Another face of Leeds

So I am leaving Leeds 3 days from now with a bit of sadness and very much excitement.

Leeds is never a beautiful city, even it has much more sun shine than any other city I have ever been in the UK, and, trust me, I have been to lots of them.

It is that the people make this place beautiful. It is always better to have a friend or two to lie down on the grass to enjoy the sunny day than do the sunbath alone. And it is always more enjoyable to go shopping or having tea time with friends than experiencing the solitude by myself. And I didn't know that until travelling to the UK with my shadow only an year and half ago.

People are generally nice here although I had some bad experience confronting with the strangers. But bad luck doesn't count, it is just not lucky enough. Anyway, everything is nicer when it is time to go, at least for me, it is.

Leeds is not pretty, but Leeds has it's face--a face mixes nature with old and new and half-finished buildings. It is a rejuvenating city, and people live in it. the city would get younger again but people would never. However, I think that nobody take care of the process of rejuvenation in the environment they walk pass everyday. We tolerate the noise of construction and take the new face for granted, by the time the machine demolishing the torn buildings, we just simply tolerate the noise again.

Actually it is not that they are cold people, it is that there are the reasons for them to walk on the street, and there are some other things that they are caring about more the face-off of the city. They are all going towards somewhere. It is actually a bit of shocking for me that almost everyone has the destination to go. Everyone is the passenger of others and we ourselves are the passengers of time and space.

I don't what is the lesson of this, I just know that I am being sentimental again.

Comments

however...

> Paris is not as terrible as hell, it has its own strength, anyway. people dance, sing and do all kinds of performance on the street to attract tourists. Maybe it is a way of living, but for me, it is a way of releasing their desire and a way of addressing the city of art. they are the representatives of the vigorous side of Paris. If you ask me how do I mark the Paris, I would say: low pass. Too many visitors ruin the face of ths city, I should have come to Paris in the winter. Let the cold winds freeze the smell of sweat and stink subway, let the heavy duffle coats wrap people's rudness and greedy eyes to the tourists, let the heat of street preformancer glow the Eiffel Tower, let me attract by this city. it is not quite fair to judge Paris from a visitor's point of view. Because what is good in Paris has been there so much longer than the people in the city. the seine river, and the countless bridges across it. the splendid buildings and tower, the bule sky and green tr

(極短篇,2007年)洗澡。水<下>

B好像看出我的疑惑般道出「這種事情改變起來也沒有不方便啊，沒必要弄得沸沸揚揚嘛！更何況沒注意的是你，還有你們家大樓水管理處的疏忽，就讓你多洗幾次澡這點來看，應該可以要求民事賠償呢！我們已經融入的怎麼想也不會覺得不合理啊。」我沒理會他的解釋，乾脆就直接的問「那….那你們怎麼清潔身體，總不會用砂吧，那是小說的情節別胡來了……」「當然不是阿，砂這種壓迫性的物質不適合現代人了，我們都是用電磁波……電磁波你知道是什麼吧，曾經有人以為是致命物質呢，現代化就不一樣，像咖啡啊酒啊的好壞還不是三番兩頭的顛倒，是是非非經過才知道，而且用電磁波洗澡的替代方案真得很省時呢！」「想想看，一天省15分鐘，愛洗兩次澡的就省了30分鐘，保守估計一星期多出105分鐘，一個月450分鐘，一年…… 450乘12是多少…對…5400分鐘，也就是90個小時，瞧瞧，省下這麼多的時間拿去旅遊都夠了，人家不是說由小處節省會有大效果嗎，就是這麼回事啊！」A認真的分析著「可是省掉的時間總有一天又默默的溜走啦，有這個節省的必要嗎？」我反駁「……既無臭無味又不用擦乾，而且隨時都可以淨身，手機，電視，音響，還有在每天都要停駐的電腦前面，跟朋友聊天的當兒，無意間就洗好…喔不對…不能用洗字…是無意中就消菌了… 還要多虧科學家辛辛苦苦找出來的替代方案呢！」又是A在不理會我的爭辯下大放厥詞。「好處還不只這些，應用得宜的話，開一個取代公共澡堂的『殺菌室』，又是促進一個產業的興盛呢！」…… B得意的彷彿青年實業家，為了一個可能的發明竊喜。夠了！我心裡想，你們被洗腦了嗎，有多少關於洗澡的樂趣被剝奪，多少興奮的感覺從此絕跡，這不是長毛象消失或那種孤零零的遠方的星墜落一般的輕嘆一聲就好了，沒有人想過連洗澡的記憶都要珍藏的吧……一個人洗，跟女人一起洗，還有當兵時大家和在一起亂洗的日子怎麼可能一夕之間便成過去，偏偏洗澡這儀式又不好意思拍或錄下來，又不是偷窺或暴露狂，怎麼可能三不五時記錄自己的洗澡生活呢……真是夠了！「是嗎！我偏要用錢買水，偏要貫徹洗澡的意志！」我忿忿的跟大家吼著，雖然不能洗澡也不是他們的錯，但是一副接受事實很好的鄉愿般的嘴臉，看了就討厭，好歹也稍微掙扎或是跟我一個鼻孔出氣一下也好嘛…… 我又用力的掃視大家一回。「……」滿室陡地剩寂靜在發呆。下班第一件事就是衝去賣場買水

1) 媽~我在英國交到泰國朋友了

時間是 08 年 8 月初，我飛到了英國還在想著要如何才能聽懂英國腔並且不緊張的與這些金髮碧眼人交談的同時兩個泰國人也搬進同一間宿舍準備跟我一起生活一陣子記憶中泰國人都很會做飯菜尤其是男生，他們的櫥櫃裡都有這各式各樣的調味包比我還會去中國超市買菜也很會招集泰國朋友一起吃飯小小的宿舍廚房擠上 10 多人的陣仗是如今想來還是溫馨的很阿不知道從哪一天開始每天要花上兩三個小時跟他們切菜煮菜聊天吃飯成了一天中的大事我也是參過幾次 " 煮菜 " 這個環節的，當我們都還在學著適應英國不可思議的高物價的時候 Morrisons value 是主要材料，誰下廚並不重要畢竟只要煮熟能吃然後省錢大家也就心滿意足了於是一星期中我也被分配到要煮個兩三次菜但不知怎麼樣的就像是達爾文說的適者生存不適者淘汰，我漸漸的成為了專門的洗碗工那些不會洗碗的人都被我淘汰而我也從火爐旁退下了洗碗不錯阿不洗碗哪來乾淨的碗盛飯菜呢就像禿鷹雖然不討喜但也是生物鏈重要的一環呢這樣想想也就不會覺得煮菜不好吃有什麼了不起了也就是在跟他們吃飯的同時我們彼此練習英文，嚴格說來是我只聽得懂英文所以 "ENGLISH PLEASE" 變成我前一兩個月的口頭禪當時生活中能遇到的洋人只有老師吧，如果我想講英文就非跟其他國家的亞洲人莫屬了曾經覺得怎麼會這樣，我來英國念書想要好好學英文卻一個老外朋友也沒有但是語言學校不就是這樣，學到的是生活大於課業，實際多於想像而沒去過泰國也可以交到泰國朋友不是一件不可思議的事嗎兩個講著不同語言的人可以用英文溝通也是我第一次發現英文的樂趣英文不是教科書裡的東西不是賺錢的工具也不是嚴肅的玩意兒英文是交朋友的好幫手，璧如說兩個陌生的人要打招呼了 HOW R U? I AM FINE. HOW AOBUT U? GOOD! GOOD! 接下來就可以聊聊天氣音樂生活或彼此國家進而成為朋友了用中文的話就不這麼容易了你好嗎我很好你呢 ? 很好 ! 很好 ! 這種開頭根本不可能當作開場白吧甭說要發展成有意義的對話了所以我才覺得英文實在是一種最適合社交的語言，同時也開起了我對於交朋友的樂趣

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