The exchange programme between DGS in Hong Kong and Diocesan School for Girls in Auckland has been running for quite a few years now. It has been certainly my greatest pleasure to be able to participate in this exchange programme, and get a glimpse of the New Zealand lifestyle and the beauty of New Zealand.

This year, the two of us, Heidi and I, took our buddies, Makayla and Summer into our homes, and showed them different parts of Hong Kong, with me and my family, taking Summer to places such as Tai O, Cheung Chau, The Peak, Disneyland, Ocean Park and much more.  

During our summer Holiday, we flew 9145 km, to Auckland, New Zealand, to meet up with our host buddies and their families.

Auckland is a famous and one of the most populated city in New Zealand. Situated in New Zealand's North Island, it used to be the capital of New Zealand, which then later changed to Wellington. Auckland has an urban area of 559.2 km², and a population of 1,495,000, resulting in an urban population density of 2,700/km², which in comparison with Hong Kong's population density, 6,544/km square, has a much larger piece of land and a smaller population.

During my first week in New Zealand, my host family took me around Auckland, and to places such as One Tree Hill, Piha Beach, the CBD of Auckland and the harbour front of Auckland. It was fascinating to see both the scenic part and busy part of Auckland. 

Two of my best moments are going to Wellington and Rotorua, cities also located in North Island. Wellington, is the capital of New Zealand, with most government workplaces situated there, such as the Parliament. My host family took me to Wellington on an one day trip, in which we went to visit the Te Papa (the National Museum), the Wellington Cable Car, the Parliament and Mount Victoria. Te Papa is a museum with a big showcase of different topics, ranging from animals to Maori Culture to an exhibit on Gallipoli (an important war that the New Zealanders fought during World War 1). I gained a lot of insights on World War 1 through the exhibition from the different stories of soldiers and the New Zealanders who fought bravely for their country. Mount Victoria has a lookout located on the top of the mountain, which allowed visitors to look at the whole city in a bird eye's view. I was amazed by the whole view of Wellington, which consisted of tall and short buildings, and with many houses built on hills.

Rotorua is a city famous for its beautiful sceneries, geothermal activities and Maori Culture. Through the road trip to Rotorua, my host family took me to explore the different beautiful parts of Rotorua. On my first day in Rotorua, they brought me on a fun and exciting ride on the Luge, a cart ride down a hill. As we rode the Luge downhill, we dove into and out of forests and saw bits of Rotorua from the top of the hill. On my second day, they took me to Rainbow Springs Nature Park and to a hot pool place near Rotorua. In Rainbow Springs, I got to see the native Kiwi bird and to feed the trouts in small pools around the park. At the hot pools, we relaxed in pools of thermal water.  

Diocesan School for Girls, the school we attended during our stay, is a private school located in Epsom, Auckland. Through the three week course of schooling at Dio Auckland, we joined in like normal students. We had been given student numbers, and even an intranet account. Through our stay at Dio, we learnt more new knowledge on different subjects, the education system in Auckland, met a lot of new friends and exchanged different ideas on different universal topics. The system ran by Dio Auckland isn't exactly the same as the one we have in Hong Kong. During our time there, we were given options (electives) to choose from, with a much larger variety of options. I chose Latin, Food Technology and Digital Media Design (IT). In all my options, I got to try out new things that I haven't tried before in Hong Kong. Other than the three options, I also took an advanced maths class, in which the class studied on maths topics a year faster than normal, for example the advanced maths class in Year 10 will be studying Year 11 maths topics. With the help of my classmates and my teacher in my maths class, I was able to catch up with the topics they were focusing on, and truly enjoyed the class.

With time passing so fast like a blink of an eye, it was really hard to say our goodbyes to our new-met friends. On our last day of school, we exchanged hugs and contact information and said our last farewells to our nice and welcoming friends.

Our month spent in New Zealand was definitely one of the best times in our lives, as we learnt and benefited from all the people we met, and with this, we are especially grateful to all the people who helped make this exchange programme a wonderful one. Firstly, we would like to thank our buddies, Summer and Makayla, along with their families, who took us in and welcomed us to their houses like a very close family member. Without you all, our exchange programme wouldn't have been as great as it is. Secondly, we would like to thank Mrs. van Meeuwen, the deputy principal of Diocesan School for Girls, who was in charge of the whole exchange programme and introduced the school to us. Thirdly, we would like to thank all staff and students of Dio Auckland, who helped us when we were stuck with a problem and when we were lost. Fourthly, we would like to thank Mrs. RL Wong, who was in charge of the exchange programme and made the exchange successful. Last but not least, we would like to extend our gratitude to our Headmistress, Mrs. Lau, who continued the exchange programme for all these years and gave us the best pieces of advice. We will definitely treasure this whole experience and maintain our friendships with friends.

Reported by: Annette Chan (3W)

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