I WILL REMEMBER YOU

為了有效協助世界各地如此期望著Hope能夠把想法作成更多視頻、音檔的人士，這篇文章使用了英語為主幹，它將有相關的公開解說，只是，在初步試驗的階段，任何事情都無法完美，Hope也不打算有許多花俏的影片剪輯方式，我只想很單純地把文字掌握到位，不論是語法的流暢度，思想的細密度，和口語表達的完整度。

在英文之前使用一些中文/華語的安排是為了能夠讓大家先會心一笑……會心一笑的背後是討論到在國外的見聞時，原本認識的人們對我的看法之牽連所組成的溫馨畫面。

我想自己總是得到太多稱讚，非常感謝，並且期待自己能夠衝破瓶頸更上層樓。

下列文章第一部份PART A READING (PODCAST 型態 STYLE)

I Will Remember You

 

A   People’s Observations Towards Us

         “When you smile in certain ways, we would know you were about to say certain things.” My college students used to tell me.

         “What? You were that observant? Do you also observe the other lecturers or professors like the way you have done to me?” I wanted to know their reasons of sensing something so insignificant in me.

         My students laughed. “No, we don’t. You are a different case because you are doing things the other professors do not spend time doing. You also behave quite differently, as if you have this endless energy. Anyway, you arouse our interest.”

         I never knew your students could have been observing you. Then, something like this never stops taking place in my life.

“Wow, Miss Hope, I am so happy to hear from you. What’s new?” One of the friends who also went to Africa for the voluntary journey asked. She was not one of my students, but after knowing me, nowadays when she addresses me, she puts the Mandarin Chinese word “Teacher,” the equivalent of Miss, in her conversation with me; besides, she had taken my on-line and physical courses where I had learned a lot from her.

         My answer went “Nothing really. I just completed certain phase of my life and currently, I have enjoyed taking a walk in this neighborhood. I noticed there are signs like advertisement announcing mansions or big houses for sale. They are about 3.3 million USD to start with.”

         This friend of mine who is a grandmother said to me, “Well, you are not interested in those things anyways since in there, you would not find the kind of people you would like to help. It is a pity that you do not like to expose yourself to such luxurious environments, for it will be like Miss Hope is walking on the catwalk because you look as elegant as a model.”

         “What? How do you know I am not interested in those mansions? Have I written or said too much? It is so easy for people to see me through.” I whined.

         She laughed. “Come on! It is so obvious everybody can tell! Unless you have a different mindset all of a sudden, or someone living in those mansions realizes what a gift you are and is moved by you while following your steps to be kind to all, otherwise I am sure you are just browsing through those commercials. Those stuff do not really leave a mark on people like you. Regardless of these, will there be something romantic for you in a foreign nation? I cannot wait to hear the details!”

         “Okay. Fine. You know what? Your story-telling skill should really be used for the publications of some soap operas. Well, if I do go inside those mansions, I may be able to compare them with those I had been inside in the developing nations with the less fortunate people whom I have served.” I commented.

         “I am not surprised. Imagine your influence on everyone rich and poor so far. There will be people affected by you like us. Talking about those mansions in the developing nations, how many were you invited to visit?” She asked.

         “A few.” I told her that those occasions took place when the others from my homeland were not around. I had been inside those expensive mansions in different nations. Some told me the mansions were from foreign aid, while the others insinuated bribery from somewhere domestic. Whatever that was, I thought to myself that those mansions looking so majestically displaced would not be more comfortable than the cow dung houses I would occasionally stay when I was in east Africa, especially when such mansions sit among other dingy or shabby dwelling places; then, again, the gap between rich and poor can be observed all over different localities.

         “So, I am right on saying you do not really care about those expensive houses.” She exclaimed.

         I never said she was wrong. Frankly, when everyone looks forward to the luxurious lifestyle, it takes certain amount of courage to make a difference inside such materialized environments most people are exposed to. On the other hand, putting those materialism, self-recognition and everything else our societies teach us to focus on aside, it takes even more courage to change ourselves to be better human beings, for it is so hard to define what “better” means in varied cases, isn’t it?

        

 

B   Our Observations Towards the Others

In her novel JOY LUCK CLUB, internationally well-known author Amy Tan described a scene where a mother, after her disagreement on certain issues with her daughter, was comforting her daughter by expressing “I see you,” as the daughter was kind enough to always pick the worst parts of food, toys, and other things. It meant the mother understood the daughter despite of their arguments.

In real life, we often walk onto another side of the same coin, since if we care, we would notice some people, out of coincidences and many other reasons, have chosen or been put to become the littlest among all of us, for, just a few days ago, I talked to a person who migrated from somewhere rural to a big city to work. In our conversation, he told me that “Most of you look down on people like us who make a living as labors. You can see from their attitudes, their ways of looking at us. You are different.”

 

His words sang loudly in my mind after our brief encountering: these people always inspire me a lot. They are incredibly humble. They do not ask much. They are voiceless. It seems they are meant to be falling into some patterns, or even role models, for us to examine our own behavioural patterns. For example, on one occasion I was taking a taxi with another few people from one location to another, and we were asked to be present at a conference; during the entire taxi ride, people around me chatted about the work, the presentation, the negative sides of this and that—it all happened as if the taxi driver were invisible.

 

“What do you mean? You want the taxi driver to be seen? By who or by what?” You may ask.

 

Well, I just feel it could be more proper if we merely pay a little attention to the others around us, especially those whose social-economic status may be lower than that of ours. Indeed it is a cruel world, but is does not mean we should be distant from being warm. Or, we should not pay too much attention to the privileges we have gained through life, forgetting many around us may not be that lucky. Take one event for instance. In a formal occasion, we were informed that someone important was coming; when the person did arrive, everybody praised that person, admiring and greeting him by saying that

“Before your arrival, we learned from who and who that you were coming.”

 

Upon hearing those words, the person raised his own level of satisfaction via pointing out that he had met so many key persons in his business trip this time and wherever he went, there were people expecting and welcoming him. When he talked about all these, we congratulated him, expressing how different he must be to have gained so much attention, which made him extremely elated. At the moment, no one else mattered to him; all the topics were about him.

However, it all went like a blur. It was a “blur” since every single thing was about him and him only. Will people truly respect, remember, and think of him?

 

Can such a person touch our heart?

 

 

 

C How Will They Remember Us?

In east Africa where I perform my humanitarian tasks, once, a quite good student of mine who works inside a prestigious institute with a noble profession asked whether I could receive one of his friends.

“Miss Hope, my friend would like to know more about what you are doing there.”

 

As usual, I never declined such requests. Trusting this student of mine who was in my homeland while believing in people who bothered to visit areas where people averagely live under 1 USD per person daily must have certain notions of patience, kindness in them, several locals and I drove all the way from the bottom of the mountain to the top where one of the schools I have served stood. Before we departed, I told the locals and this guest that he should be sitting next to our faithful driver so that he would have the pleasure to view the entire landscape in front of him.

 

On the way to the school, this guest of ours who was also from a well acclaimed background, dozed off. It could not be jet lag since he was in the similar time zone longer than I did that time. Further, we noticed he was disoriented when we were in the school briefing him about what took place there. I was trying to find clues of whether he was under influences of any substances, yet there were no signs of such. Again, when we were going down from the mountain, he was occupying the same seat, asleep while snoring. Once we reached the place where our base was, he took a shower and went to bed, without sitting down with us and exchanging ideas as we are used to. The next morning, he was the last to be outside of his room; he briefly greeted us, grabbed the breakfast we prepared and left.

 

Trying to be as hospitable, we never connected successfully with this person. Looking back, he was not charged for even a penny. Contrasting to the ways locals miss many who had visited them with me and cared about them, his name and this incidence were never mentioned again, unlike those who were “really” physically and psychologically there.

 

All these have taught me these lessons: friendship cannot be bought even when some people are sincerely treated and we must respect ourselves before the others really value us.

 

Why is it important to be valued by the others?

 

It is a kind of system inside which makes us smile even on the smallest things, delivering messages to the others that we are energetic and people around us would like to know more about us. Furthermore, it is an invisible flag we wave when we walk around anywhere when we are new in town, making us worthy human beings who bring prosperity to the others.

 

Secretly, I take pride in going to everywhere worldwide unannounced, as I am confident enough to believe by the time I leave, I will gather all the most beautiful parts of each and every soul I have met even though we had never met each other before I joined their lives; through the years, I notice that people I have met tend to remember the good parts of me as well, although they had not set foot into my life prior to my participation into their stories. Such is the beauty of human being’s joint stories sung everywhere globally.