Back in the mid-80's, Nerida Fearnley was learning German at Ringwood Secondary School, where her teacher Frau Wally Brandenburg convinced her to apply for a SAGSE scholarship for a 12-week exchange in Germany. And her application was successful! So off she went to Hessen, in Germany's green heart, to experience a Germany which, unbeknownst to us all, was about to transform enormously. Upon her return to Melbourne, Nerida completed her schooling before embarking on a career which involved several years in the UK, and a personal passion to protect the rights of animals and to campaign for their fair treatment. But right now, Nerida has left all the hustle and bustle of the big city behind her, for the peace and quiet of rural Gippsland.
Year of exchange: 1988 / 89
Group Leader: Leah O'Toole
School: Ringwood Secondary School
German Teacher: Wally Brandenburg
Town / city of exchange in Germany: Grebenhain, Hessen (approx 1 hr NE of Frankfurt)
Some lasting memories from your exchange
- I was in the last group of exchange students before the fall of Berlin Wall; I will never forget my visit to East and West Berlin, going through Checkpoint Charlie.
- I forged a lifelong connection with my host family.
- I loved the magic of Christmas in Germany: the cold and snow, the Christmas markets, a huge, real Christmas tree, and the accompanying three days of Christmas feasting in rural Germany.
- I managed to put on 8kg in the three months I was there!
Completed HSC/VCE German by correspondence school (I was just one of two students at my school studying German in Year 12); studied Arts/Law at Monash University, majoring in German; took a year out in 1992 to travel and was awarded a scholarship to study at Hamburg University for the Winter Semester (unfortunately I was unable to follow through with these studies due to ill health that forced me to cut my travels short and return home to Australia).
My career path has been a varied, winding road through bookselling and publishing here and in the UK - I lived in the UK for seven years - pet therapy and community engagement work with Lort Smith - and most recently numerous roles within local government.
My husband Mike and I and our two dogs (Bastien and Coco) recently moved to South Gippsland… Sadly, the beautiful Bastien died at the start of August and we miss him dearly. We have since adopted an 8.5-year-old ex-medical research / laboratory hound, called Tai, through Beagle Freedom Australia https://www.beaglefreedomaustralia.org/.
Future plans for us right now are really quite fluid. Will we stay living here or move back to our house in the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne? Maybe build at the top of our block here and rent out the original little house as a dog-friendly, boutique AirBnB? Travel around Australia / overseas? Watch this space...
The experience opened my eyes to the world of travel and languages. It helped hone my German language skills in readiness for Year 12 and tertiary studies, and it provided me with a second family for life - I visited them last year and our bond is as strong as ever. And I'm pleased to say that my German is still good!
I count myself incredibly fortunate to have had such a wonderful German teacher at school who saw my talent for the language and encouraged me to apply for the exchange.
I'm a big believer in kindness - to all living creatures. My love of animals has grown stronger as I have aged and I'm an ongoing advocate for animal rights/welfare. Live animal export, factory farming, recreational duck shooting, greyhound and horse racing, and rodeos are probably the main things I'm most committed to campaigning against, as well as growing awareness of the inherent cruelty and suffering that is commonplace in these industries / activities. I'm also a huge believer in animal adoption - our two beloved dogs are both rescues, and I encourage everyone to consider rehoming an unwanted pet, rather than purchasing through a breeder. I wouldn't get a dog through any other way!
Like Nerida, many of us owe that passion for the German language and culture to a German teacher who captured our interest back at school. Sadly, we learnt that Nerida's teacher Wally died at the age of 95 this year. Nerida's family had maintained a connection to her all these years, just as Nerida has done with her German host family.