This is the Sunshine Coast in Queensland,
Australia.
And this is where I go to high school,
but I better
hurry. I gotta go to class.
My name is Leo and I'm from Germany.
I'm an international student here on the Sunshine Coast.
I started surfing here. I just fell in love with
the sport.
It's a great way to connect with the ocean.
We have the surf lessons in school.
Every Wednesday. The beaches are absolutely beautiful.
The whole scenery is just paradise.
Most of the people are just really warm and have
a big heart.
You know they interact with you.
If I walked past and just smile at them,
they smile back and they're like hey,
how I answer and that's really the beautiful
thing. So school here is really really different to Germany.
I have a lot of opportunities in music and marine
science which are my 2 passions.
I get great support from all the teachers and
from my amazing coordinator Fleur Parker.
The Sunshine Coast is an outstanding destination for any international
student.
Here it's a very safe,
welcoming hospitable environment. We now have an International Airport here
on the Sunshine Coast.
And then for students wanting to sort of continue on
with an academic path where we have,
you know, world class hospital and university as well.
We have beautiful shopping centers,
so they love doing their shopping on the weekends.
And there's so many tourist attractions that they can also
immerse themselves in.
Oh, hello.
Sunshine Coast really surprised me with what it has to
offer.
The hinterland. There's all the mountains and the jungle,
and for me as a nature lover,
that's just the perfect place to be.
I've been to all these places that just really inspire
me as a
person. Oh my God, you're very greedy
and to get to see the Great Barrier Reef was
one of my dreams in life.
Once you dive under the surface,
it's just another world.
It's not just about coming over and experience different culture
or speaking English in an English school like it's really
about them discovering who they are,
and they feel really at home here with our sort
of Aussie culture.
With my host
family I remember I traveled up to Rainbow Beach,
which was a different experience 'cause I've never been in
a car on the beach,
so it was pretty cool and we got to see
the whales and dolphins and Double Island point.
I'm lucky enough to have my host family 'cause they
really take me around beautiful places more local places.
This
is my host mom Fifi and there's my host out
Nick.
I feel
really safe on the Sunshine Coast.
I especially feel safe with my host family because I
really have a big connection with them.
How you going there? Leo nearly done.
Yeah fee is an amazing cook.
Do you wanna add extra cinnamon?
Oh yeah, we like to do banana chocolate cake.
Leo at night are cooking together.
There's a lot of laughs moments where he's discovering things,
and in those moments it's really gives me joy when
I go back to Germany,
I think I will just kind of overload my family
with banana chocolate cake.
Yeah,
we create for Leo, a home environment that's full of
love,
comfort, honesty, trust and most of all that his parents
would expect.
Another really good, really good jobs.
Right, I feel like I've been given a privilege to
look after him.
Well, being here at the school in this environment
on the coast, it really has helped me to find
myself and to really light up.
The Sunshine Coast to me is inspiring,
fascinating, incredibly beautiful. To
all the young people out there who are looking forward
to doing exchange you and to come to QLD just
go for it.
You'll love
it.