Leander Diepen joined us from Germany for Term 1 and will now return home to Heidelberg. Below he fondly reflects on his time here with us at John McGlashan College.
I had the wonderful opportunity to come to New Zealand, staying at a family friend’s place for the past 3 months. I truly had an amazing time, getting to know a new culture and directly experiencing it in the form of school, field trips and time with the new friends I made.
It was absolutely incredible to see the diverse and unique nature of New Zealand in Wānaka Queenstown, the Catlins and lots of other places.
Spending time with my sports team and especially seeing the work ethic and love for the games of Handball and Futsal shared by the whole team was absolutely lovely and certainly one of the favourite parts of my week.
There have been so many first times, like surfing, bungee jumping and golfing, it has been an incredible experience all around. I have developed a special spot in my heart for New Zealand, and hope to come back at some point in my life. And I hope some of the friendships I made will last for a lifetime.