Life Saving Advice for your first Exchange!

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to do an exchange? Has Miss Johns come to your class and tried to convince you to sign up for the German Exchange Programme? Well, she came to me when I was an embryonic Year 9, and right now I’m in Year 12 and halfway through my third exchange. Here are my thoughts:

Exchanges make me do things I never usually do. With my exchanges, I usually take them to London for a day trip - which was more for me than them. I get to try new restaurants, see new shops, and spend the day seeing the landmarks. That’s just on the English leg though, in Germany I have gone to the Freibad (an open air swimming pool), tasted real Döner, and visited the Speyer Technik Museum. Other people have gone to see the football, done slide parks etc. 

I know that a big worry is the idea of having a stranger in your house. I’m not going to lie, it can be nerve wracking. But I have never had a bad experience. ⅔ of my German partners were in their own room, meaning that when I was feeling overwhelmed, I could just retreat to the safety of my own space. But with the last exchange, I shared a room with my partner. It wasn’t bad at all, because we actually were very friendly and considerate of each other. We were tired from all of our activities most days, so our evenings were spent getting ready for bed and doomscrolling on our phones.

Another big fear is that you won’t get on with your partner. Honestly, they’re more worried about this than you are! For a lot of these Deutsch kids, it’s their first time being in England and speaking English outside the classroom. You guys will do so much stuff together that by the end of the week you’ll be best friends (and guess what, if you sign up with your friends then it means you always have someone to hang out with in Germany or on the excursions, just in case you don’t click with your partner). 

It is one of the most enriching experiences I have had, and I recommend it to everyone even considering the possibility. There’s a reason I keep on coming back, and it’s because I have met so many interesting people and have done so many cool things.

But enough advertisement waffle, I’m going to spill the deets on what we actually did on this half of the exchange. Read it here: https://www.thebecketbeacon.com/post/german-exchange-2026

• Written by Zofia Kedziora