Have an international adventure in your home!
We are now looking for voluntary host-families nationwide for these great AFS exchange students who will be arriving June /July 2009. All host-families and students are supported by trained teams of volunteers from your local area. The students attend the family’s local secondary school, participate in community service and are between 16 and 18 years of age.
To find out about the students coming to your area and to learn more about AFS hosting, please contact Becky or Jolene on 0800 600 300 or email Rebecca.parkin@afs.org or Jolene.young@afs.org.
Year Programme (approx 12 months)
Ekaterina – Russia, 16 years old
Ekaterina is a kind, social, cheerful and understanding individual. She has a good group of friends that are important to her and that she appreciates very much. Her interests include snowboarding, dancing and listening to music. Ekaterina loves music very much. In future Ekaterina hopes to have a good career as a journalist. (1 year)
Alexandra – Germany, 16 years old
Alexandra lives with her parents, younger sister and Japanese host-sister. She describes her home life as ‘peaceful, supportive and regulated’. With her friends, Alexandra likes to cook or go to the movies. She is a sporty and musical person and has been playing the saxophone for five years. She plays in an orchestra as well as playing badminton and volleyball. Alexandra also likes to sail and write articles for the school magazine.
Heleen – Netherlands, 17 years old
Heleen is a creative and loyal person who likes be organized and enjoys helping her younger brother. She likes to draw, read and play the piano, which she has been practicing since she was seven years old and plays every day. Heleen likes sports and is has recently taken up running for fitness. She is so excited to be coming to New Zealand and has been researching about our culture for some time.
Robert – USA, 16 years old
Robert is an easygoing, funny and outgoing person. He likes to participate in wrestling and playing football in his spare time. He also helps out with yard work when he has time. Robert is a member of Boy Scouts and is a Life Scout, which is the second highest rank. Some of Robert’s other interests include camping, water skiing and snowboarding. Robert takes part in his community through the YMCA, where he is a member of the YMCA leaders club.
Ka Ho – Hong Kong, 17 years old
Ka Ho lives with his family in their city flat helping his parents with the housework and acting as a bodyguard to his sister who works late at night. Ka Ho’s main interests are Kung Fu and magic. He enjoys Kung Fu as it gives him confidence and the ability to persist and he finds performing magic tricks gives him the opportunity to delight others. (1 year)
Ana Sofia – Portugal, 17 years old
Ana Sofia is a person who likes adventure, to discover the unknown and meet new people! She loves horses and practices her horse riding every chance she gets, for her career Ana Sofia would like to be a veterinarian. At the end of her exchange, Ana Sofia would like to leave for home with new friends in her heart. (1 Year)
Lena – Belgium (French speaking), 17 years old
Lena is a social and cheerful student who is planning to study science at university. Lena is described as a reliable daughter and a very faithful friend. She considers friendship to be important and spends time with her friends listening to music and watching movies. Lena is also sporty and goes scuba diving, swims and practices Karate.
(1 year)
Mario – Austria, 16 years old
Mario would like to be an AFS student as he feels it will be a great experience for him. Mario is a very positive person and loves a good challenge, he likes to keep fit and enjoys sports that involve nature. Mario likes mountain biking, skiing, soccer and rugby. He is also looking forward to learning a new sport during his exchange in New Zealand. Mario takes school very seriously and his favourite subject is economics. (1 year)
Magdalena – Germany, 16 years old
Magdelena is a happy person who has a reputation for laughing a lot! She has a lot of fun practicing Capoeira (a Brazilian martial art) and attending African festivals. Magdalena also enjoys dancing, surfing, horse riding and skiing. She is a very curious person and enjoys learning about new and ancient cultures.
Lisa – Dominican Republic, 16 years old
Lisa loves to spend time with her family, have fun, make friends and to laugh! Lisa describes herself as being very flexible and adaptable as she has changed schools often in life due to her family moving around. She likes to participate in outdoor sports and enjoys nature and animals. Lisa is really looking forward to experiencing the New Zealand landscape.
Sebastien – Germany, 16 years old
Sebastien sees himself as the ‘helper’ in his family; he is handy around the house fixing things and doing chores. He also helps out at his church with festivals. To unwind, Sebastien likes to play badminton. Sebastien dreams of being a pilot and had the opportunity to work as an aircraft mechanic during a work experience project.
Laurin – Austria, 16 years old
Laurin is a friendly and helpful student who would like to be a social worker or a doctor in the future. Laurin’s favourite interest is music, listening to and playing. He plays the clarinet. He also enjoys sports and practices Kung Fu, soccer and volleyball. He says that he can’t imagine his life without music and sport. (1 year)
Michaela – Czech Republic, 16 years old
Michaela’s passion is in theatre, with her friends she runs a small theatre company and once she has finished secondary school she would like to attend the Academy of Dramatic Arts. Michaela has been playing the clarinet for 6 years and the piano for 4, she is also interested in dance modern and ballroom.
Soeren – Denmark, 16 years old
Soeren is a humorous and active person and he likes to play badminton and swim. He plays in a badminton team and regularly competes and attends training camps. Soeren is a swimming coach for children and helps to organize and run swim camps too. With his family, Soeren likes to go skiing and he is helpful around the house.
Michiel – Netherlands, 17 years old
Michiel is an uncomplicated person who lives with his parents and three sisters. School and sports are important to Michiel and he likes to play soccer, tennis and go to the gym. With his family, he sails and they cruise around Europe and the inland lakes of the Netherlands during the holidays, he also likes to sail lasers.
Berk – Turkey, 16 years old
Berk is a responsible, honest and reliable person with a good sense of humour. His interests include sailing, puzzles, model cars and going to the movies. He has also started taking courses about diving. Berk is involved in various school activities including model United Nations, debating and he is also a member of the honour council. In future Berk hopes to become a mechanical engineer.
Martin – Austria, 16 years old
Martin is a very ambitious and diligent student. He enjoys sports, particularly handball which he has played for six years. Martin says that he has ‘an enormous impulse for exercise’! He is currently learning to juggle, loves to read (the thicker the book the better) and listening to rock music. (1 year)
Nikoline – Denmark, 16 years old
Nikoline comes from a very small town in Denmark. She is friends with everyone in her class and in her spare time she likes to go on trips around Denmark with her family. She also enjoys going out with her friends to the movies or shopping. (1 year)
Sebastien – Denmark, 16 years old
Sebastien is an easy-going and caring person who says that he is always in a good mood. Sebastien wants to be a biologist. He especially likes learning about exotic birds and primates and dreams of working on Zulawesi Island. In his free time, Sebastien likes to skateboard with his friends and spend time in ‘spaces with fresh air and nature’. (1 year)
Anais – Belgium (Dutch speaking), 17 years old
Anais is a people person who makes friends easily and loves to laugh! Anais is very active she jogs, rides horses, tramps and goes to art classes. At school, she is a monitor which means she has to organize camping trips for children and greatly enjoys this job. After a long day, Anais loves to read. (1 year)
Tim – Belgium (French speaking), 18 years old
Tim is an independent and dynamic student with excellent school grades and a busy lifestyle. He is very sporty and plays hockey, soccer, squash and tennis, goes jogging and likes to cycle. Hockey is his main passion and hopes to play in New Zealand. Tim also is very keen to try surfing and any other sports that are not possible in Belgium. (1 year)
Tina – Germany, 16 years old
Tina is very close to her parents and friends who describe her as a ‘fun-loving and energetic’ person. Tina’s main interest is dancing, she is in a team who dance to music from Broadway shows and musicals in competitions. She also learns standard and Latin dance. Tina’s family is currently hosting an AFS student and Tina is greatly enjoying learning about a new culture. (1 year)
Andreas – Denmark, 17 years old
Andreas is a friendly, funny and intelligent person. He likes to learn new things and finds most of his subjects at school interesting, his favourite subject is biology. In his spare time he enjoys running and is training for a half marathon. He also enjoys reading and mostly reads novels or newspapers. (1 year)
Boris – France, 17 years old
Boris likes to laugh and make others laugh! He enjoys spending time with his friends and playing soccer. Boris has traveled to many countries in Asia and South America with his parents, he loves discovering new cultures and sharing his French culture. For the future, he would like to be a sports journalist or an interpreter. (1 year)
Ronan – France, 17 years old
Family and friends are important to Ronan and he is described as being; funny, sociable and hard-working. Ronan admits that he can be a little shy and one of his main motivations for coming to New Zealand on an Exchange is to build confidence. Sports play a big part in his life and he practices handball competitively and enjoys social team sports. (1 year)
Nora – Germany, 16 years old
Nora is an open and friendly person who wants to have a career where she can have lots of personal contact. She is very active with many hobbies. Nora leads a circus group, a climbing group for young children and also is part of a first-aid group at school. She especially enjoys sailing and also plays badminton. (1 year)
Pierre – France, 17 years old
Pierre is a relaxed, open and funny person who likes to talk and was elected as his class representative based on his ability to speak in public. He likes to organize things, he often heads projects at school or plans trips for his friends. School and sports are most important for Pierre. He prefers science and plays sports as it helps him unwind. (1 year)
Pierlouis – France, 17 years old
Pierlouis lives in a small rural community and enjoys the peace and solitude. He likes to play board games with his friends and family and he also enjoys playing table-soccer and basketball. Pierlous likes cats and is currently enjoying his new born kittens. In school, he prefers the science subjects and likes learning about electricity, electronics and mechanics. (1 year)
Christine – Germany, 16 years old
Christine is an only child and feels that this has made her an independent and responsible person. She has many friends and likes to spend time at youth camps. She is also a member of a sports club where she learns to sail and windsurf. Christine is an excellent student, her class’s representative and would like to live a diverse life! (1 year)
Hubertus – Germany, 16 years old
Hubertus lives in a town surrounded by a river and therefore really enjoys water based activities. With his friends, he likes to go canoeing and he enjoys playing tennis and indoor climbing. Hubertus is an excellent student and is especially interested in sciences and politics and he likes to discuss political issues with his family and friends. (1 year)
Ronja – Germany, 16 years old
Ronja has a great relationship with her family, especially her older sister. She spends a lot of time training for athletics and her friends from her team are like a second family. She also trains younger children in athletics. For the future, Ronja wants to go University and study chemistry and biology. (1 year)
Roman – Switzerland, 16 years old
Roman is a sociable and active student who likes to set goals and challenges for himself. He plans to be a pilot and enjoys maths, physics and mechanics. All year round, Roman likes to practice in-line hockey and to go skiing in the winter. With his family, he likes to walk in the mountains and enjoy the wilderness. (1 year)
Jessica – Switzerland, 17 years old
Jessica has been raising money for her AFS exchange by tutoring and cleaning, she was inspired after a 3 week stay with a family in France. Jessica belongs to the gymnastics club and has been doing acrobatics for 3 years and more recently is learning salsa dance. She describes herself as open hearted and ambitious and after school she would like to become a teacher. (1 year)