SOME KIND OF SPELL 某種咒語

 

These two articles written on Sep. 28 and 29, 202 are both recited by the PODCAST form which can be found here: 這兩篇分別於2021九月二十八和二十九日寫作的文章之PODCAST版本朗讀可由此頁面聆聽 (https://youtu.be/zMLKqr5GqtY)，或直接至如下之網頁聆聽，全篇並於Hope個人部落格中發表(網址如下：https://morerayofhope.blogspot.com/)。

 

2021 0928

It is like a spell which I would like to avoid—it seems wherever I go, I literally fall in love with the place quite soon, and those people there like me, too. 這有點像個咒語，不過，當我前往一個處所沒有多久，我發現自己總是輕易地和那裡面的人、事、物，產生相當緊密而又正面的互動模式。

 

It is a spell because I have travelled too much, worked at too many different places. From time to time, I secretly wish that at just even one place, if I can find some people and things to be absolutely unbearable, I can break that spell. That kind of scenario, however, has never happened so far. Hence, here I am in a new place with a new work. I was assigned completely different tasks to handle right there by the day I began my job here; all the books I brought from home for certain project became useless due to these new assignments which I have already found the pleasure doing. 到過不同的地方和不同的人工作，這樣的歷程使我有時不免揣想，假若有某處的人、事、物狀況和過往不同，那麼，興許這個咒語便會被破解；只是，這樣的事情還向來沒有發生過，這導致了我在初來乍到的此處，即便在工作的第一天被臨時告知我的工作內容將有三百六十度的大幅變更，我竟然還是找到了工作中的樂趣所在。

 

My old students make contact with me frequently, and there are new ones coming into my life. Again, they are of different age groups and daily, I get to see faces of all different age groups, until I realize that we are also falling in love with each other, for I can tell those faces looking at me to be quite merry, especially when I walked into this particular space to talk about this particular task I have to handle now, those sitting there had that enthusiasm to communicate with me for a lot longer than I expected. 我過去的學生們和我連絡著，而新的學生也在產生之中，同樣的，他們又是源自於不同的年齡層，而我發現當我們兩相對望時，大家是開心的，尤其當我到了一個陌生的空間去和這樣的一群陌生學生們談論一個我所負責的項目時，大家竟然可以情緒高亢交換意見遠遠超出於本來所預設的時間。

 

“It seems you are not bound by these boundaries, these limitations, and you are just comfortable everywhere you go,” one colleague told me.

有一位才結識的同事跟我說：「妳好像不被什麼事情困住般悠遊自在於妳的所到之處啊!」

 

I said to him, “Are you not the same?” It is because deep down, I know all of us have that capability to go into a bigger space and feel that we are surrounded by not the limitations but a lot of aspirations.

我則回應到「你不也是如此嗎?」

 

這是因為我相信在我們的內心深處，都有這樣一種全然開放、充滿理想與抱負的偌大空間，只不過多半的時候我們不大自覺罷了。

 

 

2021 0929

Many things leave marks in my memory: a colleague helping me out, another colleague discussing about meaning of life with me using English, a student telling me something I have said in Chinese inspires her, another student smiling to me when he sees me, some students’ parents organizing the sending of flowers and gifts to teachers on Teacher’s Day, some faculty members moving about the entire school to send all the rest of the people working in the school those flowers and gifts, one parent asking me questions about a certain project, another parent informing me details of his child, someone overseas working on the same project shares with me some information and so on.

很多事情都會在記憶長廊中留下刻痕：一位協助我的工作夥伴、另一位用英語和我討論生命意涵的同仁、一名以華語告知我所談話的內容啟發了她的學生、另一名看到了我便微笑起來的男學生、一些熱心家長們籌畫教師節將花朵和禮物遞送給教師細節、一些行政人員跑上跑下將花朵和禮物交到教師們手中、一位和我討論相關方案的母親、另一位和我述說自己孩子方方面面狀態的父親、一位在海外進行同一個項目的夥伴與我分享該項目的細節……

 

One afternoon in our office all the teachers were exchanging ideas while a few of them shared with all of us snacks and fruit given to them by students, parents, or bought by themselves. Though I have not really taught any classes of students myself literally speaking, a colleague shared a bouquet of flowers, insisting I take them “…because I have had many from the students this year.” Another co-worker asked me to help her finish her some food given to her by another co-worker.

一天下午在辦公室裡面大家談及教學上的議題，在此同時，從學生、從家長、或從自己本身準備的食物水果中拿出一些來與夥伴們分享的同仁，四處將食物端來端去。雖然在這個新環境裡面我並無真正接觸到任何班級的教學課程，但還是有同事將教師節時收到的花束與我分享……「Hope不要客氣，都是學生送的。」另一名同仁則要求我協助她把別人分享給她的糕點類食物吃完。

 

If there is just one moment I stand there quietly observing every single event taking place around me, I see that flow of warmth and care. Beyond that kind of warmth and care, it seems I have returned back to the deep mountains in Africa where faculty members of a totally different skin color work. Like us, they help each other, laugh, eat and drink tea together. The setting may be different, as they enjoy sitting under the sun or they cook their dinner together after school right there in the open, under the star-lit sky.

有那麼靜默的時刻我像抽離般觀察著身邊種種，在那個當下，我便會感到身邊具體流動著的溫暖與關懷，而這種質量的溫暖和關懷輕易將我翻山越嶺飄洋過海來到我所服務的非洲山區，這些人們除了膚色和生活環境與我們不同、喜歡坐在戶外一邊曬太陽一邊談話、傍晚在偌大的半乾燥草原上一起生火作飯而後一同吃飯到星空滿天等等，他們也互助合作、一同享受茶點。

 

I can never say GOODBYE to any group of people, as far as I can see, since in each and every of them, I have found such beauty and touching moments that no words can really describe.

我始終沒有辦法和任何一個人群具體道別，因為在他們與我交流的過程裡面，我總是不斷發現無法以言語描述的，那些關於生命的美好及感動的密碼。

 

Indeed, I have fallen in love with life itself—that is something I am very positive about. 我非常確認的一件事情是我就這樣真真切切地熱愛著生命中的活力和其可能展現的所有可能。