Emma meets a local wallaby.

Sweden gave us ABBA and Emma Borgwardt!
January 1998 saw the arrival at Launceston Airport of our Swedish Exchange student – she was blonde, beautiful and spoke perfect English that surprised us all. (It seems all Scandinavian students speak excellent English, as it is an important part of their schooling)

Emma was just 17 but very mature and grown up for her years and was hosted by the Hibbs family of Longford who have been hosts to many International students and really enjoyed having Emma as part of their family for twelve months.

In Sweden Emma lived with her parents in the central city of Karlstad. The Klaralven River in her city freezes over in winter and Emma said it is hard for us in Tasmania to realize how cold minus 20 degrees is! I certainly believe her and I could not imagine how cold it would be.

Emma attended Launceston College for her school year and really enjoyed her time at the College. She slipped quietly into studies causing no problems and with her excellent English many students would have been unaware that she had just arrived in Tasmania from Sweden.

Sidonia, Lucia & Emma at Strahan

Emma was a perfect exchange student, I would only have to ask Emma to visit a school, do a radio interview, do a report and it was always done with a smile - her happy nature and easy going attitude made Emma a special person for many people in Launceston.

It is a great thrill when our Exchange students make a return visit and take the trouble to visit you. In February 2002 Emma and another Swedish Exchange student Catorina (who was in Hobart in 1998) came to spend a night at my home.

We made a visit to Festivale to sample our fine food and wine.
Emma has now settled down after her travels and is studying Medicine at Stockholm University – she will make a wonderful and caring Doctor and with her English skills would certainly get a position in Australia – we can only hope!