Coline Poissonnier is studying as a sophomore at National Taichung Girls' High School in the central Taiwan city. Like 15 other students from the Unites States, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, and Sweden, she is in Taiwan as the recipient of a scholarship offered by the Ministry of Education (MOE).

Those in the scholarship program are entitled to study at a high school or vocational school in Taiwan for one year, during which they live with a Taiwanese family, according to the MOE.

Poissonnier, who had taken Chinese before arriving in Taiwan, said she came here after being told that Taiwan is a fun place.

After spending over two months here, she can already have simple conversations in Mandarin with local residents. Her favorite natural site so far is Sun Moon Lake, and after visiting some night markets, she says she's taken to oyster omelettes but finds stinky tofu awful.

Morgane Bouillot, also from France, said her most unforgettable experience in Taiwan to date is shooting off fireworks and joining a BBQ contest. Bouillot is enrolled in Tainan Girls' Senior High School in southern Taiwan.

The 16 international students attended a welcome tea party organized by the MOE in Taichung City Friday to promote contacts with the representatives of their countries' liaison offices in Taiwan and share their experiences in Taiwan with each other.

The event also aimed at introducing the scholarship program and Taiwan's efforts to globalize its senior high schools, MOE officials said.

The MOE hopes that the countries from which the students originate provide similar scholarships to Taiwanese students to boost bilateral cultural exchanges, the officials added.

The scholarship program was created in 2007 and first implemented the following year.

(By Hao Hsueh-chin & Elizabeth Hsu)