new life / 新生活

之前對於搬家這件事很抗拒，這大概反應我對改變的態度，但是今年因為人生的計畫，有一種豁出去的氣勢，結果發現自己適應得還真快，並且很享受新生活帶來的改變。

I had been resisting the idea of moving, and I think it reflects my attitude toward change at the first moment. However, due to my life plan this year, I chose to go with the flow this time. It didn't take me long to get used to my new life and in fact, I quite enjoy the change. 

回家的路上像是置身於旅遊廣告的場景，被各國的觀光客和巨大的精品海報環繞，回到家之後那一切卻與我無關，我在熙熙攘攘之外磨墨寫字畫畫，覺得自己的心境比前一陣子平靜許多。

My daily journey home feels like a glamorous MV ride for Taipei's tourism. I am surrounded by tourists from different nationalities and huge name-brand posters. Yet they all have nothing to do with me. At home, I rise above the hustle and bustle by immersing myself in writing calligraphy and painting. Somehow my state of mind is calmer than a while ago. 

不過我喜歡看著遊客在台北101前的LOVE雕像擺出各種姿勢拍照留念，不論怎麼改變，都要保留那大紅色的熱情精神！

But I do love to watch tourists take pictures in front of the LOVE statue right front of Taipei 101. No matter how life changes or how we change life, that loud-red passion cannot be left behind!

Kai's debut show / 小楷的第一次

搬家一個多星期之後來了兩位小訪客，小楷突然興起坐馬桶的念頭，於是他的第一次就獻給了我們家幸福的浴室。

More than one week after we moved into the apartment, there came my two little visitors. Kai was suddenly gripped by the ambition to try the toilet. Thus, our "blessed" bathroom records one of his beautiful firsts.

The way we are / 姿態

明明家裡一片混沌，我居然在亂中取景，找到每個人搬家的姿態，而這些代表畫面也明顯表達家人對我要出國讀書的觀點：

The apartment is in a total mess, but strangely, I find interesting scenes for doing sketches out of the chaos. These images of everyone’s packing styles perfectly reflect their ideas about my going to U.K. for further studies.

弟弟：真不敢相信妳要去那麼冷的地方！

我：只是去一陣子，又不是去一輩子。

Jun: I can’t believe that you’ve chosen to go to such a cold place!

Me: I’m going there only for a short while, not for my whole life.

爸爸：做這件事對妳的工作沒有甚麼幫助，妳應該只是去讀好玩的吧！

不過因為爸爸很愛我，我想他試著認同我喜歡做的事，在這幾個月裡，我們的對話中時不時提到和倫敦有關的一切，就連我當大家在辛勤打包時抽空塗鴉，他也採放縱的態度，對我真是相當容忍。

Dad: Making this decision won’t do any good to your current job. You just draw for fun right?

However, Dad loves me a lot, so he tries to accept everything I do. In the past few months, we have mentioned London many times in our dialogs. Even when I laze around with everyone else busy packing, he takes a very lenient and tolerant attitude toward my eccentricity.

至於媽媽，好幾位同齡的朋友或同事居然都問了一樣的問題：妳媽媽怎麼說呢？我回答：我已經很老了，媽媽管不動我，儘管如此，我發現她每天的想法都有變動，剛開始我還在考慮要不要接受基礎學位，傑哥強烈地建議我去美國而不是英國，我感到心煩意亂時，媽媽很理性客觀地說：就算去英國，妳一定也會學到新事物，但可能數個星期之後，她突然冒出來一句話：妳怎麼能夠確定妳去得成？我希望妳不要去。我們不停在矛盾的想法之間搖擺，我配合著搖擺，因為我知道這就是愛的樣子吧。

而當我今早在速寫時，我對走過來要收拾衣服的媽媽說：等一等，我還沒畫完，她很乾脆地走開一邊喃喃自語：這樣也可以畫‧‧‧

As for mom, I’ve been asked the same question by some people of my age: Does your mom agree to your decision? I reply: I am too old to ask for my mom’s approval. She is probably the most realistic person in my family in that her mind changes all the time. In the beginning, while I was hesitating whether to take the offer of the foundation degree, Jei strongly suggested that I go to the States instead of Britain. Mom only made the following rational comments, “I think you should go because you’ll learn new things no matter what.” But a few weeks later, words of doubt would pop out of her mouth, “How can you be so sure that you will go in the end? I hope you won’t.” She swings between the two contradictory thoughts with me pretending to oscillate along because I know it’s love that makes her so.

When I was doing a sketch of her clothes this morning, I stopped her from putting them into the box. She only walked away without any objection murmuring, “That’s an inspiration too?”

還有我，急著把東西收好，才能沒有罪惡感地玩耍。

And me, so eager to pack everything away that I can play without feeling a sense of guilt…

Moving / 搬家

幾天前早晨起床吃早餐時，盯著電視機前打包好的幾個紙箱看了一陣子，出門前決定替這個景色畫張速寫，因為我活到目前為止，不包括那些大大小小的遠行，這是第二次搬家，當時只想著，也許在之後過於靜止的人生裡，我會想念搬家的動亂。

A few days ago while having breakfast, I stared at the well-packed boxes surrounding the TV set. Before leaving home, I decided to do a quick sketch of the temporary scene. Apart from those long and short trips I have taken, this is only my second time of moving. I thought that maybe I will miss all this mess in the future when my life becomes stagnant.

不到三天的光景，我們進入收拾的高峰期，家裡到處都是箱子，這時才赫然發現我囤積的物品遠超過我想像的量，而且身旁多了兩隻小野獸爬進爬出，我還得把工作設計成遊戲，分給兩兄弟聽起來很了不起的角色，我自己也變成回收大隊的資深隊長，工作才能有效率的進展，但是等到最後耐心全磨盡了，我橫下心來，決定人生從現在要重頭開始，不僅大部分的書籍被送出去，我把過去十年的畫作全部作紙類回收，也許未來的作品並不會更好，但是無實質負擔的希望勝過物品的累贅，我毫無留戀地選擇向前行。

Within less than three days, we have entered the intensive stage of packing. The apartment is strewn with boxes. It is not until now that I realize I have accumulated much more objects than I imagined. Meanwhile, I have two little beasts to attend to. To be as efficient as possible, I turn work into a game by assigning roles to Von and Kai while I call myself the senior captain of the recycling team. In the end, after my patience is all worn out, sentimentality can no longer stand in my way. I give away most of my books, and moreover, recycle my artworks in the past ten years. I am of course aware that my future works won’t necessarily be better, but at this point, the weightless hope toward the future outdoes the weighty objects from the past. It’s certainly much easier to move forward without any substantial burden.

這時候我很感謝學生，熱情地接受我每天帶到學校的小禮物，但是大家看到我如此率性地給予，很擔心我之後迅速地把他們給忘了，許多回憶隨著時間被丟棄，不過重要的會留在心裡，就說遺忘是為了把某些事記得更牢吧！

At this time I am very thankful to my students, who embrace the “gifts” I take to school every day. However, on seeing me give in such a generous manner, they are afraid to be forgotten by me within a short time after we say goodbye. Well, even though many memories are disposed of with time passing, the important ones will be kept deep in my heart. Don’t we forget to save room for significant stories in our mind?