Reflection on being a buddy for the girls from Singapore

This was the first time I experienced being a buddy and interacting with students from abroad for a whole week. By being a buddy, I was closely involved in the preparation made for our visitors and able to learn firsthand the amount of work necessary to make this exchange programme a success.

The visitors were very pleasant and I had a marvellous time with them. Cultural exchange was a significant part of our talks. I especially enjoyed their stories about school life in Singapore and their amazement at some of the things that MSS girls do.

All in all, I enjoyed the experience a lot and wish it could have gone on for a longer time. I would most definitely be interested in participating in an exchange programme in Singapore.

Karishma Advani 4B

The week I spent with the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ) girls from Singapore is a week I will never forget. Meeting new people is always an exciting experience – we learn new things about the person, their country, their lifestyle, and much more. But these girls made the experience extraordinary! They were so friendly and so confident that it seemed like they felt at home at Marymount from the very moment they walked through the gates. They made it so easy for us buddies to help them adapt to the MSS lifestyle and it was amazing to see how well they fitted in. By the end of their stay, if it were not for the different uniforms, I doubt anyone would have been able to tell a CHIJ girl from an MSS one.

I personally am very grateful for being given the opportunity to be a “buddy” for the CHIJ girls. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I treasure every moment I spent with my “buddy” Melissa and all the other girls. I got to learn a lot from them, about Singapore, about CHIJ, and I hope that they could say the same about us and about MSS. Their presence during the lessons made the atmosphere so much happier and more energetic. All through their stay, classrooms were constantly filled with excited chatter and laughter as we shared our experiences and bits and pieces of our lives with one another. We got along fantastically and we had a lot of fun learning together. It was very hard to say goodbye on their last day in MSS as we had become pretty close over the week. But we promised to stay in touch by Facebook and email, and we had photos to remind us of the great week we spent together, not that anyone could forget. 

Vedika Daswani 4B

From 23rd to 27th November, girls from The Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus Secondary visited our school and attended lessons with us. When I was first told that I was chosen as one of the buddies in the Twinning Programme, I did not have much confidence in my oral English as it is not my mother tongue, so a week before their visit, I practised really hard by reading newspapers aloud and listening to radio programmes in English. I wanted to be prepared and give my buddy a great time. My buddy was Ariaga Mucek and she was a real laugh. Our classmates loved to listen to her tales from her school and therefore she had no problem fitting in.

Although that week was surely the busiest one of my school life, I actually enjoyed it because not a second was wasted.  I felt that I have grown to be more responsible for my work and lost some of my absent-mindedness.  This is certainly an unforgettable experience as I learnt a lot about a different culture while having fun.  If they were to come again, I would be thrilled to be their buddy.

Alexandra Lee 3A

Being one of the buddies of the CHIJ friends has indeed been an inspiring and unforgettable experience.

I still remember having butterflies in my stomach when they first arrived, which I now find amusing.  At first, I was worried it would be a hard week being stuck with Violet, for she was very quiet and there was always an awkward silence between us.  However, as time went by, she turned out to be outgoing and confident.  Violet took everyone by surprise when she won the award of the best debater in our mini-class debate.

I was very upset that the CHIJ friends were leaving so soon. I almost burst into tears when we said farewell and I wish we could visit their school one day.

In fact, being a major buddy was neither as challenging nor troublesome as I expected. The only obstacle I encountered was not being able to completely comprehend their English due to their strong Singaporean accent. Although it was getting better towards the end of their stay, I still had some difficulty understanding them completely.

Overall, being a buddy has been enjoyable.  It has brightened my Secondary 3 school-life.  I absolutely look forward to being a buddy again in the future.

Eugean Lo 3D

When I first learned that I was appointed as a buddy for the Singaporean exchange students, I was surprised, for there are so many other schoolmates more "qualified" than I. I have always been a quiet person who seldom talks and "minds her own business". I was worried that I might not be able to strike up any conversation at all.

At first, talking with my buddy Sarah felt quite strange as I did not know her well. But gradually, after a few lessons together, I found that she was actually a very nice and friendly person, so I stopped feeling uncomfortable talking to her.

I do not know if this is just the case of my class, but the coming of the Singaporean students has made us a lot more lively than usual, so lively that Sarah and Kylie described us as "crazy"! I think this is a good thing, though. It shows that we were getting along with them very well, and indeed we were. I remember that during an English class, we had a competition about prefixes and suffixes. I was put in a group together with Kylie who was so smart. She provided us with a lot of words that brought us from the last to second place, saving us from having to sing a song. Later, our teacher even treated the whole class to an ice-lolly each! Everyone was so happy.

Then the last day came, and we had to say goodbye and give our gifts to the exchange students. Mine was to Sarah, a cute little teddy bear that I made myself on behalf of my class. I stayed up until four the previous night to finish it, but I think it was worth the trouble, seeing how happy Sarah was when she received it.

During the week of the twinning programme, I really got to know my buddy Sarah, and also Kylie. I also learned about their school life in Singapore, like the fact that they are not "crazy" like us. The time we spent together had been very memorable and fun, and I surely found it a meaningful one.

Janice Cheng 4A

The overall experience of the visit of students from Singapore was very enjoyable. The whole week was filled with activities and experiences, which helped us get along better with the Singaporean students. 

It was an amazing opportunity to communicate with other people from a very different place as well as to get to know the environment there. I was surprised to know that Indians are the third largest ethnic group in Singapore and Indian food is easily available there. I was also fascinated by their accent. It was so different from ours. I have always known that Singaporean people have a different accent, but this was the first time I heard it myself. There were a lot of fascinating facts that I got to know from them and in return, we told them about Hong Kong and our school.  This whole process of exchanging information was very good and I really liked it.

Through this programme, I made a lot of new friends with whom I can now communicate. They belong to a different community and cultural background. Getting to know them was a pleasure and I will definitely treasure this valuable experience as well as all the new friends I have made.

Kriti Kothari 4B

I was quite happy that I was assigned as a companion to a girl whose name is Erin. She is 14 years old and studies in Secondary 3.

Erin looks like Singaporean Chinese but she only knows a few Chinese words and speaks neither Cantonese nor Putonghua. Therefore, English is our only common language.  When I met her on the first day and learnt that she could only speak English, I was a bit paranoid about how to explain to her about our daily school life because my spoken English is not so good.  But after the second day, I got used to it and all the worries were gone.

Erin is an open-minded and lovely girl so she was eager to ask questions and listen to my explanation. For example, during Chinese History lessons, she did not show any impatience when waiting for my translation although I had to think for some time. Our relationship was quite good throughout the week.  I think the main reason is that she has a very amiable character and seldom complains. I was relaxed after being with her for two days because she is an easy-going person. Also, I found out that she was always reading. She recommended to me some books which she found interesting.

On the last day, I was upset because she was leaving us. The time she stayed at MSS was too short.  I am glad that I had participated in this programme. I appreciate in particular the arrangement to meet the visitors before class started on the first day as we could introduce ourselves to each other. And one experience I find unforgettable is that it is not easy at all to do direct translation!

Mandy Leung 3B

At the beginning of the school year, the remark “Singapore Students visit MSS” in the diary filled my head with words like “education” and “learning”.  Today, when I look at the statement again, my head is full of things that are more than words. The five-day stay of the Singaporean girls gives me the best memories of the year.

Just as it was intended to be, the programme was a precious opportunity for cross-boundary interaction and learning. I first came into contact with my buddy, Kylie, during the English Literature lesson. The book that we were studying was surely not the same text as theirs. However, her effort to get involved in our lessons was shown in every way. I was surprised by her promptness to raise questions and her eagerness to express ideas during discussions.  Sometimes my jaws dropped and I was speechless after listening to her opinions that were both mature and logical.

We had Mathematics lessons together as well. The learning atmosphere immediately changed when we had to deal with all those "x"s and "‘y"’s and "z"’s.  We racked our brains and never exchanged more than a dozen words during the lesson. However, it did not imply that we had no interaction. When we scowled together in frustration of getting stuck, a mischievous glance was exchanged, and we both laughed our heads off.

On the last day, we exchanged presents and that was the worst time in the wonderful week. Kylie’s encouraging words about Mathematics were most heartwarming, and I was really depressed to bid such a thoughtful friend farewell.

Upon their arrival, I did not anticipate a farewell laden with reluctance and tears. However, this was exactly what I got on 27th November 2009.

Through MSN and Facebook, Kylie and I keep in close touch. Still, when I look at the photos we had taken in MSS, my heart is filled with elated feelings that can never be described in words.

Loretta Lo 4D

From 23rd to 27th November 2009, a group of Singaporean students from CHIJ Secondary visited our school. It was a really special week, because I was assigned to be one of the "buddies" of the CHIJ girls, meaning that we would take care of and accommodate them during their stay at our school. It was definitely a remarkable experience.

I was absolutely thrilled and excited about their arrival, so I did a whole lot of mental preparation beforehand, including thinking of how to introduce myself when I first met my buddy, Melody. But unfortunately, I was sick and therefore absent from school the first day they arrived, so I missed the chance of giving her a good first impression of our school and of myself. Fortunately, my partner Velma (another assigned buddy) took over and Melody was well taken care of. When I got back to school the following day, I finally got to meet Melody in person.

She was very sweet, and apparently my whole class loved her. Our class liked her so much we already considered her as the 39th member of our class. But another unfortunate thing was that I did not get to talk to her much, for I was only supposed to accompany her during Chinese Language, Chinese history and Putonghua lessons, and in other lessons she was to be accompanied by Velma. Moreover, because Melody does not understand Cantonese, she went to the library for both Chinese Language and Chinese History lessons. So all the lesson time I got to spend with her was Putonghua, but the worst had yet to come—we only had one single Putonghua lesson during their whole stay in MSS. Ultimately I only spent 50 minutes of one-to-one lesson time with her. How I wish I had more chances to get to know her better! But we had a few conversations between lessons, so it turned out quite all right.

The highlight of their whole visit was the farewell party on Friday. We exchanged culture through dancing. The CHIJ girls gave a Bollywood-inspired dance performance while our dance team members gave a Korean dance performance. It was a whole lot of entertainment. But the best was for the last—after all the performances, we gathered together with the CHIJ girls for the last time. We took tons of photos and we gave Melody the gifts we (3C) had prepared for her—a bottle of lucky stars and a school workbook containing 38 messages from every class member. She was so touched! We all felt like crying, and one of my friends really did start sobbing, but that did not keep Melody from leaving. After she left, the empty seat in our classroom made us miss her more and more. But we have already added her as a friend on our Facebook, and we are keeping in touch! Also, the letter she left us is posted on our class notice board to remind us of just how nice she was. I still go and read it from time to time!

This was an exceptional experience that I would remember for a long time. And our school might organize a visit to CHIJ Secondary in Singapore this school year, so I might get to see Melody again! I am so looking forward to spending more time with her.

Laura Harrison 3C