The 17-year-old will spend the next six months as a student at Cessnock High School as part of the Rotary Youth Exchange program.

Ossi said he chose Australia as he had looked on a map and tried to go somewhere a long way from his home.

“I had heard good things about Australia and the lifestyle and wanted to see for myself,” he said.

Ossi spent the first six months of his year-long exchange in Dubbo, and is enjoying his experience so far, making many new friends and learning about Australia.

One of the things he has enjoyed most was a road trip from Perth to Dubbo, on which he learnt the Aussie sayings “Are we there yet?” and “fair dinkum”.

While in Cessnock he will stay with Cessnock Rotary Club members Dave and Janette Owens, who have hosted a number of exchange students in the past.

“We love meeting the new kids and experiences that we can share with them. They bring a lot of fun into your life,” Ms Owens said.

“We are looking forward to sharing with Ossi all of the different opportunities available to us as Aussies.

“Ossi has grown to love the beach and we still want to show him the sights of Sydney. We are heading to the Gold Coast in May to see Australia Zoo and the Outback Spectacular.”

Ossi is also looking forward to joining Cessnock High School’s Interact Club, which formed last year.

Cessnock Rotary Club is calling for any families wanting to host an exchange student, and any young people wanting to be an outbound exchange student next year.

Cessnock siblings Justin, Claudia and Sebastian Koncz were all Rotary exchange students, with Justin and Claudia both travelling to Canada and Sebastian to Austria.

All three loved the experience and made lifelong friends, and would recommend it to any students willing to go overseas to represent their country and community.

Anyone interested in hosting a student or becoming an exchange student can contact club president Graham Farish on grahamfarish@bigpond.com.