Unfortunately, my amazing stay in Australia is coming to an end. During the past two weeks, Tom’s family and I visited several places. First off, we went to the Eureka Tower, one of the tallest buildings in Melbourne where we went on a glass elevator called the edge, which moved horizontally out of the tower. It was a thrilling experience and it allowed me to see the city from a very different perspective.

Also, on the weekend we traveled to Sydney by plane, where we were able to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge, body surf at Bondi Beach, and take a ferry to Manly. Even though I initially thought that climbing the bridge would be very scary because of how high it is, it wasn’t actually frightening. In fact, I really enjoyed it since it gave me a great view of Sydney. I was able to see the Sydney Opera House as well as the entire bay, which is one of the largest of its kind in the world. Bondi Beach was great as well, since Tom taught me how to body surf and the waves were huge. Riding the waves was a thrill and fun, even when I failed and got dumped on my first try. Finally, on the last day of my stay in Sydney, Tom and I took a ferry to go to Manly, where I was able to observe multiple landmarks, such as a presidential residence and the city skyline. The area was also very serene and quiet, and it was a nice change from the shorelines that I’m used to.

This past Wednesday, Tom and I went on an excursion to Sovereign Hill in Ballarat, a small town, along with all the other exchange students and hosts at Carey Grammar School. It took two hours to drive there and I have to say it is quite different from Melbourne. Ballarat was very quiet and it seemed like it wasn’t very busy. But we weren’t there to visit. Instead we went to Sovereign Hill, which is an open-air museum that depicts the early stages of Australia where there was a lot of gold mining. The whole place looked very authentic and we were even able to try to dig for gold.

All in all, I had a wonderful time down under and I was able to experience Australian culture. Before I came to Australia, I thought that Melbourne would be very different from Canada, but it is actually pretty similar to Montreal, and I really connected with my friends at Carey. I have also benefited a lot from the exchange. For example, it made me more independent as a person and expanded my horizons. I will truly miss everyone that I have met.

See ya, Australia. I hope to come back and visit!

– Terry Xiao ‘18, Exchange Student at Carey Baptist Grammar School