文：李芯誼 臺中市大安區農會/臺中市大安區三光國民小學

       這次參加學校的美國州際筆友交流活動，是一段讓我大開眼界、收穫滿滿的奇妙旅程。在「大白哥哥」的推薦下，我們班的三位小可愛很幸運地獲得了這個機會，可以和不同國家的學生用信封和紙筆來交流。我的筆友是一位名字叫做 Olivia Wilson 的女孩子，她也有一個可愛的小名叫 Lina。透過這一封封跨越海洋的信件，我學到了很多以前從不知道的國外事物，也讓我深深感受到跨國友誼的奇妙與美好。

    在交流的過程中，我發現我們的生活環境和文化有很大的差異。最讓我感到驚訝的，是我們和別的國家的放假日子完全不同。信中 Lina 告訴我，她們竟然在六月二日就開始放暑假了，這在臺灣的我們看來簡直太不可思議了！而且因為時差的關係，她每一個禮拜幾乎都是在早上回信給我。透過問答，我也對她的生活背景有了更多了解，知道她以前住在威斯康辛州的格拉夫頓，現在搬到了密西根州，就讀於一所天主教學校。她的個性非常活潑開朗，班上有十五個男生和四個女生，重點是，她還跟我分享她非常喜歡做菜呢！

    不過，交流過程中最令我印象深刻、也最羨慕的，就是她的興趣——騎馬。Lina 幾乎一直都在騎馬，每一次我收到她的信件時，信封裡總是裝滿了她騎馬的照片，甚至還有騎馬時的影片。她跟我分享她曾去佛羅里達州度假，並在那裡一邊看風景一邊騎馬。她養的兩匹馬名字也非常酷，第一隻叫「自由」，第二隻叫「大黃蜂」，光是聽名字就覺得牠們一定很可愛又溫馴。雖然我們生活的國家不同，興趣也大不相同，但奇妙的是，她竟然在信中提到她跟我一樣，家裡都有養烏龜當寵物！當我看到這個共同點時，心裡一陣驚喜，覺得我們之間的距離一下子拉近了好多。

    這次的筆友活動讓我學到了許多課本上學不到的知識，也讓我知道別的國家跟我們臺灣有甚麼不同之處。如果有機會，我以後還想要跟更多不同國家的筆友交流。在這樣的過程，我不僅可以學習英文，還能培養英文寫作技巧，更拓展我的視野，明白世界有多麼寬廣！

Participating in this international pen pal exchange activity was a wonderful journey that truly opened my eyes and brought me so many rewards. Thanks to Mr.White warm recommendation, three of us in our class had the lucky chance to exchange paper letters with students from another country. My pen pal is Olivia Wilson, and she also goes by the name Lina. Through these letters traveling across the ocean, I learned a lot of new things that I never knew before, and I felt the amazing charm of cross-cultural friendship.

During our exciting exchange, I discovered that our lives and cultures have many interesting differences. The most surprising thing to me is that our school holidays are very different from each other. Lina told me in her letter that she starts her long summer vacation on June 2nd! For us in Taiwan, that seems very early and amazing. Also, because of the time difference, she usually replies to my letters in the early morning. Through our communication, I learned much more about her background. She used to live in Grafton, Wisconsin, but now she lives in Michigan. She goes to a Catholic school and has a very lively personality. There are fifteen boys and four girls in her class. Interestingly, she also likes cooking very much!

However, what impressed me the most and made me feel envious is her wonderful hobby—horseback riding. Lina seems to be riding horses almost all the time. Every time I received her letters, she shared beautiful photos of her riding horses, and she even sent me a video of her riding. She told me she once went to Florida to enjoy a vacation and ride horses there. Her two horses have very cool names. The first one is named "Freedom" and the second one is named "Bumblebee." These names sound so cute and friendly! Although we live in different countries and have different lifestyles, surprisingly, she mentioned that she raises turtles as pets, just like me! When I read about this common ground, I felt so happy because it made our hearts feel much closer.

This great activity taught me a lot of unique knowledge and showed me the differences between other countries and Taiwan. If there is a good chance in the future, I really want to keep exchanging letters with pen pals from different countries. In this meaningful process, I can not only learn English well and improve my English writing skills, but also broaden my horizons and understand how wide the world is!