Lachlan McIntyre – Goethe Institut German language camp in Austria

At the beginning of the year, I was lucky enough to receive a full scholarship to attend a two week Goethe Institut German language camp in Austria over the July school holidays. Prior to leaving I felt an eager mixture of nervousness and anticipation as I prepared for my first trip to Europe and my first International trip without my family. Thankfully, the camp would prove to be some of the best weeks of my life. Not only did I get the chance to improve my German and explore Austria, but I also got to meet many wonderful people from all around Australia, Europe, and the World.

In what seemed like a blink of an eye after winning the scholarship, my bags were packed and I was ready to go. Meeting fellow camp-goer and Sydneysider Zoe for the first time at the airport did a bit to calm my nerves prior to takeoff, knowing that I wouldn’t have to navigate the upcoming 30 hours of international travel alone. And after two incredibly long and cramped flights, plus a fatigued layover in Doha, we managed to touch down in Munich – tired and sore, but at least we hadn’t lost our passports yet.

Greeted by Goethe employees at the airport and shown to a conference room filled with other students, we began to get comfortable in our unfamiliar environment. After a few hours getting to know our peers, we boarded the scenic (and, like the other legs of our journey, long) bus ride to our final destination – Obertauern, Austria. It was 11pm upon arrival, so we were immediately shown to our rooms, and I immediately crashed to sleep with little to no thought to my new and currently sleeping roommates.

The next morning was incredible. Waking up to mountain views and green pastures straight out of The Sound of Music, we were shown around the youth hotel, and I got to know my roommates – Marc from France and Pushpit from India. After the ice-breakers and first meal were out of the way, we got straight into German lessons. I felt immediately out of my depth in class, but luckily had made a few friends already who were able to help me out.

The days started going by very quickly – classes would take up our mornings, before the supervisors attempted to unite us in various sporty/German-themed activities throughout the afternoons and evenings. The best parts of these days were always when we had ‘Happy Time’, a very enthusiastically named free time where we could continue getting to know everyone, whether on the rock-climbing wall, playing air hockey, or around a deck of trusty Aussie UNO cards.

Throughout the two weeks we embarked on a number of day trips, including to the nearby city of Salzburg, and the tourist town of Radstadt. There we got to put our German into practice, which was an amazing feeling. Learning German in Australia has very little practical use – here, I was able to stumble through conversations in cafes and museums, getting to know the cities and towns as best I could in our limited time there.

Our classes culminated in a German movie project, which we shot and edited in the final days of camp before screening them on the second last night. We also spent time towards the end of the camp going hiking and swimming in picturesque lakes, as well as participating in various creative workshops run by supervisors. Very quickly, we only had one day left.

Whilst I was looking forward to seeing family and friends back home, it was very tough to say goodbye to the people that we’d just spent two weeks living together with. Because our bus to Munich left at 1am, we stayed up all night, enjoying our final hours by being rather boisterous youths and general nuisances to the supervisors, who were already resigned to a night filled with chaos. As we were the first bus load to leave, we pulled away to a chorus of goodbyes from our new friends, who would likely also not be getting any sleep anytime soon.

All six of us Australians flew from Munich to Doha together, before our final round of tearful goodbyes saw us go our separate ways – whether to Melbourne, Adelaide, or Sydney. Zoe and I boarded our final flight with much sadness, but also with plenty of stories and memories to share, not just over the 14 remaining hours on board, but also with everybody back home. Landing to a beautiful Sydney sunset and navigating one final bout of airport security, back to our normal lives we went.

I would like to say a massive thank you to Fort Street’s Frau Reynolds, who brought this opportunity to the attention of the class and assisted with my application. Also to Year 10 students, Emil, Luka, Archie, and Oliver, who all helped with my application, as well as my parents. The biggest thank you goes to Goethe Institut and the Betreuer*innen for this experience, and to everybody at the camp who I got to share it with, especially the group of Australians who were always there to support each other.”

Lachlan McIntyre

Year 10