Three weeks of wonderful experience in England
By Lam Ching Yi
I would like to say a big thank you to the Rotary Club of Wanchai for giving me such a memorable trip to England where I had such a wonderful experience. After a long flight, we finally arrived in London. It was a sunny day and I felt elated even though I was sleepy due to the jet lag. When I got out of the taxi, I could see Maria, my host mother was waiting for me. She was a tall woman and had curly long hair. She prepared roast chicken and potatoes for me after I had settled in. However, I am a vegetable lover and I was scared that I would not be able to eat vegetables in the following days. (In fact, I ate broccoli only once!) When I was staying with the host family, they asked me how I managed to get the scholarship. After I told them I got this after going through an interview, they looked surprised and said my school was fantastic. She told me that her daughter was married and was no longer living with her. I asked if she felt lonely but she answered no as she enjoyed chatting with us so much!
On the first day, Ali, my host father, taught me how to get to school. It was difficult for me to remember how to walk through the endless streets. They all looked nearly the same! Ali said if I got lost, I would never be able to see my mum again. I knew he was joking and I pretended to cry. We then both laughed. After I entered the school building, I was a bit nervous as there were too many strangers in front of me. After calming down, I could find my class and started my first school day. There were so many classmates from many countries. In order to make friends with them, I had to be active and talk to them -- in English. It was not hard for me to make new friends, but indeed, it was my first time to use English to make friends. Incredibly, it was not as tough as I had thought. They were all very friendly and loved to chat with me. I am already missing them now, especially Haruna, a lovely Japanese girl. We usually talked about the differences in cultures between our two countries, like we would have congee at breakfast and they would have cereals. Moreover, I took her to a Chinese restaurant and introduced Chinese food to her. To me, it was definitely a pleasure to share my Chinese culture with others. We went punting (propelling a boat with a long pole), on a market hunt (a treasure hunt in the market), to a disco night, to college and on museum visits. I've learnt a lot about the English culture through these activities. The most unforgettable part was the day trip to London. What a glamorous city it is with elegant and innovative buildings everywhere! My camera couldn't stop clicking for a long time!
On the last school day, we stayed at school until it closed. We treasured our last moment together. I took plenty of photos with my new friends. Before leaving, Maria said she would miss me because there would be no one moving in until September and she was going to be lonely. I laughed as I knew she was kidding. At the last moment, I gave two Chinese embroideries to them which I brought from Hong Kong. It was a pity that I forgot to take a photo with my host family. Anyhow, I will always remember all the things that happened in England. The trip really opened my eyes! I would like to thank the Rotary Club (Wanchai) for giving me such an interesting and unforgettable experience.
A visit to London.Its one of my favourite places during the whole trip.It's a shame that we didn't have enough time there.
Ice-cream van in England
It was the most fascinating but tiring thing I found in Cambridge - punting
The bathroom at my host family's house
We 've met so many friends coming from different countries and we still keep contact with each other on our facebooks.
