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September 23, 2007

Symphony

Filed under: 往事如风 — Fei @ 1:42 am

几天前一位朋友突然搞到两张旧金山交响乐团音乐会的票,就一起去见识见识。hoho,真要感谢我的朋友了。。。这还不是一般的音乐会,是07-08 season opening gala,自然很盛大。去音乐会服装要很正式的。我就把我很久没穿的西服又拿了出来,戴上Princeton black and orange stripe 的领带。开车去三藩。
音乐厅是在city hall旁边的symphony hall。我停下车后还有点忐忑,不知穿的得体与否。从停车场走出来的时候发现有些人还穿着sports jacket,觉得我是不是穿得太正式了。。。可后来发现那些人全进了旁边的opera hall。而去symphony hall的人好多都打着领结,有些人打的领带也是深色杂着些小花纹,又觉得我的领带太艳。。。很久没有看人穿这么正式了,好像又回到Princeton时代。。每个人穿得都很亮眼。。只是大多数人都是中年人和老头老太太。。。

这次真的体验到美国人的奢侈生活。八点半的音乐会,七点半的reception。有火柴盒大小的三明治,小鸡肉串,像小烧麦一样的点心,wine。。。我就在那儿不停的吃。。。哈哈。。。

音乐会开始后MTT(the director)上台,才发觉他原来个子并不高。可他很喜欢做各种夸张的动作,很有趣。刚开始他介绍的时候突然喇叭里传出一个女生的声音。。他显得很惊奇,把话筒摆来摆去,还放到头后。。。引起大家一阵笑声。。等Fleming出来唱歌的时候他突然给Fleming一串项链,那时Fleming就要唱了,只好把项链挂在手上。唱完后下台前又硬塞给MTT。。。幕间休息后有些人进来晚了,他又转回头看那些人,把手放在眉前,要看得仔细些,像孙悟空一样。。。那Fleming也把两手握成拳状,顶在腰间,像个悍妇一样,又引起大家一阵哄笑。。。

其实我对交响乐并不懂的,平时听CD也只是听个热闹。。。不过在现场听还是很不一样的,很有感觉。看着MTT挥着双手,也能听出音调出来,就是记不住。。。音乐厅里喇叭都没有,乐器的声音,Fleming的歌声都能传到大厅的最后部,还很清晰,觉得很牛。。。有趣的是乐队里有两个竖琴,或者是我认为是竖琴的东西。。。可弹竖琴的两人一个是秃顶的老头,一个是白发老头。。。大煞了弹竖琴的韵味。。

刚开始也不知道Fleming是什么人。。但看了介绍发觉还是很牛的。。。two time grammy award winner,应该很牛了吧。。。只见她一下子唱法文,一下子唱意大利文。。只是没有一个字我听得懂。。。

休息的时候还碰到一个不认识的Princeton alum。。。我当时正在看介绍,突然听到有人在旁边叫 Princeton man。。。原来有人看到我的领带了。。就和他寒暄了一番。。。不过他肯定认为我是本科生了。。。

在听音乐的时候我突然想起我以前听的一些音乐会。。。我第一次听音乐会是我离开中国的前一天晚上。。去了中央民族乐团在北京音乐厅的一场民族交响乐。。感觉很震撼。。。不过那也是一次很伤感的经历。。。(此处略去二百字)。。。到了Princeton之后在McCarter Theatre也听了一些。。。只是都没有什么印象了。。。有时话剧、歌舞剧都有乐团伴奏的。。。可那不能算吧。。。好像听过一次钢琴独奏。。。Yo-Yo Ma那次人太多,没有去成。。。觉得很遗憾。。现在想来,我真的很浪费。。每年十次免费入场的机会只用了一年半。。其他时间都浪费了。。。悔呀。。。

第一次听University Orchestra演奏还是陪同CCTV摄制组。那时CCTV要拍一部百所名校的纪录片,在Alexandar Hall听了一次。其实演奏的时候是不能摄像的。当时我们已经被告知不能摄像了。演奏开始前有人来赶我们走,但被我们好说歹说留了下来,坐在二楼。演奏的时候那个侨报记者,也是这边联络人,看看周围没有人,使劲给摄像的人打眼色、做手势,要那人偷偷摄些镜头。。。可那人有点心虚,不敢。。。侨报记者发现那人不听从,很着急,一下子把摄影机抢了过来。来回扫了好几次。。。我在旁边也很紧张的看着有没有人来。。。这也算是一次偷拍了。。。后来那些镜头竟然出现在纪录片里。只可惜前面有一个大柱子,挡住了不少景色。。。

后来有一位朋友在University Orchestra拉小提琴,我和一些朋友还穿得猴头鼠面的去捧场。坐在边上的二楼,正好对着她。。。一辈子没看过这么搞笑的演奏。只见她一边拉着小提琴一边偷笑,不时和坐在旁边的一个小提琴手打打眼色,有时还聊两句。。。等结束后问她,她说,前面那人好像喝醉酒一样,拉得走调的一塌糊涂。。。。oops。。。我怎么一点也没有听出来。。。再后来有一次和一位朋友听她练钢琴。那是在音乐系的一个地下练琴室。发现练琴其实很无聊的,总是弹一些很难很单调的音阶。。。比弹乐曲差远了。。。她还给我们弹了两首她自己作词作曲的歌。。。我当时就崇拜的不行了。。。不过等两年后见到她时再问她有没有写歌。。。她说,No,自从失恋以后就再也写不出来了。。。。啊。。。。

话说回来,这次音乐会结束后还有个post symphony party,在city hall。。。也算去了一次city hall了。。。那第一层全是用来开party的,分三个大厅。这party真显示了旧金山人奢侈的生活。。。里面有不少小饭馆的厨师现做点心。。我吃了些Sushi(酱爆辣),salmon,tuna,及一些不知名的小sandwich。。。每个都做得精致之极。。。里面还有个dance floor,有人在唱歌,别人就在跳舞。。。和以前一样,歌很熟悉,就是不知道是什么歌。。。我又突然想起在Princeton的时候了。。。这摆设真和reunion时的tent party一模一样。。。我可是去了四次reunion,在5th reunion tent里跳舞,觉得很enjoy。。。又想起和朋友去eating club跳舞。。。charter,colonial,quad。。。OMG。。those good old days are all gone forever。。。于是又蹦进舞池,跳了几首。。。也算是怀旧一把。。。

我第二天还要上班。。。等到十二点钟的时候才依依不舍的离开了city hall,回家。。。再次感谢我的朋友。。。现在就要想怎么还情了。。。

September 11, 2007

World trade center — my host father’s story

Filed under: 往事如风 — Tags: — Fei @ 12:15 am

Preamble: This article was finished almost a year ago, shortly after I first created the series of 9.11 and the article describing my experience on that day. However, I never intended to post it on the blog in the past year.

A lot of things have happened in the past year. I still remember the last time I met my host family in a hotel near SFO. In our dinner conversation, we talked about 9.11 again… My host father was a frequent visitor of the restaurant: Windows on the World, which was on the 107th floor of the north tower. His company had a club called fifteen year club, to credit each employee who served the company for more than fifteen years. The annual banquet of the club was in that restaurant. My host father himself was the chair of the banquet the year before (2000). My host mother was actually in the tower the day before 9.11: her company invited her to have lunch in the Windows on the World. She looked down from inside the window and told her friends… it was sooo intimidating looking down… human was sooo small comparing to the gigantic concrete building… I didn’t realize at that time that it was the last time I met her…

But anyway, below is my original article with minor refinement.

My host father was born in a fire-fighter’s family. His father was a chief firefighter of a small town in upstate New York. Since his childhood, he helped his father in the fire department and gained extensive knowledge on fires. Even today we can still find some fire-fighter’s old gadgets in his house.

But he did not become a firefighter. He joined a lucrative consulting company, mainly consulting fire hazard for insurance companies. The company used to headquarter in the world trade center. One day after the 9.11 attack, he told me his story about the twin towers.

Shortly after the twin towers were completed, the company was considering to move to one of the towers. Because it’s a fire hazard consulting company, the company asked my host father to give the twin towers an inspection. The result was quite disappointing. No fire hoses were found in the high-rise buildings, neither were axes. More importantly, the doors to the emergency exit stairs were not automatically shut down in case of a fire. The smoke would soon fill the stairs, making it impossible to escape. He reported the poor condition to the company as well as the port authority. Later, because of a fire accident in one of the high-rise buildings in 1975, port authority did install electronic doors to all exits. However, the company still decided not to move into the two buildings. It moved to world trade center building seven. That building, was the third building collapsed in 9.11, mainly due to fire.

Time soon became the year 2000. In the past twenty plus years, the land of lower Manhattan appreciated significantly. As a result, the rent of world trade center also skyrocketed. The company finally decided to move out of Manhattan, to the other side of the Hudson river — Jersey city. The main incentive was, of course, the rent. The relocation could save several thousand dollars per squad foot, per year in rent. The move did not finish untill the first half of 2001. His new office was just facing the Hudson river, lower Manhattan, and the twin towers. At that time, neither him, nor the company realized the importance of the relocation. It not only saved the company millions of dollars in rent, but also saved the company itself as well as the lives of all employees.

On the day of Sept. 11, 2001. He stood in front of the window facing the flamed twin towers, as a first hand witness. His co-worker, a veteran in Vietnam War, said: I want to go to war again.

September 7, 2007

羽毛球

Filed under: 往事如风 — Fei @ 11:24 pm

现在我也不怎么运动,羽毛球也打得很烂。谁能想到我小时候是市羽毛球队的呢?

那也是我小学的一段插曲吧。刚上小学的时候有一次体校的人来选苗子,只见他从我们座位间的过道走来走去,我就莫名其妙的被选上了。。。父母也同意,就开始了近一年体校生涯。下午上完课就走到市体校,训练。那时人实在太小,羽毛球拍比我的手臂长很多,羽毛球网比我的个子要高很多。。。很多年后当我再走进羽毛球场时,才惊奇的发现那网才到我的胸部。。。

那时每天都训练到很晚,天都黑了。。。每次训练完出来的时候,外面都有很多家长等着接小孩。我的爸爸也在其中。刚开始的几个星期有很多很多的学生,绕着羽毛球场跑的时候,长长的一粗条,头和尾都快接起来了。。。可过了一些时候,我突然发现人少了很多。。当时也不知道为什么。。。有一次教练要我们观看高年级的队员训练,只看见那人蹦来蹦去,每个球都平抽回去。。。教练就对我们说,他要去省队了,你们好好练,以后也会去省队的。。。

我们训练了很久才让我们接触羽毛球拍,那时我觉得羽毛球拍真是好大呀,好重呀。。。我要挥动整个手臂才能带动球拍。第一个学的动作是高远球,就是用力把球打到对方半场的底线附近,然后球突然失去动力,垂直掉下来。记得有一次教练在对方半场中部放了一个板凳,给我一桶羽毛球,要我对准那板凳发球。。。我这人做事很认真的,就站在这边底线后,一板一眼的发球,直到把所有球发完。。。教练来检查的时候我跟他说发的不好,只有两球打到板凳。。。教练还来安慰我,说只要打到板凳附近就行了。。。也许正是我做事认真,教练有一次还专门带我到他的办公室,给我开小灶。。。好像教练对我有很大希望。。。

可事不凑巧,教练刚给我开小灶不久,我父母就决定我中断羽毛球的训练。。。理由是训练影响我的学习。我当时成绩本来就不好,训练后就更差了。。。父母的话当然要听的了,所以我就毅然的停止训练。。。只是刚停的时候每天下午总有点要去训练的欲望。。。就这样过了一段时间。。。我又恢复了正常的生活。。。有一天下课,我在教室前玩耍,突然一个人叫我的名字。。我一看,好像认识,是一个比我高几年在体校练羽毛球的学生。。。他先给我五块钱,说是练羽毛球发的。。。然后问我为什么不去训练。。我就告诉他我不去了。。。这也是我第一次和最后一次练球的收入。。。

又过了几年。。。那时我已是校运动队的一员了。。有一次在市体育场训练。。我和我学校的教练碰见以前的羽毛球教练。。。想不到他还记得我。。。看到我参加学校运动队。。有些惋惜。。我猜他以为校运动队把我给挖走了。。其实也不是那么一回事。。。他说。。。如果我继续练下去的话现在都已经在省队了。。。我觉得他可能在我走后就没有遇到像我这样的运动员了。。。要不他怎么还会记得我呢?不过后来我看到孙俊获得世界冠军时就不停的想。。。如果我当时继续练下去的话那世界冠军是不是就是我的呢?。。。。知道是没有如果的。。但梦还是要做的。。

September 6, 2007

变魔术

Filed under: 往事如风 — Fei @ 12:32 am

哈哈,原来我以前也会变魔术。。。那是在小学的时候,看了书以后发觉什么都想学。正好班上举办一个活动,我就说。。我来变魔术吧。。

第一个魔术是用一个装有满满火柴的火柴盒,一下子变成空的。当时书上让把所有火柴从中折断,把有火柴头的那边粘在火柴盒里。这样火柴盒就半边看上去是装满火柴的,半边看上去是空的。变的时候就先给人看有火柴的半边,然后偷偷的掉个头,给人看另半边的时候就是空的了。我变通了一下。你知道火柴盒是有一个套子和一个抽屉一样的里子,火柴就放在那抽屉里插在套子里。我又找了一个小抽屉,除去其中一个短边。这样这个抽屉就变成三面有栏而一面空的,像一个簸箕。我把这个改装过的小抽屉插在火柴盒的套子和里子中间。如果我想让火柴盒变满,我就把整个里子都推出来,这样火柴就出来了。如果我想把火柴盒便空,我就把那个夹层抽出来,而里子还在火柴盒里,这样火柴还是看不见的,观众就以为火柴盒是空的。。。这样的好处是不需要把火柴折断,可以给观众看超过半个火柴盒的火柴。。。

第二个魔术是一个会竖起来的鸡蛋。其诀窍是在鸡蛋两头打两个小洞,把蛋黄蛋清都吹出来。然后把鸡蛋的大头用松油封死,再从小头灌些细沙。这样鸡蛋就能竖起来了。。。远看也看不出破绽。。。我也做了点变通。。我只在小头那儿打了一个洞,吹进去气,让里面压强增大,然后倒过来,蛋清蛋黄就流出来了。。。这样就省去了用松油封死那一道手续。。。

等到真的要表演的时候,我就在前台拿出我那改装过的火柴盒,先把里子都推出来,让大家看到里面的火柴。然后我就把里子朝套子里一推,胳膊晃着圈,嘴里说着,变、变,手里偷偷的把那个夹层抽出来。。。然后手一停,很得意的把那个空空的火柴盒给大家看。。。谁知大家先是一愣,然后轰的一声就笑了起来。。。我还不知所以,忙把火柴盒转过来一看。。。原来我把火柴的里子往套子里推的时候没有推全。。。这样上面那个夹层显示了一个空的火柴盒。。。而下面那真的里子还露出了五毫米的样子。。。正好可以看见一个一个火柴头。。。第一个魔术真是彻底失败。。。:(

然后我还厚着脸皮做第二个魔术。。。旁边班主任看见鸡蛋上有个洞,知道是改装过的。。。忙说,把凳子架在桌子上吧,这样看着清楚。。。其实是,鸡蛋高了以后同学就看不见那洞了。。。哈哈。。。我还装模作样的把鸡蛋晃了晃,轻轻放在凳子上。。。鸡蛋果然站住了。。。同学也没发现什么。。。//grin…只是我中午回去的时候没有把那套东西带回去,就放在抽屉里了。。。下午的时候就再也找不到了。。。一个人幸灾乐祸的跟我说。。。原来你的鸡蛋里都装着沙子呀。。。我那可怜的鸡蛋呀。。真是尸骨无存。。。

September 5, 2007

Decade Away

Filed under: Freestyle — Fei @ 12:30 am

最近听了很多Vienna Teng的歌。But I did not even think of checking the lyrics.其中一首歌我老听成decade away,觉得很凄凉。When I checked the lyrics out a few days ago, I found it was actually decade and one… which actually a little disappoints me… :(我感觉decade away其实也别有一番风味。Now a days, distance in space is not a problem.电话、因特网可以瞬时和对方联系上。And jet planes can transport a person to anywhere on earth in tens of hours.但对时间上的距离人们却是一筹莫展。Even though time is just another dimension, man still don’t have the freedom to go back and forth. 而只能以一个特有的速率前进,aging. Even though two persons are only a decade away, they cannot come any closer, which is a really, really sad thing. 爱因斯坦从理论上提出了一种方法可以使人在时间轴上变得更近。It only requires the two person travel at different speed…但难道真的要我以0.99c的速度出去兜一圈吗?

September 4, 2007

好婆

Filed under: 往事如风 — Fei @ 11:33 pm

奶奶在苏州话里叫作“har-pu”。我不会说苏州话,就总是叫她“好婆”。她很小巧,很难想像她一人带大了七个儿女。她也很近视,我小的时候她还能配一副眼镜,看看电视。等到我大了一点,她连眼镜也不能配了,那时她就整天捧着一个收音机,贴着耳朵,听苏州评弹。

好婆以前住在怡园的后门,离观前街很近。那时每次回去都和她住在一起。由于年龄太小,很多事情都记不真切了。只记得好婆的卧室是临街的,从窗口可以看见室内的摆设——那些摆设从爷爷去世后就没有变过了。好婆和另一户人家共用一间大堂。我依稀记得那户人家在空闲时间给水果刀柄画图案。有一种铁水果刀两侧是贴了两块塑料,塑料内侧有一些简单的图案。那户人家就画那些图案挣些外快。画一个刀柄可以挣两分钱。这种第二职业在当时那个年代还是很少见的。好婆家在巷口,紧靠人民路。往巷子里再走几步路有一口井,井上有一个盖。那时喝的水都是从那井里打出来的。打出的水很凉,经常被我们用来浸西瓜。水浸过的西瓜真好吃。。。

也许是因为去的次数太多了,也就习以为常了。有一次爸爸和我去苏州就没有通知任何人(那时没有电话,联系很不方便)。我们像往常一样到了好婆的家,透过窗户向屋里看。爸爸突然觉得奇怪,怎么屋里的摆设不一样了呢?当时就觉得不对劲。幸好那邻居还在,才知道好婆一个月前把那屋子卖了,和七niangniang一起住了。我们就往七niangniang家走去。。。那段路可真长。。。好婆之后就一直住在七niangniang家了。

好婆离开过苏州几次,我刚出生时她就到扬州来带我。那时对她还是挺难的,讲话她听不懂,又水土不服。过了几个星期她就回去了。我第一次去北京的时候她也正好住在我大niangniang家。还去了附近一个公园照了相。

记得好婆八十大寿的时候大家又一次聚在苏州。我也只记得那时在七niangniang家吃寿宴时大人坐一桌,我们几个小孩坐一个小桌子。。。七niangniang家临时拼了几张床板,给我们睡。。。

好婆的身体一直挺好的,直到我上高一的时候。那时候物价飞涨,通货膨胀达到20%。。。七niangniang就买了很多米,屯在家里。可苏州多雨,不久后有些米就上霉了。。。七niangniang和好婆舍不得扔。。以为洗净了就没事了。。。结果两人都得了重病。。。七niangniang还年轻。。。住了很长的医院,挺过来了。。。可好婆年纪太大。。。不能用药。。。病就越来越重了。。。真不知道好婆那段日子是怎么过的,整天躺在七niangniang家的床上。。。住医院已经没有用了。。。一定很疼。。。那时候大家都知道好婆不行了。。。期间我还去了苏州一趟,说看好婆最后一面。。。那时整个路上的气氛都很悲伤。。。看到好婆后她就拉着我的手,叫我不要伤心。。。我就说好婆放心,病一定会好的。。。好婆还硬要塞给我一些钱。。。旁边大人都叫我收下。。。我就收下了。。。回扬州后还有人问我,好婆有没有什么祖传的宝物给我。。。我很有些不以为然。。。我们家一向清贫。。宝物又有什么用呢?。。。那次回扬州后不久好婆就去世了。。。也许是因为时间拖得太久。。有些麻木了。。只觉得内心空荡荡的。。也不是很悲伤。。。立刻又赶回苏州去参加好婆的葬礼。。全家都回来了。。一个人都没有少。。。大家都很忙碌。。又有很多传统的礼数要做到。。我也不甚明白。。。我就负责端着好婆的遗像,从七niangniang家一直到灵堂。。看好婆最后一眼。。。那时大大刚从桂林赶来。。。主持了葬礼。。。我们就绕着好婆走了一圈。。我也没哭。。。然后就到后面看着工人把好婆推进火化炉。。旁边几位niangniang哭的是震天响。。。好像不响就不孝顺似的。。。我的脑子空空的,什么也没有想。。。但看到那工人把好婆推进炉子的一瞬间突然发觉自己异常悲伤。。忍不住也哭了起来。。。出来后大家都看着烟囱。。。说当烟囱冒白烟的时候好婆就火化了。。。

回到扬州后。。父母就给其他人散喜糖。。按照苏州的风俗。。。高寿去世是件喜事。。是要庆贺的。。。可我觉得不值。。。这件事完全可以避免的。。但却发生了。。真是天有不测风云呀。。。那时我胳膊上戴着个箍。。。说是家里死人了都得戴的。。小时候太婆婆去世时我戴了一个红箍。。。这次我戴着一个黑箍加一小片红布。。。我打算一直戴着。。。但过了七天后家里人说过年不吉利。。就取下来了。。。但我爸爸一直戴了四十九天。。。直到春节后。。。

好婆和我爷爷葬在同一个墓里。。就顺便把墓翻修了一下。。。弄了个水泥墓。。。墓碑也重刻了一个。。。我的名字也出现在墓碑上了。。。以后我每次回苏州上坟就给爷爷和好婆同时上了。。。

September 3, 2007

Communiversity

Filed under: 往事如风 — Fei @ 1:38 am

前几天和几位朋友去了Millbrae的一个集市,整个一条街都是一个一个的小摊位。这让我想起以前在Princeton摆摊位的事。

In every April at Princeton, the university and the community co-organize a street fair, called, communiversity. The community sets up lots of tents in the Nassau street, while the university puts tables in front of the Nassau hall, used by the student organizations. For the first time I went to the event, I had a lot of fun… lots of people… it was sooo rare to see that many people in such a quite town as Princeton. Some people were selling snacks, some were selling little artifacts, and some did live performances… When I went to the event for the second time, however, I found something strange…. there was no single graduate organization table in the event… I suddenly had an idea.. that I could set up a table here to advertise Chinese culture… and at the same time to make some money… so… I started to plan for the next year… 

一年后我很早就和international center的主任打好招呼,说我也要摆个摊位。同时回国的时候采购了不少小玩意儿。和那个undergrad chair以ACSS的名义注册了一个摊位。。。这也算是我以公家的名义做了一点私事。然后就天天盼那天的到来。可communiveristy的前几天我收到一封信,说那天可能下雨,活动可能取消,要当天早上七点等最后通知。。。我的心顿时凉了。。。但还抱着一丝希望,盼着那天不要下雨。。。可事实是,早上果然收到通知说活动取消。。。那可是我plan了一年的活动呀。。。失望的心情就不用说了。可我看看窗外,只有毛毛细雨。等到九点钟的时候连细雨都停了。。。真恨美国的天气预报,一点都不准。。。后来听说别的社团更惨。。CSA买了很多dumpling,原来准备大赚一笔,最后只好自己一个一个的吃掉。。。

So another year went by. Having last year’s experience, I did all the preparations well in advance. This time, I applied a table under the name of CIGS… Because I was quite annoyed that the graduate students were excluded from the event at all, I complained it to the GSG…

我当时complain了两件事。一件是那时研究生院第一次学本科生,出了一本facebook,里面有每个新生的大头照。还把所有人按照国籍分类。。。可里面把香港、台湾都分列一项。我当时建议分类改成country and region。。。第二件事就是这communiversity的事了。。。谁知道这第一件事引起了很大的争议,台湾不用说了,一些人把Tibet都抬出来,说是什么occupied territory,于是又是一番争吵(我说话有时很sarcastic的)。。。而第二件事竟然没人提及。。。一年后第二本facebook出来之后,我发现更糟,香港并到中国里了,但台湾还是单列。于是又complain了一把。。。GSG没人理睬。当我把这件事report到ACSS board时,发现也没人理睬。。。只好作罢。。。有些事大家都不care,但还是要说的。。。这是题外话了。。。

I also wrote an email to the university chair of the communiversity, questioning why he did not inform the graduate student clubs… and obviously, it worked… soon after my email, I received a notice asking for participating… and it also postponed the application deadline for graduate clubs for two weeks… at that time, I hoped that through this effort, the graduate clubs would be informed in every year’s communiversity… don’t know what the situation looks like today…

那天幸好是个晴天,我摆了两大桌的东西,有剪纸、丝巾、漆器、折扇。。。还穿上了从中国买的唐装。。。很有点小贩的派头。。。感谢那天有几位朋友帮我看着摊子,其中有一人还挺着个大肚子,这让我有机会转了转其他的摊位。。。。一天下来,发现剪纸卖了不少,但其他东西都没有怎么动。。。原来美国人还是喜欢剪纸呀。。。还是我其他东西的标价太高了?

This, is some kind of experience in my boring everyday life.. in retrospect, it was a lot of fun… I just don’t know when I will have another chance to get a table or tent to sell stuff in the street le…

September 2, 2007

爷爷

Filed under: 往事如风 — Fei @ 12:09 am

爷爷在苏州话里叫作”a-diaor”,可我却没有这个福气来喊一声“爷爷”。爷爷早在我出生之前就已过世了。他在我的印象中只是苏州郊外的一个小土堆。小时候我每年都要去苏州几次,而每年必去的地方就是给爷爷上坟了。那时候交通还很不发达,从市内到坟山要坐很久的公共汽车。路很窄,车也开得很慢。到站后,爸爸就拉着我的手往山上走。那时候要经过一小片树林,树都很高,阴森森的,很吓人。几年之后,树林都不见了,变成了一片竹林,还是很高,可觉得很有生气。等到上次再去时,坐着哥哥的车,全是高速公路,一下子就到了坟山,竹林也不见了,都成了墓地。剩下的一角也成了加工石碑的地盘。不过那都是后话。爷爷的墓地很难找,有时我们要分几路,从右走到左,一个一个的看。墓是在一棵小树的旁边,地是土的,墓是砖头垒成的,墓碑是一块花岗岩。父亲和我就摆上一些供品,偷偷烧几根香(山上是禁止点火的)。然后就鞠三个躬,有时还叩几个头。临走时清洁一下墓,把墓上和周围的枯枝落叶捡走,就下山了。如果夏天去的话蚊子会很多。下山时我的头上、胳膊上、腿上都是一个个的红包。我们于是又回到那个汽车站,去木渎转车去林岩山了。

爷爷在我的心中却又远远不止那个小土堆。我对他的了解也就是一些很老的照片和他留下的书籍了。爷爷很瘦,和我差不多。难怪我的niangniang们都说我长得很像爷爷。爷爷一生爱书如命,传说家里以前有几十箱的书籍,各种书籍都有。爷爷去世后,家里也没有什么东西,就把那些书籍分给他的七个儿女。我爸爸那时喜欢英语和古文,就把所有的英语书和一部分线装书给了他。说来惭愧,那些英语书我到现在还没有读过,古文书也仅仅翻了几翻。书页空白到处可见爷爷的点评。字迹无论英文还是中文都很清秀,更加让我惭愧了。由于我喜欢科幻小说,唯一认真读过的书是一本民国三十六年出版的《陆沉》。讲的是一个现代若亚方舟的故事。难以想像我竟然也读了一本繁体竖版的书。因为和爷爷没有接触,他就越发显得神秘。爷爷分书的事让我想到《射雕英雄传》里的中神通王重阳。王重阳一人武功盖世、独步江湖,但他的七个弟子却没人能敌过其他四位高手,他就创了天罡北斗阵,每个人独当一面,而七人联手就能重现王重阳的辉煌。。。

August 30, 2007

往事如风

Filed under: 往事如风 — Fei @ 10:10 pm

生活就如人迎面微风,即使人原地不动,时间却也象清风拂过面颊,带动衣衫,无声无息地远去,寻不了,觅不着了。而人却只能向前看,再向前看,连回头瞟一眼自己往事的机会都没有。只能睁大眼睛,专著当前,希望能够在微风扫过眼角的那一刻,收集一个又一个动人的瞬间,珍藏于心中、于脑海。

我,并不是一个记性好的人。过去发生的事都已模糊,棱角已不清晰,只留下一些影像。仿佛在看海市蜃楼,飘飘然,可望而不可及。可在内心深处我知道,我只是选择了不去回忆。过去发生的一切都深深的刻在我大脑的皱褶中,等待着一个机缘,重新被我唤起。

几天前saying发给我的那个link竟然勾起了我对往事的回忆,儿时的乐事、傻事又一幕一幕的展现在我的面前。很多事也只有我知道,我不说,没人会发觉它们的存在。可我又非常害怕自己忘却那些事,那它们就真的寻不了、觅不着了。我突然有一点冲动,得赶紧记录下那些陈年旧事。

这,便是“往事如风”的由来。

Disclaimer: The articles in this series may only be called “drafts”. They may be modified repeatedly. New materials may be remembered days, months or even years after the initial draft is finished. The drafts may only reflect my thoughts at the time of writing. It cannot be assumed that I possess the same thoughts at other times. As a matter of fact, I change my way of thinking quite frequently. The rules for this series are as follows:

1. Current events will not be recorded.
2. Issues affecting my current means of living will not be mentioned.
2. No specific names will be mentioned.
3. The drafts are totally biased. In fact, it is only my point of view.
4. The stories are solely for the purpose of recording the past. They may not be carefully crafted.
5. By no means the articles in this series may be copied or forwarded without prior permission.

August 29, 2007

Princeton University in the Independence War

Filed under: Toast Master — Tags: — Fei @ 8:04 pm

Disclaimer: This speech is solely for the fun of toast master international speech. The stories may not be historically accurate, nor is impartial. Please listen with discretion.

Thanks Mr. Toast Master…

Fellow Toast Masters, and honored guests. Today, I want to talk about Princeton University in the independence war.

When we talk about a war, what do we talk about? We talk about the start of the war, the turning point of the war, and the success of the war. And I tell you, Princeton University played a significant role in all three historical events.

The war formally started after the declaration of independence was signed, which was 1776.  A total of 56 people signed the declaration, and three of them were the alumni of the College of New Jersey, which only later changed its name to Princeton University. But a fourth person also signed the declaration. He was even more famous at that time, and among the Princetonians today. He is, John Witherspoon, sixth president of the College of New Jersey. He is the only clergyman, and college president that signed the declaration, not Harvard, not Yale, but Princeton.

After the war broke out, general George Washington really had a hard time. The continental army was defeated repeatedly. General Washington was in great need of a victory to boost the morale of the troops; to show his leadership; to prove that the independence was the right way to go. So the time came to the Christmas eve of the year 1776. In that evening, when it was supposedly a time for family reunification and peace, general Washington crossed the Delaware river, and attacked British troops the day after Christmas. We call it, the battle of Trenton, which was only 13 miles south of Princeton. On January 3rd, 1777, Washington’s army marched to a place only 3 miles south of Princeton, a place we now call it, the battlefield. As you can see from the name, it is where the battle of Princeton took place.

When we talk about the battle of Princeton, we have to talk about the story of the three canon balls. During the battle, Nassau hall, which was the only building for the College of New Jersey at that time, was exchanged hands three times by the British troops and the continental army. At one time when the British troop was in position of the Nassau hall, the continental army had to fire three rounds towards their own building. They fired three canon balls. The first canon ball, obviously, missed its target. The second canon ball.. hit the south wing of the building and bounced back, left a permanent scar on the wall, which can still be seen today… What’s interesting is the third canon ball. It went through a window of the prayer hall, which is now called the faculty room, and decapitated a portrait of King George II, the king of Britain at that time. The canon ball, however, left the frame and other parts of the portrait intact, only the King’s head was gone. The British troops must have thought it as an omen, since they promptly withdrew from the building shortly after the attack. And the continental army re-occupied their own building.

It was at Princeton and Trenton that Washington made his first major victory. After that, the British crown lost most of the cities of New Jersey; and the continental army recruits tens of thousands of new solders. It changed the course of the independence war. So… battle of Princeton was the turning point of the war.

After the battle, the continental army achieved more and more victories, fewer and fewer defeats… and the time soon became 1783. In that year, the Continental Congress met at Princeton’s Nassau hall from July to October. This, made Princeton the capital of the United States for four… whole… months… It was during that time at Princeton, the Continental Congress learned of the signing of the treaty of Paris, which basically ended the war. And welcomed the first foreign minister from Netherlands. It was during that time, general George Washington attended the commencement of the College of New Jersey, donated 50 guineas as a testimony of his respect to the College, and had a portrait taken in front of the Nassau hall. If you know about general Washington, you should know that he did not want to have portraits taken. It is said that in his lifetime, only three portraits were taken, and one of them was at Princeton. The portrait depicted his definite success at Princeton that changed history. After the painting was finished a year later, it was framed using the same frame for the portrait of King George II. Today, you can still see this portrait in the faculty room of the Nassau hall. To show the Princetonians all-encompassing culture, on one side of the window hangs the portrait of general Washington, on the other side is a portrait of King George II. When you go to Princeton, don’t forget to see those portraits.

Princeton University is the only university that played such an important role in the independence war. It participated the start of the war; it was the turning point of the war; and it signaled the success of the war. Without Princeton, we may still be ruled under the British Queen today. In every year’s July 4th, the independence day, we should not only think about the founding fathers: Washington, Jefferson; we should think about, Princeton.

Mr. Toast Master

—————————————–
Time: 6 minutes 45 seconds
Date: 08/29/2007

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