MyEuropeAdventure
Hello!MynameisKaitlinCoughranandIliveinAustraliafromacitycalledLismore.Itookplacein
theInterna?onalLionsYouthExchangeProgrammeforsixweeksadventuringtoEuropein2016
fromDecembertomid-January.TheplacesIvisitedwereItaly,GermanyandLondon,bothamazing
placeswithlotsofhistory.IfoundoutabouttheYouthExchangethroughafamilyfriendand
couldn’tpassthisamazingopportunity,soIapplied.
MyfirstYouthExchange
ARerIappliedIgotintocontactwithmylocalLionsClub(LismoreCityLions)whosponsoredme
throughouttheyearwhileIwasinvolvedinmanyfundraisingevents.IchoseEuropeasmy
des?na?onbecauseIwasfascinatedbyitspeculatorHistoricalarchitectureandculture.MyVisitto
EuropewasofoneofthebestexperiencesIhavehad.
SecondExchange-Italy
ExperiencingtheexcitementofmyfirstYouthExchangeIdecidedto
traveltooneofmydreamcountriesinEurope-Italyrepresen?ng
AustraliaandmyLocalLions.Experiencingthelongflightandboarding
fromAustralia’shotweatherwasabigshockwhenIlandedinEurope
Winterweather.
TheSaying“ItalianslikeAustralians”wasverytrueinItaly.ImeantmyfirsthostfamilyinTurinwho
wereverylovelypeopleandwaitedformeattheairport.Theywantedtoknowallaboutmeandmy
country.ItwasapleasuretosharemyexperiencesandlearningabouttheirsasIexperiencedItaly’s
cultureandlearnthowItalianpeoplelived.Iengagedinmanyfunac?vatesmyhostfamilyplanned
formesuchasSiteseeing,visi?ngmuseumsandvisi?ngaChristmasmarket.AReranadventurous
weekinTurinIsadlysaid“goodbye”tomyhostfamilyandtravelledtoBresciawheremysecond
adventurebegan.
Imeantmysecondhostfamilywhowelcomedmewithopensarms.Istayedwiththemforovertwo
weeksandexploredmanynewci?esandsmalltowns.WevisitedVenice,Bologna,VeronaandMilan
whichwereverybeau?fulplaces.Thebestpartabouttheseplaceswasvisi?ngthelocalChristmas
marketswhichhadalotofcustommadefood,Jewellery,hotchocolatesandhandmadegiRs.
My?meinItalyIalsogottherareopportunitytogotoschoolwithmyhostsisterforaweek.I
enjoyedvisi?ngtheschoolsasitwasaverydifferentexperiencealtogether.Thesubjects,the
languageandtheearlyhoursmadetheexperienceworthwhile.Igottomeetalotofpeopleand
mademanyfriendswhosefriendshipsIwillcherish.AttheendofmythreeweekadventureinItalyit
wasverysadtosaygoodbye,andnotimageseeingmyhostfamiliesagainasIwavedthemgood.
MysecondExchange-Germany
EverybodyknowsGermanyisfamousfortheirSauerkaurtand
bratwurstsausagesandbigpastryPretzels.ItotallyagreeasIgotto
experiencethisfirsthand!ARersayinggoodbyetoItaly,Iflyto
GermanyarrivinginBerlinwhereIspentthedaywai?ngtocatcha
traintoasmallhistoricaltowninWeimarwhereImeantmyhost
family.IstayedwithonewonderfulhostfamilyovertwoweekswhereIexperiencedChristmas,New
yearsandwhitesnow!
MyhostfamilytookmetoomanyplacessuchasErfurtandHamburgwhereIstayedandtriedthe
bigpastrypretzel.Ivisitedmanychurches,museumandwasinvolvedinaradiotalkshowwhichwas
agreatexperience.Itravelledonthetramandtrainslivingacitylifewhichwasfulloflightsandbusy
people.MyhostfamilyreallycaredthatIhadagood?meandexperiencedasmuchaspossibleina
short?me.
HavingtheopportunitytospendChristmasinGermanywasveryhear`eltasIgottosharethiswith
myhostfamilyandexperiencehowotherscelebrateChristmas.WeeksaRerChristmaswefinallygot
snowandhadtheopportunitytogoslidingdownsnowyhillsandmakeasnowman.FinallyaRertwo
weeksIhadtosay“goodbye“.Itwasaverysadmoment.
ThirdExchange-London
Myfinaldes?na?onwastheLondonstopoverwheretheYouthExchangegroupmeantupand
spendthenextfourdaysexploringLondoncity.WestayedinahotelcalledStGileswhichwasa
goodcentralareaandwasclosetomanyshopsandfoodstores.Londonwasaverybeau?fulcity
andalwaysbusy.Duringour?mewewentsiteseeingasatouristsandsawtheTowerofLondon,
WestminsterAbbey,BuckinghamPalace,TrafalgarSquare,StPaul’sCathedralandmanymore
places.AlsoonthelastnightwithagroupoffriendswewenttoamusicaltoseeWicked.London
wasanamazingexperienceasIgottoknowmygroupbecerandsharemagicalexperiences.
Throughoutmyjourneyinthreecountriesandmanyci?es,I
haveheardsomanyinteres?ngandwonderingstories.The
culturalexperiencehasallowedmeseemorepartsofthe
worldandhastaughtmetobecomeindependent.Thewhole
YouthExchangeexperiencehasallowedmetomeetother
Lionsmemberswhoalsodoneasimilarexchangeandmake
interna?onalfriends.Itisdifficulttofindanythingthat
compareswiththeexperienceoflove,friendship,culture,and
hospitalityexperiencedthroughthiswonderfulyouth
program.Iam18yearsoldnowandwouldgobackfor
anotheradventureanyday.
WouldIrecommendLionsYouthExchangetoyoungadult?YesIwould!
IwouldsuggesttoallyoungpeopletograbtheopportunityLionsAustraliaisgivingthemandtravel,
meetnewpeople,learnaboutothercultures,countriesandpeoplefromdifferentna?onali?esand
comehomewithanewoutlookonlife.Mythreecountrieshavegivenmealife?meofmemoriesI
willneverforget.
MyYouthExchangeinterestbeganwiththewonderfulsupportLionsInterna?onalgavemeforthis
amazingopportunityandforprovidingimportantdetailsthroughouttheyear.FromthebeginningI
wanttothankLismoreCityLionsforsponsoringmeandsupportedmethroughouttheyearwhilst
allowedmetobecomeinvolvedincommunityFundraisersandevents.Iwanttothankmyhost
familiesandleadersinEurope,withoutthemtheprogramisnotpossible.