BBQ Nights, Karaoke, and the People I’ll Never Forget

How Friday Nights at 3D Taught Me the True Meaning of Connection

When I first enrolled at 3D Academy, I thought I was coming for the usual things: English lessons, grammar drills, vocabulary lists, test preparation.
I expected early mornings, full notebooks, and structured progress.

What I didn’t expect was to be dancing barefoot in the courtyard, singing 90s love songs with strangers I’d never met before—laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe.

This is the story of BBQ nights.
And how they became the most meaningful part of my time in Cebu.

The First Friday: Hesitation and Curiosity

It was my fifth day at 3D.
I was still jet-lagged, still figuring out the cafeteria system, still nervous in class.

That Friday, after dinner, my roommate—an outgoing Korean girl named Jiyoon—said,
“Are you coming to BBQ night?”

“BBQ night?” I asked. “What’s that?”

“It’s every Friday. Free food, karaoke, everybody goes. Let’s go!”

I hesitated. I wasn’t good at parties. My English was shaky.
But something in her enthusiasm made me say, “Okay. Just for a little while.”

We walked down to the open courtyard by the entrance.
There were grills smoking, tables set up, fairy lights strung between the palm trees.
A speaker was playing soft acoustic music. Teachers were laughing with students. Someone handed me a plate of grilled chicken.

I was still nervous—until someone started singing.

Karaoke: The Ice Breaker

A Japanese student got up and started singing “Let It Be.” His voice trembled at first.
But when the chorus hit, the crowd sang with him.

Jiyoon nudged me. “You sing next?”

“No way,” I laughed.

But by the third song, I was clapping. By the fifth, I was mouthing the words.

And by the end of the night, I had joined a group of Filipino teachers and Taiwanese students in a full chorus of “Dancing Queen.”
I didn’t know all the lyrics, and it didn’t matter.

For the first time in months, I felt unguarded.
Not as a student, not as a foreigner—just as a human, surrounded by other humans.

Week After Week: From Faces to Friends

BBQ night wasn’t just a party. It was a weekly ritual.

By the second week, I recognized familiar faces.
By the third, I remembered names.

That quiet Vietnamese guy from morning class? Turns out he played guitar.
The petite Chinese student I always saw with her books? She had a powerhouse voice that blew everyone away with Whitney Houston.

And the teacher I thought was strict? He did the moonwalk during Michael Jackson songs.

We ate together. We sang. We danced. We laughed.

Language stopped being a barrier.
Shyness turned into stories.
Strangers became companions.

Unexpected Connections

One night, I met Aya from Japan.
She was sitting alone, eating barbecue chicken and watching the karaoke stage.

I asked, “Why not join the fun?”

She smiled shyly. “Too shy. I just watch.”

I sat next to her. We talked. Slowly, awkwardly, in broken English.

That 10-minute conversation turned into three months of friendship.
We studied together, explored Cebu together, even took a weekend trip to Bohol.

We still talk every week online.

It started because of BBQ night.

Cultural Exchange—Without Trying

No one sat down and said, “Let’s do a cultural exchange.”
But it happened naturally.

A Thai student taught us how to make a spicy dipping sauce using the local calamansi.
A Filipino teacher introduced us to a dance game popular in Visayas.
We explained holidays, childhood memories, our favorite comfort foods.

Karaoke songs became international playlists.
We switched between Japanese, Korean, English, Tagalog.

Every Friday became a little global village.

Healing Through Laughter

Some of us came to 3D carrying emotional weight.

A breakup. A failed job interview. Family pressure. Burnout.

We didn’t talk about it much during the day.

But something about singing “Someone Like You” off-key with six other students under the stars—it helped.
We let go. We smiled again.

It wasn’t therapy. But it was something close.

The Teachers Who Joined In

What made BBQ night even more special was that the teachers came, too.

Not as teachers. Just as people.

We saw their humor, their dance moves, their favorite songs.
One teacher did an entire karaoke set of Backstreet Boys in full choreographed moves.
Another, normally shy in class, brought a ukulele and played a love song he wrote in college.

We learned that they weren’t just English teachers. They were musicians, parents, poets, dreamers.

That connection carried back into class.
We understood each other better. We laughed more. We trusted more.

The Night Before Graduation

On my last Friday at 3D, it rained.

But that didn’t stop anyone.

We moved BBQ night under the roof by the cafeteria. The grills still fired. The speakers still played.

I got up and sang “I’ll Be There for You”—the theme from Friends—with two other classmates.

We got soaked just running to the mic.
We laughed so hard we couldn’t sing properly.

And when I looked around that night—at the people clapping, eating, hugging—I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time:

Belonging.

After 3D: Carrying the Friday Spirit

Even now, years later, every Friday reminds me of 3D.

When I hear a certain song, I smile.
When I eat grilled chicken, I remember the smell of the courtyard.
When I feel lonely, I remember that once, in a foreign country, surrounded by strangers, I found community.

And whenever I meet new people, especially nervous ones—I try to do what BBQ night did for me:

Invite them in. Share something. Listen.

Final Thoughts: More Than a Language School

3D Academy taught me grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation.

But BBQ nights taught me something just as important:

Connection.

That learning English is not just about tests—it’s about building bridges.
That confidence doesn’t come from textbooks—it comes from dancing when no one is watching.
That strangers can become lifelong friends over grilled corn and love ballads.

So if you’re thinking of studying at 3D, don’t skip the Friday BBQ.

Because somewhere between the smoke, the songs, and the stars—you might just find the people you’ll never forget.