Sunday, April 02, 2006

Between Worlds

今天我又上学了,整个星期天又没有了。但是今天好特别,老师在小息的时候就跟我和我的同事聊天起来了。(注:我们是坐在第一行的好学生呀!!)因为老师听到我跟同事说话,然后她就好感兴趣地问我是哪里人。我跟她说:“我是香港人啦。。你听不出我的口音吗?” 她跟我说很明显我不是当地人,但是呢,我又好像没有太重的粤语口音,而且反而有一点点的台湾口音。所以也搞不清楚我是哪里人了。我跟我的同事都笑了,是因为我什么都不像的原因吧!

昨天跟我的一个日本的好友麻里子 msn, 令我想起我跟她在希腊的一段话。 我们在聊天说家的时候,她问我觉得我的家属于在香港,还是属于在多伦多?我想都不想就立即答她 “没有了。。那个地方都一样。。我是什么地方都不属于的。” 然后我整一整,笑一笑问她 "Mo....Watashi wa..kakoii desu ka?" (怎么啦? 我很有型吧。。。。)然后她笑了说 “Hai hai....Kakoii...Kakoii desu ne" (嗯。。。有型。。是有型的!!)每一次我想到这里,我就会 “嘿嘿”的笑出来了!

可能从小我倒是转来转去的。。小时候要去一个新的地方是会有不舍得或害怕的感觉。久而久之,已经渐渐没有这个感觉了。每一次要去一个新环境,没有好或是不好,不会开心也不会伤感,就是这样。每个地方,我就好像是从外面看进去一样,没有真的属于那里。我就在不同的地方之间盘璇。每次去一个新环境,感觉每次就越强。。嗯。。


Well .. I went to class again today.. another lost Sunday!! But something interesting happened during recess today. My teacher in my freight fowarding class asked me where I was from? And I immediately said "Can't you tell I'm from HK from my cantonese style mandarin?" She obviously thought that I wasn't a local mainlander, but suprisingly, I didn't really bear a heavy HK accent, and on top of that ... I even had a teeny weeny bit of a Taiwanese accent. My colleauge and I both laughed after hearing this, coz I guess its kinda funny how unique yet indistinguisable my mandarin is...

Last nite.. I was talking to one of my Japanese buddy.. Mariko-chan... And I just had a recollection of a conversation we had in Greece. As we were talking about our families..she asked "Which is home for you? HK or Toronto?" And I immediately replied "Hmm..I dunno.. neither.. I guess I don't belong to anywhere really.." Then I smiled mischeviously and said "Mo....Watashi wa..kakoii desu ka?" (Hey..I sound pretty cool ..don't I?) And she jokingly answered “Hai hai......Kakoii ... Kakoii desu ne" (Indeed..indeed.. you're pretty cool)

I guess it was my upbringing that keeps me travelling around.. when I was a child.. I used to feel nostalgic or scarred of moving. But now I'm just indifferent.. its neither good nor bad.. i don't get excited or terrified when I have to move. It's like I observe every place at a distant now and I don't really belong. It's like I'm eternally caught between worlds. The feeling gets stronger everytime I move... hmmmmmmm......


Replies:

Woolz: Quick lesson "Chinese Menu 101"
Har-gao: 虾饺
Siu-mai:烧卖
Sam-see chow-mein:三丝炒面
Wat-dan ow-yuk fan:滑蛋牛肉反
Cha-siu hoa-fun:叉烧河粉
P.S. my dearest friend...this could ultimately be life-saving for you.. use the knowledge wisely!!

LB: U were the first person spotting my "Tri-nese" abilities (Mainland+HK+Taiwan style Chinese and Mandarin)... anywayz.. i found out its worse than I thought..hmmmm

So faye: I guess your reply to my phone survey is most just... since you're the one who complains the most.... haha..

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm, that conversation with your Japanese frnd reminds me of Murakami Haruki's novels, it's the way you asked the question I guess..

I like how you said "我就在不同的地方之间盘璇。" I feel like you're almost 在不同的地方的上空盘璇, which means you're observing the places you stay from a distance even though you're actually in those places. It's a paradox, and believe me I know exactly how you feel, but maybe it's 'cuz you haven't found a place you belong, so keep moving and searching..

-LB

Anonymous said...

we are so different in many ways and same in many ways ....but maybe being as travellers as nature is the closest and strongest tie between us i guess.

keep on travelling, my bestest buddie! i will too, and see you again somewhere on this planet.


with biggest ALOHA,


Rico

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