在英国一年的经历,感受良多,幸有TIGTAG的知音分享与支持, 'I want to cry tognight' 一文也得到众人的精神支持渡过难关, 俱往矣,过去一年象一场梦,唯有写作一篇告别文章给在英国所有的朋友们, 给英国画上圆满的符号.由于有一些英国朋友,所以全部为英文,不便之处,敬请原谅.
Farewell UK
Sitting on the bench of Seafront, I saw a flock of black crows heading home at dusk in a row over the tinted Cardigan Bay, enriching a spectacularly colorful sky,arousing a nostalgic emotion and prompting me to wonder where my permanent destination might be.
Gafor, the Turkish bloke approched me curiously and enquired;"What the hell are you doing here, mate?"
'Nothing but watching the sunset.Guaduation is just around the corner and I'm leaving soon. It is a rare chance of observing the stunning beauty of nature.It makes me think.'
He laughed out heartily and produced a handy camera from his pocket and showed off the pictures he captured on sunsets.As if this bloke understands the chinese saying,he sighed melancholy 'The sunset only lasts for a while, my friend, so is good life.'
It is not difficult to understand the reation of Raman,the manager of Spice of Bengal when I told him that my feeling was fixed when leaving for good. 'You should be the happiest man in the world!'He said. To him Wales seems to be the worst place in the world and he hates to come back each week.He said to me again jokingly 'Oh I see you will miss the seagulls.'
My bitter story with the seagulls started when I moved to Portland road in the summer.The house turned out to be the worst hit area invaded by the seagulls.How those stupid birds could tirelessly and endlessly make noise I had absolutely no idea.Each moring I was waken up at 6-7am, I had the impulse to get a gun and shoot all the stupid birds one by one.One morning I was tortured by the noise again at 5am, I climbed up to constitution hill and walked straight to Borth in the gales for 10 miles.People thought I was crasy.The Polish woman in the same house said she could communicate with the seagulls and they were actually singing some beautiful songs. God bless her! I thought she was crasy, not me.
The nightmare didnot last long thanks to my aggressive bargaining and negotiating efforts with the landlady.Then I moved to a new house close to Co-op with very friendly flat mates.Pawat is from Thailand and has been in the UK for many years.We had a lot to talk and share as we are all from Asia. Most of all we made a lot of jokes about Silim,the boss of the Thai restarant. I couldnot like him more and it was a very happy time for me. The only downside was that he's got a girlfriend called Jenefer.I mean we couldn't spend more time because of her. But Jenefer was very nice indeed.She always gave me a lift when going out for a trip so I had the oppotunity to explore the breath-taking sorroundings in Wales.On the trip to an unknown castle, Pawat was sitting on the top of the wall in meditation. He seemed to be pondering about the ancient past,or perhaps something far beyond the future,or just pretending to be cool. Whatever he might be doing or pretending, he was so harmonious with the environment that I thought he was perhaps born in the castle a thousand years ago.
Sulien,the Welsh guy took me out to Aberaeron for hiking on a brilliant day.He brought with him some tea. It was such a fantastic feeling to drink tea when the breeze from the sea was touching the cheeks and hair.I took a look at the people around,they were so relaxed and content!It gave me a very strong feeling that the blessings from the almighty Lord is spread to all of us.It was the best hiking I've had so far. I wish life could be as simple and relaxing as that.How lucky are the people in this land!
Then I met Kaso, one of the friendiest Janpanese,he've got the job in London.He was always smiling and talking without stopping. He eloquence sometimes makes me feel humble.Hopefully he is coming to China in the winter. I'm looking for forward to seeing him again.
On the last two days in Wales, some people came to visit me so I was left with less time busy packing and sorting out things. On the last day, the German Landlady still hired a worker to renovate the kitchen.When the landlady came back to check on the progress, she found that the welsh worker has been talking to me for almost two hours since she departed. The worker observed the slight displeasure on the face of landlady perhaps, remarked hurridely 'He is so sociable I just wish to carry on the conversation for ever.' It seems the landlady liked to talk with me too and I was alliviated with the pain of parting the place where I 'd lived for one year.
On my way to London, I met the weirdest Englishman in our town. He often loafed around the campus carrying a red backpack.He seemed to be wearing the same clothes all his life, the same sportsuit,blue hat and shoes. He looked different only because sometimes he grew more beard and sometimes less.The mystery was finally solved when he admitted smilingly 'I'm retreating into Wales'. Phew. I knew then Wales has become a haven for urban wanderers.
In London one night was walking along the river Thames with yuanyuan. It was amazing to see london at night.
In Switzerland the weather was brilliant, a different picture from the UK. I got to the top of Europe and viewed the never-melted snow in the morning.The only pity in Switazerland was that I could not have possibly settled down there!
Now I'm finally back at home.It is just like waking up in a bizzare dream. I mean several days ago I was still in a foreign land but now everything seems so remote and unreachable. The nature, the people, the experiences in Wales made me believe God was in Wales. I hope those of you still in Wales can tell your testimonies that God is in Wales. I close the door on Wales for now, but may go once in a while over the bridge of memory, back deep through the fog of time and be once again by the sea in Wales. I leave you all with a quote from Scarlet in Gone With The Wind 'After all, tomorrow is another day'
The following is my top20 list in Wales that sums up my spiritual journey in Wales.Enjoy it as much as you can.
1.The most painful experience
I had to see a dentist and a small fill-in cost me dearly.It was 100 pounds.The dentist finally spoke some words of terror 'I detect some more problems in your teeth, you're always welcome back' Those words have been reveberating in my ears for several months.
2.The luckiest thing
Thanks God I never set foot in his office again.
3.The best home-made product
The fickle weather.It can accommodate as much as sunshine,wind,drizzling,rain,hail,frost,blizzard,gale,waterspout and even snow. But when I talked about the weather, it would probably be 'Dude, it is raining cats and dogs again'. The Irish would give it a curse 'Christ,it is [***]ing down again!'
4.The funniest remark
'The university will be closed down because of a thing called snow.' Declared Nick Perdikis solemnly.He is our IB lecturer.
5.The happiest event
The snow again. It caught all of us by surprise. Everyone was wearing a smiling face,particularly for the lecturers who could be released from the boring teaching.
6.The best TV programm
Olympic,particularly moment when Liuxiang stunned the whole world with a breath-taking 12.91. EURO 2004. Republican convention. Coronation Street,very funny,though some people think it is only for the oldies
7.The most unnecessary necessities
Textbooks. When there are loads of handouts and the easily accessable Library, why bother?
Laptops. Most of the time many of the computers are available in the public workstation.
TV. The Irish bloke always asked me 'I can see you're so obsessed with TV Why not buy a TV yourself'. I provided an answer with words of wisdom 'Why I should buy one when I can always have a large TV in a large TV room'. The TV room was ususally empty so most of the time I was the boss.
Sportscenter. The bracing fresh air is ubiquitous making mere walking a superb sport. Why get stuck in the stuffy Sportscenter?
8. The best society
International Bible Study. Great organizers created great atmostphere. The study was entertaining as well as enlightening.
9. The best drink
Possibly it was in Aberdovey where we walked to the local pub in gales and had some light drinks and great chitchat.
10.The most frequently mentioned complaint
Yoshi at least mentioned 10 times to his friends that I was making tremendous noise when I was under the intoxication of some drinks in his flat one night. 'My flatmates are all curious who could make such a big noise at night' Said he in many occasions.
11. The best party
Definitely the one organized in Bala. Nigel summed up everything in his farewell 'We had a great house party' He just hit the nail on the head!
12.The most regrettable thing
I never sailed out to the sea in a sunny day.
13.The stupidest comment in the lectures
In the Internet Marketing lecture,I said my purpose was to learn how to create spam. Our poor lecturer looked confused and tried to figure out what was wrong with me. Finally he wrote down 'spam' on the blackboard reluctantly.
14. The most powerful suggestion
It was supposed to be an ordinary tutorial held by Gary, our new director of the business school.My half joking and half sarcastic comments on the teaching quality of the school impressed him a lot.Later on I leard that there were rumours among the teachers that the new director was determined to carry out the reform to upgrade the teaching quality,prompted by the complaints from some outspoken Msc students.
15. The greatest divide
There were always some empty rows in the middle of the classrooms to indicate the division between east and west, as if the obvious division was not obvious enough.Thanks God no one needs to be responsible for bridging the gap. Let it be as long as it was not that harmful anyway.
16.Best reward
A fantastic holiday with significant improvement in my English.
17. Best pathway for walking
The pitch of a school behind our Hall of Residence. I used to take a stroll in this pathway for inspiration before the exams.It was very quite and beautiful.How I miss this pathway!
18. Most touching moment
Around Christmas eve St Mike was packed with people singing the carols in candle night. The carols were brilliant that could touch the very beings deep down within.It was such a holy night that I was filled with the holy spirit.
19.Most embarrasing moment
When a babe called me 'darling', I mistook it as an indication of her affection,only to find out later that darling is not restricted to the loved one.
20.Most embarrasing thing
I've been here for almost one year but still can't tell the differences among crows,ravines,rooks and House Martins. |
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