老外看台灣／德國正妹曝辛苦歷程 「台灣改變了我的人生觀」

【看CP學英文】陳雪兒 (Michelle Casale) 幾年前從德國搬到台灣，意外地一系之間爆紅。今日有著「紅豆餅妹」封號的她，已有超過5萬名粉絲追蹤。

Michelle Casale moved from Germany to Taiwan a couple of years ago and immediately became an Internet celebrity. She is also known as “Red Bean Cake Sister” (紅豆餅妹) and has more than 50k followers on social media.

陳雪兒在與The China Post獨家專訪中表示，家境不好的她，從未因此放棄，反而更加努力的賺微薄的收入幫助支撐家庭。10歲時，她被雇用為社區送報，開啟了她豐富的工作經驗。

In an exclusive interview with The China Post, Michelle revealed that although she had a rough childhood, it didn’t stop her from working hard to earn what little she had. At the age of 10, she worked as a newspaper delivery girl for her neighborhood and has worked many jobs since then.

2010年，16歲的陳雪兒第一次獨自出國，前往台灣。首次離開家鄉的她，當時唯一想著的就是「我需要改變我的人生。」她表示自己從來就不愛在德國生活，一直渴望可以重新來過。她說道，「在台灣的四個禮拜改變了我的人生觀」，同時也讓她下定決心，畢業後一定要搬來台灣。

In 2010, sixteen-year-old Michelle traveled abroad for the first time to Taiwan. It was her first time “away from home” and she realized “that [she] needed to change [her] life.”

She has never really liked her life in Germany and dreamt of a new start. Her four-week trip to Taiwan “changed [her] perspective on life” and she knew she was going to move here after she graduated.

為了存到足夠的錢，她在畢業前的兩年內開始努力工作。她曾經一度早上在一間義大利甜品店打工，晚上再到法式餐廳當服務生。除了生活必需品外，陳雪兒將所賺來的錢存起來作為出國旅費。

To move to Taiwan, Michelle worked as much as she could for the two years before her graduation.

She was an employee at an Italian dessert shop during the day and a waitress at a French restaurant in the evening. She only saved up as much as she could.

高中畢業後，陳雪兒成功的存到錢，足夠買機票飛往台灣。她告訴The China Post, 來台灣是她這一生做過最棒的選擇。

After accumulating enough money for her flight to Taiwan and graduating high school, Michelle flew back to Taiwan. She calls her move to Taiwan the “best decision of [her] life.”

剛搬來的時候，她先住在寄宿家庭。不久後，她遇見了黃老闆。黃老闆邀請她一起在自己於板橋開的紅豆餅店工作，而陳雪兒回想起此事也認為，當時接受了這個邀約真的是她做過最對的選擇。

When she first moved here, she lived with a homestay family. Soon after, she met Mr. Huang, who gave her the opportunity of working as an employee at a red bean cake (紅豆餅) stand at Banqiao (板橋). She says accepting the job was “the best choice [she’s] ever made.”

許多人問過她為什麼一開始來台灣時沒有選擇教英文。陳雪兒說，雖然她知道當老師賺的錢比賣紅豆餅多，但是她認為相同時間內，她寧願更了解台灣。

Many people ask her why she didn’t choose to teach English when she first came. Even though teaching gives a higher salary compared to working at the red bean cake stall, Michelle didn’t want to waste her time when she could be learning about Taiwan.

「我為什麼要當英文老師？我已經會說英文和德語了，這樣對我完全沒有幫助。我想要了解台灣人，我想要更融入台灣。」

“Why should I be an English teacher?” Michelle asks, “I can speak English and German, it doesn’t benefit… me. And I wanted to understand the Taiwanese people… I want to be like a Taiwanese.”

陳雪兒表示，很多外國人都是短暫來台旅遊，但她會長期居住在這，因為她終於找到「家」了。

Michelle talked about how many foreigners come to Taiwan temporarily, but she’s here to stay because she has finally “found a home.”

工作一個月後，陳雪兒的老闆讓她晉升為店長。這個轉機也讓她更有機會和同事和顧客學習中文。短短一年內，陳雪兒已經能聽懂大部分的中文對話，也能與台灣人溝通。

After working as an employee at the red bean cake store for about a month, her boss gave her the opportunity for a promotion to becoming the store manager. This opportunity gave her a chance to learn Chinese with her coworkers and customers.

In less than a year, Michelle could understand most things in Chinese and could communicate with Taiwanese people.

她不僅學會了一個新語言，同時也遇到了許多人，交了許多朋友。她說，「台灣人比較友善」，和德國人相比，陳雪兒說在台灣更好交朋友。

Not only did Michelle learn the language, but she also met many people and made a lot of friends. She thinks “Taiwanese people are friendlier” compared to Germans and that it’s easier to make friends here in Taiwan.

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