In 2017, during Year 4, my life took a bit of a plot twist. One day I was in China, doing normal school things, and the next, my parents announced — quite casually, might I add — that we were moving to Australia.

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Not next year. Not in a few months. Just... soon.

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I had a few weeks to mentally prepare, pack my life into a suitcase, and say goodbye to home.

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English School: My Crash Course in Survival

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To make sure I didn’t get completely lost in translation in Australia, I went to Times Academy to learn English. For six months, I basically lived in a world of strange vowel sounds and mysterious grammar rules. Imagine trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle when you’ve never seen the picture on the box — that’s what learning English felt like.

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But slowly, it started to click. I learned that “how are you” wasn’t an actual question (most people just say “good” and move on), and that “break a leg” wasn’t something mean. So that was progress.

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New School, New World

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After that, I joined a Jewish school. I’d love to say I blended in instantly, but the truth is, I didn’t even try at first. I was stubborn — still clinging to what I knew, still overwhelmed by everything new. I didn’t make much of an effort to understand the culture around me. Why was the bread braided? What was Shabbat? Why were people spinning tops and singing in Hebrew? I ignored these questions.

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But over time, something shifted. I started to notice how kind and welcoming the students were — even when I didn’t understand anything, they still included me. Eventually, curiosity got the better of me. I stopped pretending and started asking. And once I did, everything began to change. I learned more, connected more, and slowly, school started to feel a little more like home.

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Books, Words, and My Favourite Subject

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One of the biggest reasons I grew to love school here was my English teacher in Year 6. She didn’t just teach English — she helped me connect with it. She gave me books that I could actually enjoy, and slowly, reading turned from something scary into something I looked forward to. My grammar and vocabulary improved. English became my favourite subject — and still is today.

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What I Learned (Besides New Words)

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I’ll be honest: I wasn’t very open-minded at first. I held onto my own culture tightly, which made it harder to see the beauty in others’. But Australia is built on multiculturalism — it’s in the food, the festivals, the friendships. Once I allowed myself to be curious, I realised how fun it actually is to learn about other people’s stories.

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So if you’re moving to a new country, learning a new language, or feeling completely lost — you’re not alone. And you’re not doomed. It takes time. It takes a few awkward mistakes and a lot of questions. But it gets better. Actually, it gets pretty great.

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And who knows? One day, you might find yourself writing a story… in your new favourite language.