Johan Hugosson from Sweden joined the Club in July 2006. He was hosted by members of the Rotary Club of Tamworth, New South Wales,whilst continuing his education at Tamworth High School. Johan left for home in Ystad, Sweden late in June 2007 after a successful 12 month exchange in Tamworth.
Whilst studying at school, subjects including English, Modern History, Mathematics (in Year 11), Information Technology and Business Studies, Johan also found time to participate in many other activities with his friends of which the most memorable would be camping in the New England National Park for three days - during which it poured with rain torrentially the whole time.
Johan's parents and brother Gustav visited him during January 2007 in Australia and the family travelled extensively during the summer vacation to Sydney, Melbourne, Uluru and Cairns.

On arriving home, Johan will be returning to school in Ysatd for two more years to complete his studies.

That very welcoming smile!! Johan with President John O'Connor and Henni Preu who returned to renew acquaintances in July 2006. President John O'Connor and Johan "Leading the Way" at the Tamworth Rotary Club. Turning 18 in June, the Club celebrated Johan's birthday with a special birthday cake and presented him with an Akubra hat as he left for home.

Ulrikke Almestrande from Norway joined the Club in July 2005. She was hosted by members of the Rotary Club of Tamworth, New South Wales, whilst continuing her education at Tamworth High School.

Ulrikke writes:

About myself: My Norwegian family consists of Mum, her sister and her two daughters, and my grandma. I live in a city called Mysen of about 10 000 so the city itself is not big.
Norwegian Family life: The average Norwegian family consists of a mother, father and two children. In the past decade it has became very normal that the parents get divorced. I think all Norwegians live a very busy life. After school children join in different outdoor activities. The parents have to use quite a lot of time to drive their children to the different places. Soccer is a big sport among girls as well as boys, but also handball is very popular. I have played football, that’s the same as soccer, for almost five years now, I also played handball earlier.
On weekends and holidays is it very normal to go to the family’s cottage. Most families have their own summer house by the sea or a lake, or in the mountains, but then it is usually most used in the winter. In my family we have two places to go too. We have one summer house by the sea. That one has been in the family for about 50 years. I really love to stay there, it is a fantastic place. We bought the other one in March this year, and have already renovated the whole house on our own.
School in Norway – I do General and administrative subjects, including English, German, Norwegian, Economics, IT- information technology, Nature study – science, biology, physics, Maths, and Gym (extra sports).
Norwegian school system – differences from the Australian system.

  1. Academic;
  2. Building work;
  3. Mechanical work;
  4. Moulding – leads to a lot of different jobs – hair dressing, design, decoration, interior;
  5. Hotel and food studies;
  6. Health care and social subjects;
  7. Nature studies – (farmers);
  8. Sale and service (lot of computer work).


You collect marks/points through the years that you take to university. Grades are from 1-6, you take the average of all your grades + extra study points for special subjects such as physics, maths.
Traditions. In Norway the 17th of May and Christmas eve are the two days we celebrate most. 17th of May is Norway’s national day (the same as Independence Day 1814). Nobody works on that day, and all school children walk in a parade through the city. The biggest parade is in Oslo, where all kindergartens and elementary schools walk together. They walk though the city and up to the royal castle where the royal family stands on their balcony and wave to the people. Most people wear the Norwegian national costume, which is called “bunad”, and most people have a Norwegian flag in their hand. Norway is dressed in red, white and blue that day. The “Bunad” has been in Norway for a very long time. It’s made for both men and women, but you don’t see the male version too often. The costume is different all over Norway. All different districts have their own “bunad”, but they all look the same in the way that they are very decorated usually by flowers of some kind. (Or maybe beadwork).
Christmas Eve in Norway is celebrated on the 24th December. In every house you have a Christmas tree that you go find in the woods or buy in the market. Many go to the church in the morning, and in the evening the whole family gets together and eats dinner. Later it is time for Christmas gifts. If there are small children in the family Father Christmas may show up with the presents. But for most families the most important thing is that the whole family is together. It’s a tradition to eat Rib, pork chops, rissole; Creamed rice (with red fruit sauce) and almonds; 7 different sorts of biscuits for Christmas.
Travelling. Many Norwegians use the holidays to go overseas. I have been to Turkey, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Portugal, and Poland.

  1. Our previous exchange students

Henni Preu from Germany joined the Club in July 2003. After twelve months being hosted by members of the Rotary Club of Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia Henni is preparing to return home to Germany to complete her last two years of Secondary education.

The following article appeared in the Northern Daily Leader on Saturday 10 July 2004.

A year on and Henni is heading back home. 

German exchange student eager to return to Australia.  Rebecca Greenland reports.
Seventeen year old Henni Preu, a participant in the Rotary Youth exchange program, is returning to Germany with many fond memories after a year in Tamworth.
Henni has been hosted in Australia by the Rotary Club of Tamworth and has attended Tamworth High School as a Year 12 student. Henni's English, which is 
extremely polished due to its compulsory teaching in Germany since Year 5,has allowed her to study English, maths, chemistry, hospitality and design and technology.
Henni has stayed with several Rotary families during her visit including Ken & Di Hall, Geoff & Jan Harris and Denis & David Woolaston, al of who she thanked for 
their wonderful hospitality.
Henni, whose aunt has lived in Sydney, applied for exchange after her sister Jo returned from the Gold Coast with glowing recommendations of the program. Rotary
provides exchange programs all over the world, where students submit applications to their local Rotary clibs and are selected by a series of district interviews.
Henni, who lives in Mettmann, near Cologne in western Germany, applied to her local club with Australia as her first preference for exchange. While students can 
choose their country of exchange, applicants have no choice as to which city or area they will live in for their 12-month stay.
While in Australia, Henni has travelled widely, touring with the 24 Rotary exchange students in the district. The group travelled along the east coast, visiting the 
Gold Coast, the Great Barrier Reef and Sydney, as well as Canberra, Port Augusta and inland to Broken Hill and Alice Springs. Henni has also had various other
weekend trips.
She really enjoyed travelling, especially with all the other exchange students, but it was difficult to get accustomed to the Australian sense of distance, she said.
"We travelled to Dubbo and back in one day, an eight-hour round trip. If you travelled for eight hours in Germany, you are likely to end up in another country."
It is during these travels that exchabge sudents decorate their Rotary blazers, with competitions among the participants for the best. Judging by the look of Henni's
heavily adorned blazer, it will be a hard one to beat.
Rotary funds the exchange program, with applicants only paying for their flight and personal expenses. The hosting Rotary club provides accommodation with their 
members and attempts to match-up previous exchange participants with the visiting students.
Henni recommends the Rotary Youth Exchange Program to anyone wanting to see the world. "I highly recommend the program. It's great - I've met such lovely
people in Tamworth. I'll definitely be back in a few years," she said.
Henni plans to return to Tamworth after she completes her schooling. Judging by Henni's enthusiastic recommendation and family tradition, her younger sister is 
sure to venture to Australia.

Henni on a train ride
from Tamworth to
Werris Creek with
Jessica.
Henni with host parents, Ken and Di
Hall in Newcastle,
New South Wales,
Australia. 		(Above) Henni planting her tree
in the exchange garden at
Tamworth High School.
(Pictured with her friends).
   

Our exchange student who joined us in January 2001
Agustin "Gus" Scabuzzo and returned home to LaPlata, Argentina
on 10 January, 2002

Gus lives in La Plata, Argentina and is sponsored by the Rotary Club of West La Plata and hosted by the Rotary Club of Tamworth.
He joined us in Tamworth N.S.W. Australia on 13th January 2001 and attended Tamworth High School for one year.

Gus enjoys sport, playing Rugby, Soccer and regularly attending the Gym. He has spent three months with Scott and Jenni Simmons followed by a further three months living with John and Barbara Potton. His English improved rapidly since he has been in Australia and he has enjoyed the company of Nick Jones, from England (hosted by the Rotary Club of Tamworth on Peel) since July.

Gus has previously travelled to the United States with his family visiting Miami, Orlando and New York on vacation and sightseeing but this has been his first big trip overseas. His father owns a trading hardware and paint store in La Plata and his mother is an architect and teacher. He has two older brothers in Argentina but is very much enjoying his new brothers and sisters in his host families in Australia.

Gus attends Rotary Club of Tamworth meetings regularly where he has been assigned the task of Corporal assisting the Sergeant at Arms, Geoff Harris.

Following a holiday with Ken and Di Hall (his counsellors) in Victoria, Gus moved to his third host family - Dennis Woolaston in Daruka Road. Dennis is the father of Sally Woolaston who has been nominated and accepted by Tamworth Rotary Club for 12 months Rotary exchange to Finland in 2002. He is also the father of David Woolaston, at present in Year 10 at Oxley High School, who is also hoping to participate in the Youth exchange program with our Rotary Club. In fact, if this occurs, all four Woolaston children will have participated on exchange - Briony in Indonesia, Sally in Finland, Donna in Argentina and David!! - still to come.
Gus settled in quickly and well with the Woolaston's and liked his new host family. He continued going to the Gym regularly and recently was farewelled at a special assembly from Tamworth High School where he planted a river gum tree in the exchange grounds. Gus spoke on his Rotary exchange experience - 13 Nov. 01 and was farewelled by the Club and his host parents at a special barbecue held on Wednesday 26 December 2001.

Gus flew out from Australia as a "dinkum aussie blonde and suntanned"on 10th January 2002 to rejoin his family in La Plata, Argentina after a wonderful twelve months in Australia.

Gus on holidays in Canberra enjoying Floriade in October 2001
Tree planting at Tamworth High School - December 2001
Gus with Belen and Ken & Di Hall leaving for Argentina from Sydney Airport - January 10, 2002
Gus with Belen leaving for Argentina from Sydney Airport - January 10, 2002 and Fiona McKnight who has just returned from 12 months exchange in Argentina


Our exchange student who joined us in July 1998

Staci Willits

Staci lives in Enon, Ohio, USA and is hosted by the Rotary Club of Springfield.

She joined us in Tamworth N.S.W. Australia attended Oxley High School in Tamworth for one year.

Staci enjoys sport. She is a qualified scuba diver, having dived in the Gulf of Mexico and in quarries in Ohio and Indiana. She is interested in Marine biology as she loves animals and the ocean. She enjoyed her trip to the Great Barrier Reef and all that it offered in the field of marine biology. We made every effort to give her as many experiences at the coast which will help her with her endeavors.

Staci has travelled extensively in the United States but this was her first big trip overseas. She had a wonderful time in Australia and used her time here to expand her knowledge of new countries - and in particular, Australia.

Christoph Kanenbley

From Germany (Bremen)Bremen, Germany To SydneyGeorge Street, Sydney
To Tamworth with Ken and Di HallThe Halls

Christoph arrived in Tamworth in August 1996 and departed for Germany on 17th July 1997.

Before leaving for Germany, Christoph related his Australian experiences to both host clubs. The text of that speech is given below.

President Ted, Rotarians, Ladies and Guests.

You should know by now my name is Christoph Kanenbley and I am 17 years old. I am or nearly I have to say I was, a Rotary exchange student from Verden/Aller which is situated in the North of Germany. I still can't believe that I am already 10.5 months in Down Under. I feel like I have just arrived, but the truth is I have only six weeks more to go. So I was asked to do a talk about my impressions about Australia.

Australia known as Down Under doesn't have a big meaning for we Germans and we don't know much about this country. All we know is it is big and dusty and has great beaches. But I notice that in the last few years, more and more Germans come to Australia to have a holiday and to know what it's like Down Under.

And so I ended up here.
Twelve thousand miles away from home
A great adventure this flight alone
normal for the other ones
for me still like a dream
the other side of this world for month
I couldn't believe

Open arms a warm welcome to me
my new land wide and free
big white cloud everything new and strange
and then this rain and sun in change
and the big dry can change to the big wet

And here the people give me love,
give me warmth, give me joy, give me life

Oh, this is the best time of my life
I learned to give, I learned to take
I learned to live
And these people
They won't get anything, just a smile
and a thank you from my heart - deep
from my heart

I learned - this world is more

I can tell you it is a funny feeling when you suddenly arrive as a 16 year old boy in an unfamiliar place, you don't know anybody or anything about it.
Many things were new for me such as riding the push-bike on the other side of the road and suddenly you wake up when a car blows its horn at you - or if it is Aussie slang which wasn't always easy to pick up.
After some time I felt really stupid talking with my parents in German because I had forgotten how to speak it properly and changed really quickly to thinking in English instead of in German.
During my year I was attending Oxley High School. My impressions about HS in Australia in comparison to Germany are that we have in Germany 3 different levels of HS, with different standards and so I am with students at one class who are on my point of knowledge and the teachers are better qualified.
For example languages. I learned Latin for 4 years and English for 6 years and 2 more are following when I go back.
In Australia I don't know any student in Year 12 who is able to speak a foreign language properly.
In Germany our school goes from 8am to 1pm and you might think that we have less lessons but indeed it is the opposite because here we have very long lunch times and unused free periods.
The good thing is that here you can choose a lot of practical subjects which I have made use of.
Besides that I spent much time on the Internet reading German newspapers and communicating with friends and family over the e-mail.
In Design and Technology I invented and designed this machine which will be used for my father's turkey breeding farm to mix the semen of the stags with extender and also to bring it to a regulated temperature. This machine took me many weeks to finish with the help of John Shephard from (Taminda Engineering) and Col Quast ' which by the way I am very grateful for their help'. The use of the mixed semen is for artificial insemination and it will do a faster and more efficient job, by saving time and labour.

This year in Australia will be the best time of my life.
I learned, saw and changed so much during it. I was with different people in a different culture. Everyday was a day of new impressions and experiences and if I look back I have been around a lot. I think Tamworth is a great place to stay for an exchange student because you discover the country as well as the coast life. Many times I have been in Sawtell, Coffs Harbour and Laurieton.
Every five weeks I have been to Sydney to go shopping, seeing the tourist attractions or visiting a concert in the Entertainment Centre or Opera House.
In the west I have been to Lightning Ridge, Walgett and the Pilliga Forest.
Together with other Rotary exchange students I have been to the Warrumbungles, Canberra, Snowy Mountains and the Myall Lakes. And on another trip to Coober Pedy, King's Canyon, Ayers Rock, Katherine Gorge, Litchfield NP and Cairns, The Great Barrier Reef, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. It was great to meet all the exchange students from all over the world and to make International friendships forever.
I have really appreciated that I have been able to see more than students of my own age.

On the 15th July, I have to go back and then I will be one of the other ones and I have to do a lot of work to catch up with school because I want to try and jump over Year 11 to do Years 12 and 13. I get older and older and here in Australia the students have finished at my age with school and are ready to go to University. When I am ready to go to University to study Vet Science I will be nearly 21 years old after I have finished the military service which is still compulsory in Germany for 10 months.

You might wonder if I was homesick and want to go back? Oh no. I have been travelling a lot in Europe on my own and so I am used to it. But also because I was the whole time so busy and haven't had time much to think about home.
The only think is that I would like to go back and just see my friends and family and to see what happens on the farm. But then I would like to come back as an exchange student but that will only be a dream, a dream.
I recognized a lot of Australians are very relaxed, friendly and proud of Australia. For example, singing the national anthem is taught to everybody, but I have never sung the German national anthem. The only time when we hear it is every four years at the Olympic Games.

Australia is a beautiful country with a lot of nature, which isn't that much in Germany, because everything is touched, changed and done by humans. But still it is home and I grew up with the different seasons. The spring where everything greens, the summer where we go sailing in Greece, the autumn where the colour of the trees is shining and the winter which I missed most when we go ice skating and play in the snow and especially at Christmas time. Here it isn't the same when you play in the sand at Bondi beach how I have done it.
For the reason that I want to take my father's turkey breeding business over I will stay at home but if that wouldn't be the case I could have imagined to live in Down Under.
Last, but not least, I want to thank Rotary International for making my exchange possible. It is a great thing to go as a young ambassador in another country, which is the experience of a lifetime.
Thank you to my sponsor club Verden\Aller for choosing me.
Thank you very much to my host clubs Tamworth & Tamworth North for giving me this wonderful time in Tamworth. Sometimes I may have bothered you with asking for activities which I have to do again for the winter holidays from the 27 June to 12 July. In my opinion the exchange year depends on what you make of it because nothing comes alone.
A special thank you to Ken and Di Hall. I couldn't imagine better counsellors, everytime they were there for me. They were taking me many times to Sydney and a visit to the Blue Mountains might follow.
Then to my host families.Ted and Beverly Heazlett. I have had a lovely stay. But I am a bit disappointed because Ted was saying "No more exchange students. They make me put on weight!!" Normally exchange students are putting on weight, but here it was the opposite.
Ray and Maree Dart from Tamworth North were knowing very well how to make a wonderful stay because I am their 18th exchange student. But Ray, you might have to tell Ted how to serve sweets after surviving with so many exchange students.
Then John and Joyce Turnbull for having me at their home. It was excellent.
And now Col and Lee Quast. Its good to have a turkey on the farm and I really feel like one of the family. And we still have six more weeks to go but I am now the only one eating ice cream.
I want also especially to thank Raymond and Kate McLaren very much because Raymond was taking me many times camping and 4WD driving on his bushland and in the Pilliga forest.
Everytime it was a lot of fun because we don't have the same kind of bush in Germany. And maybe one more adventure is coming.
I would also thank Guy Barnier that I could visit his farm and also drive the header. Brian Chapman it is good to know the manager of the National Bank. Frank and Margaret Dengate for last Sunday at Hanging Rock.
Fred and Carolyn Edwards I have had a good time at your place and I also survived the one week work experience as a builder. Fred Kelley where I was staying one weekend.
Mike Moroney for organizing the interesting visit at PRIME television for me.
And John Potton who showed me his printing company.

At last I wish this Rotary Club all the best for the future and Fred Edwards as the new President as he guides you into the next year.
Thank you,

Christoph Kanenbley.On Sydney Harbour

Odyssey ends for Christoph

"All we Germans really know about Australia is that it's big and dusty and has great beaches."
That may have been Christoph Kanenbley's perception of this great brown land before arriving on Australian soil, but after a year as an exchange student at Oxley High School, he now realizes there is a bit more to us Aussies.
"This year in Australia has been the best time of my life," Christoph said.
"I learned, saw and changed so much during it. Every day was a day of new impressions and experiences."
Christoph flew out last week to resume his studies in Germany but said he would miss Australia and the many friends he made.
During his exchange, Christoph stayed with four host families - the Heazletts, Darts, Turnbulls and Quasts - and in between classes at Oxley, he was able to see some of the more interesting parts of Australia.
"I've seen Lightning Ridge, Coober Pedy, Ayers Rock, Darwin, Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Canberra, the Snowy Mountains and Blue Mountains and all that's in between," he said.
But that's not to say he didn't enjoy Tamworth.
" I think Tamworth is a great place to stay for an exchange student because you discover the country as well as the city life," he said. "Most cities are pretty similar where ever you go, but the landscape here is so different."
The distances left their mark on Christoph, along with our lack of population compared to his native Germany, our hospitality and friendliness. Christoph was hosted by Tamworth and North Tamworth Rotary Clubs.

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