On Monday, we opened two new classes: Cambridge Advanced Preparation (CAE) and Cambridge First Preparation (FCE). Today, the students in the CAE class interviewed each other and then wrote a summary of what they learned. Here are the (slightly edited) results.

Angela

Angela is from the German part of Switzerland. She’s been in Australia for just a couple of days and she’s still feeling the jetlag. Angela has three sisters and the eldest one is expecting a baby in February. She seems to be a very active person and wants to start taking surf lessons. She also likes theatre and any music genre, depending on the situation.

Sarah

Sarah is a 19-year-old from a small village near Biel, Switzerland. She arrived in Australia a month ago and would like to stay for at least 6 months. She has been surfing a few times and wants to surf in Byron for sure. She also loves reading and hanging out with friends and mostly likes rap music.

Carole

Carole is from Switzerland and grew up in a small town close to Zurich. One month ago she decided to move to Australia to improve her English and surfing. She would like to find a job in hospitality here because she worked in a hotel back home. Carole can speak three languages and is a sporty person who likes to go running or swimming in her free time.

Eliska

Eliska is 23 and comes from the Czech Republic. She has three sisters who she gets on well with. Her degree is in Marketing and she enjoys all kinds of board sports. Eliska arrived in Australia five days ago and plans to stay one year. She would like to find work as a waitress or bartender.

Pol

Pol is 25 and comes from Spain and has been in Australia for six months. In Spain, Pol worked as a garden designer and studied music production. He already has two jobs in Byron Bay — he works in the kitchen of an Italian restaurant and also welcomes new Spanish students to Byron Bay. Pol speaks three languages and loves surfing.

Javier

Javier grew up in the south of Spain in a coastal city with two older brothers. He studied Law in Spain and also worked as a physiotherapist. Before he came to Australia, seven months ago, he travelled through Bali for two weeks. He works in both a restaurant and a shop in Byron Bay, and when he has free time he likes going to the beach to meet friends.

David

David is from Switzerland and only arrived in Byron a couple of days ago. In Switzerland David works as an IT technician but isn’t planning to work in Australia because he wants to study English and then travel for three months. He is really into sports so is looking forward to trying surfing.

Julie

Julie comes from Switzerland and arrived in Australia 4 days ago. While in Australia she’d like to work in a clothes shop, but in Switzerland she is a high school teacher. She can speak three languages: French, English and German. Her favourite activities are listening to music, meeting friends, and travel.

Yueh An

Yueh An is 31 years old and from Taiwan. She has lived in Australia for more than two and a half years and has her own massage business with a friend. Back home Yueh An organised concerts and musicals. In her free time she’s often in nature and likes doing arts and crafts and carving.

Leandra

Leandra arrived in Australia from Switzerland last Saturday. In Switzerland she worked as an optician, but she is not planning to work in Byron as she is on a tourist visa. She speaks German, French and English. In her free time she likes to read, listen to music and watch Netflix.

Oriana

Oriana has already been in Australia for three months and at Lexis for one week. She is a photography student and speaks three languages: Italian, French and English. Her hobbies are photography, socialising and travelling. She can’t surf yet but wants to learn.

Marina

Marina is from Brazil. She has been in Australia for about 2 weeks and has already found a job in a vegan restaurant as a cook. In Brazil she worked as a psychotherapist. She loves reading, listening to music, dancing and going out with friends.

Samira

Samira is from the German-speaking part of Switzerland and arrived in Australia two days ago. She will be looking for a job here in Byron, either as a waitress or bartender. In Switzerland she works as a medical assistant. Hip hop is her favourite kind of music and she also likes travelling and hanging out with friends.

Welcome too, to our new FCE students Moritz and Nadja

Mo is also from Switzerland, but from a city — Zurich. He’s keen on surfing but is a bit scared of the sharks here! In addition to surfing, Mo has a lot of different hobbies including climbing, bouldering, ice hockey and art. Mo is doing the FCE course because it’s a pre-requisite for his future studies, and he thinks it’s a great way to learn English while combining study with a surfing holiday.

Nadja is from a small village in Switzerland with gorgeous views of the mountains, where she loves to go skiing and snowboarding. She wants to be an ambulance paramedic and will begin her studies in this field soon. Nadja is doing the FCE course because she wants to improve her spoken English and sees a Cambridge qualification as valuable. She chose Australia because she wanted to go outside Europe — and because of all the exotic animals!