SIX students prepared for an overseas exchange as four international students explored Wagga at the weekend.
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Rotary youth exchange district 9770 staged a training program for oubound students, which doubled as a social weekend for inbound students from Austria, Germany, Belgium and Taiwan.
Luca Derumier from Belgium is on exchange in year 11 at Leeton.
One week into his visit, the 17-year-old watched a super rugby final in Sydney.
The Belgium hooker will play for Leeton next season.
"It was good," he said of Australian rugby.
"The game I watched in Sydney was just amazing.
"It's quite a different level to what we have in Belgium."
Luca also experienced rugby league and AFL for the first time.
"It's pretty impressive," he said.
"It's a huge oval and lots of players on the field."
Sixteen-year-old Christa Popova, a year 10 student from Austria, has been in Harden-Murrumburrah for two months of her 12-month exchange.
She's enjoyed switching her 17 pairs of rotating jeans for a school uniform and cites The Sydney Opera House a highlight.
"It was like in the movies," she said.
"You're just not sure if you're awake or not."
Franzi Trebor, 17, said a highlight was watching an AFL game in Sydney.
"I like meat pies or pancakes," the Wagga High student said.
"I love Tim Tams."
Johnson Chang, 16, from Taiwan has been to Sydney airport once but considered this his first real taste of Australia.
"It's pretty good here," the year 10 Griffith student said.
Six locals, aged between 15 and 17, will depart educational and cultural exhanges in January across all but two continents.
Matt Owen, a 15-year-old year 10 student in Leeton, will leave for Brazil in January.
"I've got a European background and passport so I went with South America for a different experience," he said.
"I'm just going to take it as it comes.
"I'm self-teaching Portugese, starting to learn some before I go.
"I'll help them with their English.
Pip Lloyd, a year 10 student at Geelong Grammar School, will head for Finland.
"I wanted to go to the Nordic countries," the 15-year-old said.
"I think it's different to the Europe you hear about all the time and I had no idea what it's like all the time.
"I just thought it'd be a great thing to do to broaden your outlook on life.
"I'd really like to learn another language and learn about the culture and have my first overseas trip be something really worthwhile."
