窗外，雪末子密密地、铺天盖地地从天上倾泻下来。屋里，暖融融地，扣扣绻成一个句号卧在身旁。眼前，电视机里中央台迎新晚会就要到敲钟的时刻。旧年就要过去，新年即将到来。再见了，二零零九。
元旦前自放两天假，让忙碌了一年的身心灵好好放松放松。尽管可能在班上更闲，但还是待在家里随意才是更好的休息。休息还有一个目的，就是可以看看国内早半天的庆祝晚会。
送旧迎新，一年又过去了，新世纪新千年的第一个十年过去了，一个多事的十年过去了，期待一个事少的、平安和谐的新十年。期待战事早日结束，经济稳定复苏。
圣诞节过后汉广高速火车开通，三四个小时就可以从武汉到广州，比飞机都方便，以后去广州又多了一个选择。憧憬中似乎有十年后像欧洲那样高速发达的公共交通。
《中华情》的“诗情长安”，在“大唐芙蓉园”举行，主办人在令人昏眩的灯光和焰火下的歌舞中穿插介绍唐城文史，将人的思绪带回了生与斯长与斯的古都。节目中的虚景难以满足由此唤起的浓浓乡思，于是，谷歌曲江，神游长安，寻找那些旧日的记忆。
芙蓉园旁不远是寒窑遗址，儿时听母亲的红鬃烈马故事中，多为薛平贵那高超的武艺折服，而王宝钏苦守十八年痴情也让老人的多次讲述刻在了脑子里。
不由自主地在地图上寻找那些熟悉的街道，路名照旧，路貌已经今非昔比。安东街小学在地图上还赫然有名，八十六中居然还在老地方。从二公司家属院出来，沿往年上学的路建西街一直往西走去，沿路大厦林立，店馆众多，目接不暇。如果到家后面的乐居场土坡去捉蝎子，那里只有乐居茶园、新天地休闲中心和王海涛诊所。旧地重游，这里完全是新天地，过去已经离自己太遥远，你已经早就不属于这里。
往东走去，旧日“东郊”如今已是繁华市区的一部分，才发现纺院更名工程大学，过去那遥遥可见的高土坡正名秦襄王陵，现在大概深深埋在高楼森林里，秦川中学居然在地图上那么醒目，京西医院和西京医院不知哪一个是以前的四医大。
从二十九街坊骑车往师大走，会经过以前没有的陕西省科学院，绕过铁一中在二环南路看到金石国际大酒店，暗忖这是何时冒出的长安大学和科技大学，还有似乎数不清的学校。继续西行，看一眼西北方向的朱雀广场，在立交桥转头往南，立刻看到了音乐学院。携侣曾游，八十年代的中央民族音乐团来这里表演，可谓凤毛麟角。曾记得为罗天婵的《音乐之声》倾倒。继续南行，要经过数不清的大厦、中心、学院、新村、才能走到现在还会梦游的母校。
草滩坐落在渭河南岸，现在觉得离城区这么近，环城高速已经修到它的边上，昔日的荒滩农场，如今已经是度假村和高尔夫球场。那里有我度过的两年艰苦时光，感谢高考学才将我从遥遥无期乡下生活拔了出来。令人惊讶的是牧二队居然还标在地图上，所在的农四紧挨着，忘不了在那里挖过牛圈，送过饲料的日子。
神游旧地，想象着走一圈，一定会对今非昔比这句话有更深切的体会。回头再想一想，何必如此思旧。季羡林老来感叹，说是后面的路越来越长，前面的路越来越短，正是脑中的记忆越来越沉重，压的透不过气来。还不如送送旧，就如送旧年一样，连旧时的记忆都送走，轻轻松松继续往前走。
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
感恩
当年，来到美洲新大陆的流浪人们，曾遇到自然灾难濒临绝境，土著印第安人给他们提供种子，教他们种植玉米等庄稼，度过了生活难关。感恩节是新移民们感谢印第安人，邀他们作客而沿袭下来的节日。在学生时代，我们这些外国学生感恩节时，被美国家庭朋友邀请到家里作客，耳熏目染的总在此时有一种感恩的情结。
记得系里有一位早年来自德国的教授，每年感恩节邀请四名单身学生到家里做客，有一年我被邀请到。德国教授挺着一个将军肚，比较傲慢，同你讲话高高在上，学生们不大容易接近。受到他的邀请去家里坐客，你也会害怕拘谨，他并且告诉你到他家要如何穿着。但是因为你是单身，又在放假，他挑选邀请的时候也很好。再说，他的邀请有点儿象派任务，更象在下命令，容不得你不答应。因此，他总是十分成功的。
早就听说他娶了个法国太太，想一睹其风采，自然十分愿意去。那天与我同去的三位同学一位来自雅典，一位来自慕尼黑，一位来自利马，道地的国际学生会。到了他们家，我先观察，后动手，象林潇湘进了荣国府，小心翼翼地别弄出错。至于那天吃的什么，味道如何，我丝毫不记得了。只记的饭菜做得相当精致，餐具十分考究。也许是法国餐味道精致，我这样的土包子，只能象刘姥姥说个总体的好而已。也许是太多去注意他太太，想印证以前听多了的法国女郎的浪漫，尽管她让我十分失望。
教授的背景使得他平日要用英、法、德三门语言同人交流。显然是为了照顾太太，家里的官方语言是法语。不过，相对而言，生硬的德语也太难听了。讲课当然是英语，他的德国口音很重，但是正是如此，每个音节都发音清楚，我倒是听的十分明白。当时我们系里连续几年有一帮公派的西德硕士生，教授可以与他们讲自己的母语。
另外一次感恩界晚餐是在一个韩国医生家过的。国际联谊会组织了一些主人家庭作东，让我们这些外国留学生们在感恩节晚上都“有家可归”。那时夫人已经来美团圆，我们同往。韩国医生十分富有，豪华的住宅和家具，太太十分漂亮，比那位法国太太有风韵多了。更重要的是，她做的菜十分可口，一桌韩国饭菜，味道好极了。看来，并不是我“土”或者是心猿意马，实在是背景使然，没有参照，如何评价？
再记得更早的一次是在一位美国人家里过感恩节。那时自己连车都没有，国际联谊会派人送到做东的一个美国家里。底特律当时是三大汽车总部，那时美国汽车工业还十分兴盛，郊区很多人是汽车公司的雇员，过着颇丰裕的生活。这一家七姑八姨的总共二十多人，不少是从外地赶来共度感恩节。我与两三位同学做为客人，毫不拘谨的与大家坐在一条长长的桌子上，桌子上摆放着丰富的晚餐，一只巨大的烤火鸡坐落在正中央。开饭前，一位十岁左右的男孩在桌首大声讲述了感恩节的来源，给我印象十分深刻，钦佩他们的教育到位以及孩子的胆量和知识。祷告谢饭后，大家有条不紊传递着菜肴，吃着火鸡肉，真象身临在哪个电影里看到过的场景里。
感恩节回忆是十分愉快的。
(11/27/2009)
记得系里有一位早年来自德国的教授，每年感恩节邀请四名单身学生到家里做客，有一年我被邀请到。德国教授挺着一个将军肚，比较傲慢，同你讲话高高在上，学生们不大容易接近。受到他的邀请去家里坐客，你也会害怕拘谨，他并且告诉你到他家要如何穿着。但是因为你是单身，又在放假，他挑选邀请的时候也很好。再说，他的邀请有点儿象派任务，更象在下命令，容不得你不答应。因此，他总是十分成功的。
早就听说他娶了个法国太太，想一睹其风采，自然十分愿意去。那天与我同去的三位同学一位来自雅典，一位来自慕尼黑，一位来自利马，道地的国际学生会。到了他们家，我先观察，后动手，象林潇湘进了荣国府，小心翼翼地别弄出错。至于那天吃的什么，味道如何，我丝毫不记得了。只记的饭菜做得相当精致，餐具十分考究。也许是法国餐味道精致，我这样的土包子，只能象刘姥姥说个总体的好而已。也许是太多去注意他太太，想印证以前听多了的法国女郎的浪漫，尽管她让我十分失望。
教授的背景使得他平日要用英、法、德三门语言同人交流。显然是为了照顾太太，家里的官方语言是法语。不过，相对而言，生硬的德语也太难听了。讲课当然是英语，他的德国口音很重，但是正是如此，每个音节都发音清楚，我倒是听的十分明白。当时我们系里连续几年有一帮公派的西德硕士生，教授可以与他们讲自己的母语。
另外一次感恩界晚餐是在一个韩国医生家过的。国际联谊会组织了一些主人家庭作东，让我们这些外国留学生们在感恩节晚上都“有家可归”。那时夫人已经来美团圆，我们同往。韩国医生十分富有，豪华的住宅和家具，太太十分漂亮，比那位法国太太有风韵多了。更重要的是，她做的菜十分可口，一桌韩国饭菜，味道好极了。看来，并不是我“土”或者是心猿意马，实在是背景使然，没有参照，如何评价？
再记得更早的一次是在一位美国人家里过感恩节。那时自己连车都没有，国际联谊会派人送到做东的一个美国家里。底特律当时是三大汽车总部，那时美国汽车工业还十分兴盛，郊区很多人是汽车公司的雇员，过着颇丰裕的生活。这一家七姑八姨的总共二十多人，不少是从外地赶来共度感恩节。我与两三位同学做为客人，毫不拘谨的与大家坐在一条长长的桌子上，桌子上摆放着丰富的晚餐，一只巨大的烤火鸡坐落在正中央。开饭前，一位十岁左右的男孩在桌首大声讲述了感恩节的来源，给我印象十分深刻，钦佩他们的教育到位以及孩子的胆量和知识。祷告谢饭后，大家有条不紊传递着菜肴，吃着火鸡肉，真象身临在哪个电影里看到过的场景里。
感恩节回忆是十分愉快的。
(11/27/2009)
Monday, December 14, 2009
写作
女儿的英语老师要求家长就她的作文以信函的形式写评论。她的期末写作包括散文，诗歌，暑假读书报告等。写这封信为了鼓励女儿，也趁机插进一点儿自己对写作的心得和感受。
亲爱的女儿：
费了好大劲才看完了你写的几首诗和两篇散文。坦率地说，就我有限的英文水平，无法完全理解你写的内容。既然你们老师的建议家长提意见，甚至可以就你的作文给你写一封信，爸爸觉得建议很好，借此可以多谈一谈我的看法。
你写文章很快，这我在平日就能看出来，甚至是在写中文也是如此。文章写的快的人有两个长处，一是记忆力好，二是语言掌握的好，表达力强。因为记忆力好，手头的资料多，细节清楚，引言等等随手掂来。也是因为记忆力好，手头资料多，不愁没有东西往里添。也是因为记忆好，资料多，因此题材就多，更有创造性。正象你自己在辩析自己写作的学习过程中讲到的，你喜欢不拘泥与题目，喜欢自由发挥，在课外来写。你写文章文章也有点儿象你平日说话，单刀直入，自由的表现自己。至于第二点，就不用多说了。语言是表达思想的工具，工具用的熟练，工作效率就高。词汇量大，表现的方法方式就多，文章就比较活泼。
我看一篇文章象一棵树，它有树干（主题），几个主要树叉（论点或要点），若干小枝，很多的树叶和繁多的鲜花（论据细节和内容）。你的文章是一棵棵快速长大的树，有坚实的主干，长的很好的分枝，繁茂漂亮的枝叶和花朵。我记得你小学时写的文章也很快，但是有不少象枝繁叶茂的高大灌木。你现在写的文章主题清楚，全文紧扣主题，没有什么铺陈，很高兴你的写作这几年有了很大进步。
我自己写文章喜欢精干和高度的概括，而且我不喜欢重复,但是我的树需要较多的叶和花。谁会喜欢一棵树干很直，支干很平衡发展，但叶子很少没有什么花朵的树？不错，花叶过多会遮住枝干，但是花叶多了可以修剪，总比没有花和叶好很多。而且，在自然界，许多叶子和花朵又是长在同一个小枝上，这同用自己的语言将许多论据串起来是一个道理。但是，这需要平衡，太高度概括的文章不容易看懂，传递的信息太少，文章会干巴巴的，缺乏说服力。
但是，一篇散文毕竟不是一棵树。虽然，题目可以帮助读者知道作者要说什么，读者不读完文章还是不知道树的全貌。实际上，读一篇文章就像一个电影特写镜头慢慢从树根和树干向上摇，逐渐让读者看到枝叶和花朵。因此，镜头在向人们显示树的枝叶和花朵时，有时需要穿插着显示一下树干和主支，让人们知道电影在说什么。也就是说，读者可以在文章段落中偶尔再提醒读者主题或文章的主要思想是什么，尤其是较长的文章。这就要求不怕用不同的变化方式重复主题。我在你暑假读书报告草稿中确实看到有这样的成分。
你的写作心得和感受写的很好。我特别喜欢阅读个人感受和成长的故事。撰写作文与写科学报告很不同，科学或项目报告主要是为了传递信息，但作文有更多的文学成分。后者需要有更多的激情和情感以及文字的优美要求。关于你的暑假读书报告，我喜欢你挑选的主题“权欲会遮掩潜在的危险”。的确，权欲会让人作出不理智的决策，最后断送了自己的前程，甚至陪上了性命。你的报告语言流畅，我看的很明白，非常好。
随着年岁的增长，一个人总想要用不同的风格写作。我能看到出你写的诗歌有比和兴的成分，它们不象说话那么直接，正象你在你的诗和你对写诗的写作体会中反映的那样。我希望我能够欣赏英文诗，然而我只是一个古体诗歌的爱好者。我无法欣赏现代中国诗歌，就更别提现代风格的英文诗了。中国古代诗歌有特殊形式和韵律，还有特定的字数。当然，我喜欢诗的间接和多样表达方式以及文字的优美。更重要的是，似乎没有其他的写作方式更能表达一个人的情感和感觉，这正是诗的文学之美。
祝你写作更有成就！
Lydia's English teacher suggested that the parents make comments in a form of a letter to her on her writing project, which includes essays, poems, and summer reading reports. It is a good opportunity not only to encourage and praise her writings, but also to convey my writing philosophy and reflection on general writing an essay.
Dear Lydia,
It takes me a while to finish reading you English portfolio project. Frankly, I was not able to comprehend your entire portfolio completely with my limited English language capacity.
I agree with you that you are a fast writer. The fast writer needs to have two strengths: (1) a good memory so a collection of many facts are at hand; (2) master of the writing language and rich vocabulary so that able to put ideas in writing and expanded them. You have those strengths. Those strengths also enable you to pick different ideas and be creative. For example, when you said you would like to write poem by you own, not in class, it would give you more room to create your own writing. Much like when you speak, you like express your thoughts freely.
I see an essay as a tree. A tree consists of a trunk (topic), a few main branches (major ideas or supporting points), and many small branches, leaves, and flowers (facts and supporting details). Your writing is like a quick growing tree with a strong trunk, well developed main branches, and beautiful leaves and flowers. I remember some of your elementary school essays were like tall bushes, full of branches, leaves, and flowers. I am very happy that you have advance so much in writing today.
I myself like concise writing and highly summarized writing. However, my writing needs more flowers and leaves. Who would like to see a tree with well balanced trunk, branches, but few leaves and flowers? Trees need to have a lot of leaves and flowers to be liked. True, too many leaves may block the view of the where the branches or trunks are. But all you need to do is just to space the leaves and small branches somewhat. Also, in nature many leaves and flowers share a small branch and many small branches share a large major branch. Organizing some facts under your own words is like sharing many leaves and flowers on a small branch. This needs some balance, though, because too short and highly summarized writings may convey too little information and be hard to understand, too dry, and not convincing or persuasive.
But an essay in the end is not a tree. Readers do not see the whole picture of the tree until finishing the reading. So reading an essay is like a close-shooting camera taking detailed videos starting from the trunk and gradually move up to branches and leaves and flowers. When there are many leaves and flowers, the readers need to be reminded of the main theme or ideas of the essay. Therefore, it would be nice occasionally on the way the camera shows the trunk and main branches again and again. This is important especially for a long essay. I did see this element in your summer book report drafts.
Your reflection on your own writing is a good piece of writing. I enjoy reading things about personal feeling and growth. The different style of writing a science report and an English essay is important to known. A science or project report is mainly to communicate, but an English essay has more ingredients and quality. The latter requires more passion and feeling from your heart, and it also demand nice words, vocabularies, and beautiful writing style. As to the summer reading summary, I like the theme “desire of power blind the characters of dangers “. With too strong desire for power, one would run risk of making irrational decision. One could lose his future, even his life. The latest draft flows smoothly and I understand it well. That’s very good.
As one grows older, he or she would want to write in different way. I can see you become writing things more indirectly. That is how it has been reflected in your poems and your reflection about writing poems. I wish I could enjoy reading English poems. My background makes me an ancient Chinese poem lover. I could never get into even the Chinese poems in modern style. Ancient Chinese poems are in particular form, each row having a certain number of characters and they rhyme in certain way. I like poems in general nevertheless, because they don’t say things directly, as you said, and also because there are different nice ways and words to say the same thing. More importantly, there is no other writing than poems to better express one’s feelings and emotions. That’s the beauty of the poem literature.
亲爱的女儿：
费了好大劲才看完了你写的几首诗和两篇散文。坦率地说，就我有限的英文水平，无法完全理解你写的内容。既然你们老师的建议家长提意见，甚至可以就你的作文给你写一封信，爸爸觉得建议很好，借此可以多谈一谈我的看法。
你写文章很快，这我在平日就能看出来，甚至是在写中文也是如此。文章写的快的人有两个长处，一是记忆力好，二是语言掌握的好，表达力强。因为记忆力好，手头的资料多，细节清楚，引言等等随手掂来。也是因为记忆力好，手头资料多，不愁没有东西往里添。也是因为记忆好，资料多，因此题材就多，更有创造性。正象你自己在辩析自己写作的学习过程中讲到的，你喜欢不拘泥与题目，喜欢自由发挥，在课外来写。你写文章文章也有点儿象你平日说话，单刀直入，自由的表现自己。至于第二点，就不用多说了。语言是表达思想的工具，工具用的熟练，工作效率就高。词汇量大，表现的方法方式就多，文章就比较活泼。
我看一篇文章象一棵树，它有树干（主题），几个主要树叉（论点或要点），若干小枝，很多的树叶和繁多的鲜花（论据细节和内容）。你的文章是一棵棵快速长大的树，有坚实的主干，长的很好的分枝，繁茂漂亮的枝叶和花朵。我记得你小学时写的文章也很快，但是有不少象枝繁叶茂的高大灌木。你现在写的文章主题清楚，全文紧扣主题，没有什么铺陈，很高兴你的写作这几年有了很大进步。
我自己写文章喜欢精干和高度的概括，而且我不喜欢重复,但是我的树需要较多的叶和花。谁会喜欢一棵树干很直，支干很平衡发展，但叶子很少没有什么花朵的树？不错，花叶过多会遮住枝干，但是花叶多了可以修剪，总比没有花和叶好很多。而且，在自然界，许多叶子和花朵又是长在同一个小枝上，这同用自己的语言将许多论据串起来是一个道理。但是，这需要平衡，太高度概括的文章不容易看懂，传递的信息太少，文章会干巴巴的，缺乏说服力。
但是，一篇散文毕竟不是一棵树。虽然，题目可以帮助读者知道作者要说什么，读者不读完文章还是不知道树的全貌。实际上，读一篇文章就像一个电影特写镜头慢慢从树根和树干向上摇，逐渐让读者看到枝叶和花朵。因此，镜头在向人们显示树的枝叶和花朵时，有时需要穿插着显示一下树干和主支，让人们知道电影在说什么。也就是说，读者可以在文章段落中偶尔再提醒读者主题或文章的主要思想是什么，尤其是较长的文章。这就要求不怕用不同的变化方式重复主题。我在你暑假读书报告草稿中确实看到有这样的成分。
你的写作心得和感受写的很好。我特别喜欢阅读个人感受和成长的故事。撰写作文与写科学报告很不同，科学或项目报告主要是为了传递信息，但作文有更多的文学成分。后者需要有更多的激情和情感以及文字的优美要求。关于你的暑假读书报告，我喜欢你挑选的主题“权欲会遮掩潜在的危险”。的确，权欲会让人作出不理智的决策，最后断送了自己的前程，甚至陪上了性命。你的报告语言流畅，我看的很明白，非常好。
随着年岁的增长，一个人总想要用不同的风格写作。我能看到出你写的诗歌有比和兴的成分，它们不象说话那么直接，正象你在你的诗和你对写诗的写作体会中反映的那样。我希望我能够欣赏英文诗，然而我只是一个古体诗歌的爱好者。我无法欣赏现代中国诗歌，就更别提现代风格的英文诗了。中国古代诗歌有特殊形式和韵律，还有特定的字数。当然，我喜欢诗的间接和多样表达方式以及文字的优美。更重要的是，似乎没有其他的写作方式更能表达一个人的情感和感觉，这正是诗的文学之美。
祝你写作更有成就！
Lydia's English teacher suggested that the parents make comments in a form of a letter to her on her writing project, which includes essays, poems, and summer reading reports. It is a good opportunity not only to encourage and praise her writings, but also to convey my writing philosophy and reflection on general writing an essay.
Dear Lydia,
It takes me a while to finish reading you English portfolio project. Frankly, I was not able to comprehend your entire portfolio completely with my limited English language capacity.
I agree with you that you are a fast writer. The fast writer needs to have two strengths: (1) a good memory so a collection of many facts are at hand; (2) master of the writing language and rich vocabulary so that able to put ideas in writing and expanded them. You have those strengths. Those strengths also enable you to pick different ideas and be creative. For example, when you said you would like to write poem by you own, not in class, it would give you more room to create your own writing. Much like when you speak, you like express your thoughts freely.
I see an essay as a tree. A tree consists of a trunk (topic), a few main branches (major ideas or supporting points), and many small branches, leaves, and flowers (facts and supporting details). Your writing is like a quick growing tree with a strong trunk, well developed main branches, and beautiful leaves and flowers. I remember some of your elementary school essays were like tall bushes, full of branches, leaves, and flowers. I am very happy that you have advance so much in writing today.
I myself like concise writing and highly summarized writing. However, my writing needs more flowers and leaves. Who would like to see a tree with well balanced trunk, branches, but few leaves and flowers? Trees need to have a lot of leaves and flowers to be liked. True, too many leaves may block the view of the where the branches or trunks are. But all you need to do is just to space the leaves and small branches somewhat. Also, in nature many leaves and flowers share a small branch and many small branches share a large major branch. Organizing some facts under your own words is like sharing many leaves and flowers on a small branch. This needs some balance, though, because too short and highly summarized writings may convey too little information and be hard to understand, too dry, and not convincing or persuasive.
But an essay in the end is not a tree. Readers do not see the whole picture of the tree until finishing the reading. So reading an essay is like a close-shooting camera taking detailed videos starting from the trunk and gradually move up to branches and leaves and flowers. When there are many leaves and flowers, the readers need to be reminded of the main theme or ideas of the essay. Therefore, it would be nice occasionally on the way the camera shows the trunk and main branches again and again. This is important especially for a long essay. I did see this element in your summer book report drafts.
Your reflection on your own writing is a good piece of writing. I enjoy reading things about personal feeling and growth. The different style of writing a science report and an English essay is important to known. A science or project report is mainly to communicate, but an English essay has more ingredients and quality. The latter requires more passion and feeling from your heart, and it also demand nice words, vocabularies, and beautiful writing style. As to the summer reading summary, I like the theme “desire of power blind the characters of dangers “. With too strong desire for power, one would run risk of making irrational decision. One could lose his future, even his life. The latest draft flows smoothly and I understand it well. That’s very good.
As one grows older, he or she would want to write in different way. I can see you become writing things more indirectly. That is how it has been reflected in your poems and your reflection about writing poems. I wish I could enjoy reading English poems. My background makes me an ancient Chinese poem lover. I could never get into even the Chinese poems in modern style. Ancient Chinese poems are in particular form, each row having a certain number of characters and they rhyme in certain way. I like poems in general nevertheless, because they don’t say things directly, as you said, and also because there are different nice ways and words to say the same thing. More importantly, there is no other writing than poems to better express one’s feelings and emotions. That’s the beauty of the poem literature.
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