Monday, 12 January 2026by Hebe Cheung 5L
On 11 and 12 December, 36 students and four teachers from our sister school, Beijing National Day School—Jin Yuan, came to visit Shung Tak Catholic English College (STC). I was lucky enough to be granted the opportunity to be paired with a buddy, an enthusiastic and cheerful first-year student from Jin Yuan, whom I am still in contact with. I truly hope she enjoyed her time here and left with wonderful memories of her two days at our school.
The night before we met, I felt a mix of nervousness and excitement. Having been preoccupied with schoolwork, the reality of the visit seemed to arrive suddenly. My mind raced with countless scenarios—worries that my Putonghua might not be good enough, that I was underprepared, or that she might not enjoy my company. All those worries faded the moment we met. My buddy greeted me with a bright, cheerful smile and began chatting easily, as if we were old friends. We quickly discovered how much we had in common, from our hobbies to our love of food, which is likely why we got along so well.
Over the next two days, she became a constant, joyful presence by my side. On the first day, we had an ice-breaking session after we met. Afterwards, I brought my buddy along to experience my next two periods, Chinese and PE. She shared how much she loves Chinese language class and was eager to participate, though she had not expected it to be conducted in Cantonese. The lesson turned into a fun guessing game for her and a translation challenge for me; anyway, we had fun and it was a cool experience. Later, during PE softball, I initially worried that my classmates and she might feel awkward, but she blended in effortlessly and even managed to hit a home run. We also visited Tai Fat to try some local cha chaan teng food before heading to Ocean Park for an amazing afternoon of learning about ecosystem conservation and enjoying the rides. The second day began with a collaborative design project: creating a manhole cover together. I was so happy that our design received a lot of praise, and it was an interesting experience working with someone from such a different background—but our teamwork felt natural and effective. Afterwards, I took her to experience our school’s Operation Santa Claus (OSC), a meaningful and fun annual tradition. After OSC, it was time to say goodbye. We exchanged snacks and souvenirs, which was a bittersweet conclusion to our two days together, which were full of cultural exchange, new friendship, and, of course, good food.