Two weeks of the overseas study program have ended, and it now seems like it was all a dream. In these two weeks, we had countless happy, unforgettable and special experiences, some of which I’d like to share here.

I still remember the first day we met each other at the Macau ferry terminal; I only knew one of the eighteen people because she is my classmate. I was very excited because I would not only make some new friends, but also travel to Brisbane and live at a homestay. After a ferry, plane and school bus, we finally arrived at the University of Queensland. Then we went to our new home with our homestay family. Mine was a teacher who teaches Chinese at a college. She lives alone. When we arrived at her house, she showed me my bedroom, toilet and the lovely veranda, etc. Then she gave me the key of the house and a Go card. She made me a cup of tea before we went to Garden City Shopping Centre. After that, she showed me how to go to school and where to find some souvenir shops in city.

The second day of the trip, I met Kay and Cynthia for an excursion to Brisbane. This was our first time out without our homestay family. Before going, I had already researched how I could best get there. After we met, we visited ANZAC Square, Brisbane City Hall, the Cathedral of St Stephen, etc; and we had lunch at Pancakes Manor. Meals are seemed enormous to me so I shared with the other girls. In the afternoon, we joined Emma and Natalie for a visit to the Art Gallery, South Bank Parklands and we took the Wheel of Brisbane at sunset.

We spent most of our time at the University of Queensland, studying and learning English there. I loved the walking tour of the city with Australian UQ students because we could talk with locals and find out more about Brisbane’s history, culture and what they do in their free time. Another thing I liked, was talking with Japanese students because we didn’t know each other’s language and thus could only use English to communicate. Although our English wasn’t very accurate, we all tried our best to talk. Finally, we visited the Lone Pine and EKKA; the koalas and kangaroos are so cute and I took a photo with a koala.

I’m very happy that I was able to join this program because I had a chance to speak English in a very different context and was able to improve my vocabulary; especially talking with my homestay family. I will never forget our time in Brisbane and an amazing sunrise at the Gold Coast. It was a great opportunity to meet new people and learn new things, including English, at the same time!