Besuch der australischen Botschaft 2015
A visit to the Australian embassy
On 7th of October we and our classmates went to the Australian embassy with our English teacher, Mrs. Kriener. We had the opportunity to talk to Simon Smith, an Australian diplomat, and Hillary, an intern.
When we arrived, Hilary and Simon introduced themselves. Simon ,who studied international relations has been living in Berlin for two years, whereas Hilary, who studied international relations, too, has been here for three months now.
After the introduction we started asking questions. We could get information about Australia that Australians know best and also improve our English skills as neither Simon nor Hilary spoke German with us. They for example told us about how it is to live with that hole in the ozone layer. They explained that they really have to be careful when going out (especially in summer) and put on lots of sunscreen as they have to deal with sunburn a lot.
Hilary and Simon furthermore talked about the “battle” between Sydney and Melbourne – as they were both born in Melbourne they prefer it to Sydney, but still think Sydney is a great place for holidays. We also got to talk about the biggest difference between Germany and Australia. They said one of the biggest differences between Germany and Australia is customer service. While it is completely normal in Australia to talk to the shop assistant, Germany seems to be a bit more uncommunicative and often a bit too businesslike. Yet, we also got to talk about some serious topics like the refugee- and Syria-crisis and Simon told us that Australia is going to accept about 20.000 refugees which is a good thing.
The time there was all in all very cool and felt like a chilled conversation as Simon and Hilary both were joking around and acted very openly and friendly which is why we would like to thank them once again for the great time we all had. We got some great insight into the world of an Australian and into life in Australia.
Selin Kargin / Erik Pessozki, 9c