嘉義市興華高級中學

It was my second time to go abroad. I felt excited but nervous, because I needed to speak all English there and I seldom had a chance to speak English in Taiwan. I was afraid I couldn’t speak English well. It took us about eight hours to Brisbane, Australia, one and half to Robina High School. Everyone then met their host family immediately.

I was so happy that my host family made me and Anne, who would live with me, welcome. They had three little cute children, Monson, Melaan, and Sahara. It was Sunday, as we arrived, so my host family took Anne and me to the church. People there were all really nice and how big, pretty a church is. It was very different from Taiwan. We had a delicious dinner in the evening, although I was not used to it at the beginning, I greatly enjoyed my dinner in those subsequent days.

After dinner, Anne and I gave them their presents that we brought from Taiwan. They bloody liked them. Our host mother, Liana, kept saying thank you to us and we chatted a lot. It was not only a wonderful night, but also I found it not that difficult as I had thought to have a conversation with them. The next day, I met my buddy, Gabbi. She was a black-hair and blue-eye girl. This was her second time to have a buddy. She was younger than me but we talked happily just like friends.

Now, I was truly released, because I knew that both my buddy and family treated me really well. From Monday to Friday, I had classes with buddy and ESL classes about Australian history, aboriginal, animal, and geography. It was interesting and helpful. I learned a lot and I also knew more about Australia. The rugby classes were fun, too. I often saw this sport game on TV with my host father, Daniel. It seemed very excited and now I finally had a chance to try it! On weekends, we had gone to a museum in Brisbane, Dreamworld, Surfer’s Paradise, and Tambourine Mountain National Park on the last day before we came back. Every place were all very beautiful, but I liked the day in Brisbane the most. We went to Brisbane in the morning and to a museum first. There were many animal specimens and huge models of whales, cars, airplanes, dinosaurs and so on. Then we went to an urban district of Brisbane for shopping.

We saw some old European buildings, which broadened my view. They were so magnificent! After lunch, I started my shopping with my friends. Not only I, but also everyone bought lots of souvenirs for their family and themselves. Most of us spent our money in a duty free shop, because there were most of the things we wanted to buy, especially, the shopkeeper was from Taiwan! I had a great day there.

The last day we stayed in Australia, we had a farewell party in Robina High School. We had some performance for our host families, buddies and teachers. The scene was warm and touching when we read each other’s thank-you letters. It was time to say goodbye. It was really hard. Everyone were crying, because during these two weeks, we already had a deep sentiment. I felt so sad, and I awfully didn’t want to leave them. They were all very nice people. I will never forget them. Next time, if I have an opportunity, I will go back to find them. It was an unforgettable trip; I’ll remember it in my mind for good.

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