Emma Jordaan - Our Rotary Exchange Student 2023

5th June - Emma's Exploits...

Last week Emma spent some time at her host home, going to school, running errands like taking the cat to the vet and attending some birthday parties. Her councillor’s son turned 14 and Emma gifted him 3 lovely pairs of socks with hadedas, Cape Town and the Soweto towers on them which he wore the whole week! She visited her exchange student friends in Dresden, where they explored the city like the Blue Wonder Bridge (Loschwitzer Brücke) and ended up making tacos.

It was also the first time that she was allowed to catch the train on her own.

She is leaving today for a week to attend a Rotary outing with another district. She will be back on Saturday.

Safe travels and enjoy Emma....

22nd May - Emma's life returns back to "normal"....

 Emma is settling into ‘normal’ German life in Weißwasser again. 

She had the opportunity this week to visit the famous Rakotz Brücke, also known as a “devil's bridge",  due to the colloquialism that such bridges were so dangerous or miraculous that they must have been built by Satan. The bridge is located in the Kromlau Azalea and Rhododendron Park, an 80-hectare (200-acre) landscaped park in Gablenz, Germany, built during the nineteenth century, reportedly on the grounds of a former feudal estate by Friedrich Hermann Rötschke. Following World War II, the park was nationalized by the government, and has no admission fee (although there is a nominal parking fee). The park is an example of an English landscape garden, and it contains many small ponds and lakes. It is known for the Rakotz Brücke, a bridge especially built to create a circle when it is reflected in the water beneath it.

Food brings people together, and sushi is a firm favourite, so when Emma visited with her new exchange student friends in Dresden they prepared a few elaborate platters to enjoy together.

At home she prepared one of her preferred meals for her family - a tuna salad a la Emma.

15th May - Emma shares her European Tour video with us....

Emma is finally back with her host family, and while the memories are still fresh in her mind she has made a short video of all the remarkable highlights of her once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Emma is also very proud of the impressive collection of badges she managed to collect for her Rotary blazer.

8th May - Rotary Exchange Student Emma's European Adventure continues...

...Last week we left off with Emma visiting Pula in Croatia on her whistle stop European Rotary Exchange tour. The weather was mellow enough for them to be able to kayak and frolic in the Adriatic Sea.

Back on the bus and across into Italy and Venice, which was another one of Emma's highlights. Instead of going to a restaurant on their first night the students decided to cook for each other. They carried the tables and chairs from their living quarters outside and had a lovely "family" meal.

Italy is synonymous with pasta and pizza and on a student budget it was consumed as street food. Venetian masks of all sizes and shapes can be purchased in every souvenir shop, so Emma could not resist purchasing one for her mom Michelle.

From Venice the tour took them to Florence, which is only a three hour drive southwards. The weather turned and they had to don their rain gear for their sightseeing. At least they could take shelter when they visited the Leonardo Da Vinci Museum.

 Florence is only a hop. skip and a jump from Pisa, and what would a trip to Italy be without seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa and eating tiramisu.

And as they say in the Classics.... Every road leads to Rome. 

Rome is awash with sightseeing highlights like the Parthenon, the Colosseum, the Trevi fountains and they even got a glimpse of the Pope at St. Peter's Cathedral in the Vatican.  

Sadly every journey has to come to and end, but the long trip home took them through the beautiful Tyrolian Alps in Austria, on to Dresden and back to her host family in Weißwasser,

In mom Michelle's words:

"Emma is a bundle of excitement. She continuously WhatsApp'ed me to tell me how happy she is, how she is freaking out to see the architecture and art, how glad she is to eat non-German food, how expensive food is, how safe it is to go walking and exploring with her friends, how little she has slept, how neat and perfect everything is and that her favourites so far have been Rome, Zagreb, Prague and Venice. She is learning independence and getting an incredible perspective of the World, its people and its heritage. Life lessons indeed...."

1st May - Exchange Student Emma's European Tour continues...

The last time Emma checked in she was in Prague. From there they crossed into Austria and on to Vienna. In her humble opinion Vienna is even more beautiful than Prague.

Then across another border into Slovenia and its capital Bratislava.

.... followed by another border into Hungary and its capital Budapest, which also lies on the river Danube.

Emma was intrigued that Hungary is well known for its dried  chillies. She bumped into some fellow South Africans in Budapest who approached her when they overheard her trying to teach some of the Brazilian exchange students to speak Afrikaans. She also got very excited when she spotted a South African bubbly on the menu.

On to Croatia and the town of Pula. Emma loved Croatia because it is not as "perfect" as other European cities she has visited.

24th April - Emma embarks on an exciting tour of Europe...

.... Her bags are packed, she's ready to go.

First stop after Dresden was the enchanting city of Prague in the Czech Republic. Emma absolutely LOVED it and could not stop sharing pictures of the art, architecture gardens and street musicians.

Then on to Vienna where they did some fun stuff as a group.

But they also did some serious stuff, like visiting the United Nations offices (UNOV)

The United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) is one of the four major office sites of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. UNOV was established on 1 January 1980, and was the third such complex to be created.

Headquartered at Vienna:

- International Atomic Energy Agency (has a special agreement on its status)

- International Money Laundering Information Network

- International Narcotics Control Board

- Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

- United Nations Commission on International Trade Law

- United Nations Industrial Development Organization

- United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

16th April - Emma's weekly Check-In...

Emma went walking with alpacas with her host family in a nearby Sorbian town called Schleife.

She is really starting to get excited as the exchange students of two Rotary districts leave for their European tour on the 18th of April. Hopefully her Rotary blazer will fill up with lots more pins.

Emma's host family took her and South African Bestie Leah and family who were visiting Germany to a soccer game and great fun was had by all.

No sooner had they returned to Weißwasser they were on the road again for their annual Easter break. They spent the week at the Baltic Sea in Poland. It was very quiet and tranquil and the family literally walked miles every day, and Emma sported her "Sasko White Flour" look on the beach.

3rd April - Emma excels in her exams....

It was not a very eventful week, except that the cold winter is slowly starting to get to Emma. Just as it was getting a little warmer, the temperatures dropped and it snowed again.

They are also writing tests and some of them went really well.

Emma's best friend from South Africa, Leah, is spending Easter in Germany, and they have plans to meet up in Leipzig. They will have a sleepover so that they can catch up. 

Michelle dropped off some goodies for Emma with Leah for her to take along.

26th March - Exchange Student Emma prepares for a German Easter....

This week the decoration of the Easter eggs started. An Emma had to do them in the Sorbian tradition. 

In Slavic tribes (and in much of northern Europe) the gifting of elaborately decorated eggs goes back to pagan times. Eggs are the symbol of fertility, and the rebirth of nature after a long cold winter.When Christianity established itself the eggs were incorporated into the new religion, as a symbol of Jesus Christ's resurrection.

She also baked some rusks for the family. After they dried out the dad ate five on the spot and mom had three, so clearly real treat and a hit!

Emma's European tour with the other exchnge students is fast approaching and her host dad asked her to design their tops. Se was so thrilled and honoured to receive this assignment, and by the looks of things she did not disappoint.

This would be on the front and back of the tops they will be wearing.

The tour route is impressive.

19th March - What did Exchange Student Emma get up to last week?

Two and a half hours drive west of Weißwasser lies the city of Leipzig. It is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony with 624 689 inhabitants.

Emma and a group of fellow exchange students were planning to plant trees in and around the city that weekend, but the weather was abysmal, so the young'uns bonded over table tennis and explored the city instead.

They visited the monument to the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlachtdenkmal), commemorating the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. The monument was completed in 1913 for the 100 year commemoration and cost six million Gold Mark but was mostly paid by generous donations. It looks very similar to the Voortrekker Monument.

Emma met up with two Rotary friends from Mexico and Brazil in Dresden  and together they visited the Royal Palace. It is known for the different architectural styles employed, from Baroque to Neo-Renaissance. The original building dates back all the way to the 1200's.

Back in Weißwasser Emma's family is starting to prepare for Easter. They took her to see some beautifully painted Easter eggs as inspiration before they start with their own creations.

Finally the sun peaked out again and to celebrate Emma spoilt herself with a pair of genuine Birkenstocks.

12th March - Weekly News from Exchange Student Emma...

Just as there were the first signs of Spring, everything was once again covered in snow. However: Emma is now officially part of the Noack family as her name is now proudly on the family post box (although sadly none of Michelle's letters and post cards have arrived to date)

During the week she and some friends visited Muskau Park. It is a landscape park in the Lusatia region of Germany and Poland. It is the largest and one of the most famous English Gardens in Central Europe, stretching along both sides of the German-Polish border on the river Neisse.

She also took part in  an annual light festival where about 1000 people displayed multi-coloured lanterns.

Apparently it was a sight to behold.

Emma also had to write exams this week; she did however give German a miss; her German Shakespeare is not quite up to scratch yet.

She has also almost completed her first pottery piece, a little fountain with duck, which is in fact going to be used to display her rings and bangles.

Today she left for Leipzig, where she will be attending an outreach project for all the exchange students based in Germany.

5th March - Spring has Sprung for Exchange Student Emma...

... Back to school again for Emma after her whirlwind vacation and the highlight of the week was being invited to watch an ice hockey game which the local Weißwasser team won.

The snow is finally melting and the first snow drops and crocuses are peaking through. This will probably be the last snowman of the Season.

Emma went for a horse ride which resulted with her getting a few bruises when her horse decided to stop mid-canter and her falling off her steed.

24th February  -  Emma goes on vacation....

Schools had a short mid-term break and Emma's host family motored down Kapacz in Poland for a few days of sightseeing.

The weather started off quite miserable but eventually cleared up sufficiently so that they could get in some skiing.

They visited the nearby town of Jelenia Gora and the Czech border was only a stone's throw away.

10th February  -  Emma makes more Memories....  

Last weekend Emma and other long term Rotary Exchange students staying in various parts of Germany met for a memorable skiing adventure in the ski resort of Oberwiesenthal, which is situated on the Czech border less than 3 hours from Weißwasser.

There were exchange students from all parts of the World: France, USA, Australia, Mexico, Brazil and of course Emma representing South Africa.

She reports:

* A meet-and-greet on Friday afternoon, where they built a snowman and then had a good old fashioned snowball fight.

* Two Argentinians Tiziano and Pablo and Emma tried to figure out how to make a fire so that they could have a braai (or asada as they would call it in Argentina).

* That night they went for a walk with burning torches to watch the lights of the neighbouring villages.

* Saturday morning was an early start so that they could attempt the baby slopes. None of them had ever skied beforehand, so they all battled on together.

* Carnival was also in full swing, so they took part in the festivities and only got to bed very late.

* The next day they were all very tired and stiff from their first ski attempts, but they persevered.

* They then took a cable car to the highest "mountain" in Saxony (all of 1000 meters above sea level) at minus 9 degrees Celsius. It was amazing and something she will never forget.

* After that they drank Glühwein and sat around a fire and watched the stars.

No doubt friendships for life were forged that weekend.

Speaking of forging, Emma also attended a Rotary meeting where she was taught to forge.

3rd February - Exchange Student Emma's weekly Check-in....

It was Emma's 17th birthday last Monday the 30th of January and her host family celebrated her in style by baking her two birthday cakes.

Emma is certainly getting her fill of historical sights right on her doorstep. This magnificent castle in Bad Muskau is only 12 km from Weißwasser.

Not only will Emma be an ace fencer by the time she returns home, her bags are packed to set off on a skiing adventure on the Austrian border.

Emma will soon be proficient in German, but she is also teaching her host family a bit of Afrikaans.

27th January  -  Emma's Journey continues...

Emma reports that she has a wonderful host family; dad Steffen and mom Bea Noak, daughter Helene is 16 years old and Isabelle is 11. Her German is coming along very well but making new friends is quite challenging. Learning the periodic tables in German seems very strange to her.

 She loves the ham and coffee but misses the South African "tjops" and steak.

It is bitterly cold and they have had quite a bit of snow, but despite the snow they cycle to school every day.

This is Emma tobogganing.

And after an outing in the snow what is better than to warm up with a mug of "Heisse Schokolade mit Sahne".

She has also started fencing lessons, which she enjoys tremendously and has acquired a fencing glove.

This is a video Emma made to showcase South Africa

20th January  -  Rotary Exchange Student Emma's first few days.....

It goes without saying that Michelle is in touch with her daughter via WhatsApp on a constant basis, and the Ramble editor has tasked her to forward all the photos and report backs to her so that we can share Emma's journey with her Rotary family.

Emma has settled in well at 
her school and her classmates
raised funds for a school hoodie

A visit to the picturesque town of Görlitz, which is 55 km away 
from Weißwasser, on the Polish border.

From there Emma hopped across into Poland itself. It had snowed recently and there was still sufficient snow left for her to build her first snowman, however small. She then indulged in a hot chocolate and some delicious German torte.

An observation when going to a proper German restaurant was that everything gets doused with cheese.

Next week, next episode....

12th January  -  Our Rotary Exchange Student Emma finally spreads her Wings...

The build-up to Emma's departure to Germany has been nothing short of frenetic and last Wednesday she finally boarded a flight to Amsterdam and from there flew on to Dresden where she was met by her host family.

Terry Cannon, from the District Youth Exchange Committee, AG Jean Bernardo and President Ann were there to bid her Bon Voyage and God Speed. 

We have no doubt that Emma will be a worthy ambassador for Rotary and for South Africa.

May she soar!! 

Please click into the short video Emma compiled before heading out.