Christian (Germany) and Laura (Spain) interviewing each other as part of an Upper-intermediate activity focussing on reported speech.

Today I spoke with Christian about his experience in Byron Bay. I began by asking what his first impression was of the town and BBELS. He explained that the people here are open-minded and very friendly. He met a lot of people on his first day. He told me that the weather is better than in Germany and the beaches here are awesome but sometimes it can be a bit windy.

Christian said that there are a lot of different cultures at BBELS and for him this is really interesting. He insisted that the teachers are very good and friendly and you can learn a lot of English.

Next I asked Christian what he had been doing after class and if he had any favourite places to go. He explained that he often goes to the beach or he stays at home in his pool. He also goes surfiing or meets his friends in town. He recommended going to his favourite places such as Tallows Beach, the lighthouse nad the tea-tree lake.

Then I asked Christian if he thought Byron Bay is safe and if he’d had any problems here. He assured me that Byron Bay is safe. He hadnt seen any fights but he insisted that you need to be careful with your bikes as they can be stolen.

My next question was about his accommodation. He told me that he lives in a student house. He admitted that he is very lucky because he has a beautiful house which is very clean and has a pool. He lives with four international girls. He told me that the house is really near the town, only ten minutes on foot or five minutes by bike.

Next I wanted to know what he has been doing at the weekends and whether he travelled around Byron Bay. He told me that on his first weekend he went to Brisbane, on the second weekend he explored around Byron Bay by bike and on the third weekend he went to Sufers Paradise.

Finally I asked him if he thought Byron Bay is a place he’d like to live for the rest of his life. He told me that it was a very good question. He said that he thought it is a nice place to live but he missed the winter and his family. I wanted to know if Byron Bay is a good place to have a family and he admitted that it is difficult because even though the people are really friendly he thought it is not easy to make a “very very” good friends.