Vyvy Tran – Germany Hi, I’m Vyvy from Germany and I am studying at Aquinas College for one year as an exchange student in Year 12/13 When I first came here in July 2012 I was very excited and curious about getting to know the Kiwi way of life and the New Zealand school. I got a lot of support of the International Department of the school, my host parents and also from the Kiwi students. Everyone made me feel welcome here and soon I found some friends. The school is very different from my school in Germany and I found it strange to wear school uniforms, but it is an interesting experience not to care about your outfit every morning. Also I really enjoyed having so many options so I could basically just choose the subjects I was really interested in. I chose some subjects I’ve never had before and even though it was a little bit hard in the beginning, my teachers were always happy to help me so I really liked trying new subjects. All the international students at Aquinas have the possibility to do ESOL, a special English class, which is helpful for improving your English. I enjoyed the class, because I could be together with the other international students so we could share our experience and it was very cool to have friends that come from so many different parts of the world. Living in New Zealand is a very interesting experience and I really like being here. Tauranga offers a lot of activities to do after school and together with the activities provided at Aquinas I never got bored here. My host family is just gorgeous and I feel very comfortable living with them.