5C Pang Siu Yu

          I had a wonderful time joining a study trip to Australia during this summer vacation. This is certainly one of the most unforgettable overseas experiences for me. We stayed in Australia for two weeks, but the trip felt much longer than that, for it gave me different encounters and fresh experiences almost every single day. I wasn’t happy at all to leave on the last day.
          First let me show you some special fragments in this trip that I cherish the most.
          I love the Mystery Mountain farm-stay which was our first destination. The beautiful scenery amazed me immediately after I got off the bus. What a boundless prairie! There was no other visitor except our group. The wooden house under the brilliant sunshine once appeared in my dreams and movies was brought to life right in front of us. That was the place where we stayed overnight. The farm owner Garth let us experience various farm work, such as milking the cows, making the boomerang, campfire cooking and horse riding. I hadn’t tried any of those before in my life, so they were all very interesting and fresh to me. All of us stayed in the same house, so it was a perfect chance for us to bond with each other. We played card games by the stove until bed time. I could still remember every single scene we enjoyed together in the farm.
          Another part of the trip which impressed me a lot was visiting a local school, Miami High School, in Gold Coast. I had a chat with the local students who were extremely nice and friendly. I learnt to play Australian football with them. Through conversations and chuckles, I learnt some differences in education between Hong Kong and Australia. This was a good chance for us to learn different cultures and improve our ability in communicating in English. It was such a lovely and rewarding day.
          Living in host family is another special experience. I was getting along very well with my host family members. Their lifestyle was very different from ours, but it was not difficult to adapt to. At the beginning, I was a little bit shy to talk to them. Luckily, they were very patient and they took the initiative to ask for our needs and try to find some common topics that we were interested in. And… we went shopping together! That changed everything. After that, we started to have deeper communication, and we even exchanged our secrets. I still keep contacts them all the time.
          I am deeply impressed with the Australian ways of living after this trip. The Australians are polite, dynamic and I can feel that they love their life and are optimistic all the time. I don’t think I had such strong feelings in other countries I had travelled. Everyone passing by would say good morning to us. The whole country seemed very clean and tidy. I love Australia, especially the people there. If I had the chance, I would choose to study in Australia.
          I learnt a lot during this trip. Obviously, my English has improved, and now I think I know how to express myself in English in the way it is meant to be. I made some friends from different countries in the school, like the students from Russia and Dubai. English is the best tool for us to know each other. The two-week trip has strengthened my courage and confidence in speaking English, even to strangers. The trip has given me fresh experience and new inspirations. It helps me further confirm my determination to keeping widening my horizon, to know more about the world, and to make it a better place one day.

Beach Jumping	Cosy Home in Mystery Mountain