I love TAI & THAI

象牙木種子/ the seed of Ivorywood

植物標本館的同事們對我很好，不只是客客氣氣地好，而是幫助我自我發揮。有一天做標本做到一半時，貴美說，不如請我畫黃椰子種子的生長狀況，她搬了一張小板凳，我就靠在面對門口的矮鐵櫃上畫圖。

My colleagues in TAI Herbarium are extremely nice to me. I do not mean the superficial politeness. Rather, they let me be. One day while I am working on making a specimen, Guei-mei suggests that I draw the growth of certain seeds. She thus grabs a stool for me to sit facing the door of the herbarium. It reminds me of my childhood whiling time away in my mom's office. 

        當時我只有一盒無印良品的筆，貴美又抓了幾隻畫重點的蠟筆和A4白紙，我覺得自己好像回到兩年前在坎貝爾的第一堂課，觀察畫法是一切的起點，我必須用有限的用具捕捉種子的觸感，當下忘了自己在標本館裡，而是在倫敦的教室裡和宿舍裡。

   I have only a box of colored ballpoint pens of MUJI. Guei-mei offers some crayon-like markers and blank A4 paper. Suddenly I feel like being in the first class in Camberwell when we learn the observed drawing. I have to capture the essence of the object with a limited choice of art supplies. For the moment I truly forget that I am in the herbarium. Instead, I think I am in the studio in Camberwell and in my dorm. 

 黃椰子種子/ the seed of Yellow Palm

        倫敦的生活對我來說真的是很遙遠了，有時候也會有一點點羨慕同學可以過著全心畫圖的生活，但是那一個下午我像搭時光機回到當時，讓我看到我的現在也很有價值。連只認識我幾分鐘的新同事居然都情不自禁地說：你很幸福！

   To me, the year in London is more than eons away. Sometimes I do feel a very tiny dose of envy for my ex-classmates, who can spend all their time drawing. However, I take the time machine that afternoon and relive the wonderful moments. Meanwhile, this tells me that my current life is equally meaningful. I beam with so much joy that even a new colleague makes the remark: You are such a blessed person! 

        另外一件令我同樣開心的事是泰文課，因為每天都要看泰劇，這週年輕帥氣的老師不禁問我是不是有泰國友人，我想說我的朋友都是明星來著，不過還是忍住了。我的當下不是英國，但我有TAI 和THAI。

   Something else that pleases me is my Thai lesson. Since I watch Thai lakorns every day, this week my young and cute Thai teacher can't help asking if I have Thai friends for me to practice the language with. I swallow the urge to say, "Yeah, my friends are all big stars." My present is not the UK, but I have my beloved TAI Herbarium and the Thai language.