在英國作家路易斯•卡羅的《愛麗絲鏡中奇遇》（1871）裡，主角愛麗絲很驚訝的發現自己猛跑之後，仍然停留在同一個地方。她很懊惱地跟同跑的紅皇后說：「在我們國家，如果你像剛才一樣一陣猛跑，通常會達到另一個地方。」紅皇后回答：「那真是個慢郎中的國家！在這裡，你必須拚命的跑，才能留在原地；如果你要到另一個地方，你要跑得比剛才快一倍才行。」這就是有名的「紅皇后理論」。 在過去的三年裡，國際華語研習所在邱錦榮前所長的帶領下，經歷了一連串的大變身，從推出新官網、製作行銷影片 、舉辦55週年所史展及論壇、兩度參與美國外語教學年會、持續經營社群媒體（臉書、IG、Linkedin）、創辦「ICLP教學模式華語師資培訓班」，以及即將推出的嶄新電子報頁面，加上年底將開展的遠距線上華語教學平台等。這些種種有賴行政夥伴的無間合作、老師們的使命感、學生的支援與校友的回饋，才能在短短的三年裡，有效率地完成這麼多需要橫向與縱向溝通的複雜任務。也因為同仁們有著無限的愛心與耐心，方能在有限的時間裡，將困難化為無形。如果說過去三年是場田徑接力比賽，因為有人願意多付出一些，不介意做一點點犧牲，速度也就不只加了一倍。 邱教授在她的「卸任致詞」裡，說我是她「留給ICLP最寶貴的禮物」，我想做一點點補正。在ICLP的團隊裡，所有人都是ICLP最好的禮物，無論是過去曾在本所服務的行政同仁（包含IUP時期的所長及行政人員）、曾經長期或短期在ICLP授課的老師、不斷鞭策我們進步的學生、以及會突然造訪只為看看老師的校友們，還有許多默默幫助過ICLP的朋友，這些人全都是ICLP真正最珍貴的禮物。 天下沒有永遠的的金字招牌，常常只有一般的招牌，以及比較光亮的招牌，後者只有靠人定期拋光磨亮，才不致於黯淡。冀盼在未來的任期裡，和大家一起努力，繼續為ICLP高水準的教學品質而打拼。 In English author Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871), protagonist Alice is at one point very surprised to discover that after a bout of vigorous running, she still remains in the same place. Irritated, she complains to the Red Queen, who also had been running, that, "[w]ell, in our country, you'd generally get to somewhere else—if you run very fast for a long time, as we've been doing," to which the Red Queen replied, what "a slow sort of country! Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!" This is the famous Red Queen Hypothesis. Over the last three years, the International Chinese Language Program under the leadership of former Director Chin-jung Chiu has experienced a number of major events. The program has unveiled its new official website, produced promotional videos, and hosted the 55th Anniversary Forum and the IUP-ICLP History Exhibition . We have twice participated in the annual conventions of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, held in Boston and Nashville, and continue to run social media accounts, including Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. We have established the ICLP-Pedagogy Chinese Language Teacher Training Program, upgraded to a completely new e-Newsletter format, and are developing a distance-learning platform for Chinese language acquisition. Each and every one of these developments rested on the continuous support of our administrative staff, our teachers' devotion, the support of students and feedback from alumni; only thus was ICLP able to use just three short years to effectively complete such complicated tasks requiring both vertical and horizontal organizational communication. And because of the boundless grace and patience of our colleagues, we were able to ameliorate all related difficulties. The last three years have been a relay race, and only because there were those willing to put in the extra effort, who did not mind a little sacrifice, our speed was more than doubled. Professor Chiu in her Farewell Message said that I was her "most precious gift left to ICLP." I would like to make a minor correction: all of us who played a role in the program's development are the best gifts to ICLP, be they former administrative leaders and staff (including those of the IUP era), former long- or short-term teachers, students who continually push us to improve, alumni who drop by to see their teachers, as well as ICLP's many silent supporters over the years—these are the truly precious gifts to ICLP. There is no such brand to be named an eternal Gold Standard; most are just generic brands or perhaps more flashy ones. Those who inherit prestige will have to constantly perfect themselves so as to avoid tarnish. I look forward to my upcoming years of service, in which I will strive with everyone to uphold the high standards of teaching at ICLP.
