situations in which I often think about all these things and I get unhappy. But the thought of keeping the contact and then coming back to Aotearoa after school cheers me up every time!

After the flight there were my parents and friends at the airport who cheered me up and made me feel warm and welcome again! They had even organized a suprise welcome back party at my house and they had invited a couple of my friends! Really neat! I felt so happy about that :)

TOP 10 of beautiful Aotearoa!

Kia Ora! - sadly for the last time :(

Here comes, as promised, the ranking of my 10 favourite you-must-not-miss-places from all over the North and South Island! In my opinion those are obviously the places which have to be on your list when you go to New Zealand - and you'll see why ;)

1. Number one - (dramatic drum roll...)
- Abel Tasman National Park, Nelson!!

Last activities in Kiwiland - Orana Park, Hamner Springs, Cooking Competition and saying goodbye :((

Hey everyone!!

I know, it's been ages since my last post and I feel so sorry I couldn't manage to make this post earlier!
Despite that I am back in Germany now I'd like to show you some of my last pictures from the other side of the world :)



Another RHS international trip - Orana Park:
Orana Park is a kind of zoo in Christchurch, similar to Willow Bank.

Rangiora High School - Term 2

Kia Ora!

Term 2 at Rangiora High School passed sooo quickly for me! :o
I've noticed that I got used to the school as if it was my German one, the one I've gone to for many years. The campus, the people, my timetable - everything became normal and another nice thing was saying "Hi!" to so many people now :) I feel really happy about that, I don't feel like a stranger anymore and when people greet me, I immediatly smile back. :D

New Zealand's Westcoast - great waves, evergreen forests, stunning beaches - unique, beautiful!

Hey everyone!!

This time I'd like to introduce to you Aotearoa's Westcoast! (: My hostparents took me there for 2 days and showed me around many different places. They were all new to me and I got very impressed by their beauty and diversity.
Some people say the Westcoast is quite rainy and often the first question you get to hear when you tell people you've been there is: "Did it rain at the Westcoast??" - Well, we just went: "Noooo, it was sunny all the time." :))
We headed off from Christchurch and passed Springfield on the way. Here are some first pictures from our way:

Dreamlike trip to Milford Sound and skiing in Queenstown!

Kia Ora from a new place in Aotearoa! (:

A few days ago a friend of mine I had met on the North Island Tour, Nick, and I went to explore another region of beautiful New Zealand.
In about 7-8 hours we went down to Queenstown by bus. Nick had already been there once with a friend, I hadn't. We had some pretty cool stops on our way, such as Lake Tekapo!
That was really neat because the first time I had been there, with our Outdoor Education group, there was no snow, but this time the lake was surrounded by snow - it was on the mountains, everywhere and it looked gorgeous combined with the turquoise colour of the water!!

Dunedin, Moeraki Boulders, Ashburton and Mount Cook!!

Hey everyone! (:
Another exciting weeks have passed, new places, new impressions!!

Together with my hostfamily we went down to Dunedin to celebrate their daughter's birthday, and we had heaps of nice stops on the way: :)

Ashburton:

Easter Camp, Lyttelton, 16th Birthday and much more :))

Kia Ora, guys! :)
Here comes an update from the couple last weeks in "Down Under"!!
There were lots of cool things happening, such as heaps of day trips with the international students from my school, excursions with my hostfamily and friends, etc. ((:




Let's start with this lovely family here:

This is Tafoy, his wife and their little son. Tafoy is the adopted son of my hostfamily and now lives with his own little family in Australia. They were staying at our house for a few days, they're real nice! (;

Rangiora High School - Term 1

Hey folks! ;)

I'm sorry I'm coming quite late with that post, Term 2 has just started, but never mind, here we go with some events and pics from Term 1! :)

Despite of all those different activities you can find in my other posts, there's one daily routine: school.

Of course I'm not just here for chilling, travelling around and having fun, nooooo :D I'm going to school every week as in Germany.

As in England, pupils are wearing uniform. That's mine:

Hobbitset, Surfing, Bungy Jump, Water Rafting and much more!

Hey folks!! (:

At first: Sorry I haven't written anything for the last time! I was on a North Island Tour for 2 weeks during the holidays - it was amazing! Seriously, I advise that to everyone who stays or plans to go to New Zealand. :)
For those who have no idea what it is: There are organisations offering 8 - 11 days tours to the South or North Island of the country. You go there with a group of about 30-50 other international students and travel around to see different places, staying in hostels at night.
During the day you do maaaany many activities together which are a lot of fun and you get to know the group muh better!
Anyway, I want to show you some of our pictures now!! (;




Arriving at the airport in New Zealand's capital - Wellington - passengers immediatly feel that they're in the country of the 'Hobbit'!

Adventurous Kaikoura and Nelson!

Hey guys!! (:

Now here comes the announced report about Kaikoura! Actually I went on two big trips last month, I'll tell you about both - one of them was with my hostfamily to Kekerengu, a village close to Kaikoura, and the other one was a tour with the Outdoor Education group from my school to Nelson and Kaikoura over 3 days. :))
Both trips were just amazing and I can't really describe the beauty of the nature and all those fantastic places we've seen!! That's why I'll mostly show you our pictures in this post.


- Startig with the trip to Kekerengu:

My first time in Rangiora, Christchurch

Kia Ora!! :)
This is Maori for "Hello"!

It's been six weeks now since I am here, in New Zealand. Unbelievable!! I feel like I've only stayed one week in this country - time passes soo quickly!
That's why I'd like to give you an update of my first month in Rangiora, the village I live in.

Welcome to Rangiora!

NEW ZEALAND! - Arrival & Preparation Week in Wellington

Hey guys!

Finally arrived in the land of the long white cloud - Aotearoa (Maori for "New Zealand")!!! :)
Can't believe that I am really here, after all this waiting and doing my favourite activity: counting days. Everything's new, everything we do seems exciting, fantastic - unreal.

Welcome to China!

So folks, now I can finally give you a report on my exciting trip to China!! :)

I've been back since the 16th of January and I admit that those impression still have a big influence on me and I'm sure they'll stay for a long time! The things we've seen, experienced and felt were really new for us and unique. Some of the happenings are even almost undescribable, but I'll try to get you a little closer to the topic and our experiences ;)