Time flies. I still can recall my first impression about the first three days in Melbourne posted in my wechat moment: The weather was cold but the people are warm. That was how I felt for the whole three weeks in Melbourne. Generally, our days in Melbourne consisted of three parts: commuting to school, attending classes and sightseeing.

Most of us lived far away from the city central where the campus was located. Forty minutes to an hour was the usual time it took from home to school. However, all of us lived in big houses with gardens outside, which was an experience that we never had in Macau. Unfortunately, transportation in Melbourne was not as developed as we thought. Trains and buses were far less frequent on weekends than on weekdays. They were sometimes even cancelled for maintenance, doubling or even tripling the time it took to go out for people living along the lines. But overall, trains and buses were far less crowded than buses in Macau. You do not have to push yourself to get on the public transport during the peak time.

In addition, the courses we attended were instructive and beneficial in terms of communicating with people around the world and understanding Australian culture. I can still recall the interesting terms: Peach and Coconut. They represent two different cultures. People from the Peach Culture are relatively more talkative and sociable than those who from Coconut Culture. They like to share their life with people they may not know. People from Coconut Culture, however, are more reserved and look more serious, distancing themselves from others. Australians are somewhere in the middle. With the knowledge of these two cultures and certain sensitive topics, I can quickly adjust my communication style to people who I am talking to without being passive and acting awkward. Apart from that, tutors also asked us to go outside the classroom and initiate a conversation with someone in the kitchen, elevator, or other common areas in order to apply the small talk skills that we learned from class to our daily life. I have never been a fan of small talk. To my surprise, almost all the conversations that I had ran smoothly and quite naturally. Then I realized that knowing how to ask questions brings great help to the continuation of a conversation.

Besides student life, we also lived a tourists’ life after class. Melbourne Zoo, Melbourne Museum, St. Kilda, Great Ocean Road, Puffing Billy, Sovereign Hill, and Philip Island are all amazing places that seduce everyone to visit.

Last but not least, friendships with our Japanese cohorts, homestay families and tutors were the most valuable things I got from this journey. We spent two weeks together with Japanese cohorts in attending class and hanging out, and three weeks with homestay families and in Melbourne. Japanese friends even prepared a video to show their gratitude and happiness with us for the two-week studying time and played it on our program graduation ceremony. Tears flowed when we heard their blessing. Everyone was hoping that this moment could last forever.

Days in Melbourne will be engraved in my memories and I will never let them go. Goodbye, Melbourne.