6. 我們 Us

日子: 2005 年 12 月 27 號 / 晚上

我們高中年紀就認識了.
在高中時代我們
-老是討論想去哪些地方
-花大部份的周六下午時間在看剛從美國寄達的 Seventeen 雜誌.
-都夢想著自己的樂團能公開表演.
-沒有想過多年之後會在麻州共度耶誕節.

文霞是我的麻吉之一.



Date: Dec.27, 2005 / Evening

We've known each other since high school.
In our high school days, we
-talked about places we wanted to go all the time.
-spent most of our Sat. afternoon reading Seventeen, the magazine freshly delivered from USA.
-both dreamed of a public performance of our band.
-never thought that after so many years we spend X'MAS together in Massachusetts.

Wen is one of my best friends.

5. 聚光燈下 Under The Spotlight

日子: 2005 年 12 月 21 號 / 晚上

他們是青少年. 當你聽到他們對話就會想到自己的高中時代. "你知道安娜史考特嗎?" (借新娘百分百裡的名字來用) "啊? 你不知道安娜史考特是誰?"

學校裡永遠都有些"嚴選人物"在聚光燈下. 他們要不是有名到每個人都想跟他們作朋友, 就是不受歡迎到每個人都以嘲笑他們為樂. 可悲的是即使我們長大成人, 還是有人喜歡談論團體中的嚴選人物. 這種談論(很多時後是嘲笑居多) 讓談論者覺得更親近彼此.

我稱它為"公憤現像"(拿小亨的說法). 跟你說, 每個臺灣同學堆都有這個現像. 我們的行為跟高中生差不多.

Date: Dec.21, 2005 / Evening

They are teenagers. When you hear their conversation you start to recall your own high school days. "Do you know Anna Scott?" (I borrow the name from Notting Hill) "What? You don't know Anna Scott?"

There are always some "selected few" under the spotlight in school. Either they are so popular that everyone wanna make friends with them, or they are so unpopular that everyone enjoys laughing at them. The sad thing is that even we "grow up" as an adult, people still want to talk about the selected few in a clique. Talking about the selected few ( in many cases making fun of them) makes most people feel they are closer to each other.

I call it "target phenomena" (quoted from Heng). Let me tell you it happens in every taiwanese student clique. We are behaving like high school students.

4. 大特價 On Sale

日子: 2005 年 12 月 21 號 / 晚上

耶誕節之前幾乎每件東西都在打折. 這個人在此享受三明治之前到過 Filene's (一間 Panera 附近的百貨公司). 美國人用血拼慶祝戰爭裡的英雄事蹟, 新世界的發現, 印地安人的友善與基督生日.


Date: Dec. 21, 2005 / Evening

Before X'MAS almost everything is on sale. This guy went to Filene's (a department store near Panera) before having the sandwich here. Americans celebrate heroic conduct in wars, the discovery of the new world, friendly gestures of Indians, and Christ's birthday by shopping.



戰爭裡的英雄事蹟: 退伍軍人節
heroic conduct in wars: Veterans Day

新世界的發現: 哥倫布紀念日
the discovery of the new world: Columbus Day

印地安人的友善: 感恩節
friendly gestures of Indians: Thanksgiving

基督生日: 耶誕節
Christ's birthday: X'MAS

3. 笑聲不斷 Laughing All The Way

日子: 2005 年 12 月 17 號 / 晚上

"雪花隨風飄
花鹿在奔跑
聖誕老公公
駕著美麗雪橇......"

耶誕節攻擊!!! 耶誕節令人討厭的事之一就是一直不斷聽到這些歌. 昨天 Kihei 跟我說其實是 "悅愛節快樂", 不是"耶誕節快樂", 因為老美在耶誕夜買的保險套數量僅次於情人節. 但若你以為老美用上床來慶祝耶穌生日, 那你就完全錯了. 耶誕節對老美而言還是比較家人和朋友的.

和朋友一起笑著是很不錯的事. 那晚他們不停的笑著.

Date: Dec. 17, 2005 / Evening

"Dashing through the snow
On a one-horse open sleigh,
Over the fields we go,
Laughing all the way......"

X'MAS attack!!! One of the annoying things about X'MAS is that you hear these songs over and over and over again. Yesterday Kihei told me it's "Merry Sex-mas", not Merry X'MAS, coz the total number of condoms purchased by Americans on X'MAS Eve is next to the number on Valentine's Day. But if you thought Americans celebrate Jesus Christ's birthday by making love with someone, you are totally wrong. It's still the time about families and friends.

It's nice to laugh with firneds. They kept laughing that night.

2. 手拉手 Hand In Hand

日子: 2005 年 12 月 17 號 / 晚上

周六晚上有很人在 Panera 出雙入對. 今天晚上我至少看到五對.

這一對大概是七點到的. 很典型的一對: 兩杯飲料外加一些糕餅點心. 戀愛真好, 兩人對看旁若無人, 充滿笑聲, 而且最重要的是: 講話時會手拉著手.

上一次你拉著手對某人講話是什麼時後?

當男孩去拿他點的德國巧克力餅時, 女孩看到我對著程式皺眉頭.

"書總是很難念", 她說.
"對啊!" 我回給她一個微笑.

周六晚上處理多執行緒程式, 我還真可悲 :)

Date: Dec. 17, 2005 / Evening

There are a lot of couples coming here on Saturday night. I saw at least five couples tonight.

They came around 7 pm. A typical couple: two drinks plus some pasteries. Isn't it great to fall in love? Looking at each other like no one else in the room, laughing all the time, and most importantly: holding hands while talking to each other.

When is your last time holding someone's hand while talking to him/her?

When the guy went to get his German Chocolate Pastery, the girl saw me frowning at my java codes.

"It's always hard", she said.
"Yeah!" I smiled back.

Saturday night I am dealing with multi-threaded codes. I am so pathetic :)

1. 窗口的老奶奶 The Grannie Near The Window

日子: 2005 年 12 月 14 號 / 晚上

老奶奶坐在那大約一小時. 飲料沒喝多少, 而且一直看著窗外. 我以為她在等人, 但後來才發現她是來喝飲料的......也許不是來喝飲料, 畢竟室外華氏 16 度的時後冷飲似乎不是個好選擇.

你可能猜我下一句要講的是: 她看起來有點悲傷. 但其實沒有, 她看起來還不錯. 我希望我老的時後也記得到咖啡店來杯熱茶.

Date: Dec. 14, 2005 / Evening

The grannie sat there for about an hour. She didn't drink too much and kept looking outside the window. I thought she was waiting for someone, but it turned out that she was just there for her drink......maybe not for a drink, after all a cold beverage doesn't seem a good choice for outdoor temperature like 16F.

You might guess the next thing I ganna say is: she looked sad. But she didn't. She looked fine. I hope when I am old I remember to go to the coffee shop for a cup of hot tea.

@ 前言 Prelude

最近我大部份時間都在 Panera.

Panera 是靠近學校的咖啡店. 當天氣已經冷到不適合待圖書館時, 我就會把學術活動搬到 Panera: 通常是每年的十一月初.

今年天氣比較溫暖, 感恩節之後我才開始 Panera 的日子. 而且今年我開始觀察 Panera 裡的人. 沒有了按時交東西的壓力(明天早上你能把這個程式弄好嗎?), 我可以輕鬆坐著邊閱讀卡夫卡邊看人. 好吧, 是有點誇張, 我還是有'正事'要做, 但是壓力絕對比前幾年好多了.

已經接近耶誕節了, 跟國家比基尼日(你知道的, 就是那些夏天節日)比起來沒什麼幻想空間, 但是這時後到 Panera 的人似乎比其它時間來的人還要生動一點. 我猜是下雪的關係吧.

Recently I spend most of my time in Panera.

Panera is the coffee shop near the campus. When it gets too cold to stay in the library, I start to shift my academic activities to Panera: for each year it's about the beginning of November.

This year it's warmer. I start my Panera Day after Thanksgiving. Also this year I start to observe people in Panera. Without the pressure to deliver something on time (Can you get this built by tomorrow morning?) , I can sit back and watch people while reading Kafka. Ok, that's a little exaggeratory, I still have something 'serious' to do. But the pressure is definitely lighter than the previous years.

It's close to X'MAS, nothing fancy compared to the national bikini day (you know, those holidays in the summer). However most people coming to Panera in this season are somehow more vivid than those coming in the rest of the year. I guess it's the snow.