SIT | Te Pūkenga campuses around the south are once again buzzing with energy and activity as the summer break finishes and the 2024 academic year begins this week. The Invercargill campus welcomed students back this week with a focus on fun, games .
Happy New Year . . . Penny Keeling (left) and one of her host mothers Monika Tanner celebrate a subdued farewell to 2020. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
When 16-year-old Penny Keeling boarded a plane for a year in Switzerland last January, Covid-19 was an obscure virus in China slowly worming its way into the public’s consciousness.
Two months later, almost to the day, the former St Kevin’s College student was being locked down along with the rest of the world. The only difference was, she was living with almost complete strangers who spoke a different language.
On January 12, Penny left New Zealand as part of the Rotary Exchange Programme.