Three months ago, I left all of my family and friends and got on a plane and flew to Australia… I am now nearly at the end of my time here in Sydney and I am so glad I overcame the fear I was feeling as I would never want to give back my time here.

I have spent Monday to Friday working on the world famous Bondi Beach for the local surf school (Lets Go Surfing) as part of an internship I need to complete before I start my Universtiy degree. I knew it would be challenging as three months living in a foreign country far away from home without family or friends, at a different place of work and especially in another language. These were big challenges for me but I did it and because of that I can be proud of myself. I’m so glad I met so many great people here. They helped me to get use to it and even through tough times. I mean, I would lie if I say that it was just perfect and everything went good. There are always ups and downs, but that is with everything in life.

So what I learned in the first place is much about myself and life in general. Special thanks to Nathan for his life advice! All of these experiences made me grow up a bit more. I got more confident and know that I should never give up. Of course I gained new knowledge in business, too. For example, I learned much about how this business is working. A Surfing school is actually not that different from other company’s divisions like retailing, selling, administration, marketing etc.

Shop work and customer care were big tasks during my internship, this included getting people prepared for their lessons, renting boards, making bookings, taking photos and selling them. I learned about the systems they are using and how many partners of the tourism industry they are interacting with. Also it’s very important to stay in peoples mind in the most possible positive way. So it’s all about having a good image and great customer service, which I think LGS has.

The most important thing I learned at Lets Go Surfing is how to surf of course ! I’m really thankful to have had this chance and am hooked on surfing now. So many thanks to all of them for making this time a once in a lifetime experience. It was a pleasure working with this awesome team!