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Interview with Nicole
Last lesson a native Australian girl, named Nicole, gave our class the chance to ask questions about her life and Australia!
What do you study?
Nicole: I'm at the University of Sydney and studying mathematics and statistics. Right now I have 3 months of holidays, but these holidays will be my last ones before starting my career.
How long will you stay here in Germany and what are you going to do?
Nicole: I will stay for 3 months at the German family called Meffert. During this time I'll travel around in Europe.
How did you learn German?
Nicole: I was a bit naive when I came here because I thought it would be easy to learn German. I went to a German crash course for 2 weeks. At the end of those 2 weeks I was really scared because I was only able to say my name and my age in German.
Why did you come to Germany instead of going to another country?
Nicole: I picked Germany because I knew the most about it. I'm not interested in history and the Nazis, I prefer the culture and the German people.
Did you notice a different lifestyle or behaviour between German and Australian people?
Nicole: There are some differences, for example Australians are very helpful. In Germany you have to ask a few times until someone shows you the right way. And the friendship is different here, in Australia you call nearly everyone your friend, in Germany you have only a few friends but you would do anything for them. Here friendship means true friendship and not only knowledge.
Christmas is pretty much the same as in Australia. We eat hot foods like turkey because the Europeans do that. Even if it is 30° we eat hot food. After I experienced Christmas in Europe I found Christmas in Australia to be different. I prefer a cold, European Christmas.
What did you like most in Germany?
Nicole: Definitely the people I met. I made so many friends I really like. The weather changes ( 4 seasons ) I like too. In Australia it's nearly always hot and trees are always green. That's boring. I like the different colours during the 4 seasons, the red, the brown and orange.
What's the situation of the Aborigines today?
Nicole: They are treated equally and we are living in harmony with them. Some are living in Aboriginal valleys to keep their life in an aboriginal way. Near my University there is an Aboriginal suburb, where many Aborigines are living.
Are there any Aborigines at your university?
Nicole: At my university there is a rule that 2% - 5% of the students have to be Aboriginal. But the problem is that some of them weren't educated enough in the past so some of them have problems with studying. Universities offer scholarships to help with financial problems.
Are there students from other countries at your university?
Nicole: There are a lot of international students at my university. The university has a program which should help them to be introduced to the university and the Australian society.
What is the first foreign language you learnt at school?
Nicole: The first foreign language is not one special language as it is in Germany English or French, it depends on the teacher we have and what languages they are able to teach. It is only compulsory to learn for one year, not longer. At my school we were able to learn Italian. There is no real need for learning a foreign language because nearly everyone knows or is able to speak English.
What's the Australian attitude towards Germany and Germans?
Nicole: I give you an example answer to this question: In my region in Sydney there were 20 students who were allowed to go on an exchange to another country. 13 had chosen Germany as their first preference.
For sure there are some stereotypes of Germans in Australia, for example, they all eat Sauerkraut and only drink beer. But everyone has those stereotypes and they often aren't reality. I had no expectations when I first came here because I didn't want to be disappointed by this country or the society.
Katharina Baumgardt 13A
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