有朋自遠方來，不亦樂乎！

圖文/盧苗苗

大家好：我叫盧苗苗。 我去年從布里斯本的聖心學校畢業了，今年是我的間隔年( gap year )，我決定到臺灣聖心學習，提升我的中文能力。 在澳洲，有些人高中畢業後會先選擇給自己一年間隔年，特別是在他們還不確定自己想讀什麼專業領域，或想在進大學前先旅遊或工作時。

很多聖心學生對文化交流很感興趣，我在高中時也對聖心學校的文化交流躍躍欲試， 不幸的是，遇到了全球爆發的疫情，所有的交流都被取消了。疫情消退， 我很感謝臺灣聖心給我半年交流的機會。 

今年七月，臺灣聖心讓我參加了自2019年疫情以來首次的聖心文化交流。有來自美國、日本、韓國，還有澳洲的聖心學生，我們一起上月琴課、美術課還有家政課， 我們也有機會分享各國的人權狀況， 因此，我也準備了關於聯合國永續發展目標的課程報告。 這兩週的交流活動給了我們一次充實且豐富的體驗。

最近我在圖書館整理新進的英文書，還有參與及協助各年級的英文課程。 每個週末，都有不同的家庭親切的接待我，帶我出去玩，藉以認識臺灣文化、品嘗臺灣美食！非常感謝臺灣聖心師生待我親如一家人，我將珍藏這份美好的緣分，在寒假回到澳洲繼續我下一個學習旅程！

Hi everyone, my name is Ciara and I will be at Sacred Heart until January 2024. I actually graduated from the Sacred Heart school in Brisbane, Australia last November. I'm spending half of my gap year here at Sacred Heart to improve my Mandarin. In Australia, some people will choose to take a gap year after high school if they don't know what they want to study at university, or if they want to travel or work before going to university.

Like many Sacred Heart students, I was very eager to participate in an exchange during high school. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, all the exchange activities were cancelled before I got the chance. That's why I am very grateful that this school has given me this opportunity for a six-month long exchange! 

In July, the school invited me to join the Sacred Heart Cultural Exchange Camp, which has not happened since 2019. Sacred Heart students from the US, Japan, Korea and Australia all came to participate, even taking yueqin, art and cooking classes! We also had the opportunity to share our own country's human rights situation. To expand on that, I prepared a lesson on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. This two-week exchange offered us a great and rich experience.

These days, I am in the library managing the new English books as well as assisting in English classes. Every weekend, a different family kindly hosts me, and introduces me to new places, where I can learn about Taiwanese culture and taste delicious Taiwanese food! I am very grateful to the teachers, students and families of Sacred Heart Taiwan for welcoming me into your community. I will make the most of this experience and return to Australia in the winter vacation to begin my next learning journey!