Most people just called her Louise… the feisty Rotary exchange student from northern France with the seemingly impossible-to-pronounce surname of Zakrzewski.
Exchange student Louise Zakrzewski with one of her two Te Awamutu ‘mums’ Gill Johnston and the Rotary jacket she has now covered with her Kiwi momentos. Picture by Viv Posselt
Louise has just departed New Zealand, nimbly dodging the global tech blowout that disrupted so much travel. She had been here for a year, the 2023/24 International Youth Exchange (IYE) student hosted by Te Awamutu Rotary Club. Thanks to Rotarian and aviator Murray Smith and his wife Laurel, she has spread her wings far beyond Waipā.
“I’ve been so lucky,” she said. “They have flown me all over New Zealand. We went to Warbirds over Wanaka. I climbed Roy’s Peak… I really loved that.”
Weeks after arriving here, Louise told The News how certain things about Kiwi culture struck her as odd; their love of being barefoot, and carpets in houses were an initial few.
She has now added school uniforms and a lighter school workload to the list, plus some Kiwis’ preference for venturing out in their pyjamas.
“We don’t do that in France – we always go out properly dressed.”
Louise started off at the home of hosts Carol and Ross Turner, then moved in with Gill and Allan Johnston. Gill, who is the immediate past president of Te Awamutu Rotary Club, said Louise seems to have packed in more than most exchange students.
There has been a lot of fishing, boating, cycling (mostly at the velodrome in Cambridge), ski-biscuiting, a bit of partying and a lot done to support Rotary projects.
She reckons she has become more resilient, more confident around people.
Gill said: “We worked together with the Cambridge Rotary Club to make it easier for Louise to pursue her interests over there – mostly her involvement with cycling. It is something very unusual, but opportunities came up there and we worked with Cambridge to make it happen and Louise switched from Te Awamutu College to Cambridge High School at the start of this year.”
She also said Louise makes “the best crêpes ever” and said she and husband Allan now considered Louise another daughter.
Louise Zakrzewski atop Roy’s Peak in Wanaka – one of the highlights of her exchange student year in Waipā. Photo: supplied
