Saturday, December 18, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Spring outside the Window (part 1)---translated by Tracy
Category：Story of My Heart2008/07/15 08:00
【Life】Spring Outside the Window (part 1)
Opening the window, taking deep breath of fresh air, and watching people coming and going is the happiest hour of my day. Day by day, complete strangers become acquaintances. They would greet me with a nod and say hello to me friendly. Taiwan is such a warm place to live in.
Someday, an old lady came inside and asked me, “Is your mother home?” I shook my head. And she said, “Is your mother living here with you?” I shook my head again. She said “Where do you come in your family?” I waved a “4” in the air to show her that I am the fourth kid. She nodded with a smile and told me about herself. She is my father’s colleague. Back then she was the bus attendant and my father was the driver. It’s hard to tell from her smiley and amiable face that she’s around eighty. My father died early. Every time I see his friends, I had a joyful feeling. Through his friends, I feel connected with him.
We also talked about the “family workshop.” We were not rich when I was a kid and by making pens, plastic flowers and checkers could earn some money and contribute to the family income. I had a smile on my mouth while recalling those memorable days. Suddenly she asked “Can I touch your hand?” I raised my arm with great effort. She hold my bony arm and said, “Just do you best, okay?”
Sitting in from of the window and with eyes closed, I sank into the childhood memory foam. My mother was always busy and strict at that time. President Chiang, Kai-Shek died in 1975. And in order to mourn for the leader, millions of people surged in to Chiang Lai-Shek memorial hall. My mother and I were there to due to teacher’s request. It was hot and the crowd became short-tempered. Someone tried to cut in the line and pushed me. My mother instantly pulled me behind to protect me. She scolded the adult and said, “How can you bully such a small kid!” For the first time, I felt my petite mom seemed to be high as sky. This experience might plan the seed of my rebelling against the authority afterward.
My father died in that year. To raise five children, my mother cleaned the house for a famous actress. I went to help once. But mom never let our big brother help out. He was an undergraduate then. Ad she was afraid people might look down on him.
Suddenly, a shoot of bright sunlight came in through windows and interrupted my thoughts. I asked Uno to wheel me inside. Uni watched me editing my mother’s photos with curiosity. She asked “Grandma?” I smiled and nodded. I show her other photos in my blog. She asked in confusion, “Where’s grandpa?” I knew that she wanted to know why father wasn’t in the family photos. I showed her a photo of my father and raised my arm pointing to the sky. Then she asked, “Why?” I was stunned by the question for a while and sighed. I wanted to swallow but accidentally choked by mouth watering. Then I was panting and gasping for the air. Uni was frightened and kept saying “I’m sorry, sir”. I shook my hand to show her it was okay. But she couldn’t understand me. So… my panting and her saying sorry echoed in the air.
Friend Come, Very Happy
【Life】 Friend Come, Very HappyThere is an old Chinese saying: To have friends come from far away isn’t that a joy? --Confucious
Franco flew from Italy to visit me three days before Chinese New Year’s Eve. He planned to attend ARIMA conference as a lecturer. This was also his first experience of New Year’s celebration atmosphere in Taiwan .
Because I couldn’t speak, I wrote an outline in advance to help Peng Hsiung discuss with Franco.
l LED Communication Board:
n Prototype is accomplished. We need to test the sample and list advantages and disadvantage.
n Listen to Franco’s advice.
n Tracy will help to translate second prototype specification.
l My condition:
n My arms and legs are week. Breathing is also hard for me, but the rest is fine
n BLOG introduction (We can explain the main function to Franco to help him understand how my Blog works.
n Press conference in the future
When I was making LED COM English Alphabet card, my sister told a joke:
One day, English teacher asked Chao Yi-An who is grandson of Twain’s former president, Chen Shui-bian.
How many letters are in English alphabets?
Yi-An answered: There are 25.
English teacher said: How come 25? It should be 26 letters!
Yi-An answered innocently: My grandpa said there is No A.
(A in Chinese means: take the money or things don’t belong to you.)
Chen Shui-bian claimed that he didn’t take the money and he was innocent. According to my big brother, CP, we know that CORRUPTION without “A” is still corruption and still dishonesty.
Franco tried to leave messages in my blog but failed due to not understanding Chinese. He pulled out a pile of consumption vouchers and said, “Give this to Tracy as translation fee.” We all laughed out. Oh…that’s Franco’s humor.
(Note: Franco~ I’m working hard now without the voucher. I miss you. ^_^ --By Tracy )
I am so happy and grateful to meet Franco in the beginning of 2009!
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