Everyone thinks that going on exchange is all about having fun. Exchange students are relaxed, laid back and don’t care much about anything. However, for most of them it’s the first time being far away from home in a different country for a much longer period of time. And sometimes there’s actually a need for a strict mom who would say STOP. But she’s not around.
It happened during a mid-semester break. We had two weeks off the university and we organized a road trip from Darwin to Adelaide (crossing central Australia, seeing the outback, Uluru and many national parks). It was 10 of us, all young, careless and looking for adventures.
The trip indeed was an adventure of the lifetime. We had great time together, hiking in national parks, swimming in waterfalls, camping in the middle of nowhere and sleeping under the stars. And then halfway out road trip we had a car accident. The girl who was driving didn’t have much experience (and she told us so!), but we thought it’s alright, as it’s not difficult to drive in the Outback as it’s just the straight road anyway. She was too fast when making the turn, so our car got off the road and rolled over. Fortunately, everyone in the car was okay, except for a huge shock. Our car was totally crashed and couldn’t drive any further.
All I’m saying is that this doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me. Two groups of exchange students during the same mid-break. It’s like no one explained to these people, that they should be careful. There was no mum to say STOP. I guess this is a harsh way to learn a lesson.
It’s been more than four months after the accident happened and I still don’t feel safe when sitting in the car.