Mingling / 融合

今早一看到娜娜的留言說每天都要先看我的網誌，我便感受到水果日報記者的熱血和壓力，今天的行程要和我的組員一起聽雷鬼樂構思，我其實沒有空檔可以速寫。

This morning when I read Nana's message on my blog saying that she has to read my blog first every day, I felt the passion churning in my stomach, which I assume that most tabloid journalists understand, and meanwhile, pressure. Today I was going to spend a part of the day listening to reggae music with my team members and brainstorming. I didn't have much time for doing a sketch.

我的組員面貌上都是亞洲人，有日本妹妹小桃，英籍香港裔男孩雷蒙和香港妹妹婕蔓，大家都是很低調的樣子，所以我和他們說：選感動你們的歌，帶著熱情做這份功課。很難在他們面前表現我燃燒的內心，我是多麼壓抑啊！

My team members are mostly Asian, with Momo from Japan, Raymond the British Chinese, and Germaine from Hong Kong. Everyone looks low-key, so I told them, "Choose tracks that you feel a passion for, and do the assignment with passion." It was hard to show them my burning heart. I had so much difficulty repressing myself!

我不知道別人的經驗如何，這個角色的工作對我來說應該是很熟悉的，但不知道是換了領域和國家，我有新手的緊張，不過我一邊告訴自己，不懂才能學習。

I don't know what it's like for others, but for me this role as a leader should be familiar. However, with a different field and country, I felt the nervousness of a rookie. Still, I keep reminding myself that only when I don't understand do I learn.

和組員們又去了黑膠唱片行，買了可能是這輩子唯一一張黑膠唱片。

I went to the CD store again with my team members and bought the only vinyl I might buy in my life.

背面有個大驚喜。

A big surprise on the back. 

誰說是帥哥呢？是美麗的筆跡！

Who said that's a handsome guy? It's the beautiful handwriting! 

之後大家趕緊解散回家各自做功課，可是難道我今天就不速寫了嗎？我點子王的稱號不是假的，中午去聽演講的路上我經過數家黑人理髮店，我一直想畫，於是在腦中想了個說法，挑了最大型的一家走進去：

我：你好，我是坎貝爾的學生，我有個功課，要挑一家這街上最有趣的店速寫，我覺得你們的店很棒，我可以坐在角落畫畫嗎？
理髮師一號：是功課嗎？（有點敵意）要多久？
我：一個小時，我會讓我自己隱形，不用擔心。
理髮師一號：老闆不在耶，不過好吧！
待我坐下‧‧‧
理髮店友人一號：要付十磅喔！
我：不是免費嗎？
友人一號：這裡有暖氣，還可以坐下來，當然要付錢！
我：那好吧，我再想想看！
我作勢離開。
友人一號：和你開玩笑的啦！

總之我就開始很愉快地畫圖。

Then everyone went on their way home to prepare the thumbnails and reference materials, but shall I go through today without doing any sketch? I am not called Idea Queen for no reason. In fact, on my way to the practitioner's talk this noon, I passed by several black barbershops on the road, which I'd wanted to draw for a long time. I thought of a perfect excuse and walked in.

Me: Hello, I am a student from Camberwell School of Arts. I have a project, which is to pick the most interesting shop to draw on this road. I am really interested in your barbershop. Is it ok for me to sit in the corner and do a sketch?
Barber No.1: Is it a school project? (He was a little bit hostile.) How long will it take?
Me: One hour. I'll make myself as invisible as possible. No worries.
Barber No. 1: The owner is not around, but ok...
I sat down to take out my sketchbook.
Visitor 1: Well, you have to pay 10 pounds.
Me: Isn't it free?
Visitor 1: There are heaters and you can sit down. Of course you have to pay.
Me: OK, I'll think about it then.
I rose to go.
Visitor 1: I am just kidding...

I thus began drawing happily.

邊畫有人邊湊過來看，但是我想他們都不是很滿意，因為理髮師動來動去的有點難畫，理髮師二號還問我他是不是得保持不動，我說沒關係，之後老闆回來了，沒有對於一個東方女生坐在全是黑人男性店裡大驚小怪。

While I was sketching, people kept coming to take a look, but I figured they weren't satisfied because the barbers moved around, which was not easy to draw. Barber No. 2 even offered to stay still. I said it was alright. Then the owner came back, and I really thanked him for not making a fuss over an Asian woman sitting in an all-black-men barbershop.

接下來的就妙了，他們開始用一種呱呱的非洲方言交談，我很想問，但又不敢太放肆，不過整個氛圍真的是很特別的人生體驗，就像在酒吧裡看到白人最真實的樣子，在黑人理髮廳裡，有一些人是把這個場合當家的。

What happened next was quite amazing. They started to converse in a quacking dialect. I'd like to know what it was, but I didn't want to appear audacious. But it was a rather special life experience. Just as you get to see what the white people are like in pubs, some black people take barbershops as their home.

在一陣人潮來來去去之間，我聽到有人說「畫畫」這兩個字，我沒有抬頭看是何方神聖，不過後來我在畫圖最左的黑人先生，啊，原來是個中國人來賣色情光碟，為了忠實呈現，我也把這個畫進去了。成交之後，中國先生湊過來說：真不錯，中國人吧！這已經是我在五天之內第三次被這樣問，而我的官方回答是：我講中文，但我不是中國人。根據詹姆斯的理論，從對方接下來的回答可以猜出他的年紀喔！果然這位四十多歲的先生接著說：啊，台灣就是中國啦！我繼續畫著，平和但堅定地說：台灣是台灣。他應該感受到我很難搞，摸摸鼻子就走了。

With people coming and going, I heard the word "drawing" in mandarin. I didn't raise my head to see who that was, but while I was drawing the man on the left side looking at something in his hands, it was a Chinese selling porn CDs. To be faithful to the scene, I drew it too. After the deal was made, the Chinese guy approached me saying, "Nice, very precise! (which is not in reality...) Chinese right?" This was already the third time I was taken as Chinese within five days. My official reply was: I speak Mandarin, but I am not Chinese. According to James, you can tell the age of a person based on the words he is going to say. He went on to say, "Ah, Taiwan is China!" I kept drawing without looking at him, but I said in a peaceful but firm tone, "Taiwan is Taiwan." He felt the hardness in my words, so he left asap. 

我有個很大的疑問，明明很多顧客走進來的頭髮很短，看起來並不需要剪，但是這些人還是很注重外表，還會順便修鬍子。

I was puzzled because when a lot of clients walk in, they had really cleanly-cut hair, which doesn't require trimming. However, they pay much attention to their appearance, and apart from hair, they also have their mustaches, beards and sideburns trimmed. 

畫完已經天黑了，明天白天時再去補拍一張蓋比理髮廳的照片！這家店理髮師有橘色制服，理髮椅也是橘色的，老闆很大手筆喔！

When I was done, the sky had turned dark. I'll get a photo of Gabby's tomorrow in the day time. The barbers have orange uniforms and the chairs are orange as well! I can tell that the owner is quite an entrepreneur!

回家時撞見宿舍裡自認為最老的達洛，也是個英文老師來著，我們聊了很多事情，最後他說：再一個月左右你就會感受到最冷的冬季時刻，也許會下雪。我還以為冬天就要結束了，最近不時聽到清脆的鳥叫聲，連半夜三點都聽得到，美好地令人有些不安。

On my way home, I ran into Daryl, who thinks of himself as the oldest in Brooke Hall. He was also an English teacher. We talked about many things, and in the end he said, "In one month, you'll feel the coldest winter. Maybe it'll snow." I thought winter is about to end. Lately I've been hearing really melodious birds' chirping, even at 3 am. It's too beautiful to be true. 

那麼那時我要在雪裡畫畫‧‧‧

Then I'll draw in the snow...

補上蓋比理髮店的照片！

Here is the photo of Gabby's...