Hey, so maybe you've seen me around or talked to me a bit. I would like to tell you more about me and where I come from.
I live on a farm in the northern-cape province of South-Africa. I go to school in Kuruman, a nearby town. During the week I stay in my school hostel and on weekends I go home. My family consists of 6 members, my mom and dad, my three older brothers and myself. My brothers don't live with us anymore but we visit each other often.
The name of my school is High School Kalahari. My school is much more strict than here. All the students must wear school uniform. In grade ten you get to choose four of your 7 subjects. Our school day always have seven lessons on a day. We have three lessons and then a break of about 45 minutes, after that two more lessons follow and then a shorter break of about 10 minutes, then finally we have our last two lessons before we go home. Everyone has to attend all seven lessons they have during the day. Activities such as sport, dance and music take place in free time after school. The school starts at different times depending on the seasons, in summer at 7 am and in winter at half past 7. Our school year consists of four terms of about three months each. At the end of the second and forth term we write exams on all seven of our subjects.
I think South-Africa is a very enjoyable country. I think that most of the time you only hear about the bad things that happen in SA. I would like to tell you some positive things about SA. I would like to start with South- Africa's breathtaking nature, from rainforest to desert and everything in between. The landscapes of SA is truly different from any other place on earth. South-Africa is also known as the rainbow nation which refers to all the different people who live there. In SA you learn about all of them and their cultures as well as their values. We are all human and we all make mistakes from time to time. We do things differently and we think differently, but we must respect and accept each other for who we are.
Since grade 8 my teacher have inspired me to visit Germany with the FSA youth exchange program. I had to wait for grade 10 before I could apply. The FSA asked the applicants to do different tasks and projects to see if they are suitable to be exchange students. They look at your personality and cultural interests when you do the tasks. They find you a host-family with more or less the same interests as yours. They are very careful when they pick a host family for you, so you can find a family suitable for you.
I think that when you visit SA you will learn to be independent and you get a new view of life. I encourage all of you to visit SA and host South-Africans exchange students. This is a live changing opportunity for you and you build lifelong relationships with your host family.
I think that's all I can put in words right now. If you have any questions feel free to ask me, or come and find out for yourself.
Kind regards and sunshine
