[Anniversary] 圓夢。一週年。

去年的這個時候，
我帶著省吃儉用兩個月剩下的生活費，
打算在Covent Garden附近的ZARA大顯身手。
結果被扒了。

幸好附近的Starbucks wifi訊號夠強，
用Tango緊急連絡最聰明靈巧的+4，遠端遙控辦理信用卡掛失。
還live轉播在FB上該該叫，
因為台灣鄉親的關心與打氣，心情稍微平復些。

打完球的凱銓立馬趕到Covent Garden Station跟我會合，
還慷慨解囊借我刷卡買了一咪咪土產。
然後陪我回她家打包行李，陪我去Heathrow Airport，
陪我辦理tax refund，又陪我罵晚娘臉承辦人員。然後送我入關。

我的英倫超完美靠山-銓銓~啾咪!

我總覺得這趟英倫行，與我的DESTINY緊緊相連。(是的，我是愚婦)

在London Central YHA認識的日本室友弘美(Hiromi)，這幾天跟男友敬太(Keita)一起來台灣，
為了排除萬難與她相會，我索性休假一天。
昨天悠哉地培養放假情緒時，赫然發現，
今天9/19，正好是我從英國回台灣滿一年的日子。真巧。
而且今天台北的溫度，很秋天，也好像愛丁堡的夏天。真巧。
而且，文章寫到一半，竟然突然下起絲絲細雨，很英倫風。真巧。


於是，我得以偷閒，在最愛的咖啡店裡，捧著摩卡奇諾，稍稍回顧這兩個月的美夢，
寫下短短的周年紀念文。

希望自己永遠不要忘記這個圓夢的故事，以及，
以後還要繼續夢下去。

加油!小太陽~ :)

[回顧]西元2011。民國100。辛卯年。(Part Two)

[成長與趣味]


★3月加入Smart Phone一族(HTC Desire)。Google Map解救了我大部分時間的方向障礙，外出行動力稍增。
☆Q1投資失利，學會了一些教訓，謝謝小蔚、謝謝Justin，也謝謝自己的年輕"本錢"。
☆311地震，稍稍震掉了我對日本的focus，日文退步不少，只有藉由日劇to keep picking up 日本語。


★ Music
 (1)3/26蔡健雅台北演唱會Tanya and the Cities(姜講、鼻比、寶貝兒、官館、燕燕、俐安、小菜)  

 (2)12/12許茹芸微醺草莓夜 with貓。聽到Jazz version"向前走"想到+4就QQ了。 

 (3)12/17方大同演唱會with +1,+4,寶貝兒。
 (4)Scott Prairie: City Cafe 主題曲"Julie Ann"的創作者，西門紅樓河岸留言，with Ivy,Maggie,Randy。

 (5)Musical: MAMAMIA in London。
 (5)開始抓更多不同類型的音樂...


★ Movie
 (1)變形金剛3: 宏將電影欣賞會。
 (2)雷神Thor: 第一部3D電影，with K, free tickets from乾媽。
 (3)Three Idiots: 出國前為了結交印度朋友的暖身運動。All izz well !! (熱血勵志)

 (4)Brave Heart, Stone of Destiny: 入境電影for Scotland。 

 (5)50/50:"It's not that bad! You would win a casino game,you have the best odds!" Life owns the best odds,   
       50/50,because we won't live twice.
 (6) 星空Starry starry night: with+4、K、寶貝兒。當你遇見缺了一片的拼圖，請不必感傷，或許那是寄情的割
        捨，而非孤獨的遺憾。

 (7) 說謊的男孩與壞掉的女孩: 奇幻影展with Justin。
 (8)Letters to Juliet:Y!英文讀書會會員Selina推薦，很感人~ (小官想去的義大利愛之都-Verona) There is no   "what if" in the real life. Just enjoy those "even if" in your life.

 (9) 歡迎來到德國Almanya - Welcome to Germany。 
 (10)18 meals: with K。關係與人生課題。等待那一聲"叮咚!"

★ Book

(1)東野圭吾作品: 眠りの森、悪意、 赤い指 (SP也看了，QQ)
(2)春宵苦短，少女前進吧 :超可愛的奇幻愛情故事。萬城目學的麻吉--森見登美彥的作品。
    "突然間，我心頭一凜。在一家舊書店前，有個嬌小女子正捧著一本文庫本認真細讀，配合夏天剪短的黑髮光豔動人，那背影與她極為相像。自她入社以來，我便癡癡追隨她的腳步，注視著她的背影，望了又望，長達數月之久。因此對於她的背影，我可說是「世界權威」,絕不可能看錯的。"

(3)後青春期的詩: 03送我的31歲生日禮物，終於看了，開始喜歡九把刀。
    "分道揚鑣各自轉大人的過程中，依舊把對方十年前的死相與夢想放在心上的，就是能夠陪你同行下一個十年的朋友。"
"愛情還沒有過去，只要勇氣還在。"
(4)飢餓遊戲I、II。(第三集一直還沒看)

(5)鹿乃子與瑪德蓮夫人:萬城目學的輕鬆小品。更懂了一點貓了。

"在貓的一生當中，最忠貞不渝的不是對食慾，也不是對性慾，而是對睡眠的慾望。一天二十四小時，貓要睡到十六個小時。以平均12年的生涯來計算，醒著的時間才不過四年。據說就是因為貓老是在睡覺，所以被取名為「寢子(Neko)」。"

(6)魔術的耳語:看了第二遍。

(7)The Picture of Dorian Gray: 從愛丁堡到倫敦到台北...終於讀完了Clara送我的Oscar Wilde浪漫主義作品。(生平第一本有始有終的原文書!!)  

(8)Alain de Botton作品: 哲學的慰藉、旅行的藝術。2012繼續閱讀中... 
(9)漫畫: 銀魂(持續發樓)、爆漫王(我愛工作逃亡癖的平丸老師)、海賊王(好熱血，但真的好難追上集數)


★ Drama

(1) 仁醫:老天爺只會給你能熬得過去的考驗。
(2) 韓劇: 原來是美男、祕密花園(經典)、瑪麗外宿中、咖啡王子一號店。接著看韓國綜藝節目(出發吧夢之隊、夜行星、強心臟...) ，開始佩服韓國的某些厲害之處，知己知彼。(去英國交韓國朋友挺好用的)
(3) The Big Bang Theory:看到season 4。四個abnormal年輕天才科學家與一個normal辣妹鄰居的生活故事。IQ180的天才，除了著迷於相對論魔獸星際大戰弦理論基因改造，也有可愛的一面。Sheldon超可愛，我因此學了Soft Kitty之歌。Make all wrinkles on brain but not face。
(4) Sex and the city: 再回顧。
★ Edinburgh Fringe Festival:看了10場以上的表演...

☆ Table Game: 阿彩帶領我進入拉密及說書人的桌遊世界，我真的可以越來越宅了~

★ 歲末的International Blackboard Photo Project，行蹤遍布: 內湖、北投、板橋、台北車站、烏日高鐵、台中火車站、台中美術館...謝謝大家配合，以及小官不離不棄陪我完成~(不然我一路上只顧小黑板，應該會掉更多貴重物品)

★ 持續寫blog...期許自己在FB跟Blog中取得寫東西的平衡。

[Remarkable]
★31歲圓夢創舉: 英國遊學2個月。$30萬，平安歸來，收穫無價。
☆漂亮寶貝錢薇娟退休，3/31告別賽with官、阿彩。
★發現自己在最黑暗的底線之下，還有對生命的熱情: 在想要結束一切之際，尋求佛洛依德的協助，也終於看懂了責任。謝謝所有愛我的人。

[UK] On Possessing Beauty 美的擁有

 2011.8.25 Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art One @Edinburgh

在與美邂逅那一刻，我們會有一股強烈的衝動，想要緊緊抓住，占為己有，進而使這美成為自己生命中舉足輕重的一部分。我們很想說:"我在這裡，我看到了，這對我意義重要。
from {The Art of Travel }  by Alain de Botton


我們致力於求新求變、追求YoY甚至QoQ的成長率，
而歐洲相對在意的是歷史軌跡累積成價值，
在不同的消費文化之下，以及台灣(亞洲?)不斷刺激市場需求的換機戰術，
與歐洲相比，消費性電子產品在台灣(亞洲?)市場相當accessible。


相機一台比一台便宜，一台比一台簡單，拍起照來一台比一台漂亮，
遊記攝影在台灣形成一門顯學，部落格文學成為庶民文化的其中一支流，
漸漸地，我們習慣用相機取代了雙眼，來到美景當前，用鏡頭看世界，用記憶卡存畫面，
將美擁有，將美放上雲端。


在國際背包客人手一本白紙黑字印刷的Lonely Planet當作旅遊嚮導的同時，
+4說她在歐洲遇到香港朋友，由衷頌讚嘆台灣bloggers是華語網海世界的Master of content provider，
某些熱衷撰寫遊記的台灣bloggers，用圖片與文字記錄詳盡的行程景點或美食地圖，成為華人雲遊四海的線上版Lonely Planet。


Yes, this is the Oriental Style. Nothing bad. Nothing wrong.
And we are the MASTER of  travel notes in Chinese.

2011.8.24 Lunch @ Shilla Korean Restaurant.


在我要離開Edinbugh的那週，我和幾個朋友難得相約吃大餐，我又去了一次新羅。
(第一次是偉勝&燕俐帶我去吃的，老闆是韓國人，食物道地又好吃，甚至超越台灣的韓式料理；而聖涵哈韓國菜哈很久了，所以決定再去一次。)


西班牙室友Maria在偷笑，當我跟聖涵將鏡頭對著韓式料理餐廳的食物拍照時。


"You Asian people do like taking photos!"
"Yes, we look at the world only with the lenses, not with our eyes."


其實當我開玩笑這樣回Maria的時候，我已經意識到自身的變化。


在英國的每一天，
我隨身攜帶輕薄短小廣角鏡超好用風景自拍兩相宜的RICOH相機，
比雨傘還寶貝(其實是因為雨傘在這裡容易被風吹斷，後來乾脆只靠連帽皮衣外套擋風遮雨)。
但漸漸我發現外國人真的不太拍照，
同學的相機記憶卡裡通常不是what they'd ate and where they've been， 
而是people they've met，或者是自拍照(愛美的 European young ladies...)。


所以他們似乎不太喜歡在路上(畢竟愛丁堡處處是風景)遇見陌生人拿著鏡頭360度自轉公轉瘋狂拍攝，
然後自己在沒有被告知照會的狀況下，不經意成為清明上河數位圖中的一隻阿貓或一隻阿狗。


當我稍微克制自己的拍照慾後，
我在每個風景駐留的時間變長了，
把一切的異國風情看進眼裡，在心理歸檔，
於是Calton Hill上的Ｎational monument，
外型不只是向Parthenon致敬的古典，
長寬高不只是達成率僅有10%的蘇格蘭之恥，
建材不只是灰黑色的大石，
我開始想像當時金主與設計師討論該怎麼打造monument的動機與野心，
工程基金是不是被金主拿去打離婚官司所以花光了，
還是工人偷懶工程延宕所以錢不夠多，
還是設計師算錯尺寸蓋太大了，但又不像魏導這麼努力與幸運，所以籌不到更多錢...
(因為不愛讀書，整個就是很entertaining，而不是historic imagination...)


Whatever, 就像路塔告訴我的:
作品一問世，作者就死了。 一切將由閱聽者來解讀與感受箇中滋味。 

人類自然而然會從內在對美產生反應，也會生出想要擁有美的欲望；這種想要擁有的欲望比較低等的表現如購買紀念品、地毯、把自己名字刻在石柱上、照相等。唯一的方式就是透過了解，讓自己去感覺美的心理和視覺因素；要達到這種瞭解，最好的方式就是透過藝術(用文字或畫筆)來描繪美麗的事物，不管自己是不是具有這方面的才華。
by 英國藝術批評家John Ruskin。

於是漸漸地，
我對美麗事物的愛與擁有，不只是打勾的方格、遞增的照片編號、從旅遊書撕下的標籤。
有時候，我想像一個虛構故事，
有時候，我寫下一個句子，
有時候，我微笑自言自語，
有時候，我閉上眼深呼吸用全身毛孔進行美的光合作用。
有時候，我還是拍照了，因為希望我不要忘記。


下次，我希望擁有一個畫板，或是一本畫冊。

2011.7.31  I saw a woman possessing beauty at Calton Hill in Edinburgh.


========================================================================
[我不畫美食也不想寫得像食神，所以該拍的還是要拍]


貢獻兩張看了不流口水一定是此人唾腺有問題的美食趴趴照。
我點的海鮮炒麵，大家都說好吃!

罕見不怕辣的外國人(因為愛吃墨西哥食物)Maria點的泡菜炒飯:

[樂否] L.O.V.E.

What is LOVE?

對於愛的樣貌，每個人的描繪詮釋如同一中各表，
理解與想像的差異性源自於每個人為愛所能做出的實踐各異，
每副交感神經對愛的接收能力也有差別。
或許，這就是LOVE之所以複雜也最趣意盎然的部分。

對於 30 something(陳述不代表承認)的我來說，
望向愛情的期許就像工作一樣，
不知道自己想要的是甚麼，只知道自己不想妥協與犧牲的是甚麼。

不過我說的是，
excluding "I am falling in love at the first sight" and "You had me at hello"，
扣除這類前幾世修成的福報善德之外，
正所謂萬事起頭難，
到底要如何進入Phase of " Pre-Love"--
這個讓你通往對某人說(或聽某人說)通關密語"I love you"的命運大門前的機會庭院?

Is Love, to you, a question of  biology, psychology, or mathematics?


在踏進機會庭園之前，
很多人會先做初步的篩選，
計算身高體重血型出生年月日產業別職稱抬頭動產不動產
以及雙親的產業別職稱抬頭動產不動產，
以及家族病史愛情史...

怦然心動是運算的結果，兩情相悅變成雙方合意，
以求風險減低，成交率提高，售後服務完整，永久保固。

check list究竟是對愛的永不妥協? 還是最低的愛情規範呢?

青春的我們因為無知所以無懼，身強體壯不怕死，
把今天當做生命的最後一天來過，活在當下，想愛就來。

成熟的我們因為無知所以恐懼，年老體衰怕得要死，
卻盤算著明天怎麼過得比今天好，風險趨避，想好再來。


What is LOVE?
可不可以，吻了再說?

2011.09.04  I saw a sincere hug and sweet smiles at Marble Arch, London.

[UK life] Follow the Sun

2011.09.03 the Hyde Park.

The best moments in UK is napping in the sunshine.

With my creativity and imagination.

Then you live in my word, in my mind, in my pen.

Not in the real sensation.

[UK life] New life in Brighton

The furious storm today is the worst weather I have met in UK. When I was taking the bus from the city center to home, the bus was almost blown away.

It could be called a typhoon in Taiwan.

The weather deteriorated my bad mood so I chose Starbucks and Dorian Gray instead of the class.

Then I came home at 12.

In the afternoon, I stayed in the warm house to listen to Chopin, read Oscar Wilde, have a cup of English tea.

Then the cat jumped up in my blanket and fell asleep.

I love the atmosphere. Terrible weather outside, comfy air inside.

[UK life] Fire Alarm at night

I have enough of my face for only basic cleansing everyday. After buying an exfoliating polish and a cleansing flannel in The Bodyshop, I did a thorough face cleansing and super skin care tonight.

However,in three mimutes after everything done, the fire alarm suddenly rang loud in the whole youth hostel building. All guests including me, with my cellphone,camera and roomcard, ran out of rooms to the ground floor.

While going downstairs, I scared a kid and made some people laugh by wearing a mask on my face and a towel on my head. It's really embarrassing!!!

Not for long, the alarm wad confirmed as a mistake.

"Now everyone recognizes you." said my roommate after entering back the room.

"No, they can't. I got the mask." I answered as convincing myself.


====================================================================

YHA I stayed: London Central YHA

"5 stars" of Sunny's rating !! Strongly recommend it!!!

Lobby and food

Kitchen



My bed

 Dinning space

 Reception

[UK life] Carsickness

Clara is going to a highland trip today.
Because it's easy for her to feel bad for a long-distance on the bus or ship, she wanted to figure something out to solve this problem.
However, what does work in Italy seems not helpful here. The pharmacy which she had asked yesterday didn't have something like a "Plaster" which is generally used in Italy to prevent sickness in one's trip. ( In fact, neither had I heard about this medical product before.)

She wanted to know how to explain this kind of illness to the driver so that she might be able to sit on the first seat to feel better today.

We started with consulting the dictionary about "how to say feeling ill on the vehicol?"
The anwser is "carsickness" or "seasickness"!!
We burst out laughing because it's unbelievably easy.
I was thinking that it's weird because you feel carsick when you are in a car, you feel seasick when you are on the sea,but you are homesick when you are NOT at home.

It is said as the meaning of  "bad sea" in Italian.

It sounds more reasonable for me, because:
When you are on the bad sea, you feel seasick.
When you are in the bad car, you feel carsick,
When you are in the bad host family, you feel homesick.

Hahahahaha!!!

[UK life] Good food settles

今天跟偉勝學長賢伉儷一起去吃韓國菜，我點了Spicy seafood noodles soup,還有跟大家share海鮮煎餅，超級無敵好吃!!!!又有種更喜歡愛丁堡的感覺了!

吃完飯後在新城散步，聊到wetherspoon這間pub,學長提到這家連鎖餐廳有間很厲害的分店，是開在百年舊銀行辦公室，以前的金庫也在，它的名字The standing order,是按月支付的意思。好特別!!! 因為可以帶小孩進去，所以我們在那邊喝下午茶，我跟學長點咖啡，學姐點a pint of cider beer,學長順便跟我介紹當地的啤酒。他們的咖啡不比星巴克差，而且也便宜，我好喜歡這家店，人們就這麼自在地與古蹟共處，真的好舒服，感覺下次來愛丁堡，絕對是為了pub culture，就像學長的冰島同學一樣，來個pub巡禮!!

接著我們去Leith散步，學長繼續介紹幾家好餐廳，都好想找個伴去試試，因為這兒的份量太多了，而我已經有淡菜的教訓,哈。

跟學長相聚是我在愛丁堡的第三個禮拜，當時學長帶我走了超過我的經驗值的哩程數，還有介紹餐廳，景點等。開始敢進餐廳點菜對我來說是個重要的轉捩點，當我想念家鄉或心情不好時，有了重新獲得力量或自我安慰的方式。

After that day we met, time seems flying faster. And in an instant  it becomes my last week in Edinburgh...

學長說他完全可以理解，當年他在紐約也是因為一碗超好吃的越南麵線，讓他整個人找到在異鄉生存的動力。(學姐說"上次你已經說過了...") 所以說學長更確定食物很重要，讓你有settle的感覺。I can't agree with him any more.

離別之前，把心愛的小禮物wine stopper送給賢伉儷。好喜歡他們，讓我看到長久的relationship，除了彼此照顧還一同成長，hope them live happily ever after. ^_^

[UK life] Homework: Fox and Woodpecker

One day, a fox wad walking around in the forest.The weather was wonderful,the sun wad shining and the wind was gently blowing. Suddenly,the fox heard that a tree behind him was creaking. He turned back,raised his head,and found there was a Woodpecker on a branch,which was holding a piece of meat in its beak.

The meat was huge and swaying, as if about to fall."It looks delicious!"the fox thought. Then the fox talked to the Woodpecker,"Good afternoon, lady Woodpecker. I have heard that Woodpecker have fantastic voices for singing. May I have the pleasure of listening to it?" The Woodpecker was very happy to hear that. When the Woodpecker opened its mouth to start singing, the piece of meat fell down, just in front of the fox. As expected, the fox had enjoyed this satisfying meal in the end.

[UK life] Telling a story

某次上課內容是讀一篇文章(每個人都不一樣)，自己挑想學的新單字，然後跟自己的partner討論是什麼意思。這是在Kaplan最常見的討論式學習。

課堂結束後老師叫我們用自己的生字寫短文。我的文章跟大自然有關，其中一個單字是啄木鳥。想了半天，我想起某次Goody要我講故事，關於狐狸與鳥。於是我寫了這個英文版的給Goody的故事。

今天收到老師改好的文章，Katy對我說， it's lovely, and well done!

紙上的評語是文章結構跟幾個片語用得很好，excellent。

很開心，然後突然好想Goody，抱抱他，跟他說謝謝他逼阿姨"唸"書，讓阿姨在國外言之有物，哈。

[UK life] Saying goodbye

Clara is leaving on this Saturday, but she wants to stay for one more week.

到昨晚回家為止，機票跟學校延期的事情都還沒有下落，她心情很低落，即使吃飯時聊天，everything was shown on her face.

回房間之後，看她呆坐在床邊，我向前關心，她說I really hope I could tell all my feelings to you in Italian, and you could understand them.

我叫她講，也許我可以聽的懂，於是她

開始用義大利文發洩，我一邊安慰她. It's really weird that I could feel all of what she was talking about, except Italian language itself.

講著講著她眼眶紅了。

她說她感覺命運在拉著她留在愛丁堡，

僅管家鄉的real friends也滿心期待她的歸來。

後來我才知道，所有她在這兒認識的好朋友，包括我，都碰巧會在"下週"離開。

這種巧合不容易發生，因為語言學校的課程超彈性，跟訂飯店差不多，每週一有一百個新同學來，週六有一百個離開...每個人留的時間不同...

所以她想繼續留一個禮拜。但她有預算考量。(而重點是機票改期的費用很高,€80起跳...而且她還沒找到一週後的班機)

最後我給他出的主意是，不如不要去學校上課，一週費用省下£185，補貼機票錢，反正在這裡，只要有心，處處都是英文等著她學習。而且她的三五好友包括我，只有一個人跟她同班，所以一天不差那三小時。

她破涕為笑了。然後又開始誇獎我，哈。

希望她可以成功改到機票，不要花太多錢!!

然後我跟她約定了明年的義大利之旅，希望我到時候英文跟"義大利文"都有進步，才不愧對她，哈哈哈!!

我也多了回家賺錢的動力了!!!

[UK life] Little things about Clara

I have been talking about my roommate Clara on Facebook time afetr time.
But still many things have I not talked about.

We talk a lot after dinner, walking upstairs into our rooms or going outside to sit on the bench at the backyard, every evening.

I enjoy this moment between us very much, not only because I can practice speaking English but also because I speak true feelings instaed of facial ones despite the poor vocaburary. So it makes sense that we use some body languages,faces or sounds which are mixed in our English coversation.And I love that parts as well. HA! 

As I have just said previously, we talk a lot, from political, historical and cultrual topics to some things about family, relationship,touristic and so on.

Yesterday was a lovely sunny day.
(I always have to describe something by starting with the weather  in the UK becasue it would be easier to understand the atmosphere to me at that time.)

As long as the weather is nice, I become happy easily and sort of "undefeatable" mentally, maybe.
Hence I got well-prepared and well-dressed for the first time in the UK to go out to enjoy my lovely sunny Sunday.
Before my leaving, Clara said " You look very sexy today!!" I smiled her back, saying thanks and getting a goodbye hug, then we separated into each one's trip. 

I took a tour bus to Quenn's ferry to see the Forth Bridge, a hundred-year old  and magnificent masterpiece of engineering.Then I went on  to Holyrood palace, which is a totally opposite direction of the harbor.
Because it was too good to give up or keep away from sunlight. ^__^

To sum up, I went home in a delightful mood at around eight.

After finishing my dinner,  we chatted in Clara's room as usual.
Clara asked me a lot of questions, maybe ten,about the location of Queen's Ferry, a small conflict between Helen and her...blahblah.

The final question she asked is this.

"Did you meet your lover today?  You really look sexy and pretty today. Did you?"
"You mean today? in the morning? or from the morning to now?"
" In the whole day. Even when you were back at the dinning table. You smiled to me and looked beautiful. Why? Didn't you meet your lover? LOVER."
"No...and why?"
"You must have met someone or fall in love with soneone."

Then I thought of one interesting thing which I did keep in mind for a while today. 

"Maybe I did!! But not me, it's the bus driver!! Maybe he fell in love with me."
"He?...a what?"
"A bus driver."   
 "How? Why?"

Then I satred to explain what heppened to me.
'When I took a bus to North Bridge in the afternoon, there were many cars on the road. The bus was waiting to approach the stop where I wanted to get off. However there was still a distance, not long but no short,between the bus and the stop.'

(In the UK, buses follow a rule that they only pick up or let off passengers when the bus is exactly right on the specific postion of the stop. Someday in rush hour, I had been waiting on the pavement to get on the bus for 30mins just because there were about 5 or 6 buses ahead.)   

'While I was waiting, the bus driver who is a young man asked me,"You wanna get off here?" I said, "Yes.Thank you." and then he opened the door to let me get off even we were not that close to the stop. Then I heard he saying some words in his mouth. However, as you know, my English is not good enough. So I didn't know the exact words. But I think I heard one word "Charm", maybe he said "you're welcome because you're charming." or "I am charmed"...something like that. And he smiled very friendly. So maybe he fell in love with me!'

Clara looked at me with a face shown "I don't believe it" and suddenly took up her dictionary.

 'Or, maybe, he was not saying"CHARM" to you...let me check...oh! yes,maybe he said "Champion",yeah..."Hey!chaaaaaampion!" hahaha...'
 'What is the word connected to me? It doesn't make any sense!'
 'Of course it does!! Because you are a "woman" and you are a "Asian". He might thought a asian woman is unable to know how to get off the bus. But you did! So he said "Wow, well done!! CHAMPIONNNN~~~" Hahaha...'
  'What a  bull shit! It's nonsense!!'

 'Or, maybe...oh I got another one. This word..."Channel"...yeah,"Channel"...Hahaha...'
 'What on earth is that? I still think "charm" is the most likly to be the right one.'
 'Maybe, there is a CHANNEL and he wanted to remind you...You said you were on the North Bridge, right? Didn't you see any channel...Hahaha... '
 'Why you started the beautiful question but ended it like that!!'

Clara was completely enjoy herslef in this game and couldn't stop turning pages of her dictionay.

 'Or ,or...yes,uh...hahaha...maybe "chapel"...yes!! He must have said that.'
 'I have no connection with this word!! You're really bullshit!'
 'Of course you do!! haha...ummm...Because you are a WOMAN,and, you are a ASIAN, obviously.Haha... He thought you were a tourist for sure.So he introduced the chapel to you...you know there are really a lot of churches, kirks and "CHAPELS"...right?Hahah...'

 'Do you always learn new vocaburaries by laughing at your friends like this?'
 'Haha...It's a good way, isn't it? (stilling looking down at the dictionary) Oh, maybe "CHAR"...ohoh, terrible, it's really terrible...poor Sunny...'
 'What's that? What does "Char" mean? I don't know that word...'
 'C-H-A-R,CHAR,forget it, you wouldn't like to know it. It's not good, a bad word...Hahaha...'

Although I ketp on staring at her and cursing her, I couldn't help laughing as well as her at the mean while.

I found another lovely bullshit friend far far far away from my country.
It's really a miracle. ^___^

  

[UK life] One day trip in Glasgow

Glasgow is a nice place to shop and see some impressive architectures.I went there with the golden partners plus the Yeh family last Sunday.
Walking out the station, George Square came into our sight, on which there are many statues of famous people. One of them is a person named James Watt. After reading the introduction in front, I found that he might be the one who had invented (or improved) the stream engine and therefore it lead to a important start of the Industrial Revolution.

There are dozens of statues in Edinburgh as well. However,before meeting James Watt, I only have feelings for Adam Smith, the author of The Wealth of Nations. Now I think I could understand why most Scottish people are very proud of Scotland. (So J.K Rowling has become less important to me recently.)

After the historical tour, we went shopping...Hahaha. Many shops in Glasgow are having sales promotion now.Some clothes are too cheap to be believed until you find the inside label printed with "Made in Bangladesh".

Then we visited the lighthouse which is one of the great architect Mackintosh's masterpieces. The only pity is that the rain had never stopped. The cold and wet weather made everyone tired and miserable.In one hand was an umberlla and in the other hand were thin paper bags filled with new clothes, which were so wet that become broken apart just after few hours.

At last, we dicided to go home earlier. To sum up this tour, I think I still prefer Edinburgh so far...:P

   

[UK life] Teacher in Kaplan

This is my favorite teacher Katy.

At my first week, I tried to discuss with her about the classes which are more than I could do.
Then she told me that she thought I was just slow but not lost and I should try one more week.
That comforted me a little bit.
She can explain vocabs and grammars in easy ways and always give us positive responses when we make mistakes.
I like the way she teaches and that's the most reason why I am still struggling with the advanced classes. Haha!!

[UK life] 飲食大不同: 奇怪甜點Custard

In every host family, a sweet comes after dinner meal everyday. It's said as a rule of Kaplan school.

Although I am not fond of sweet at all, I finish each sweet every time for sufficient nutrition.

某天的甜點，是個很詭異的東西。

像一碗濃稠、勾勾的、甜的、溫溫的蛋黃色小米粥，

但裡面還有放罐頭水蜜桃跟海綿蛋糕，

Host mother Helen said it's called Custard,and roommate Maria said its Spanish name is Natilla.

我用冒險的心情吃它時，Helen一直在觀察我的表情，問我敢不敢吃。

I haven't seen this before...

Maria也是怪表情，她說the sweet in Span is made cold, not warm like this.

兩個人都開始開玩笑爭論對方國家的食物很怪，

我才忍不住說both you are strange to me。

我吃幾口後，實在忍不下去，

也怕吃完一次之後，以後還有千千萬萬次，

把裡面的水蜜桃吃完就放棄了。

然後婉轉地說: I don't get used to it so far....

到底把軟軟的蛋糕塊放在濃稠小米甜粥裡有什麼好吃的???

老油條加花生湯才是王道啊!!

[感恩] 歷久彌堅的第一品牌—恩典牌

行李打包工作真的是門學問。

要去異地10個禮拜，
住宿的形式有Homestay(靠父母)跟Youth Hostel(自己來)兩種；
從北部的Edinburgh(據說很多斜坡)，
到中部的Lake District(健行類的行程)，
再到南部的London(都會區) & Brighton(海灘小鎮)；
從Scottland的七月夏天到England的十月秋天；
這般複雜的行程所需要的細軟組合，真的有點難倒我。

因為20Kg的托運限制，
在打包行李的過程中，不同的物品一直被我丟進去又拿出來，
丟進去是為了想帶齊全以減少當地消費支出，
拿出來是因為翻閱自助旅行及10萬元環遊世界的專家達人意見，
或者逛了H＆M的官網、牛津街的shopping map(很想買這樣)。 :P

最困擾我的「衣服到底該怎麼帶」，其實，自助旅行達人早已經提供了最佳解答，

就是「攜帶同色系的衣褲，方便替換搭配以及洋蔥式穿法，如此便可少帶幾件」，

只是，在磅稱尚未破表之前，我實在不願意輕易妥協。

於是昨天在胖子小吃部讓青年幫為我餞行時，出現這樣的對話。
(40還是依舊如此瞭我!!!!)

出國敗金達人40：你這次出去要帶幾雙鞋？
小太陽：(伸出指頭數了一下)恩...三雙吧。
（此時已經笑聲四起...他人笑我太瘋癲，我笑他人看不穿。)


出國敗金達人40：三雙？幹嘛帶這麼多阿？
小太陽：就...一雙皮鞋、一雙走路鞋、一雙運動鞋阿。


出國敗金達人40：你有帶走路鞋，幹嘛還帶運動鞋？
小太陽：因為走路鞋是皮的阿...運動鞋還是比較舒服...


出國敗金達人40：走路鞋是皮的...那幹嘛還要多帶一雙皮鞋？
小太陽：因為皮鞋是靴子，比較長筒...走路鞋是平的低的...


出國敗金達人40：幹嘛還要分長筒跟沒筒阿!!
小太陽：因為褲子風格不一樣呀...


出國敗金達人40：你乾脆在英國買就好了阿...
小太陽：英國買很貴吧!!

上述的對話，其他人抱著看好戲的心情笑到不行，
就像7/9早我一步上路的林姓友人買了一堆MUJI筆記本、瑩光筆、滷包等帶出國一樣，
瞎姨還警惕我「不要省小錢花大錢」，到時候行李超重又罰錢。
但我只能說，有人為的是台灣味，而我堅持的是品味阿!!

另外，這段時間在我勤儉刻苦地募集物資之下，
也獲得了來自各方親友的贊助與支援，
這些感動與幸福的重量，已經遠遠超過20kg了。
(實際重量也快來到19大關...)

為了減輕重量及方便，忍痛捨棄靈魂義眼350D，
帶著陪我遠征東京沖繩京都泰國巴里島已經很老旦還是很有力的Canon Power Shot S80；
（因為有vedio攝影功能，可以拍紀錄片來著...)
但我又希望兼具夜拍、近拍(for gourmet)、廣角鏡頭( for Highland and castles)的需求，
沒想到徐州愛買團團長小拍，
超級阿莎力地出借GRD III (據說這台常被小拍的朋友們帶出場，雲遊四海)，
還借了GRD達人社群的日本雜誌，給我參考拍攝方式。
真是託小官的福～～～好感動!!!

前公司同事—四月份辦留停，去London遊學一個月的小芬前輩，
除了給予鼓勵與支持外(其實伴隨著更多的羨慕)，還出借超厲害的旅遊書與地圖。

台灣旅遊雜誌權威Mook，這本算是UK概論。

很多走深度旅行路線的旅人，都選擇Lonely Planet的旅遊書，

寂寞星球不以彩色印刷的高級銅版紙及嘩眾取寵的攝影照片為賣點，

只有白紙黑字、鉅細靡遺的地圖與景點資訊、故事等，厚厚一本像字典，

在家做功課時可能無法激勵士氣，但出門在外就會相當實用。

台灣聯經出版社沒有出版「英國」，簡體版在博客來訂要等45天，緩不濟急，

小芬前輩借我的歩き方算是跟Lonely Planet同等級的好書，連YH協會主要賣的就是這兩家的旅遊書。

(不得不誇獎一下，日本人很擅長將文字意義圖像化，所以地圖標示特別友善好用)

一直嚷嚷著要買防狼噴霧劑給我的小官，在我被劫色之前，先預防我被劫財，

於是贊助了貼身防盜腰包。

經營Nu Skin的大姊跟二姊，則是贊助民生必需品，
Toothpaste is given from the oldest sister, and aloe gel is given from the other sister.

+4贊助我曾陪她浪跡天涯(歐洲5國40天)的multi-purpose plug。

比大威小威還要威的最威恩典是阿爸阿母縮衣節食給我的吉祥紅包。
據說是阿母念阿爸寫，最後一句「桃花豐盛(不拘國籍)」讓我噗呲大笑出來!!
後來我忍不住post it on Facebook，結果竟然有60幾個人按讚，20個留言!!
儘管很大比例的損友是在慫恿我帶黑人男友回家嚇死我爸媽，
但這仍是目前為止我「The most career "Likes" (生涯最讚？)」的PO文。>_<

自助旅行達人在背包打包法的旅行用品清單第一項，是護身符。
這一趟遠行尚未出發，我已經接收了許多溫暖與祝福，
這些，都將是帶給我力量的護身符。

謝謝大家!! m(_ _)m