Exchange Programme with Methodist Ladies’ College (25 July – 4 August 2025)

Methodist Ladies’ College (MLC) is a college for ages 5 to 18 based in Melbourne, Australia. Twelve S2 girls were selected to participate in an exchange programme to Melbourne for 10 days during the summer holidays, and we all learnt a lot while making the most precious memories ever. Throughout the 10-day trip, two of our teachers, Miss C.Y. Lo and Miss K. Lam, accompanied us and kept us safe every day. Our headmistress, Mrs. S. Lau, was also here for a few days to experience Melbourne together with us.

When we first landed in Melbourne, we went straight to MLC for a quick afternoon tea, trying famous foods like lamingtons, which are chocolate cakes covered with coconut flakes. We then headed home with our designated host families, where we indulged in the activities our buddies had planned for us for the rest of the week.

During school hours, I would stick with my buddy and her friend group. Everyone was super welcoming and sweet, waving, smiling, and even coming up to me for hugs, although we’d never seen each other before. Other girls outside of my buddy’s friend group were really warm towards me, too – some helped me through their gymnastics lessons, some guided me through their health and French lessons, and some would even try to speak Cantonese to me to make me feel more at home. After school hours, I often would go with my buddy to explore Melbourne, sometimes along the food street near school, sometimes going into the countryside to see wild kangaroos, or sometimes going further into the City to see the skyline.

   

I was sure to face challenges, however, and the most difficult of them all was the cold weather. When we went to Melbourne, it was during their harsh winter, where temperatures reached up to 4 degrees Celsius only. The cold weather, along with the 2-hour time difference, made it really hard to wake up for school – I was basically waking up at 5 am Hong Kong time in the sheer cold! However, once I slowly adjusted to the mild jet lag and started wearing more clothes to combat the weather, I found myself becoming more comfortable during the Melbourne winter.

The time I spent with my buddy, though 10 days long, felt short – and I wonder if it was because we are a perfect match for each other – we both enjoy the performing arts, sleep a lot, and have the same sense of humour. We slowly warmed up to each other, from simply chatting before bed to spilling our deepest secrets to each other. Even during times when we weren’t at home, we would still chase after each other in the park, hold on to each other during scary escape rooms, and share many more intimate moments which I will never forget.

My immense gratitude goes to everyone who took part in making this trip possible, from MLC’s headmistress, Ms Shea, to our headmistress, Mrs. Lau, and our teacher chaperones, Miss Lo and Miss Lam, along with our coordinating teacher, Mrs R.L. Wong, for granting us this opportunity to broaden our horizons. I would also like to thank all the MLC students, regardless of their age, for making us feel so welcome in such new territory for us.