春天釣魚去

親愛なる君へ :

五月天氣漸暖，我的釣竿和魚餌們也蠢蠢欲動！
暑假已經開始，我偷了幾天的閒情，去拋了幾竿！結果大咬！
哈哈哈哈......！
現在論文進度暫時停一下！我的心情實在很想逃離這裡，透透一口悶氣！
也許就是待在這裡太久了，真想回台灣休息一陣子！
（唉！機票這麼貴我真是開不了口！）

Baby, Alien, and Bass

What the heck with my face!

Do I look like an alien from Mars, trying to kidnap a cute baby?

Hahahahahahaha…

The baby just took a look at me and he was probably thinking: where are you from, strange uncle!!!

Well, I once played peekaboo with him at Anchang's apartment. The baby was actually giggling after he saw my face!

Well, he started to cry after he found out this face was actually not his favorite!hahahahaha...

Coming back to Terre Haute, I went to Chinook again and got four fish in an hour!

Look at this beauty…she fought really hard!

This one was actually bigger…I guess it was almost 40 centimeters. Look at her fat belly…she was really feeding! While the sunset shone on the fish's body, the sense of joy came to my mind! After the picture, I set her free with all my gratitude, hoping that she will grow bigger in this coming summer!

Fish of over 14 inches can be kept by fishermen in Chinook Fish & Wildlife Area. But I still believe in catch-and-release spirit so that we may better maintain the population of bass. Our next generation can thus enjoy the happiness of fishing outdoors in the future.

Friendship & Memory

Nuria came back to Terre Haute for a short visit last week. It has been more than two years since she graduated from ISU. I was so excited and happy to see her. Looking at her smiles, I couldn’t help but recalling all the memory we had while we were taking courses together.

What I remember about this beautiful classmate? – She is diligent, smart, always positive, humorous, and the most important of all, kind to others. I know this may sound a little trivial for others, but not for me: Nuria was the first classmates I met who submitted her papers always with clean cover pages. Well, she did not need to do it unless it was requested by professors. As far as I am concerned, this showed the responsible spirit and respectful attitude toward the course, the professor, and her own hard work, and that did not reveal among many American students.

Nuria and I talked a lot while she stopped by the Language Lab. She thinks about going to some Asian countries like Korea and China and teaches English there. Wherever Nuria goes and whatever she does, she will always have my best blessing and friendship. Hope…we will meet in Taiwan or Asia some day.

智慧讓愛常駐

親愛なる君へ:

為什麼你/妳不懂我要的是什麼?

為什麼我在你/妳身上感受不到相對等的愛?

我為你/妳付出那麼多，你/妳都感受不到嗎?

不求任何回報的愛情很令人欽佩，也很嚮往 (事實上，不可能!要真是不求回報，那還真是什麼問題都不會有了!)

但是這樣的感情真的存在嗎? 就算真的有，付出與收受這樣深刻的感情，所要承受的代價又是什麼? 真的發生時，不會覺得沉重嗎? 或者，當我們用自以為為對方好、愛對方的方式去付出時，真的是對方所要的嗎? 倘若不是對方所能承受的愛情，一但得不到相對等的付出，是不是就可以責怪對方愛得不夠呢?

所以要真是愛一個人，是不是應該用對方喜歡的方式去愛呢?

長久的感情需要細膩地去經營，往往有智慧的相處模式都有其特質：「熱情、尊敬、開闊心」。兩人在一起一定要有熱情，衝勁及荷爾蒙的化學變化，會臉紅心跳，會活力十足，為生活不時地添加感情催化劑! 可熱情也不能太多，天天都有驚喜，那就不算是驚喜了!

然後是尊敬! 世上很難有完美的一對璧人，就是現在感覺契和度百分百，人也會隨著境遇、歷練、及成長經驗而改變! 尊重彼此雙方面的差異才是學習真愛的道路!

最後是開闊的心! 人都會犯錯，更何況是這麼熟悉的枕邊人! 愛-有很多時候會讓我們忘記如何去原諒，而放不下的後果，甚至會讓自己想不起當初是如何愛上對方的。人生太短暫，與其浪費時間冷戰、吵架，那還不如先說聲抱歉，冷靜地溝通，然後更知性與感性地去享受兩人的相互陪伴與愛情!
(想想，如你的人生縮短為三天的假期，你要不要用一天的時間去和對方吵架?) 原來用腦子去想事情, 遠不如用心去想事情來得深! 原來深刻而長久的感情, 是略苦而回甘的清茶: 淡如水卻又餘味繞喉! 早上窗台前的鴿子把我叫醒，看他在寒風中抖動羽翅，咕咕地叫著：好像在告訴我，別浪費時間了!今朝了悟，你的人生將自此而明朗!!!

Empty Myself

I once felt I deserved every ounce of glory, love, and rewards since I worked so freaking hard. I fought against all the difficulties and torture like a dirty dog in the streets. What I learned to survive and what I earned from each drop of sweat constructed who I am today and what I will be tomorrow. I was proud of my success. I did not let myself tolerate those who are rich and indolent, OR those who have everything without making much efforts. And therefore, yes, I was impatient, proud, narrow-minded, and self-contained.

Well, I am not saying I already change all those bad characteristics and become a brand new FRANK. But I definitely can say…knowing myself is the first step and lots of improvement has been made.

So…I should empty myself…like an empty bottle…ready to fill with anything…so that I will grow, learn, and be strong.

PS: There will be still something in which I persist as for myself. I may like to call them self-disciplines or principles. But as for interpersonal relationship, I will offer more compromises than I used to do. This is because I learn to respect the differences among people.

By the way, here is my favorite baseball player, Ichiro Suzuki. I like him because he said: “It’s my job to fight against the pressure once I step into the stadium,” and “as a baseball player, the game and the stadium are primary things that I should pay all my attention.” So…for those Taiwanese baseball players and coaches, stop talking and go practicing, practicing, and practicing. ……And, yes, I mean what I just said and I insist on it.

反省

親愛なる君へ :

和平主義大爛人: 我一直以為自己是個好好先生! 反正還有什麼事是好計較的，深呼吸，算了啦，不是他們的錯!
真相: 表面上息事寧人，一切都可以原諒、好好談談就好了嘛! 但骨子裡，我在生氣，大大地不爽! 我好像會一直催眠自己，壓抑住真實的心情 : 別介意，他們以後會改的! 唉，生什麼氣，難道和他們一般見識嗎? 待有一天怒火滿溢，便很難有平反的餘地，火燒傷了他人，也吞噬了感情!

迂腐、怕違背傳統 : 我心中有份正義感，讓我忌惡如仇!但今日才發現，所謂的【正義】，有時不過是假道學 : 光明正大的旗幟，也可能因時間、空間的不同而轉身成為邪惡的化身!
我不能再讓這種虛偽的口號綁住我的手腳!

無神論 : 祂們無權判斷我是善還是惡! 我知道自己是個有善心的人，而這也就夠了! 有沒有天堂或是地獄，誰也說不清楚! 再說了，是上帝也好、菩薩也罷，祂們根本感受不到人內心的痛苦!

SNOW in the Lifetime

It has been snowing since Monday night (January 26)……2 days and none stop. I have never had such big snow in Terre Haute. This is my first time! Well, it’s beautiful, looking like a white wonderland.

Monday night (Jan. 26): It started to snow after 7:00 pm. Everything -including roads, sidewalks, and roofs - was soon covered with snow. I was in my apartment, enjoying this marvelous moments: thank God! I don’t need to drive or go out during snowing.

The other day (Jan. 27): After the workout in the Leclub, I stopped by my car to see if I need to clean out the snow on my car. Well, the situation was somehow tolerable at that time while things became dramatically “funny” on Wednesday (Jan. 28).

On my way to the language lab around 11:00 am, I found the snow has been “piled up” so high that I should really need a pair of very tall snow boots. Thanks to “somebody,” walking on the sidewalk was very rather comfortable and pleasant. However, while I intended to get into the ISU parking lot, I “physically” buried my boots and part of my Jeans in the snow.

When I finally made it to my car, Connie looked like a Boston Lemon pie with Vanilla sugar powder on the top. And, by the way, the snow surrounding Connie might account for some waitress’ generosity – OR was the vanilla sugar on the house that day? Hahahahahaha…

Anyway, I spent 30 minutes shoveling the snow around Connie before I almost got late to work in the lab. As I left, I found that I will never move the car out of the parking lot even if I shovel all the snow around Connie. The driveway in the parking lot was still filled with snow that normal sedans can hardly go in such a condition.

Well, what the heck! ……I can still use my legs!!!

猜猜我是誰

親愛なる君へ :

剛下雪時的街道是最美的，一片白、一片矇矇雪片紛飛，將擾人心神的五顏六色都給蓋住了，淨化了! 我是個躲在家裡的小頑童，藏身百葉窗後，撇見雪中過往的人們!

那人很奇怪，明明就很冷，偏偏他就是不想穿衣服!零下八度，氣象台說感覺起來像是零下十幾度。他老兄就搭著一件薄襯衫，小碎步地走過街道，整顆腦袋一個勁地往下縮。若是脖子可以拿掉，我想他立刻會把它拿下來塞在口袋裡!

看他的樣子，我想不超過25歲!但也許是我眼拙，畢竟我看洋鬼子，和洋鬼子看我是差不多的：他們長得都一個兒樣!!! 他停了下來，四處望了幾眼，呼了一口氣，又繼續往前走! 我好像在那部電影裡看過這動作?!?喔，對了! 戲裡賊搶銀行前就是這德相! 嘿嘿，感情我家樓下要發生搶案啦?!?可我家樓下沒有銀行啊，除了兩家快倒不倒的餐館和一直都好像很有生意的建築公司!

他走進其中一家餐館，而我開始讀秒!一則，我想知道他搶完錢後花多久時間可以逃走；二來，我也想看看警察會花多久時間到達第一現場! 時間一分一秒地過去了，我很驚訝地發現這傢伙竟然在裡面呆了5分多鐘，而警察卻連個鬼影都沒見到!(我把手機放在手邊，這樣我可以隨時撥911) 時間逼近6分半，匪徒終於現身! 靠，這小子也太蠢啦，居然搶了錢又拿一大袋食物!他不會是一面搶錢一面叫店員現做牛肉捲吧!?! 疑….他手裡還有店家的招牌，頭上也多帶了印有店家商標的鴨舌帽!

哦….. 這個少年ㄟ是新來的外送夥計啦! ㄘㄟ…………………………………………

Life-risking Walk

Have you ever wished that you were as light as a new-born baby?

Nope!
But would you think of that while you are walking on the ice?

Growing up in a tropical country, I have never had experience: walking on the ice (on the icy surface of a lake). This afternoon, I was actually doing it in Minnehaha Fish & Wildlife Area, Indiana.

Yoshiki and I was intentionally going fishing this afternoon since the temperature reached 6℃. We thought it might be warm enough for bass to start feeding. Well, soon after we got there, we found the surface of the lake was still frozen. Furthermore, as Yoshiki and I stepped on the ice, we found the ice was thick enough for us to stand on it.

Wooooooooow…what about ice fishing?! It would be a lot of fun.
So we started to dig a hold in the ice till a guy came and told us how freaking dangerous it could be.

"I wouldn't do it if I were you. It's pretty deep out there and anything could happen."
(I was actually thinking about Dr. Barratt's optimism at that time: How bad can it be!? Relaxed…nothing will go worst.)

Anyway, we took the advice and left before we might get ourselves killed. Hahahahahaha…what would be the headline on tomorrow's paper if we got killed there?
" Two Asians got killed by digging holes on the ice" --- Suicidal possibility has been ruled out since their smile was frozen as the police got the bodies.

It was an unique experience for me. ^_^