As a 16-year-old, Antti Anttila chose to come to New Zealand looking for an experience of rural life as part of an AFS exchange programme.
He attended Dunstan High School for a year in 1994 as a part of the programme to provide students around the world with intercultural learning opportunities.
During his time there, he played rugby for the school, a sport almost unknown in Finland.
He was also in the school choir and travelled to Australia with the choir to attend a festival.
He was hosted by Marjorie and Malcolm Moore, who wanted to give back to the international community after their daughter Nicky had a great experience on exchange in the United States with AFS.
The Moores hosted three exchange students, with Mr Anttila being the last.
Mr Moore was also the Central Otago AFS chapter president for a few years.
Mr Anttila has returned to New Zealand for a two-week visit as his host father’s health is in decline.
"It was now or never," he said.
Returning was always something he wanted to do, but other factors kept him from doing so.
He said New Zealand had changed a lot in appearance but the basic atmosphere was still the same.
"[It is] just as I remembered," he said.
Over the years he had kept in contact with his host family but had found keeping in touch with his classmates more difficult.
During his visit he has tried to reconnect with his old classmates.
He managed to meet up with six of his old classmates, with five of them still living in Alexandra.
"We had a ball catching up after 30 years," he said.
