復華中學-顏O中
英國高中交換學生

My Experiences in England
By Andrew H.

　The ten months that I spent in England were fantastic. It has been the best ten months that I’ve experienced so far. I got to see the four seasons change dramatically: the blistering hot sun, the reddening, and then fall of the leaves during autumn; the graceful dances of snowflakes during winter (occasionally, some nasty hail storms the size of a soybean, which just chips the tip of your ear and makes you scream, “Owwwww!”); and then finally, watching songbirds sing along with the arrival of spring.

　The moment I got off the plane, I was in such an awkward state, where I had completely lost my appetite for every edible object in sight. When I arrived at my host family’s home, they welcomed me with a very warm hug, and then we had a late dinner to welcome the new “family member.”



我和我的Lacross team–台灣沒有的運動


　At first, my stomach was in a “switch-off” state (to be honest, 17 hours of airplane economy class food isn’t the best thing in life), but when they started to serve English-style roast mint lamb, “Whoa, mama!” It was complete bliss! It was fantastically groovy! On that very first night in England, I had four portions of English lamb and mint, and three chunks of mashed potatoes, which is my personal best record!

　My host family was wonderful. To me, they were like my English relatives (well, they’re mainly half-Indian and Kashmiri, but they do have a beautiful and well-spoken English accent). We had such great times together, and we really did have loads of crazy moments. That includes every family member of the house.

　Shireen, the mother of the house, is such a great cook (her parents also cook wonderful food). She works at a sports and health development center, so for some reason, she always knows how to work that fat belly of mine into a “semi-six-pack.” In her house, no one is ever obese or unfit; she just seems to find a way to get your calories burning. She is my host mom, and she’s done a great job!


我和我的six from老師 Levis

　Then there is Omar, my “semi-brother” in England. We had weird and wonderful times together. We used to strum the guitar and make noises in the neighborhood until no one could stand us. He is my new big bro, which is quite cool because I always wanted a bigger brother—not to mention, I’m the only child in my family.

　School life in England was great. When you reach Year 12 (with students having an average age of 16), you get to pick four of your favorite subjects according to your career plans for the future, which is quite cool. Then, all you do during the weekdays is study hard, but not in a mood full of loathing and irritation, which is great because we often meet each other during free time and start up a little study group. For some subjects, they will ask you to travel to somewhere with the school, where schoolwork research is needed—places that aren’t too dull, but somewhere like Barcelona, Paris, Rome, etc. Pretty cool, huh? Then, we all go out for our friends’ birthday parties or just chill out at home during the weekends.

　My classmates were quite nice. They welcomed me to their school by shaking hands and giving LOADS of hugs. There, I met new friends and gained a completely new attitude toward life. Those 10 months soon swished by in the blink of an eye, and even now, I still miss all of my friends in England, although we still contact each other by e-mail. Hopefully, someday, I’ll get the chance to go back and say, “Hey folks, miss me?”
　
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