還冰雪未溶的3月，許多人早已悄悄的宣佈春天的到來!(我記得是3/20)那個週末我們到New London去慶祝一個Irish的節日，St. Patrick Day，兩個多小時的遊行，好不熱鬧呀!從那個時候，我的衣櫃裡綠色系是必備的了。Sprink Brink和一群AYUSA的交換學生去Florida，哈哈，整個超興奮。在那時我不僅交到了許多來自不同國家的人，也在假期中體驗到了one world one promise的真理，真的過的很燦爛(笑)，從白天的旅程到晚上的房間party都令我回味無窮，一週的Spring Break就完完全全的証明了白駒過隙的意思阿~

那繁忙的四月，在一片綠草如茵的花園和鬱金香裡揭開了序幕，那晚的dinner就算我只是個小sophomore我還是硬著頭皮去湊熱鬧，即使本人的邀約沒成功…不過還是在我的生命中留下了美好的一頁。可能是經過了Homecoming和Snowball的緣故，穿上dress的我就算是有點害羞但是卻不再尷尬囉!還記得我homecoming的時候真的是囧斃了!!(笑)最令我感到驕傲的是，我越來越enjoy寫英文文章，只要認真的坐在電腦前，幾個小時，一篇篇不錯的essay就出來了。剛開始很不自覺，是歷史老師忽然點到我在10幾20篇的essay裡我的就脫穎而出，(超爽的!)這讓我覺得花了17年的時間，都沒有白費。

那個星期一，我獲得了National Honor Society的肯定而且也加入，成為一份子。這讓我感到無比的光榮和慶幸，來到美國，我覺得什麼都有可能，只要我們肯下功夫和毅力。因為我和室友都在State Forensic competition得到金牌!!一開始的時候超心不甘情不願的，其中還有幾次有想半途而廢的念頭，是後來有Mrs. Winske和Tracy的相挺，才會有這樣的一片天。Gold medal(哈哈!)真的很感謝我的轟媽、Tracy，在我遇到困難的時候幫助我，還特地為我和Jade室友辦一個超大的生日趴，她真的很特別!!那個周末我們過的比誰都還充實，雖然說在機場的那天，我哭的一把鼻涕一把眼淚，不過一生只能有一次的Sweet 16，我過的比任何人都sweet!!說實在的，這一年我學到了很多很多，不論是學業上的或者是精神上的，我都有了很大的轉變。幾次的Volunteering，prom, AYUSA exchange program with CR，登上EH. Newspaper photos，article in the year book都讓世界變的更廣闊，改變了我們的人生觀，態度，我相信未來不但更燦爛，而且更寬敞。

最後，感謝AYUSA張主任，Mom & Dad和大家!!
I’m proud to be an exchange student!! And you??

Wisconsin – 陳家葦

I was invited to the annual board meeting of Syracuse Historical Museum. The lady that invited me told me that they would have a very interesting presentation. I was there for receiving the honor of being a volunteer in the museum. The presentation was fun and exciting. The guy had a lot of old stuff with him.
He had a couple rifles, clothes, etc. He actually shot a couple shots with his old rifles. I was really fun.

When I went home, I saw this magazine lying on the table. I found an article that I thought was pretty good. It’s an article for volunteers:

Valuable is the work you do.
Outstanding is how you always come through.
Loyal, sincere and full of good cheer,
Untiring in your efforts throughout the year.
Notable are the contributions you make.
Trustworthy in every project you take.
Eager to reach every goal.
Effective in the way you fulfill your role.
Ready with a smile like a shining star,
Special and wonderful, that’s what you are.

04/17/09-The School Spring Concert     

The school’s spring concert was held at the school building this time, rather than the First Christian Church. The band didn’t perform because Mrs. Frazer thought the band wasn’t good enough to perform any of the songs. She had students did their instrumental solo since that’s what we have been practicing for Fine Arts Festival for a months. The school choir sang several songs. We used to have kids from Johnson, KS and another home schooler group in the concert. Neither of them came, so the concert was kind of short. I did my violin solo. I think that was the best time I have performed so far. It was raining and thundering outside. But the concert went well.

 04/21/09-Emergency Evacuation from the First Host Family

It has been around 8 months since I got to Syracuse, Kansas. So far my exchange student year has been wonderful. I’ve been giving speeches to groups in town, volunteering in several places, and so on. However, for the recent couple months, there’s one thing that bothers a lot-my host mother. She has been suffering a mental depression. She wouldn’t tell me about the reason why sometimes she got so upset, or I didn’t really try to find out. I didn’t ask about it for two reasons. First of all, it didn’t sound like I was involved. Second, I was concerning if that was too personal to ask.

She has been acting weird and being irritating by doing actions that don’t make much sense, and by using sarcastic language. We had had a couple discussions between us. At first, I was trying to improve the situation just between my host family and me. I didn’t bring it to AYUSA’s attention until a week before I left my host family. The reason I didn’t do it in this way was because: first, involving more people means more communication, and also mean more miscommunication. Second, I take that AYUSA would spend a month on this, by then, it would be even more difficult for me to stay in my original host family. For these two reasons, I decided that I wouldn’t get AYUSA involved in this until I am sure I don’t have the ability to work this out myself, and until the situation is crucial enough for AYUSA to react quickly and efficiently after I report the problem. Unfortunately, the situation didn’t significantly improve. So I talked to CR about the circumstances and the idea of changing the place to stay. I also talked to my principal about the idea of changing the place to stay for the next couple months. Amazingly, my principal told me that they already thought about that, and one of the teachers was willing to host me. The teacher is my teacher for Communication Arts class- Jay Hale. I called my CR and told her that I already found a place where I can stay, meanwhile, I told Charles about the situation.

On the 20th of April, my CR went to Mr. Hale’s house to have an interview with him. Mr. Hale told me to call my CR the next day at school. At the beginning, I thought I was just going to stay at Mr. Hale’s house for a little while. But my CR told me that AYUSA was trying to make the Hales a host family. Then, my CR talked to my host mother. She went very upset after the call. During the dinner, she exploded shouting, and yelling. She went furious, and talked about leaving the house. She even had a sack of apple right in front of my face as a gift, saying that she was just trying to be nice, and hope I will have a good time with the gift. This was an offensive action to me, and certainly off the limitation. It was surely unacceptable, and I knew I couldn’t stay there anymore. I have been trying to improve the situation as long as there’s still space, but once the limit was broken, I had to react immediately, and strongly. I called my CR right away, and told her the situation, meanwhile, requested to leave. I contacted my principal, asking for staying in his house and transportation to town with both RD and CR’s permission.
I cleared out my room in one and a half hour. I called it emergency evacuation.

I was glad that I could evacuate from there smoothly. My principle was: Try to improve if possible, react efficiently and firmly once the situation goes out of control.

 04/22/09-Clean the highway

My school is in a kind of State Highway Cleaning program. The goal is to keep Kansas highway clean.
The school adopted a section of highway close to the school building. What we do is picking up trashes along the highway on both sides of the pavement. We leave bags full of trashes beside the road, and the highway department will pick them up. Today was the first day doing this. The weather was really hot. The good part is that we had about five bags full of trashes. I was glad that the school is in this program. I think we will continue doing this to make Kansas clean.

     04/24/09-The Track MeetThe SCA host an annual track meet in Garden City. There were about 300 students participated this year. I was in the 100 meter dash, and long (broad) jump. I tried something new for me. I sign up 200 meter dash. I was also in the 400 meter relay because Mr. Gould wanted to have a school relay team. I went to Garden City with Mr. Gould’s two kids the night before. We stayed in their sister’s place. We didn’t have to get up early since we were already in Garden City. I don’t know if I placed in long jump, but I know that I got the first place in both 100 and 200 meter dash. The relay team got the second place. The day was intensely hot. It went all the way up to 90 degree. I was about to get burned. It was also a long day for me. I didn’t eat lunch till about 2 o’clock.      04/27/09- The Fine Art Festival

This activity was originally in March. But here were two delays both because of snow storms. The school has been preparing for it for nearly a month. I sang in the Syracuse Christian Academy choir. There were just about half as many students as they would usually have because of the changed date. We were the only choir that performed that day. The Yorks were late for 20 minutes, including Ryan. (Since e lives with the Yorks) Although they have the tendency to be late, this was a little bit off the limit. So I was one of the only two guys that sang. Quite impressive, the voice was nice. We had a beautiful bass throughout the performance. The instrumental solos and singing events were right after the choir. There were several little mistakes at the beginning, but it went through smoothly for the rest of the contest. The score system was unique. Performer would get a blue ribbon if he/she scored from 95 to 100, red ribbon for 89-94, and a white ribbon for 80-88. I performed Concerto in A minor- 1st movement with my violin. I got a blue ribbon, but I knew my skill needs lots of improvement, still. The festival ended significantly early because of the reduction of participants. Some of the SCA students went to lunch together after the festival. Nothing special to talk about, to me, it’s just a musical event.

04/30/09-The School’s Honor Roll Field Trip

This field trip was held for honoring the students that worked hard on school works. There were supposed to be three honor roll field trips. Because the school didn’t have time to arrange the trip at the end of the first semester, the school combined the second and the third honor roll field trip together. We went to Garden City. The first stop in the morning was the Sandsage Bison Range Wildlife Area. The students got on a trailer and the manager of the wildlife area gave us a tour. There are dears, buffalos, and some cows in that area. The only animal that we saw was buffalo. I think there are 66 buffalos in that protected area. It was kind of chilly, but the tour was very interesting for me. We went to the Garden City Zoo during the period between the first stop and lunch. We went a home school mom’s garden in the afternoon. She is exceptionally knowledgeable on gardening. I am not crazy about Gardening, so I didn’t really learn a lot. We will have an end of year field trip. I wonder where we will go.

所以我算是幸運的囉

因為一年只有一次

這個活動是特別辦給pre-school的學生

Pre-school好像是一種專門給要進小學的3~4歲的小孩上的

在每年的萬聖節前都會有這個活動

有點像是給小朋友的分站遊戲

有不同的站，而且每一個遊戲都跟萬聖節有關

有不同的遊戲

小朋友只要玩過之後就可以蓋一個章和拿走一個小禮物

在教堂舉辦

除了我們平常講解聖經的地方外面也有餅乾飲料熱狗在義賣

賺到的錢就是他們的獎學金

因為我喜歡跟小朋友混在一起

所以就又去後面簽名答應要幫忙了

剛到的時候好像太早

都沒人在裡面

後來才有人出來說我可以待在裡面幫忙

我被分到的是pumpkin bowling

顧名思義就是南瓜保齡球

至於小禮物則是黏土團

因為還很早

所以我就在那邊到處晃

看到有人需要幫忙擺餅乾擦桌子我就去幫忙

之後教堂的神父Glen就叫我過去，想讓我是是他那站的難度

那站是妳要含著南瓜子再把她吐出去

看可以吐多遠

聽起來很簡單但事有難度

因為南瓜子很輕要含很久才會變得比較重一點點

我第一次試成績只有90公分

有一位爺爺吐到門口，整個破表

之後人越來越多我就去站崗囉

在小朋友在玩的時候

其實只要講點鼓勵的話，甚至違反一下遊戲規則讓她們多丟幾次

都可以讓你在他們印象中加分

他們玩的不亦樂乎，我在旁邊看了也很高興

有些小朋友玩完後還想繼續挑戰

我就把距離拉長

在我在跟小朋友一起玩的時候

還看到我Marketing的老師

他也帶他小孩來完了

根據小朋友不同的年紀會有不同的距離

因為他們力量都不一樣大

有些要用雙手丟

有些可以一次就全倒

就這樣4:30進去

弄到了9:30才出來

搞的自己也很累

結束後就留在裡面幫忙整理

椅子要歸位對齊

垃圾要清桌子要擦

之後就轟媽來載我回家囉~

雖說我自己看起來就一臉痞痞的樣子，但是我真的很喜歡跟小孩子玩在一起

之前我在高中的時候有時候會去學校理的附屬幼稚園幫忙，因為班上的老師有小孩在幼稚園裡，所以常常幾個男生打打球後就去幫忙，小孩子會用牠們的小手抓住你的衣角或是抱住你的大腿，很可愛呢，這次在這裡幫忙，也有小孩子因為怕丟不中就會哭出來，可是在他們試過後就會想要繼續玩，這次的活動好像已經籌畫很久了，因為一年也才一次，所以就會特別的重大，在玩的途中有些家長會和小孩子照相，小孩子不是摟就是抱不然就是親，每張照片幸福的感覺都多到溢出來了呢，真的很喜歡這種感覺。

社區服務小時數(+5)= 14hr

I had a really meaningful and amazing trip to Seattle and Portland.
 
This is the first trip I went with other 39 exchange students.
 
Few days before this trip begin.
 
I was so excited and cant fall in sleep in the day before we went to Portland.
 
Students who is Patti’s students will be at her house at the night before we leave La Pine.
 
We woke up so early in the morning.
 
This was the plan.
 
Everyone will go to sleep after the American Idol finish.
 
We have to get up at 4:45 in the morning and we will leave at 5:45.
 
But the next day, noone wake up at 4:45 in the morning.
 
Patti and her husband woke everyone up at 5:45.
 
And we afraid that we wont arrive to Eugene at 8:30, but we did.
 
We arrived there on time, 8:30.
 
 After we meet every groups, we went to the Portland Zoo.
 
Actually, it’s just like the zoo in Taiwan.
 
And I think Taiwan’s is better then here’s.
 
The guide brought us to Portland downtown.
 
We walked over there, and hanging around the whole downtwon.
 
It was exhausted.
 
We had dinner in a big mall.
 
After dinner we went to ice skating.
 
We had so much fun there.
 
I met many friends there.
 
There is a girl who is 4 years old, she is so awesome.
 
She skates so pretty.
 
And I talked to her.
 
She is so cute.
 
I should take a picture with her.  :p
 
In the last round, I fell.
 
It was so hurt.
 
I cant even stand up.
 
I got ice in the host family.
 
The host family which we are going to stay.
 
(Girls stay in the host family, and boys sleep in the church)
 
They are super awesome and nice.
 
I like the big brother Tony.
 
He is a sweet guy.
 
and he is cultered.
 

On Thursday morning.
 
we went to visit Nike.
 
It’s so big inside there.
 
And there has alot of sculptures.
 
After we finished out lunch in Nike.
 
We went to the Nike employee store shopping.
 
Many people bought many things.
 
But I just bought a pink sweather which has a 『08″ in the back.
 
Then we went to a big waterfall.
 
It’s glorious and gallent.
 
We climbed up there.
 
And there has a slip road where we have to pass it.
 
I dont want to fall cause it’s so dangerous and it’s cold there.
 
I was considering.
 
But Anh, Sasa, Baina they will climb up there.
 
So I will climb too.
 
It’s so high.
 
We spent like an hour and a half to arrive the head of this waterfall.
 
It’s really high.
 
But it’s pretty.
 
and we had a hometown buffet for dinner.
 
We played game with the family in the night.
 
Baina, Zoey, Josie, and me had a great time with hostdad Tony.
 
He shared his detective story with us.
 
That was so awesome.
 
We went to bed really late.
 

In the morning, We took pictures with host family before we leave.
 
We are going to Seattle. WoHo~
 
We drove there like whole morning.
 
I slept in the car, cause I was really tired.
 
After we arrived there we had lunch.
 
I met Pan and Peter.
 
I was so happy I see people from Taiwan.
 
I miss them so much.
 
We went to Ride The Duck after everyone finished their lunch.
 
It was so much fun when we sit on the Ride The Duck.
 
The guide show every place.
 
He explained everything specific.
 
And he is really funny and humor.
 
Actually he has a good voice.
 
Haha. LOL.
 
We took the elevator up to the top of the Space Needle.
 
Wow~ It’s so high.
 
and I can see whole city.
 
It’s really pretty.
 
And we went to the souvenir store.
 
It was kinda boring, then we decided to have dessert.
 
They went to Mcdonald’s to have dessert.
 
Anh and I ordered an ice cream.
 
We sit there til everyone finished.
 
We stay outside the Mcdonald’s.
 
Because we dont know where can we go.
 
Then we walked back to meet everybody ontime.
 
At night, We watched the laser show.
 
It’s really good and splendid.
 
We went back to the hotel and most of the people go to swim.
 
And Anh and me just walked down to the lobby.
 
Because the pool is next to the lobby.
 
Before we went to sleep, I ran to Peter and Pan’s room.
 
It was so nice to see Taiwanese again.
 

In the morning, we took the train to the aquarium.
 
We played inside and touch the sea animals.
 
The feeling is so disgusting.
 
It was so weird.
 
But we had alot of fun there.
 
Then we took a ship to the other side of the river.
 
It was boring because we just sit in the ship.
 
But we still went out there and took pictures though.
 
After the ship, we went to the fish market.
 
I feel familiar with the fish market.
 
It just looks like the market in Taiwan.
 
And it smell stinky too.
 
We took a little nap at hotel.
 
Then we start to go to the Asain market.
 
The part which I really excited.
 
 I though I can find many food there.
 
But I was so disappionted.
 
Cause after we finished our dinner, we just have 15 minutes left.
 
And I couldnt find anything there carefully.
 
It’s sad though.
 
Then we went to the big mall.
 
Excited,,, This is what everyone waiting for.
 
But things which made everyone disappionted was we just have 25 minutes left.
 
Sounds awful.
 
Anh and me went to a store which is sell clothes and something like that.
 
It’s not really expensive there.
 
We bought the same t-shirt and I bought two necklaces.
 
It’s really pretty.
 
We had a dessert in a restuarant.
 
Chocolate cake with ice cream.
 
Yummy~  But it’s sweet though.
 
I took a lot of pictures at this moment.
 
Cause it was the last night everyone was here.
 
Tomorrow we will drive back home.
 
And we might wont see each other again.
 
But pictures are the most meaningful and beautiful memories.

 
Tonight, people came to out room.
 
It was a little crowded here.
 
But it was awesome though.
 
We talked, and someone had a suggestion that we should play a game.
 
『Truth and Dare』
 
It’s a interesting and exciting game.
 
They asked me to join them, but I said.
 
I am too little to participate in this game, but I am big enough to watch it.
 
LOL.
 
I fell in sleep at 4.
 
But most of them went to their room at 5:30 in the morning.
 
It was so much fun.
 
Because it was the last night to have a great time with friends.
 
We dont know if we will see each other again.
 
But Anh and I said we will see each other again.
 
She will come to Taiwan, and I will go visit her too.
 
We are a bosom friends.
 
We are soul mate.
 
It was an amazing trip.
 
It was a beautiful memories.
 
I met friends in every where in the world.
 
It feel so awesome!!!!
 
 

當7月27日大夥兒興奮的飛向洛杉磯時，我還在痴痴的等~~等學校、等接待家庭~~。29日和同學觀賞著早場電影〝黑暗騎士〞，手機響起，媽媽要我趕緊回家，一切有著落了晚上就走人，單飛洛杉磯參加晚了兩天的文化營。

命運多舛的我，轟家一家一家的換，初抵賓州匹茲堡的轟家，家中有五個孩子，真是熱鬧非凡。我們固定每個星期三晚上全家一起去看轟哥Mike的高中Hockey比賽，過程中的緊張、刺激，讓我們這些觀眾也好似身歷其中！轟媽在醫院上班需輪班，當輪夜班時，我們成為只能吃微波食物的可憐孩子，而山中無老虎的時光也是大家期待的！但好景不常，遠在伊拉克工作，我未曾謀面的轟爸生病了，要回美靜養，我只好離開他們！

11月底搬到了新轟家，在這兒只能以〝無趣〞來形容，家裡有一位來自捷克的交換學生Robert，轟爸是我迷你學校(全校只有83人)的副校長，轟媽是保險業務員，每天都晚晚的才能到家；晚餐三個大男生總各自做著三明治吃，想和同學去看電影，或是去公園，甚至於Ayusa難得辦的活動，不用問，轟爸的回答一定是標準答案〝NO〞。還好那時正是籃球賽季，不能出去玩，打球也OK啦！參加校隊，我的總成績，不管是得分、籃板球、上場時間，可都是全隊第三高，也因此曾上過當地的報紙呢！但也因籃球賽和副校長發生了不愉快，造成了我像吉普賽人般需再次換家庭!!!

現在的轟家~~轟爸、轟媽、轟姊、轟弟~~，轟媽可不是等閒之輩，兩個孩子在家自學，都是她在教導；而她也有著高超的烹調功力，讓我嚐到久沒吃到的美味！只要轟爸在家，笑聲、打鬧聲，充滿整個家，讓這個家洋溢著快樂、幸福！假日大家一起為前後院美容、鋤草，青草味中充滿著歡樂、嘻笑，我和轟弟搶著拿草給兩匹小馬吃，但馬兒好似不喜歡我，我一靠近總覺它們生氣了！

因為是小學校，也沒社團，只有籃球隊可參加，放學後總留下來練球，現在的我已練就一身的功夫。而課業方面，在台灣的學生總是規規矩矩，來到這裡當然也是一樣，功課不懂問老師或向轟媽請教，轟媽總笑稱我是讀書機器，而在班上大家則給了我〝數學天才〞的封號！

美國行，無價行！去了美國的Capital華盛頓DC、看了籃球最高殿堂NBA的比賽、和MLB棒球賽；也見識到美國人的愛心、耐力，體驗到萬聖節、聖誕節….節日的代表意義，以及和台灣完全不一樣的學生生活、家庭互動、自然環境等等，一切都是特別的、值得的和珍貴的。回首過去的八個月，頻繁的換家庭、換學校，讓我沒有如別的同學般，將台灣做進一步完整的介紹及一些文化交流，內心總有些遺憾、愧疚！只因如此，所以我更加做好自己，不管是課業或言行舉止，總時時提醒自己要小心謹慎，因為當我來到美國，我就是代表台灣。

轉瞬間，再過一個多月，就要回台了，初抵美國時，我宛如一塊乾扁的海綿，現今的我已蛻變成吸滿美國人文、歷史、民情的飽滿海綿！我已準備好要將所見所聞，帶回台灣和家人、好友分享，現在已是~~萬事俱備，就等6月12日了~~。

說真的，這次來美交換，我遇到了很多很多的困難，交換學生要飛的那一天，因爲一些問題，我必須延遲兩天自己飛去美國參加文化營，自己坐了18個小時的飛機，真得很怕，尤其是陌生的語言和環境；文化營的兩個禮拜，一起讀書，一起玩，擔心著未來要見面的家庭，未來的學校，及未來的同學。但是我們互相打氣，告訴同伴，不要怕，我們站在同一塊土地上，就像我們就在你身邊一樣。同伴的鼓勵，讓我們通過了考驗，走過了難關，我相信未來的學弟妹們，也會像我們一樣的。我的學校很大，大概兩千多人，每天5節課，卻是一個多小時一節課，說真的很受不了，課間也才5分鐘，匆匆忙忙的到locker 換個課本，就必須得衝到下一個教室上課，一下課，連跟朋友講個話的時間都沒有，就必須要衝去坐校車，校車通常是不會等人的；剛開始真的沮喪到不行，感覺都沒什麽朋友，很想快點回家…；我沒有參加課後的體育活動，而是選擇了key club，到外面去做社區服務之類的幫忙，因爲這樣，我認識了一些朋友。想交朋友，一定要參加課后的活動，這一點很重要。

課業方面，由於主任說過，我們來這裡是體驗美國生活的，於是我選擇了學校的acting class，嘗試了在舞臺上表演，踏出了自己的第一步，原來膽小的我也是做得到的；filmmaking class，我們學習如何做電影，如何抓不同的角度來呈現一個動作，而不是一個勁的拍，無聊的電影誰要看啊； child development 是一個幼稚園，我們像是實習老師一樣，教小孩認識ABC，學習什麽叫禮讓，陪孩子們唱歌跳舞，我們也必須在自己負責的那一周，設計屬於我們自己的活動； web design 學習如何做個人網頁，不是像無名一樣打打文章就可以了，而是要學習很多code，而是從一個空白的網頁開始；First aid 學習CPR/AED 和Standard First Aid，還有一些野生的生存技能，畢業後考到了兩張Red Cross Cards。

除了學校和轟家的活動之外, 我也參加一些屬於AYUSA的活動，交換生們一起聚集分享經驗與生活，還一起去做社區服務，郊遊，跟其他國家的學生在一起，真的會比在學校有趣!再來就是參加學校的活動，參加conference，和大家一起來到了波特蘭社區大學，聽大學生的演講，讓我對college有更多的了解，有位學長說：“In the college—school, friends and sleep, you can only pick two.” 課業會很重，想玩的時間都沒有。我們還學習了Leadership, 怎麽領導一個團隊，介紹自己，融入團體，從中發現自己的興趣，增加學生的自信及勇氣。其實我覺得在美國多參加這些活動對未來很有幫助，不管你是不是想繼續在美升學，還是回到臺灣考大學，這都是一次很棒的體驗。比如説臺灣大學好了，申請大學的程序中，會叫你寫自傳，美國一年體驗，你就可以寫出好幾頁了，看得人一定眼睛一亮的馬上考慮錄取你!!就在May 2^nd 學校舉行了一個舞會—Prom, 對於美國人來説，prom是很正式，很重要的一次舞會，尤其是對senior來説。本來不想參加的，從小就沒參加過這些正式的舞會；但是聽其他的交換生有多愛學校的prom，再加上其他朋友都一直叫我去! 於是，很不安的參加了!人生中的第一次的正式舞會，當時心情真得很不安，一下子怕自己穿得太正式，一下子擔心不會跳舞會遜掉，(就是想太多了…)，但沒想到我會這麽enjoy這個prom，去了才知道…原來…我的禮服不是最正式的，竟然有人穿白色婚紗!!!當中還感覺看到公主之類的童話人物…衣服實在太誇張了!!!而且~跳舞也不需要很厲害，因爲大家都亂跳的!!!所以建議下一屆的學弟妹們啊，一定要參加!!!排除萬難也要參加，而且不要怕，也許剛開始會很不看好，但是實際去做了才會知道真正的感覺是什麽，而且，體驗美國生活就是AYUSA的宗旨阿!!!!!

美國一年的生活真得很棒! 我學習到了很多，自信也增加了，打理好生活的大大小小的事情，不需要大人的擔心；更體驗了不同的美國生活，讓我的這一年變得很精彩；很感謝我的爸媽讓我有機會出來看世界，而不是呆在臺灣和大陸的小圈圈裏面，我知道我曾經不懂事過，也反抗過出國讀書，但是現在的我懂得了你們的用心；也很謝謝AYUSA有交換生program，把我們帶到美國來體驗不同的文化生活，雖然我們曾經辛苦過、曾經想家過、曾經遇到挫折，甚至一度後悔來到美國，現在的我們更勇敢更堅強了。沒有受苦，來了等於白來，這句話真得很經典!!

在我上高中時並沒有想到我會成為交換學生來到美國，但是這一年真的是我有過最特別的一年。

一開始從聽到出國交換學生、心裡有點羨慕到申請過程和行前訓練營被主任、學長學姊講的種種經歷嚇到。說真的，在主任說“不能把鐵放到微波爐”的那個例子以前，我還真的不知道有這回事。在確定要到美國之後，我是用有點期待但不安的情緒在準備，那時我是抱著最壞的打算來到美國 ，我可能會闖禍，可能要換轟家，可能居住情況不好，可能遇到的人相處不好。但是我還是出發了。

很幸運的，我的轟家是個超級好的轟家，百分百摩門教家庭。剛開始到美國猶他州，就如網路上的資料，是個95%摩門教徒的95%白人地方，外人對他們的評價並不是太好。但是轟爸轟媽轟姊人都很好，或者說，我在這裡認識的人都非常nice。我的學校，98%的同學都是摩門教，在教會都可以看到。摩門教非常嚴格保守，很多在美國青少年氾濫的問題像是大麻、性愛、槍械等…在他們的學校都沒有出現過。對這裡經過這一年的了解，現在的我喜歡上了猶他州，這是個好地方。

一開始到這裡，感覺並不好，我連對答都有問題，我承認我的英文不是太好，但也沒太差，我發現以前學的、考試的，跟要用出來就是不一樣。一開始有點沮喪，因為每次想表達一些事情就是說不出口，有一段時間還覺得英文越來越爛。我的轟媽天天和我講話，我的生活一點一點適應，開學後從跟不上到完全適應，上課從一片茫然到有問有答。前前後後，進步極為明顯。聽說讀寫的問題，生活習慣上一切的不同，宗教信仰的差異，經過一段時間的過渡期，慢慢的和美國世界磨合。

        交換學生的生活，每天都是學習。學校上的學習，語言上的學習，生活上的學習。

        這一年我嚐試了好多以前從來沒有想像過的東西。按照時間順續：Football Game、Halloween Dance角色裝扮、嚇死人的Haunted house、全英文學業的壓力、第一次看到下雪、Thanksgiving Dinner吃火雞、牙齒痛做根管治療、聖大的Christmas Dance有好多活動、做薑餅屋、Skiing、有生以來第一次真正的聖誕節、18歲生日Party、2009年新年、和轟家宗教的不愉快、參觀大教堂、浪漫情人節，Snowboarding Snowboarding很長一段時間的Snowboarding!! 決定未來的茫然、申請大學的壓力、Las vegas、沙漠騎four wheelers、開賽車當day activity和超重要的PROM!!好多美好的經歷，磨人的挑戰。當父母都不在身邊時，有時候還是很脆弱的。雖然現在的我，回頭看不覺得有太多困難，但是有很多次在過程中遇到的困難和委屈，打電話回家，原本打算開開心心不讓家裡擔心，但是常常說著說著就哭出來了。問題還是要解決，以前的我是懶得去解決，因為父母會頂著，但在美國，舉目無親(哈)，要自力更生。我覺得在這一年裡，沒有父母在身邊督促和依靠，學到最多的就是：想辦法自己解決問題，不懂就問，不會就學，對自己負責。這一年的時間過得非常快，期間還不覺得有什麼 ; 現在回頭看，一步步沒有察覺的學習和成長。在來之前和現在的我，完完全全的改變了，這大概是我一生難忘的寶貴經歷，也都成為我最珍貴的回憶。感謝爸媽給我這次的機會，以及他們的溫暖和支持。也超謝謝AYUSA有這麼棒的交流計畫，讓我能在美國有這麼精采豐富的一年。