姓名：朱孟美 系級：應用英語系
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姓名：朱孟美 系級：應用英語系 系級: 應英 2B 姓名: 朱孟美 昆士蘭遊學 ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 在台灣義守時: 大ㄧ時，就報考過學海獎學金，那時只是備取第二位，雖覺得有點可惜，卻 不減我嘗試考第二次的決心。經過一年後，決定再去試試看，但考完後卻很平常 心，沒有天天上學校網頁查看名單，直到一位朋友跟我說我考到時，才趕快上去 獎學金專頁查看，當看到自己的名字真的出現在名單上時，真的欣喜萬分！而同 學們陸陸續續的恭禧聲也令我感到很窩心，心中也默默恭禧自己真的做到了！我 靠我自己賺到第一次遊學的旅費了！ 沒多久，學校安排我們開始抽團，英、美、澳各出兩團，在學校老師講解完 各團的特色後，只有澳洲團是住在寄宿家庭，懷抱著想要融入當地生活，體驗不 同文化，以及沒有太多時間考慮的當下，毅然決然作好適應寄宿家庭以及面對文 化衝擊的準備，就決定抽澳洲團了！而當我知道著名的「黃金海岸」就是位於昆 士蘭時，澳洲「昆士蘭團」讓對於海邊情有獨鍾的我來說真是ㄧ大誘惑，懷著忐 忑不安的心摸著箱裡的號碼球，結果，很幸運地，就像中樂透一樣，我如願以償 地抽中澳洲昆士蘭團！ 接下來，就是滿懷欣喜地為即將來臨的澳洲之旅作好準備，出發的前ㄧ天， 仍不斷期許自己能夠在這趟旅途中，學習獨立、開拓視野、有所成長。 在澳洲昆士蘭時: 1. 寄宿家庭: a.第一印象 首先，來談談我在澳洲的家，Susantha 和 Chandani 是我寄宿家庭的父母， 當我還在台灣的時候，收到學校寄來的寄宿家庭資料時，我一直覺得 Susantha 是女主人<因為 Susan 的關係>，但又覺得 Chandani 唸起來也滿像是女生的名 字，心想：「她們該不會是同性戀組成的家庭吧？」往下看資料發現他們有小孩 耶！姓氏跟 Susantha 的姓氏一樣時，又覺得很奇怪，難道 Susantha 真的是男 主人嗎?可是男生叫作「蘇珊莎」的真的很奇怪呀!於是，我還是覺得：她們是同 性戀組成的家庭，小孩可能是領養的。雖然自己天馬行空地胡亂猜想得很高興， 但最後我還是決定在出國前寄個 E-mail 向他們問候一下，但一直到我要出國的 前兩天，都遲遲未收到回信，於是我鼓起勇氣直接打國際電話到澳洲去！第一次 打國際電話真的很緊張，當話筒的另一端傳來小女孩聲音般的 Hello 時，心跳稍 微緩和了些，來接電話的小女孩說她是 Lakna，從我收到的資料上得知：她才十 二歲，但是從她的話語中，卻感受到她很可以獨當一面，接到一個外國人的電話 不慌不忙，讓我很佩服，想想自己十二歲時，行為處事都還很小孩子，在她和我 閒聊了幾句之後，她說她的媽媽在她旁邊，問我想不想跟她講電話，這時我想機 會來了！可以一探究竟了！於是很快地說好，然而，Lakna 的媽媽在我們的閒聊 中始終沒有透露出自己是 Susantha 或 Chandani，而我最後還是沒有問出口， 於是心中就懸著這個疑惑出國了。 b.寄宿家庭的成員和寵物: 當我到了澳洲時，來接我的是一個中年婦女，她自我介紹說她叫 Chandani， 那天跟我講電話的是她，到她家之後發現有一個男人正在庭院修車，Chandani 介 紹說，那是她的老公，叫作 Susantha，哇!這真是太令我覺得訝異了！原來，Susantha 真的可以是男生的名字! 我想，這算是我第一次出國遇到的第一個文化衝擊了! 後來有機會跟 Susantha 聊天時提到了這件事，他笑著說很多人一開始都會誤會， 然而斯里蘭卡很多這種相對性的名字，例如女生取作 Susan，男生取作 Susantha。 因為他們是斯里蘭卡人，很喜歡喝紅茶，十幾年前搬來澳洲這裡定居，並 且有兩個小朋友一隻寵物，女生叫 Lakna，男生叫 Vinu，寵物是一隻博美狗叫 Rex。除此之外，這一次包括我在內，共收了三個寄宿家庭的外國學生，除了我 是台灣人以外，其餘兩個外國學生都是韓國人—J 和 Dana，他們都是女生； Susantha 和 Chandani 提供給我們每人ㄧ間單獨的房間和個人衛浴設備，房間 和浴室都有經過精心擺設和裝飾，有此可想像，他們家有多美輪美奐了！而且我 也很幸運地分到是雙人床的那間房間。 在澳洲生活的五個禮拜幾乎都是 Chandani 在照料我們三個外國學生，她很愛 做菜，會自己烤餅乾、做壽司、義大利麵、千層麵、中國菜等等給我們吃，也很 注重家裡的擺設，將家裡裝飾得很斯里蘭卡風，平常放學回來她也會跟我們閒聊 幾句問問學校生活或者今天去哪裡玩了，是個很典型的媽媽；第一天剛到他們家 的時候，Rex 讓我印象最深刻，ㄧ進門，很活潑的 Rex 快速地搖著尾巴，直接跳 到我身上跟我打招呼，並且用他的爪子磨我的牛仔褲，對於沒有養寵物的我，著 實讓我嚇了一大跳！心想:「聽說過外國人很熱情，原來連狗也都這麼熱情。」 Rex 的精力旺盛在第一天我就領教到了，Chandani 帶著我熟悉家裡的環境時，不 管我們走到哪，他就跟到哪，而且是又跳又跑的，跟我們進進出出，跑上跑下， 但他卻一點都不顯得疲累，Chandani 告訴我說，Rex 是 Lakna 的生日禮物，名義 上雖然他是 Lakna 的狗，但實際上，Rex 比較喜歡她，因為是她在餵他吃飯，所 以 Rex 常常跟在她身邊，聽到這邊我忍不住哈哈大笑。往後的日子裡，我發現 home 媽真的是 Rex 的活力來源，一但 home 媽不在家，他就無精打采的，home 媽一回來，他就開始跑跑跳跳跟前跟後，撒嬌的模樣真的很可愛；因為有 Rex 讓我的寄宿家庭生活更加精采，我也體驗到與寵物玩遊戲的樂趣，以及學習如何 跟寵物相處，而 Rex 帶給我最大的感動是：有一次很晚回家，路燈已經很暗了， 路上行人車流量都很少，一個人走在回家的路上很可怕，但是當我踏上那條必經 的上坡路時，遠遠看到 Rex 在屋外的草坪對我搖著尾巴等我回家時，讓身處在澳 洲寒冷冬天的我心中湧起一股暖流，備感溫馨。 c.寄宿家庭的週遭環境: 第一天因為長途旅行的勞累，在吃完 Chandani 準備的咖哩飯後，我小睡了片 刻，大約下午五點時，Chandani 帶我去看公車站牌，Lakna、Vinu 和 Rex 陪著我 們一起去，走出房子後，我才細細地觀察了這裡的居家環境，這裡每戶人家的房 子都很大也很別緻，都會設有一個直立式的漂亮小信箱，是常可以在歐美電影中 看到的那種，幾乎每戶人家都有一個小庭院可以讓養的寵物活動，Chandani 說滿 多澳洲人很愛養寵物的；我所居住的地方是昆士蘭省的首府--布里斯本，然而， 這裡卻不像我對於大都市既定的刻板印象，吵雜，空氣不好，車流量多等等之類 的，取而代之的是高大的樹木可以讓你充分享受芬多精，空氣很清新，天空很蔚 藍不混濁，連水質也很乾淨，水龍頭打開就可以喝，而我住的寄宿家庭附近還有 一塊小森林可以讓你漫步，深深地體驗到：土地大，人口少所可以帶來的高品質 生活，雖然環境乍看之下感覺很偏僻，然而卻是個交通便利的地方，公車平均每 十至十五分鐘就一班，到最近的一個購物商場 Kenmore Village 花不到五分鐘，到 最近的一個大型的購物商場兼公車轉運站 Indooroopilly 搭公車大約 15 分鐘，到布 里斯本市中心約半小時，這真的讓我馬上就愛上了這樣一個既舒適又清幽的環 境。 d.韓國室友: 韓國室友 J 跟我最好，她的韓國名字寫成漢字叫作申知現，因為寄宿家庭 的父母很忙，吃飯時間不一樣，所以幾乎都是只有我和 J 互相陪伴彼此一起吃晚 飯，晚飯期間我們會聊每天的生活點滴和心事，分享台灣文化和韓國文化，常常 下課會一起去逛大型購物中心，她是我在寄宿家庭陪伴我最多的人，對於在異地 能遇到這麼聊得來的朋友真的很幸運，所以平常生活中如果我有買果汁或餅乾都 會請她吃，她也會請我喝咖啡，愛吃炸醬麵的她，很喜歡我從澳洲的「寶島亞洲 超市」買回來煮給她吃的「維力炸醬麵」，我們還會一起聊漢文化和韓劇，假日 時相約一起出去玩，一起去市中心的電影院看電影。J 也是另一個讓我寄宿家庭 更精采的因素，來自不同國家的兩人，因為彼此都懂英語可以溝通且不會感到距 離感，這是我學英語以來最大的成就感，也因為有她，讓我多了更多講英語的機 會，雖然有時也會有需要解釋很久的時候，然而我的口說能力也是因此而瞬間進 步很多，這真的是一個很大的收穫！我們說好要繼續保持聯絡，她要離開的時候 送給了我一個韓式小吊飾，我也在她離開時給了一個大大的擁抱，彼此都很不 捨，不過我們也說好會繼續保持聯絡，也很希望將來有機會能再見面。 2. 昆士蘭大學: a.語言學習中心 在澳洲的五個禮拜裡，都是在昆士蘭大學的語言中心—ICTE 上課，開學第一 天就進行分級考試，雖然很緊張，另一方面也覺得分級考試對我的幫助很大，因 為跟同班的同學都是同等的程度，我們彼此溝通少了雞同鴨講的憂慮，分組討論 時減少產生有同學太厲害而感到挫敗，或者有同學程度較不好而溝通困難，並且 採用小班制，讓老師可以照顧到每位同學。我的導師叫作 Cathy，她負責訓練我 們的聽說讀寫的技巧，在澳洲，回家功課不會很多，一份作業會給學生很充分的 時間去慢慢寫，慢慢想，課堂上也不會急著填鴨很多知識給學生，舉例來講：「現 在完成式」是滿多學生感到困難的部份，Cathy 就會早上整整三堂課用來慢慢討 論現在完成式，直到大部分的學生都懂，而那天因為一整個早上都在討論困難的 文法，Cathy 就不再出回家作業，只叮嚀大家回家好好複習筆記就好；平常大部 分的作業 Cathy 都會利用上課時間讓我們在學校分組討論完成，澳洲的教育學習 很重團體討論，透過團體聆聽不同的意見，並且互相指導以及腦力激盪，不時還 會討論出好玩有趣的點子，讓學習更加有樂趣，透過這樣的方式，我釐清了一些 一直以來很模糊的文法概念，透過同儕討論找出正確答案的過程更讓記憶效果倍 增，我真的很喜歡這樣的學習方式。 在 ICTE 我選修了一堂電影課，每個禮拜我們只觀賞一小部分，花了整整五 個禮拜我們才把它看完，然而就是這樣慢工出細活的學習，Franca 老師一點一滴 地幫我們訓練聽力，慢慢地解說電影中的俚語或特殊用語，對我來講是一堂很特 別且對聽力很有幫助的課，因為澳洲的電視節目和電影都是沒有字幕的。 b.班上同學 班上的同學就像是小型的聯合國，有來自西班牙、黎巴嫩、伊拉克、阿拉伯、 哥倫比亞、智利、日本、南韓、中國大陸和台灣的學生，難得有機會遇到各國的 人，我很好奇地向他們詢問他們的文化，舉例來講，當我還在台灣時，對伊拉克 有刻板印象，然而跟 Islam（伊拉克同學）聊過天後，才發現原來他們也是很重 視和平的，Islam 說，雖然他不認同美國政府和軍隊的一些作法，然而他也不會 一竿子打翻全船的人，像他在伊拉克家鄉的鄰居就是個美國人，然而他們卻是很 好的朋友，彼此分享想法交流並且互相關心，所以他說，只要彼此都誠心的對待， 其實世界上每個人都是平等的；他還說，只要我對他的國家有任何疑問他都很樂 意解答，不會視為是一種禁忌，這讓我體會到：當我們心胸夠開闊的時候，我們 就能接受更多，也能讓別人了解我們更多！透過親自跟各國學生的接觸，也更拓 展了我的國際觀。 除此之外，班上同學大家感情都很好，有一次下課時大家圍著一張地圖，各 自指出自己的國家的地理位置，分享不同國家的趣聞和文化，像是 Andriana（哥 倫比亞）的國家在熱帶區，四季不分明，所以她覺得來澳洲體驗到溫差大的氣候 讓她覺得很興奮；另外，彼此從地圖中述說自己是怎麼飛來澳洲的，有人住了過 境旅館，有人是搭直達的飛機，有人先往北飛再往南飛等等。 最後一個禮拜，Yuka<日本>推薦市中心的 Pancake House，邀請大家下課一起 去吃鬆餅喝下午茶，那是一間由教堂改建的鬆餅屋，裡面最主要的點心是各式各 樣的鬆餅，也有酒吧可以喝點小酒，還有撞球台，那天下午大家互相分享彼此的 鬆餅，說說笑笑，不亦樂乎，Yuka, Akemi, Joe 還教我怎麼打撞球，大家邊玩邊聊， 一直到晚上七點才不捨地說再見。 在澳洲上學的期間，剛好遇到回教的齋戒月，班上的回教徒不能在白天喝水 吃東西，Yuka 知道這一點後，傳了張紙條給大家，跟大家說明事由，希望大家 能夠盡量不要把水擺在桌上，或者是在他們面前吃東西，而其他同學真的都很有 同理心，於是大家紛紛把自己桌上的水和食物收起來，希望回教徒同學能感覺好 一些，這樣不分國界大家互相尊重體諒的舉動讓我很感動。 c.校園生活 午餐的時間，我最常跟同團來的幸棻、叔芬、筑筑一起在戶外的樹下吃著我 們自己做的三明治聊天，並且觀察澳洲大學生們都是怎麼度過午餐時間；我發現 他們都會坐在草地上吃著麵包、薯條或三明治配上一杯咖啡當午餐，每到午餐時 間，咖啡廳都是座無虛席，或者，躺在草地上看書，書看累了就小睡片刻，當我 還在台灣時，我就一直很憧憬這樣的校園生活，他們的穿著也很隨性，簡單的運 動套裝，或者簡便的休閒服搭夾腳拖就來上課，不用化個大濃妝也很自信的走在 校園的路上，墨鏡幾乎是所有人的必備品，那裡陽光真的很大，但是他們卻都不 撐陽傘，很直接的享受陽光的沐浴；校園裡有一個大湖，很多鳥類會在那附近徘 迴，通過湖的橋上提供一張張木椅供人停歇腳步，在校園中的各個角落，常可以 看到很多人都是獨自一個人坐在樹下的木椅上，享受悠閒的下午時光，自在地沉 浸在自己的閱讀裡面，讓我見識到，外國的大學生們真的都很獨立，很做自己， 也因為這樣的氛圍，讓我覺得在澳洲的生活很自在。 除此之外，昆士蘭大學真的很有歷史悠久大學的味道，牆上的雕刻著許多歷 史人物的人頭像，也會將澳洲特有種雕刻在建築物上，表現出他們尊重大自然， 廣大的校地，一大片綠意盎然的草地和樹林讓很多鳥類會來跟你一起午餐，他們 幾乎都不會怕人，可看出澳洲人真的很愛護他們。 學校中有很多家咖啡廳和餐廳，還有水果攤、電影院，每個禮拜三有市集可 以逛，各學院擁有獨立的圖書館、語言中心每層樓都有將近十台左右的電腦供學 生下課使用，書店、郵局、游泳池、News Agency、搭 citycat 的碼頭等等，設備 真的很齊全，交通也很方便，從學校搭 citycat（水上巴士）到市中心很快。 所以，昆士蘭大學是個讓我覺得很自在又很便利的地方，我曾經利用課餘時 間，嘗試一個人坐在湖邊閱讀從圖書館借來的書，享受自己做的三明治和帶來的 果汁，從沒在台灣這樣做過的我，本來想說可能會很不自在，然而發現，其實並 不會有人投以異樣的眼光，雖然有一兩個人走過來問我說是不是在等人而閒聊了 幾句，但是整個過程中，其實真的很讓人放鬆，也學習到了如何跟自己獨處。 3. 自助旅行: a.交通工具 澳洲的 Translink 系統將公車、火車、Citycat 結合在一起，在那裡生活的五個 禮拜裡，我買了一張月票，搭乘範圍設定為第一區到第三區，當我搭公車火車或 citycat 時，只要區域是在月票上的範圍內和時間內，就可以不限次數的搭乘並轉 乘不同的交通工具，一票到底，不需要因為交通工具的不同額外購票，對於自助 旅行常需不斷轉乘並且不小心搭錯車的情況省了不少錢，很值回票價；而澳洲也 有類似悠遊卡的 go-card，買空卡並加值就能使用，限定時間內轉乘也有優惠， 不過它的期滿計算方式卻不同於月票，假如期滿日是八月二十八日，那張卡的使 用效能卻只有到八月二十七日，我和幸棻、叔芬也有購買 go-card，然而卻因為 不熟悉它的期滿計算方式而衍生了些小問題，所以如果想使用 go-card，要很小 心細節。 b.陽光海岸、黃金海岸、南方公園 這三個地方都是有沙灘的地方，南方公園的是人工的，雖然黃金海岸最有名 是個夜店和特色餐廳很多的地方，相對於大部分晚上十點就進入夢鄉的其他澳洲 城鎮，黃金海岸就像個不夜城，其繁華熱鬧不在話下，但是我們幾個朋友都比較 推崇陽光海岸，Noosa 是陽光海岸最著名的小鎮，那裡也有一個不小的市集，很 多設計家會把自己設計的東西拿出來賣，陽光海岸的沙灘是白沙，踩在沙上腳底 感覺很舒服，而且也比黃金海岸的沙乾淨，布里斯本河整個延伸到這裡，有熱鬧 的商店街，但仍不減陽光海岸寧靜的氛圍，真的是個如陽光般很可愛又迷人又活 潑的海岸；我們花了整整一個下午的時間在陽光海岸戲水，享受著溫度剛剛好的 日光；上岸後又去了一家看來很窗明几淨的冰淇淋店，吃著烤得有點小酥脆的巧 克力蛋糕，搭配當地盛產的草莓冰淇淋；此外，那裡的人潮不會像黃金海岸那麼 得多也比較不那麼地觀光化，在那邊旅遊的人群比較不會像在黃金海岸那麼地複 雜，是個很值得自己自助旅行並且住上一兩天的地方，但是一開始我們對於當地 的交通還沒很熟，所以採用 A day-tour 的方式，透過學校請小巴士帶我們當天來 回陽光海岸，付了一比不小的費用，所以在那邊即早了解 Translink 可以省下很 多錢，也很有自助旅行的成就感。 不同於陽光海岸與黃金海岸均離市中心有一大段的距離，南方公園相對來講 近了許多。從市中心皇后街往對面的那座橋走去就是南方公園了，這裡搭船搭公 車搭火車都可以到；常在假日時，看著爸爸推著娃娃車，媽媽跟在一旁牽著較大 的小孩全家出遊，澳洲的父母會把小孩們放下來讓他們在草地上或南方公園的人 工沙灘上自由自在地跑，他們就鋪著一塊布直接在草地上野餐起來，甚至會下去 跟他們的小孩一起跑跑跳跳，玩遊戲或拉著他們跳舞，感覺他們很重視陪著小孩 一起成長，而南方公園的烤肉區在假日時也常是客滿的，當地人很喜歡 BBQ； 許多街頭藝人也喜歡來這裡表演，有雜耍的、有原住民風的，也有歌手，他們一 邊表演，吉他的空箱子就放在一旁擺放他們的 CD，喜歡他們表演的人也可以丟 銅板表示賞識；在南方公園也可以逛市集，一個是每個禮拜都有的，另一個是在 每個月的月初才有的，食物、水果、飾品、服飾、算命攤、各色各樣的攤販都有， 南方公園市集的攤販是我認為最友善的，對於他們的商品不了解時，他們會很樂 意也很有耐心跟你用英語交談，試穿了不合適不想買，他們也都是笑臉迎人，有 別於一般商人的市儈氣，讓我逛起來覺得很舒服；我在那邊的市集買了許多小飾 品和衣服，雖然是市集，但價格卻不一定便宜，不過常常可以找到一般商家所沒 有的東西；我也很喜歡那裡一間賣糖果的 shop，整間屋子的糖果餅乾真是玲瑯滿 目，就像童話中的糖果屋，讓人感覺很幸福，糖果紙袋也做得很別緻很可愛；這 裡還有摩天輪可乘坐觀景，晚上的摩天輪更是一個醒目的地標；而我和韓國室友 J 在澳洲看電影 G.I.JOE 就是在南方公園的電影院，那間戲院很大，電影布幕佈 置得像滿天星斗般，不過澳洲的電影卻足足廣告了二十分鐘以上才開始開演。 c.布里斯本市中心 布里斯本是個住商分得很清楚的地方，市中心幾乎就是辦公大樓、政府機 構、銀行、郵局、多到數不清的商家、還有劇院。布里斯本市中心最熱鬧的 地方莫過於皇后街了，那條街上有家很古色古香的賭場；戶外有許多餐廳提 供下午茶、餐點、牛排和啤酒；有家華人開的免稅商店，但我們最常去的是 在 Roma station 附近的一家華航免稅商店，那裡東西真的算滿便宜的，對於想 購買紀念品的人是個很好的選擇；華航免稅商店還有代辦旅遊套裝行程，對 於懶得規劃或不太懂哪裡好玩的人可以參考看看；另外，我們也最常在皇后 街上 shopping 買東西，這裡有許多名牌店像是 LV，以及大型百貨、購物商場、 電子數位用品專賣店，手機電信服務單位，News Agency，等等可以逛；也有 一樓喝咖啡二樓看電影的店面，而往皇后街地下道走去，就是搭公車的地方 了，交通上很方便；週五時，皇后街的廣場會有一個小市集，賣著爆米花、 蔬菜販、水果攤、小小麵包車、烤肉串；在市中心也特別常看到街頭藝人在 表演，有拉小提琴的，自彈自唱的，吹著薩克斯風，或者折氣球等等，是個 讓我感覺很樂意分享的都市；另外，我很喜歡逛那裡的唱片行，在澳洲時， 知道有一種 chill out 類型的音樂，聽說是一種節奏緩慢的電子音樂加上一些 很漂亮的女歌聲，或是爵士以及 DJ 混音等等，對於我來說是一種很新奇的 風格，於是就到市中心的唱片行找找，然而卻只有找到少數幾片，店員很和 善地跟我解釋說，這類型的音樂賣太好了，目前還在調貨中，他推薦目前庫 存有的一兩片讓我試聽；在澳洲的唱片行，幾乎每張唱片都可以試聽，只要 找到想要的 CD，拿給櫃檯服務人員，他就會播放給你聽。 除了最常逛皇后街以外，我們最常搭公車的地方是在 King George Square， 偶爾思念台灣的食物時，會跑去「寶島亞洲超級市場」 ，那裡真的很有台灣味， 幾乎可以買到台灣常見的餅乾泡麵，甚至還看到古坑咖啡和紅麴餅乾，然而 價錢卻是比台灣貴上一倍，另外我們也很常去離 King George Square 最近的一 家 subway 買壽司，因為我們常常想省錢玩更多地方，所以在澳洲每個週末我 們出外旅遊時，都會來這裡買壽司當午餐和晚餐，它的份量很大，很好吃又 不貴，剛好中央火車站也在這附近，一舉兩得；有時更省的時候，就自己帶 從 shopping mall 買來的土司、生菜、番茄、火腿所做成的三名治；而市中心 有一個巨大的時鐘，非常典雅，玩到很晚回家時，雖然很疲累，抬頭看看它， 卻有一種踏實感，似乎見證我在澳洲把握善用每分每秒，它也是我喜歡市中 心的因素之ㄧ，市中心的商家開店時間也都是跟著時鐘在作息。 d. Stradbroke Island 澳洲的外海有許多著名的島嶼，Stradbroke Island 是布里斯本的一個離島， 來澳洲三個禮拜後，我和淑芬想在回台灣前，去玩這邊的一個島，而從我的 室友 J 和 Chandani 的推薦，最後我們決定去 Stradbroke Island。 去 Stradbroke Island 的過程非常艱辛，因為這一次完全是只有我和淑芬兩 個人，靠我們自己設法去將各個交通工具的時刻表結合起來，時間點很緊湊， 錯過其中一班，整個行程都會被打亂，因為我們只有一天的時間，卻要從一 個離島當天來回；所以那天早上起個大早，從寄宿家庭出發到市中心的中央 火車站轉搭火車，來到 Cleveland，那裡非常得寧靜，像個小漁村，我們在那 裡遇到一位正在釣魚的蘇格蘭裔的澳洲人，向他詢問如何到有船前往 Stradbroke Island 的碼頭，他向我們說明了公車路線，並且指示我們該搭乘哪 一輛公車前往碼頭，然而我和淑芬還是不小心錯過了，這時，這位老先生很 好心，請他的太太直接載我們到碼頭去搭船，讓我們真的很感動；之後，約 在海上行駛了半個小時，我們終於到了！ Stradbroke Island 就像是台灣的澎湖，島上有居民，但卻已經是個觀光景點 了，雖然島上有開闢馬路、有住屋和旅館以及店家，但比起市中心，仍然保 有一大片的綠地，一大片乾淨的潔白的海灘，整個島上似乎只有一條主要道 路，而在道路的兩旁是翠綠又高大的樹木，很幸運地，我們還看到兩三隻袋 鼠蹦蹦跳跳在樹林裡穿梭，之後從我們面前跳過，一路往島上的一個懸崖處 跳去，那裡是個至高點，可以往下眺望海邊和沙灘的景致，海天一線，所有 美景都收入眼簾；這裡的居民和旅客都穿得很清涼，大家都拿著衝浪板要去 海邊衝浪，然而這裡海邊的人潮又比陽光海岸來得更少，我和淑芬從一個森 林步道走了大約十幾分鐘來到了這島上其中一個沙灘，當時沙灘上包括我和 淑芬才五六個人而已，反射著柔和白光的沙灘，舒服得讓人想躺在上面享受 日光浴，週遭的靜謐更讓人感覺到心靈的平靜，這裡真的是一個桃花源；我 和淑芬選擇了一家有著簡單民宿風格卻富有人情味的咖啡店，點了一杯冰咖 啡和香蕉蛋糕，配上一些土耳其甜點，邊享受下午茶邊和淑芬閒聊來澳洲這 幾個禮拜的點點滴滴，雖然為了趕交通並沒有在 Stradbroke Island 停留太久時 間，但我想不管過了多久，我永遠都不會忘記這一個我人生中第一次遊玩的 離島所帶給我的恬適，也為我的澳洲之旅畫下一個完美的句點。 4. 我在澳洲的感動和成長: 五個禮拜說短不短，說長也不長，然而卻在澳洲這塊南半球的土地上，成長 很多，也感動很多，還參與了他們的年度盛事—Ekka，與他們一起歡慶，那是一 個像嘉年華的昆士蘭省國定假日，欣賞到了昆士蘭皇家表演，並感受到他們已身 為昆士蘭省居民為榮。 大部分的布里斯本人民真的很和善，還記得第一次到 supermarket 買東西時， 前面那位小姐看我手上要結帳的東西只有一些些，就主動禮讓，讓我先結帳；還 有一次搭公車回家，車上沒位置了，我剛好站在一位健朗的老婆婆旁邊抓著扶 手，她比我早下車，當她要下車時，主動走來跟我說:「這位置給你坐。」當下 心中真的很感動；曾經有過兩次在市中心找不到要去的目的地，兩次都遇到很好 心的路人直接帶我們走到定點，還有在 Cleveland 遇到的那對友善的蘇格蘭夫婦， 也是主動直接開車載我們一乘，心中真是感激萬分，除此之外，有些澳洲人真的 很熱心，當我幫朋友們照相時，他們會很熱心地主動問我說：「你要不要一起入 鏡，我幫你們拍！」早晨，在等公車時，跟我一起等公車的附近鄰居也都會主動 跟我問好聊天說話，對於我來說，很快就適應了在那裡的生活，甚至樂在其中； 我還有到幸棻和淑芬的寄宿家庭裡作客，認識了他們寄宿家庭的父母，淑芬的 home 爸帶我跟淑芬一起去看夜景，淑芬的 home 媽還常常會邀請我去他們家吃 飯，也會很主動地跟我聊天，讓我感到很窩心，很有賓至如歸的感覺，我們真的 暢談甚歡；我們幾個朋友還有一起到幸棻家，一起做台灣菜跟她的 home 媽分享。 在澳洲的五個禮拜裡，當然也不是完全一帆風順。在那裡的第二天放學回家 時，不小心搭錯車迷了路，人生地不熟的，當下真的很緊張，趕緊打電話回家， 然而我迷路的地方已經進入了住宅區，週遭除了住屋外，根本沒有大型的店家或 地標，使得接電話的 Lakna 始終無法得知我到底在哪，當時天色已晚，澳洲人又 很早睡，整個街道暗到一個極致，而從我下車後也都沒再看到公車經過，無法搭 車回去，後來我決定沿著公車來的路線往回走！就這樣，走了一大段路後，終於 走到一處比較熱鬧的地方有著一家 7-11，Lakna 知道那地點在哪後，通知了 home 爸來接我，終於鬆了一口氣，home 爸回家後趕緊畫了一張住家附近的路線圖給 我，並讚許我今天的危機處理表現。 這五個禮拜瞬間成長很多，短時間內有很多東西要馬上學會，小至當我還在 台灣準備行李開始，大到當我人在澳洲所遇到的難題，每一個環節、每一個問題 都是第一次碰到，都是從零開始學習，像是學打國際電話，還有在澳洲當地， GO-CARD 出了點問題，鼓起勇氣打到 TRANSLINK 服務單位去詢問，雖然裡面 的錢最後還是無法拿回來，但打電話過程中，從一開始完全無法從官方的答錄機 聽出重點，到後來好不容易聽懂，說了通關語，連線到接線生後，一次又一次講 了好幾次的 I am sorry 請接線生不斷重複如何處理 go-card 的繁複步驟，就這樣在 電話線快燒了的同時，終於聽懂了；雖然最後的結果還是錢拿不回來，但是至少 知道了拿不回來的原因，也肯定自己在當地遇到問題時有勇氣去面對並設法解 決。除此之外，澳洲的食物也是我遇到的一個難題，例如適應餐餐都有紅蘿蔔的 飲食習慣，或是吃以酪梨為食材或馬鈴薯為主食的食物；不過澳洲也有很美好的 食物，我個人最喜歡他們家庭號的果汁，真的很原汁原味又便宜，水果也都很甜 很好吃，TIM TAM 巧克力更是澳洲幾乎人人聽到都會流口水的甜食；另外，寄 宿家庭的生活習慣（例如:十點就睡覺、省水省電等等）也是我在那邊很需要調 適的地方，雖然他們有些地方真的跟我在台灣的習慣很不一樣，但這也是我出國 能夠從中學習成長的一個經驗。 真的很感謝學校提供了這筆獎學金，讓我有機會能出國增長見聞，學習獨 立。也很感謝昆士蘭團的老師和朋友們（尤其是筑筑、淑芬、幸棻），因為這趟 旅行一路上有你們，讓我的遊學不寂寞。 class: AE 2B name: Betty Queensland-UQ ………………………………………………………………………………………….. This summer, I had a lot of fun in Australia. I have been there for five weeks. It was neither long nor short period for me, but I really learnt a lot and grew up during these days in Australia. I have lived in Brisbane in Queensland. People here were very nice and lovely. For example: one time, I got lost in the city, and I was really nervous. Luckily, I bumped into a gentleman. He brought me to the destination after understanding my problem. I really appreciated him. The second reason I liked Brisbane’s people was that they were active to help you. For instance, I once took a picture for my friends; a passerby voluntarily helped me to take the picture for us so that I can join my friends. Besides, when I took a trip to Cleveland, I bumped into a Scottish gentleman whose wife drove me directly to the pier to take the water taxi. Because of friendly Brisbane’s residents, I can adapt the society quickly. Also, their passion made me fall in love with the cute city. Another aspect I really appreciated there was Translink. It was a traffic linking system. It combined buses, trains, and the CityCat with the same tickets, so it was very convenient to interchange different transportation. Take my case for instance; I bought a monthly ticket from zone1 to zone3. It was available without limited times to interchange in these zones before the deadline. With this monthly ticket, I didn’t need to prepare some coins before I took public transport, and I didn’t need to count the changes given from bus drivers, either. In addition to Translink tickets, there was a sort of travelling card also published by Translink. It was so-called “go-card”. Go-cards were divided into four types. I spent 5AU dollars buying a concession card, which was one of those types. After that, I topped up the value for my go-card. By the way, if you wanted to top up, you had to top up at least 5 AU dollars every time. Most of all, go-cards could provide some discount when you interchanged in the limited time. Because I used well, I saved some money. Next, let’s move onto the life in UQ. I have been learning English in UQ’s ICTE for five weeks. I was in Black5 class. My first friend in this class was Adriana. She was from Columbia. Both of us were new in ICTE. Thus we talked to each other first. Gradually, I knew more other students. Interestingly, I found that there were three Taiwanese students in Black5, Daniel, Tiffany, and me. Coincidentally, our hometowns are from north to south. Daniel’s hometown is in Taipei, Tiffany’s is in Taichung, and mine is in Pingtung. I felt sweet when I had known they are Taiwanese. Both of them took care of me a lot, for I was new there, but they had been staying in ICTE for several months. If I asked them questions, they would be very nice to answer my questions. In addition, some of my classmates came from Japan and South Korea such as Keiko, Akemi, Yuka, Sue, and Yuky. They were all easy-going and friendly. Because we were all from Asia, so we have the same issues and topics to talk, chat, and discuss among one another. Also, Yuka was like a class leader. She liked to form a party to assemble classmates in coffee shop. For example, one time, she invited whole class to Pancake House to have a afternoon tea with pancake. During the time in Pancake House, we exchanged our cultures, customs, and values. Realizing that everyone loved their cultures and regarded theirs as the best ones, we tried to understand and respect different voices and opinions. It was good and lucky for me to participate in this small United Nations. If I had had no the opportunity to chat with these foreigners from different countries, I thought I still remained some typical impression for them, even their countries. Besides, I also have learnt that being open-minded is very important. If you are open-minded enough to tolerate and accept distinct and exotic cultures, you will reduce culture shock, and people will be willing to tell you much more. Here is another example. Islam, a Muslim from Iraq, was one of my classmates. I believed he was not like a typical Muslim that I thought in Iraq. Although He believed his religion by piety, he was not stubborn and serious but humorous and humble. I had ever talked to him about the conflict between America and Iraq. He was very willing to answer my questions and spoke out his point of view, rather than considered this kind of issues as taboos. “if we are not willing to communicate with the world, people in the world will not understand us very well, and that will result in more and more misunderstanding.” said Islam. Due to this reason, he said that he would be glad to answer any my questions about his country. Also, he told me not to worry about asking something that would probably offend him. He would try to be open-minded and objective. In my opinion, it was worth traveling and studying. I had had some bias against some foreigners before I went broad. Through this chance, I could communicate with people from Middle East and South America face to face. It helped me correct my bias against them. I thought this is the best gains. As for Australian education, it emphasized on cooperative work. Here was an example. My teacher was Cathy. Instead of giving a lot of homework and assignments, she would like to let her students accomplish homework together in class. We were often divided into several groups by Cathy. Every time I worked with different partners. Though this way, I could listen to various points of views. It was interesting to find that every student had his specific perspectives because of distinct backgrounds and cultures. It helped me widen my horizon. The second feature of Australian education was that teachers cared more about whether students could understand and absorb rather than whether students crammed enough knowledge to pass exams. For instance, one time, while Cathy was teaching present perfect tense and present perfect continuous, most classmates couldn’t get the points. Originally, Cathy would like to teach another thing, but it seemed that students had not absorbed the previous contents, so she changed her mind. She just continued to interpret these tricky grammars more specifically. In this way, most of us got the points. I also understood more clearly how and when I could use present perfect tense and present perfect continuous. All in all, Australian teachers prefer students to learn skills and knowledge in one single exercise step by step instead of learning a large number of things but couldn’t apply them. I completely agreed with this educational principle. In addition, I have lived in homestay since I arrived in Brisbane. My homestay parents were Chandani and Susantha. They were from Sri Lanka. They came to Australia fourteen years ago. When I first saw them, Susantha looked so serious, and chandani seemed quiet. In the beginning, I was frustrated by their life style. Their house was dim, for they wanted to save electricity. Additionally, they have been used to having dinner by their own. Only with two Korean roommates did I have dinner. Also, it was in winter, but there was no warm water to wash my face and brush my teeth. I couldn’t bear these kinds of treatments. Thus I wanted to change my homestay in the first week. However, one of my Korean roommates was also determined to change the homestay in the first week. I was afraid to hurt my homestay parents’ feelings if I changed, too. Therefore, I hesitated. “Can’t I really tolerate?” I asked myself. Finally, I persuaded myself into adapting their habits. I told myself that they were just different, and they should be different because they were not born in the same culture as mine. I couldn’t expect they should be completely fit in with my demands in terms of my profile. After realizing this fact, I tried to be active to talk to them, and I try to communicate some problems like the warm water with them. Fortunately, some of my problems were solved. After I had gotten along with them for a period of time, I found that Susantha was easy-going but just a little quiet. Chandani was nice to me but just too busy to chat with me. Nevertheless, it was not easy for me to fit it to their way of life, but eventually I did it! I was really glad. In addition to Susantha and Chandani, there were Lakna and Vinu in this family. They didn’t talk to me a lot, but sometimes Lakna would ask me if I would like to see the movie with her of If I wanted some tea or not. It was sweet for me. Rex, the pet, was also sweet, too. It liked to play with me, and it was always the first person to greet me when I came home and rang the bell. To sum up, I had a wonderful journey in Australia. Don’t be shy and be open-mined were very important in foreign countries. I really appreciated the school offered scholarship for us to go abroad, and I expected I could go to Australia again. 2009 年 義守大學 學海獎學金 海外遊學心得報告 團名：澳洲昆士蘭大學 學生姓名：王彥筑 系級：資管二 學號：9622807A 學海研習團報告(中文版) 1. Home stay 下了飛機，昆士蘭大學有安排專屬的校車，抵達學校與 home stay 的家人見面。那時我超興 奮也超緊張的，因為這是我第一次出國遊學，也是我第一次在國外與其他家人相處。home mom 是老師，感覺有點點嚴肅，可是他很關心我，對於我的事，他都很積極的幫助我，例如有ㄧ 次我和我朋友出去玩，那次活動結束會很晚，附近也沒有大眾交通工具可自行搭車回家，home mom 很熱心的可以載我和朋友回家，我那時真的很感動，回家的路上一直謝謝他。home dad 是個商人，也很關心我，他是個很棒很棒的廚師爸爸，他會做小餅乾、pizza 和炒麵……等 等，他的興趣是照相師，在要回國的第四個禮拜，以他專業的技術幫我照了一組的相片，甚 至還列印出三大張個人照作為我的紀念品，他希望可以將此喜悅一起和我的爸爸媽媽分享。 他本身也很熱愛 photoshop，而我對那也頗有興趣的，所以有時 homedad 在修照片，我也會 加入討論，並且學習新的技術。我真的真的很幸運可以與他們住在同一個家庭，也很感動很 感動他們對我的關心，更開心更開心讓我真正體會西方家庭的相處模式及飲食生活習慣。 2. 昆士蘭大學 第一天進行分級測驗，大開眼見，第一次看到這麼多外國人，也一同參加這次 session 的考 試。第二天就到屬於自己的班級上課，我的同學有韓國人、日本人、土耳其人、伊朗人…… 等等，一開始我還真的很不適應各國說英文的腔調，會一頭霧水，但多多去聽多多和他們聊 多點，其實不難聽懂他們想說的，所以當我已慢慢瞭解彼此想表達的意思時，真的很開心， 因為有時他們誇獎你、關心你、問候你時，會感覺很窩心很窩心，當我結束這個課程時，心 中真的有股不捨的鼻酸，因為我有個很棒有幽默感的老師與很活潑很熱情的同學。學校安排 的課很不錯，涵蓋聽說讀寫樣樣都有，星期一有發音課，老師超 high 超活潑，每週會練習發 音的小短文，最感動的是，老師會一個個聽你所唸的字，來知道你比較不擅長發的音並幫助 你校正為正確的發音；星期二有講解專題的訓練，是以口說及表達意見的課程，很有深度亦 收穫良多的一門課，學習如何在台上報告英文專題；星期三的會話課，是與不同國家的學生 交談，可以增強聽力亦可適應不同說英文的腔調，很有趣很熱鬧的一堂課我很喜歡；星期四 可以學習如何寫出篇篇好文章的技巧與該如何寫的有條有理的教導，發現現在其實快速寫出 一篇好的文章並不難，因為有了老師說的基本架構一定要落實完整外，最相關也是最重要的， 還是字彙片語及文法的多寡了；還有星期五還有影片可欣賞，將其帶入課程的內容，可以訓 練聽力亦可學習當地常用的字彙片語，很實用。還有學校也會有安排在布里斯本之週末或平 常下課後的旅遊活動，很豐富很美麗的異國風景體會，我真的很喜歡學校所安排的課程，很 棒很讚。 3. 玩樂 我玩的地方超多的，除了上課之外，盡量多到布里斯本的景點逛逛，例如有 Lone Pine、South Bank、Sunshine Coast、Mt.Cootha Garden、National Park、Gold Coast、Main Beach、Carrara Market、Movie World、Tangalooma、Byron Bay 和 Roma Park。還有參加重要盛大的節日”Ekka holidays”，連續 10 天的活動超豐富，有煙火秀、賽車花式表演、砍樹接力與紐西蘭對抗、 重機刺激溜冰秀、牛羊馬驢雞狗貓親生生態接觸……等等。在遊玩的生活中，學習如何看的 懂公車站牌、一個景點的地圖、上網查路線圖和與 home stay 討論必玩的景點。即使要走一 大段路，我還是覺得很值得，沿路也可以欣賞欣賞風景，多拍幾張美麗的大自然照片。布里 斯本真的好多好玩的地方，海綠天藍雲白夕陽美，真的很棒很喜歡。 學海研習團報告(英文版) 1. Home stay When we arrived at the airport in Brisbane, there were some special school buses was waiting for us. The main purpose was that it was quite convenient for our home stay families to pick us up individually. At that time, the excitement and happy filled with my heart because it was my first time to travel abroad and study abroad. Moreover, it had been my first time to live with the other foreign family for 5 weeks. Home mom, Dolor, is a teacher who was a little strict to me at first. However, she had shown great enthusiast about the things regarding me. To my sweetness, she had always taken the active attitude toward my problems. For instance, because there was one time that the activity I and my friend took part in would be finished very lately and what’s the worse, there was nothing transportation except taxi that I could take to go home. Consequently, thanks to my home mom, I could enjoy that trip at my ease. When it mentions to the most tasty delicacy, it had made me think of my home dad, Bernard. The delicacies that made me impress were the pizzas, fried noodles, biscuits and so forth. In my view, he was not only a second to none cook but a responsible businessman. Much to my surprise, taking the photos was his recreational activity. Take his friend for example. On one weekend, he took the pictures for his friend’s newborn twin babies. Later, he would use the techniques of photoshop to make them more better. I could see how passionate he was. At the fourth week staying in home, someday I was informed to take photos after dinner by him. There were about 15 photos that he made for me and to my happiness, I could tell my family how lucky I could live with them by my big smiling and lovely facial expression. Additionally, he printed 3 photos for me as the souvenirs. As usual, the most thing he taught me was telling me the reason why he did, such as light, extra spots and contrast so on. At the last weekend, I also learned the new technique from him. Last but not least, living with a home stay family was a good way to learn how to get along with a foreign family and know the traditional habits of a foreign country. 2. Queensland University On the first day, ICTE-UQ held the test that would separate us to the different classes due to the level of English. How eye-opening there were lots of people who came from an assortment of countries and participated in the same session. The next day, I came to my class and my classmates who were from Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Iraq, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, etc. At first, it was difficult for me to be adapted to understanding what they said because of different speaking English accents around the world. After few days, I could communicate with them fluently. In addition, as they showed consideration for me, complimented me on optimist personality and sent their regards to me, I would be more touched and happier than before. On the last day, it was time for me to leave and go back to Taiwan. It made me choke up because it was so lucky that I had the wonderful teachers and the passionate classmates. Moreover, we hugged with one another and exchanged the addresses of facebook to keep in touch. I really liked the courses ICTE-UQ arranged including listening, speaking, reading and writing. On Monday, I had pronunciation class. Every week, teacher who was very vigorous would let us practice the short essay. Much to happiness, she would find the phonetics we weren’t good at and try to help us to correct it. On Tuesday, there was the project speaking class which was the main point of talking my opinions with other classmates about some project. It not only brainstormed the ability of thinking but also broadened the horizons. What’s more important, I would learn how to make an English presentation well and know how the way to present in front of others. On Wednesday, there was the conversation class I enjoyed so much because I could be familiar with the English accent of the classmates from different countries and train the listening. It was a interesting class I loved. On Thursday, I could learn how to write an article clearly. Later, something I had found was it wasn’t hard to finish a composition well. The main reason was that teacher told you the basic structure of an essay; nonetheless, the only thing I should do was enlarge the vocabulary day by day. On Friday, we should answer the questions from seeing some videos. It was very practical that there were some vocabularies from what you usually hear in life in Australia that I would learn and it would strong my listening. What’s better, the activity office would hold many tour activities in Brisbane I could kill the time on the weekend to my best. To my impression, I can’t enjoy them enough. Believe it or not, I had the tendency to staying more days; what a pity, I couldn’t. 3. fun There were many places I had fun, inclusive of Lone Pine、South Bank、Sunshine Coast、 Mt.Cootha Garden、National Park、Gold Coast、Main Beach、Carrara Market、Movie World、 Tangalooma、Byron Bay and Roma Park. In my view, I should make use of weekends and the time when the class was over and take lots photos sharing with my family, relatives and friends. Besides, I attended the most vital holiday called ”Ekka” lasting 10 days. There were some exciting shows, such as fireworks, racing cars, sliding huge heavy motorbikes and watching some animals, cows, sheep, coats, horses, chickens, hens, roosters, donkeys, dogs and cats. To my interest, there was the competition that one member by one member in the same group should cut down the trees and two teams were Queensland and New Zealand groups. There were some things I learned from traveling in one place, for instance, knowing how to understand the map and the bus stop showing the directions to the destination I would like to go. Moreover, I knew how to search the itineraries on the internet and talked about the places I must take a look with my home stay families. Even if there were a long way to walk, it was truly worthwhile for me. The only reason was that I could admire the beautiful scenery and also take the pictures. Finally, there were so blue sky, white clouds, clean ocean and appealing sunset that I would keep this unforgettable memory at my heart. 學海獎學金 澳洲昆士蘭大學團 9721011A 企管二 A 蔡幸棻 中文報告 澳洲這個國家跟台灣真的差很多。面積是台灣的好幾倍，人口卻只多台灣兩 百萬人。布里斯本的氣候四季並不是很分明，但是到冬天就可以在一天裡感受到 四季，真的是很容易生病的季節。這裡的冬天是乾冷，幾乎不下雨；就算下雨， 也是只有一天，真的是一年四季都是晴天。這裡的地形是屬於丘陵地，所以道路 是隨著地形上上下下，坡道時緩時陡，很少有平的。這裡的人開車靠左，開車的 速度也不亞於台灣，所以當乘坐公車時很容易暈車。也不用擔心他們開快車，行 人就很危險。因為這裡的人都很熱心，一定會禮讓行人，所以不用擔心會出車禍。 而且當你有困難的時候，這裡的人會主動去幫助你。 我的寄宿家庭成員有四個人，寄宿家庭的媽媽─Clare，來自墨西哥的室友 ─Paola，我，還有一隻名叫 Cinderella 的貓。Clare 是一位會計師。她幾乎工作 天都要忙到晚上七點才會到家，回到家後又要煮晚餐給我跟 Paola 吃。在假日， 她會去健身房運動，回來後再打掃屋子、整理花園，還要洗、曬 Paola 跟我的衣 服，相當忙碌的一位女性。Paola 是個很開朗的女孩，她總是說自己是 crazy。她 非常的熱心，關於學校的問題，她總是很有耐心的回答我。 到布里斯本的隔天，當地的學校就開學了。開學第一天便是簡單的說明會， 還有分班測驗。在分班測驗中，考了聽力、文法、寫作和口說。考到聽力跟口說 時，真切的覺得台灣的學生在聽力跟口說的部分真的很弱。而分班的測驗就因為 我的聽力還有口說成績不好，被分到了 Level 3，相當於台灣的國中程度。我的 班及名稱就叫 3 BLUE。上課的第一星期，不外乎就是自我介紹，從介紹自己到 家庭、學校、工作、城市和國家…等，我班上的同學有從日本、韓國、泰國、伊 拉克、沙烏地阿拉伯、台灣還有智利，非常多元化。而上課的內容卻是非常的無 聊，第一個星期上的都是如何跟人打招呼，對台灣的學生來說，真的是基礎中的 基礎，不過我們還是上了一個星期。而第一個星期，我們就跟著帶團的老師去了 Lone Pane，除了看一些澳洲特有的動物，還有去看一些動物的秀，最重要的事 就是去抱無尾熊！不過 Lone Pane 的門票還有抱無尾熊的錢總共花了我 37 澳 幣，相當於台幣 1000 元，真的非常貴！ 由於第一個星期的中餐花下來真的是貴得可以，第二個星期開始，便自己買 食材做中餐。所以趕五點半就是接下來每天都要做的事，因為這裡的商店實在太 準時關門的。除了布里斯本市中心的商店在工作天會開到晚上，在郊區的商場幾 乎都在五點半就關門。雖然超市會比較晚關，不過太晚回家，真的很危險。而第 二個星期的課程就一直在練習文法，完全沒什麼改變。上到後來都無聊的想睡 了。我心想都要練習文法，為什麼我要待在 Level 3 學一些我已經很熟的文法， 我不如到 Level 4 去學習比較難的文法。就這樣我決定要換 Level。所以我就去找 處理這件事的老師─Steve，他先問我第一個星期還有這星期上些什麼。我回答 他上些簡單的文法還有單字都不會太難。後來他拿出我的分班成績，說：因為我 的聽力還有口說要升到 Level 4 實在有點困難。他會跟我的主要老師─Emily 談 談上課內容，如果我還是想換的話，再去找他。就因為如此，我就暫時待在 Level 3。這個星期的週末，星期六我們去了 Sunshine Coast，本以為在冬天去海邊是件 非常蠢的事，不過當到了 Noosa─一個位於 Sunshine Coast 非常有名的地點─才 知道當地根本就是艷陽高照，熱得很呢！星期天我們就去 Mt. Coo-tha 的 Botanical Garden 欣賞一些花花草草。 到了第三個星期，開始覺得時間過的很快。經過與 Steve 的面談後，Emily 的課開始多了很多聽跟說的練習。她會結合聽、說跟文法一起上，所以這星期我 覺得我的口說跟聽力進步了許多。而且跟同學之間也能聊的很開心，至少能夠把 話題繼續延續下去，不會因為語言的關係就沒話題聊。在寫作的課程上，學習了 更多的寫作技巧，還有如何把文章寫的更成熟。這裡的老師都很有耐心，不管你 有什麼問題，他們都會盡量的幫你解答，而且會解答到完全了解為止，還會給你 很多學習英文的方法跟意見，真的都是好老師！課程開始上一些有關時態的文 法，說真的，這還是我第一次用英文上時態的文法。真的很不一樣。在台灣都很 常聽到中文的文法名稱，但是在這裡，都要聽英文的文法名稱，剛開始上的時， 常常都要把英文翻成中文才能知道說老師在講些什麼。不過慢慢的就可以直接用 英文解釋，連在寫文章的時候，或者是想故事內容，描述故事內容都可以用英文 直接冥想，不用再翻成中文，再轉翻成英文，我覺得這件事對我來說是對大的突 破了！這星期的週末，我們去了 Gold Coast 玩了兩天一夜，不過雖說是觀光客最 愛去了地方，要是讓我再一次選擇，我寧願待在家都不要出門，因為實在是好無 聊！不說旅館差，連人也多，在當地的商店賣的東西幾乎一樣，玩個一天我就想 回家了。到了晚上，治安又差的要死。不只一堆人喝醉，還吵到凌晨四、五點不 睡，真是恐怖！ 第四個星期，課程上還是繼續，整個很平順就這麼過了，也沒什麼大事發生。 跟同學還有老師的相處也是一樣。不過這星期的週末我跟我的室友─Paola 一起 去了昆士蘭大學晃晃，去把學校裡還沒有去過的地方看看，拍拍照。帶我室友去 市中心有一家叫做寶島的店，這家店專門賣亞洲食材，而我室友最愛吃中國食 物，所以就帶她去看看，順便買了要做給我寄宿家庭吃的食材。星期天下午，我 們去了 South Bank 的市集，還有看人工沙灘。Paola 對於市區中有人工沙灘這件 事感到非常莫名奇妙，因為她認為竟然要做日光浴就要去海邊，為什麼要在市區 呢？所以她不是很喜歡這個人工沙灘。 剩最後一個星期了，大家都很認真的準備最後一天的測驗。拿出之前學的時 態文法、比較級跟最高級的文法一直複習。還有要複習之前寫過的文章。而 Paola 則是去圖書館借了文法書回來自己讀，她認為自從她升上 Level 4 後，她沒有學 到任何東西，所以她相當擔心這次的考試會考的不好。我自己就比較擔心口說的 考試，因為要到考試當天才會知道自己的搭檔是誰。我非常的擔心自己的搭檔會 是來自沙烏地阿拉伯的同學，因為他們在說話的時候，我還是聽不出來他們的口 音。還有就是太過害羞的同學，因為口試要連續講十分鐘，不中斷，如果中間的 對話講的太少，就會導致話題被中斷，這樣分數就不高了。不過還好，我的搭檔 是來自韓國的同學，而且考試也進行的非常順利。中午在學校辦的 BBQ party， 就是我跟同學們最後的相處時間了，大家彼此留下了聯絡方式，還有拍照留戀。 BBQ party 就在開心跟離情依依下結束了，而我也結束了在澳洲的讀書時間。隔 天，我邀請了昆士蘭大學團的幾位同學們來我寄宿家庭做飯給 Clare 和 Paola 吃， 他們很開心可以吃到道地的台灣菜，而且 Clare 也做她最拿手的巧克力蛋糕請我 們吃。享受了中澳合併的中餐。 English Report Australia is very different from Taiwan. The area is several times than Taiwan, but the population in Australia is the same to Taiwan. The weather in Brisbane is very warm. The winter is a little cold, but it rain hardly. Australians drive cars on left side, and they drive very fast. There were three people and one cat in my home stay, my home stay mother-Clare, my roommate from Mexico-Paola, I, and one cat named Cinderella. Clare was an accountant. She almost always worked until 7:00 pm in workday, and she as soon as went home to cook dinner for me and Paola. She was really very laborious. She went to the gym and then cleaned the house and the garden. She had to wash Paola and my clothes. Paola was a very open and bright girl. She always said she is a crazy person. She took care of me very much. When I asked her the questions about school, she always answered me patiently. I started the class at the next day I arrived in Brisbane. In the first day, we did not attend the class, but we had a meeting about the University of Queensland. And then I had a test to decide our level. There were four skills to test, listening, speaking, reading and writing. Reading and writing is very easy for students from Taiwan, but listening and speaking is a big problem for them. My listening and speaking skills were not good, so I was at Level 3 which was similar with the degree about junior high school in Taiwan. The name of my class was 3 BLUE. The first week, everyone introduced about their selves. We talked about the families, schools, works, cultures, cities, countries…and so on. My classmates were from Japan, Korean, Taiwan, Thailand, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Chile. The classes were very boring in the first week. I studied how to say hello. It is very base for me but I still learned it one week. This weekend, the teacher who leaded the group leaded us to go to Lone Pane to hold the koala, and to watch the animals in Australia. I spent 37 dollars buying the ticket to Lone Pane and holding a koala. It was very expensive. Because I spent much money on lunch in the first week, I wanted to make the lunch by myself. After school, I had to catch the buses quickly and went to the supermarkets. The shops in Australia almost always closed on time, so I had to be quick. The supermarkets closed later, but it was very dangerous in the night. The classes in second week were still boring. We always practiced the grammar about subject question and object question, so I wanted to change the level. I wanted to learn more difficult grammar. I talked about this question to a teacher, Steve, who dealt with this situation. However, Steve said my listening skill was not good, so I needed to stay this class to improve my listening and speaking skills. And he said he would talk to my main teacher, Emily, about my problem. If I had wanted to change the level, I have talked to Steve. The weekend, we went to the Sunshine Coast and Botanical Garden in Mt. Coo-tha. We thought going to the beach in winter was very crazy, but the weather was very great. It was very nice to go to the beach. On Sunday, we went to Botanical Garden in Mt. Coo-tha. There were many plants from other countries. It was a very beautiful garden. When it was in the third week, I felt time passed very fast. After Steve talked with Emily, we did not always practice the grammar on paper. We practiced more listening and speaking with grammar, so I had more interactions with my classmates. We could chat with each other, and were not worried that we did not have anything to chat. I learned more skill of writing. The teachers were very patient, they always answered our questions. If we did not still understand, they would explain until we could understand. This was the first time to learn grammars in English, it was a little difficult and fresh for me. Because of it, I could think the study in English. I did not translate English to Chinese, and translate Chinese to English. It was very big improvement for me. We went to a famous beach, the Gold Coast, in the weekend, but I had bad memories in this place. The hotel we stayed was bad, and there were so many visitors in the Gold Coast. It was very crowded. The shops in the Gold Coast sold the same things. But we had a little happy time in dinner. The steak was very big and delicious, so we were very full. In the night, it was dangerous, because there were many drunk people. I thought I would not go to the Gold Coast again. In the forth week, the classes still continue, and nothing happened. But this weekend, I went to the University of Queensland with my roommate-Paola. We went to UQ to watch other buildings which the students in Australia studied in, and the lake in UQ. And then, we went to a supermarket which was named Formosa Asian market. This shop was in Brisbane city. Because Paola liked Chinese food, I took her to this market. In Sunday afternoon, we went to South Bank. There was an artificial beach. But Paola was very confused that there was a beach in city. She thought people could go to the beach, why did they want to stay in city. She did not like this. The time passed very fast. We only had one week remaining. Everyone studied very hard for the exam on the last day. I reviewed the grammars which I learned in this few weeks. I was so worried about the speaking test because I did not know which my partner is. We had to wait the test day that we could know our partners. I hoped my partner was not from Saudi Arabia, because their accent was very difficult for me to understand their meaning. My partner is a Korean. My speaking test was very smooth. In the afternoon, we had a BBQ party in UQ. I asked everyone’s E-mail address, and took pictures with all of my classmates. The next day, I invited some of my friends to come my home stay to cook some Taiwanese food for Clare and Paola. Clare made a chocolate cake for us. It was a Taiwanese and Australian lunch. 澳洲昆士蘭大學 海外遊學心得報告 系級:企管一 A 姓名:陳淑芬 學號:9721035A 中文報告 經過將近 10 小時的旅程，我們順利到達布里斯本機場。幸好海關沒有我想 像的恐怖，雖然中間遇上像是護照沒簽名.掃描不出來的小問題，不過我們都沒 太被刁難。 到了我們即將就讀五個禮拜的昆士蘭大學，我們各自被寄宿家庭的父母一一 接走。來接我的是 Nurit，有著黑髮黑眼珠和白皮膚的熱情寄宿家庭媽媽，我們 簡單聊了一些簡單問題，他們都來自以色列（猶太人），過了大約４０分鐘，到 家後她介紹我的兩個室友，兩位在他們國家都是英文老師－韓國籍 Chung Hwa 和日本籍 Tomoko，後來在這邊的新生活因為有他們的陪伴讓我適應更快。Nurit 帶著我們三個去看公車路線，逛超市，還給我們布里斯本地圖，公車時刻表，詳 細跟我們解釋公車如何搭乘，怕我聽不懂（很明顯，我的英文能力在這邊是最弱 的），她不厭其煩的重複解釋該搭哪班往學校和往市區，我真的很幸運遇到如此 貼心的她。 過了幾天我才看到我的寄宿家庭爸爸－Yaheli，他看起來很有個人魅力，他 們感情很好，是典型的外國夫妻，無論是做菜或工作都不會分你我，不像我們傳 統觀念＂男主外，女主內＂。我想我未來這五個禮拜的生活會很有趣。 澳洲的冬天，每天早上起床都是煎熬，六點起床，七點半等公車，相當規律 的生活，我發現這邊冬天和高雄冬天有異曲同工之妙，早晚溫差將近１０度，除 了早晚冷以外，這裡的天氣還算舒適，只是缺雨讓來自多雨的台灣的我很不習 慣，想當然爾，這裡的省水習慣其來有自，幸好我的寄宿家庭對我們不太苛求， 讓我們的生活過得相當舒適。 我們在 ICTE 上課（昆士蘭大學裡一棟專門提供語言學習的建築物） 。開學 第一天，ICTE 學生有一個分班考試，老實說，我考得並不理想，尤其是我的口 說能力，因為接觸少又太緊張，頻頻口誤，也不太了解測驗老師的意思，班級分 成七級（依能力遞增） ，我被分到第三級，第三級的程度很基本，大概國二程度， 經過一個禮拜，我真的無法在這個班級學到我所需，在寄宿家庭和同學的建議 下，我決定去找負責人換課程等級，在這裡，我不用擔心因為換等級或其他對學 校反映的事，而需要顧及別人眼光，這是亞洲普遍的心態。很快的，他聽完我的 問題，看過我當時考試狀況，我順利換完我的班級，在當天下午，我就可以換到 等級四上課。第四級以上的班級除了一般課程，可以有一些選擇課程的權利，我 選了英文歌唱和商業英文，我的主要老師是 Lisa，她很有趣和負責，是個很好的 老師，第四級課程的文法及聽力都難了一些，雖然有些文法我學過，但對於我聽 力和複習是有幫助的，而且新同學都可以接納我，讓我覺得我真的做了對的選擇。 每天都是下午３～４點放學，我們都會坐公車到市區逛逛，我們買了月票（可 無限次搭乘），Indooropilly shopping center 是對我們最方便的地方，除了可買到 日常需要物品，它同時是個很大的轉運站，可在這轉搭公車或火車，是我們在這 裡最好的指標。這裡物價頗高，包括食物(除了牛奶和巧克力)，所以對於中餐， 最好的方法就是自己做三明治或其他簡單可以打發的東西，平均在學校食物都要 台幣 120 元以上，如果在外面吃甚至要 200 元起跳，我通常都買吐司.起司.火腿. 生菜.煎蛋做成三明治，這樣平均一餐只要台幣 25~75 元，在這邊，他們較不注 重中餐，通常是普通三明治或簡單速食就打發掉。早餐是簡單麥片或土司，晚餐 是一天最豐盛的一餐，也是最讓我期待的吃飯時間，因為每天都可以吃到不同的 驚奇。而且聽著他們豐富的對話，總是讓我獲益良多，不僅讓我英文能力增進不 少，更讓我了解國家的多元文化。對於增進英文能力，我很推薦選擇寄宿家庭。 在澳洲的第一個週末，我們到了 LONE PINE,這裡有世界獨一無二的動物－ 袋鼠和無尾熊。這讓我們很興奮，在這裡，我們感受到在台灣動物園缺乏的自然 感，或許和地域大小有關，尤其是袋鼠，對於我們這些不速之客，牠們並不害怕 只是優閒的在這片自然大草原跑跑跳跳；當然，我們還跟珍貴的無尾熊拍照，牠 們不像我們看起來的那樣瘦小，其實牠們是頗有份量的，和我拍照的是隻小女 生，她是這麼可愛和配合，抱在手中真的有說不出來的滿足感。我們還看了趕羊 秀，牧羊犬十分盡責聰明，結束之後還溫馴的跟孩子玩耍。還有很多稀奇的動物， 但一一說出他們的名字真的有點困難，來一趟這邊真的是澳洲必備的行程。 經過一周新班級的課程，其實適應的很快，不過我發現商業英文真的有些無 趣….不過聽說另一個選擇學術英文好像也是一樣，或許這種專業課程就是這 樣？尤其這邊是英式英文，讓從小學美式英文的我有些不習慣。 第二周周末陽光海岸，我們在學校預定行程，昆士蘭大學提供一連串週末行 程供 ICTE 學生選擇，其中包含相當多景點，我們訂了陽光海岸，黃金海岸（兩 天一夜），EKKA DAY(澳洲一年一度的傳統節慶，可以放假一天，也是必備行 程)，陽光海岸相當漂亮，比起黃金海岸，我們都認為它更適合多逗留一晚，相 對的，這邊的住宿價格也比較高昂，黃金海岸充斥太多觀光客，有些擁擠混亂， 它的沙灘也沒陽光乾淨，不過黃金海岸夜生活比較豐富，有相當多夜店。如果想 放鬆，我會較推薦陽光。 最後一周我們試圖要去這裡一個相當著名的景點-Byron Bay（澳洲最東的一 個海灣），但學校及外面一天行程的名額都已額滿，後來我們決定自己坐火車到 另一個景點 Stradbroke island，我們先搭乘火車到 Cleveland station(克里夫蘭)， 我們遇到一位好心的老先生，他知道我們迷路之後，決定親自帶我們到可以搭乘 水上巴士（來回大約 12 元澳幣）（或 ferry）的地點，坐了大約 25 分鐘的船程， 一到達這個漂亮的離島，馬上就有巴士可以搭乘（一天的票價是 4.4 元），那條 唯一經過海灘的路筆直且都是小心袋鼠出沒的標誌，但鮮少住家，我們坐到巴士 的最終站，那裏看起來是一個懸崖，真的很適合待上一個下午，在這眺望海景讓 人心曠神怡，最讓我們驚喜的是，當我們正放鬆邊看風景邊吃冰淇淋時，三隻袋 鼠從我們面前跳過，我們還看到一隻袋鼠優閒的吃草，對我們並沒有太大戒心， 讓我覺得真的很親近大自然。回程時我們搭同一輛巴士去搭水上巴士，我們發現 這裡的交通工具時間似乎都已搭配好，讓我們不用擔心等待時間，我們在那邊度 過很棒的一天，因為是自己來而不是跟團，感覺格外滿足，我們的交通工具一共 只花了２２元澳幣，如果在學校預定需要５５元，因此自己來會是很棒的經驗。 大約在回國前兩個禮拜，我得知昆士蘭大學在寄宿家庭方面犯了幾個錯誤， 第一，我的寄宿家庭父母在２７日要返回以色列，但我必須留到３０號，因此我 必須要再找新家庭度過那幾天，幸好有個同學她的寄宿家庭有空位，因此我可以 順利搬到她家，不用再另外適應一個陌生環境；第二，我們這團有四人（兩對） 互相在最初被換了寄宿家庭而不自知，因為我們本來被安排到適合的家庭，但我 們從負責安排的人得知，因為電腦輸入錯誤，我們都被交換了家庭，難怪一開始 我們這團有人反映她的寄宿家庭不符合她的要求，昆士蘭大學在通知學校之後就 知道有這樣的錯誤卻沒更正，這是我們覺得最匪夷所思的一點。我的新家庭習慣 和原本的家庭很不同，他們來自伊斯蘭卡，有小孩和狗，非常省水省電，比較缺 少外國的開放大方，反倒比較像東方的傳統家庭。 ICTE 每五個禮拜就有一個語言考試，跟我們當初分班考試一樣，有聽說讀 寫能力測驗，這個考試可以決定你在經過五個禮拜的課程，是否有資格升等級或 留在原班級，先進行的是口說能力測驗，我們用抽籤決定 partner，談談關於在澳 洲的所見所聞，我講了很多我覺得新鮮的.和國家不同的地方，結束後，老師給 我相當多的鼓勵，她說我表現很好，我覺得比起第一天讓老師搖頭的表現，我想 我真的進步很多，多虧寄宿家庭父母和室友不厭其煩的重複我不懂的地方，以及 和同學之間良好的互動，我真的覺得我滿載而歸了。 最後一天我也順利完成其他三項測驗，中午有個免費的 BBQ，我們和同學 互留聯絡方式和拍照，真的覺得很捨不得。 在這裡的五個禮拜，我們過得很充實，雖然中間有些小插曲，像公車司機忽 略我的站牌害我遲到，有點小迷路，也曾經遇到一些對外來遊客不友善的年輕 人，但總體來說這裡的人其實接納度很高，我們在旅程中也遇到很多小困難，多 虧那些當地人幫助，讓我們相當感動。寄宿家庭是我在澳洲最美好的一環，我很 幸運遇到這麼好的父母，我慶幸當初選的是有寄宿家庭的澳洲，讓我學習到更 多，能更深入體會這裡的生活，還有順利換班級，靠自己發現一座美麗小島，這 些都是很棒的回憶。 English Report After almost 10 hours, we arrived at Brisbane airport. Fortunately, The custom house wasn’t as scared as we thought. Although we had little problem such as passport without sign or passport couldn’t be scanned, we still pass successfully. We were picked up by our homestay family after we arrived at The University of Queensland, which we will study for 5 weeks. A passion and kind woman picked me up-Nurit, who has black hair, black eyes and white skin. We chatted with each other some basic question, and I know about she and her husband are come from Israel (Judaic). About 40 minutes later, she introduced my 2 roommates for me when we were arriving home. Chung Haw (Korea) and Tomoko (Japan) both teach English in their own country. Without them, I couldn’t adapt the new life there soon. In the afternoon, Nurit took us to see the way bus drive, look around supermarkets. She also gave us map of city, university, home, and bus timetable. She worried about that I couldn’t understand what she said and repeated again and again about how to take a bus to school and city for me.(Obviously, my English is the poorest of them.) She is really so considerate and I was lucky to meet her. Few days later, I saw my homestay fathter-Yaheli, he seems has his own personal charming. They are typical foreign couple, and they also seem love each other very much. Different with our traditional society impression “men do outside, women do inside,” they don’t separate their works too clearly. I can imagine how fun my life will be here. It was winter in Australia, and it was hard to get up in the morning. I went to bed and woke up early; it was routine life, wasn’t it? Winter there is similar with winter in Kaohsiung. They both have big difference in the temperature between mornings, nights with daytime. Although I was little hard to adapt that there is lack of raining, the weather still comfortable. Absolutely, they are very saving water. We studied in a building called ICTE which is provides language learning in Queensland University. First day, ICTE students had an exam to separate us to different classes. Actually, I didn’t do well on the exam, especially my speaking test. I was nervous and couldn’t understand what the teacher exactly meant. Our classes have 7 levels; I was separated to level 3. The lessons in level 3 is really too simple, I knew I can’t learn what I need in this class after 1 week. With my homstay family and friends’ recommence, I decided to change my class level. Soon, after the person who responsible for listened my question and saw exam result, he told me that I could change level 4. I don’t need to worry about other’s opinion if I said that I don’t satisfy with lesson or something like that, and it often happens in Asian society. Classes up to level 4 can have option lessons except normal’s, and I chose learning English through songs, business English. My main teacher is Lisa, she is responsibility and charming. Grammar and listening are a little bit difficult than level 3. There were something I have been learned, but it was still helpful for me to review and listen. I thought it was right decision. We finished daily classes at 3:00p.m. ~4:00p.m. . We often looked around the city after school. We bought monthly ticket so that we can take public transportation any times we want. For us, Indooropilly shopping center is the most convenient place. It is not only a shopping center but also a big transfer station. Everything is expensive there except milk and chocolate. Therefore, it‘s the best way to make lunch by yourself, such as sandwiches or other easy foods. In average, it’s cost at least NT$ 120 to eat a meal at school; it even cost up to NT$200 eat outside. I often made sandwiches with cheeses, hams, lettuces, eggs; it just cost me NT$25~75. My breakfast was oatmeal ort toasts, dinner was the best and I always expected the time in one day. I love the time because not only I can eat different surprises but learn a lot from their plentiful dialogues. To improve English ability much faster, I will recommend live in home stay. The first weekend in Australia, we went to LONE PINE which has unique animals-koala and kangaroo. We could learn the feel of nature which is lack of in Taiwan, maybe it has connection with how big the ground is. Those kangaroos don’t afraid of people, they just run and jump on the natural grass casually. Absolutely, we took pictures with those cherish koalas. I took a picture with a little girl koala, she is so sweet and lovely, I really felt satisfied at the moment. We also saw sheep dog show, and those dogs were responsible and clever. They even played with children after the show finished. There are still many kinds of rare animals, and it’s hard for me to say their names. It’s really necessary to go there when you are travelling in Australia. After one week in the new class, I adapted soon. However, I felt business English was boring, and I also heard that academic English was also boring. Maybe professional class always like that? Especially we learned England English there; it was often let me feel confused. Queensland University provides a series schedules provide ICTE students as choice; including many kinds of famous places. We booked Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast (2 days and 1 night) and EKKA DAY (a traditional festival once a year in Australia, and we can have an extra holiday. It is also necessary to go.) Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast are both pretty. In my opinion, the latter is crowded because there are too many tourists, and the latter’s sand is also dirty than former. If you want to have some drink in night clubs, Gold Coast is a good choice. The last weekend, we try to go to a very famous place-Byron Bay (a bay which is located at the east of Australia. Unfortunately, all of schedules of school or other companies were full. However, we decided to take a train to Stradbroke island. At first, we had token a train to Cleveland station, than we met a kind old man. After he knew we had got lost, he decided to take us to the place which can take water taxi (return US$12) (or ferry). It took us 25 minutes, as soon as we arrived at this beautiful island; a bus had waited there (daily student ticket is US$4.4). The only road through beach is straight and full of signal said be careful of kangaroos, but seldom residences. Finally, we got off at the final stop, it’s really a gorgeous scenery! You can stay there all afternoon, its fresh air and sea scenery let me free of mind and happy of heart. While we were eating ice cream with relax, three kangaroos jumped and passed by us! It was so natural and surprised, wasn’t it? We also saw a kangaroo was eating grass near us, he didn’t very afraid human. We took the same bus return to take water tax. What surprise us was all public transportation seems match with each other, so we didn’t need to worry about the time to wait. We really had a good day there. The trip just cost us US$22 on transportation, and it need US$55 to book the trip at school. Therefore, it will be great to go there by yourself. About two weeks ago, I knew that made some mistakes on aspect of home stay. First of all, my homestay family will go back to Israel at 8/27, and I’m going to leave at 8/30. As a result, I had to find a new family, and I find one of my friends had a vacant room luckily. Second, 4 people in my groups didn’t know about that they was changed homestays with some mistakes. At first, we all separated to suitable families. It’s incredible that because of some mistakes and finally everything changed! No wander somebody complained about her family. The most strange is they had known about this, but they didn’t correct it. My new family was very different with the old one. They are come from Islam; there are a cute dog and 2 children in the family. The biggest difference is they look more like traditional Asian family. In ICTE, there is a language exam every 5 weeks. The exam was similar with the one which we had at the first week, and it can decide that if you have qualification to up your level. The first was speaking test, we casted lots to decide our partner. The topic was talking about my life there, and I talked about what I felt fresh and compared with my own country. After I finished, the teacher (Lisa) said that I had good performance, and I think I really made a lot progress. Thanks my home stay family and roommates talked to me patiently; and good interaction with classmates. I really return home fully supplied. I really had a good time in the 5 weeks, although there are still had episodes such as the bus driver ignored my bus stop and I late for school, I also bumped into some unfriendly teenagers. However in conclusion, people there always have an open mind. Thanks those kind peoples’ help and I can pass so much difficult. My home stay was the best memory for me in Australia, I really lucky to meet the family. I think I had a correct choice to come to Australia which can live in home stay, and it let me learned a lot. Changing classes successfully and discovering a beautiful island by ourselves were all best and unforgettable memories.
