In school / 學校裡

四月七日第一週展覽：

孩子們要畢業了，越是接近結束的關頭，越想要說些什麼，我把寫給薛吉一年三個月的明信片帶到學校，開始明信片計畫的初衷是希望自己能看見小日子的美好，我想要把對生活的熱情和孩子們分享，我請子栩和茗筑幫我策劃四周的展覽，外加一週的驚喜展，教室外的走廊因此看起來熱熱鬧鬧。回教室的奕婷擔任我的模特兒，上圖是子栩的作品。

First exhibition opened on April, 7: 

My girls are about to graduate in one month. Feeling we don't have much time left, I want to do as much as I can to create beautiful memories for them. After Shaggy sent back the 450 postcards I had sent to her in the past 15 months, I have Sophy and Sophia design four postcard exhibitions plus one bonus exhibition for me and the girls. 

     When I first started the postcard project back in 2013, I simply wanted to remind myself of the beauty of my everyday life. Now I would like to share that passion with the girls, hoping that they'll seize the remaining days they have in high school. The postcards add colors to our corridor. I invite Eating to be my model in the picture above while the poster above is drawn by Sophy. 

        這是茗筑的作品。

     The poster is drawn by Sophia. 

        四百五十張左右的明信片有各種主題，我請子栩和茗筑依主題分類，第一週的明信片主題很多元，大多是每日的雜想。

     The postcards were about plants in the beginning, but later I doodled my everyday discovery. I ask Sophy and Sophia to decide the topics for each week. The postcards of the first week have diverse themes. 

        四月十五日第二週：

     Second exhibition opening on April 15:

        第二週的主題清楚多了，是香蕉男孩的研究、男孩們的塗鴉和阿嬤的離開。上圖是茗筑的作品。

     The themes for the second week are much clearer. They are about the research for my book The Banana Boy, my boys' doodles and my granny's death. The poster above is drawn by Sophia. 

        上圖為子栩的作品。

     The poster is Sophy's work.

        因為小展覽，每週二我自己都很期待。

     I am looking forward to the new exhibitions every Tuesday. 

        孩子們也很好奇，玉璽是第一個觀眾。

     Some girls are curious. Enci is the first viewer. 

        春天的風很大，明信片孩子常常被吹走，我不時看見女孩們上課上到一半衝出教室撿流浪的明信片。沒飛走時就像隨風飄的葉子，發出啪啪的聲音，是很美的景色。

     The spring winds are so strong that the postcards are sometimes flown away. Girls are often seen to run out of the classroom to chase after them in class. When they do not away, they flap to the rhythms of the wind, which is so beautiful in my eyes. 

        我想要做生活裡的展覽、展覽生活，展覽就在生活的環境裡，被注意也好，被忽視也好，我們用生活的腳步和圖畫一起生活。沒有大肆宣傳，也不強迫孩子們看，也許有一天他們想起高三生活的最後一個月，只記得教室窗外有飛揚的圖片伴著他們，這也是一種回憶吧！

     My dream exhibition is part of our everyday living environment. The works might be noticed, or most of the time, they are ignored. But I don't mind. I don't advertise, nor do I force my viewers to look. Maybe one day when my students think back on the last month in high school, they have the faint impression of postcards flying outside the windows keeping them company. 

        同一時間在教室裡，有養眼的模特兒介紹。

     Meanwhile inside the classroom, there is a presentation of eye-catching models to keep the girls awake. 

        教室後面的布告欄有同學的塗鴉作。

     On the bulletin board in the back of the classroom are girls' doodles. 

        同一週子栩、茗筑和玉璽為大家作信封彩繪，裡面附有同學送給彼此鼓勵的話。

     During the same week, Sophy, Sophia and Enci draw on the envelopes with words of encouragement  for everyone. 

        四月二十一日第三週展覽：

     Third exhibition opening on April, 21: 

        這是茗筑的作品。

     This is Sophia's work. 

        這是子栩的作品，本週的主題是鳥類和動物。

     This is Sophy's work. This week's themes are birds and animals. 

        我常趁其他老師還沒出現前突襲檢查，看大家有沒有好好坐在位置上，通常是一片混亂，不過照片裡的孩子們怎麼老是坐在座位上。

     I often spot-check if the girls are seated on their seats before the other teachers come. Usually, it's a mess. However, their buttocks seem to be stuck to the seats in the photo. 

        今天大家看明信片看得這麼開心，於是我也開心。

     Today the girls have fun looking at the postcards, which makes me feel happy. 

第四周展覽：

Fourth exhibition:

第四週的主題是植物剪貼作，這是子栩的作品。

The theme for the fourth week is plant collage. This is Sophy's work. 

這是茗筑的作品。

This is Sophia's poster. 

而這些是我的寶貝！

And these are, my babes! 

        教室裡氣氛嚴肅。

     The atmosphere in the classroom is rather solemn. 

        運動場上，我們的綠色小背心一開始就領先群雄。

     On the field, our green team takes the lead right from the beginning. 

        雖然中間一度被追過去。

     We are overtaken halfway through the game. 

        到了最後又把橘色小背心狠狠甩在後頭。

     But in the end we outrun the orange team. 

        最後靖萍優雅地拿下那一組的冠軍。

     In the end Na grabs the championship for us. 

        每次看大隊接力我總是會很澎湃，比賽當天因為過敏，不禁一直流眼淚，也是因為很感動吧！

     Every time I watch a relay game, I can't help feeling excited and touched. On the day of the game, my allergy makes me shed tears all the way through. I figure it's also because I am emotionally overwhelmed. 

My sunshine boys / 我的陽光男孩

雖然很想坦然面對自己，但最近感到一片迷惘。

Much as I want to face myself, I still can’t help feeling lost.

                我的白蘋果也於此時掛了。

     My white Macbook decides to crash at the same time.

                可是在男孩的塗鴉裡，我看到小小的火焰，讓我覺得也許再過幾天我就可以重新再來。

     However frustrated I am, I spot sparks of fire in the boys’ doodles, which whisper, “You can do it, you can do it all over again!” 

temporary failure / 暫時的失敗

過了腳步錯亂的一週，終於收到結果，雖然很認真準備「香蕉男孩」，居然連入圍都沒有，今天想起來還覺得是件有趣的事。

After a chaotic week, I've finally received the letter from the publisher Hsin-y. Though it took me nine months to prepare the book The Banana Boy, my work isn't even shortlisted. As a matter of fact, I find it to be rather intriguing after cooling down. 

        因為沒有太多時間難過，沮喪一個晚上之後，我邊回顧過去一年學到的東西，邊自我檢討，然後許多人生片刻就像潮汐般湧進腦中。

     As I don't have much time to lament over my failure, I allowed myself only an evening to get over the feeling of frustration. While I am looking back on what I've learned over the past year,  numerous past moments flash into my mind. 

        首先想到這週去上柯倩華老師的繪本課，她一直強調要化繁為簡，但是「香蕉男孩」裡有太多條故事線，我想這應該是其中一個原因。我想到自己以前走的風格以簡單扼要為主，可是在學習的過程中過度飽和，很想來個大逆轉，沒有掌握好反而走了極端，故事裡還有故事，背景裡還塞了細節。

     First, I recall what Mr. Ko, the lecturer of a picture book class I've started to attend this week, says about SIMPLIFYING everything. I bet one of the problems about The Banana Boy is that there are too many story lines. I then think of my past works which are done in my characteristic simple style. However, I've learned so much over the past year that I want to cram a lot of ideas into the book. This time my story and illustrations are full of too many details. 

        我不得不想到在英國學習的經驗，每當我過度努力時，就忘了放鬆，最後便失去了自己，我還記得老師看著我的圖說：這不是你。感覺像同樣的故事上演；而且現在的我過度想贏，無法一直把焦點放在輕鬆玩樂上，此時我便無法自在灑脫，有可能線條因此失去了生命。

     This morning I can't help thinking of my learning experiences in the UK. Every time when I overworked, I forgot to relax and eventually ended up feeling lost. I still remember my instructor Lou saying to me when going over my pictures: This is not you. Now it feels like the same story is being replayed. I also feel that I want to win so much now that I can't focus on having fun all the time. Then of course I can't relax, and it follows that my lines have lost freshness. 

        仔細想想，每次被說是不錯的作品都是要交稿前趕出來的，我得對自己好一點啊！與其加一點油，我應該放一點油！

     It occurs to me my good works are usually produced before the deadline. Maybe I should learn to be nice to myself in the first place. Instead of further pushing myself, I should let it go! 

        唯一不好意思的就是沒法對楷維交代，不過既然是這樣，就再畫一本楷維的書吧！

     I feel bad about not being able to make Kai's dream come true for the time being. But I do have a solution, that is, I'll revise or draw a new book for Kai!

Sleepover in the aquarium / 來海生館過夜吧！

從台北殺到海生館花了將近一天的時間，中途還去台南晃晃，到達時已經是傍晚了，趕上南台灣春季的日落時分。

     When we arrive at the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in Pingtong, it's already the evening. We are blessed with the intoxicating sunset. 

        戶外有巨型的大王魷魚等著我們。吃完晚餐滿天的星星和我們說哈囉，還有涼涼的微風。

     Between the two major buildings is a sculpture of the Giant Squid. After the sun sets, a whole sky of twinkling stars welcome us into the night, together with the cool breeze. 

        早晨五點半起來散步，舒服的空氣裡有海水和草的味道。

     We get up at 5:30 am for a walk along the sea. The morning air is filled with the smell of the salted sea and grass. 

        太陽升起後，到潮間帶探險，踩在有三十萬年歷史的珊瑚骨上。

     After the sun rises, we go to the intertidal coast on an adventure. I can hardly imagine stepping on the dead corals from 300,000 years ago. 

        日子轉換之間，我們在海生館中到底看到了什麼，感受到什麼呢？這是世界水域館的巨藻森林，拍起來像普通大小的水族箱。

     So where do we spend the night and what happens then? This is the giant kelp in the waters-of-the-world building. In the photo it looks no different from an ordinary aquarium. 

        其實它是大小十乘十公尺的水族箱。

     In fact, it's a gigantic aquarium that is 10 x 10 meters huge. 

        這是我睡前的view，看著巨藻隨水波擺動，還有悠閒游泳的魚，很有催眠的效果。

     Before going to bed, I can't take my eyes off the surrealistic view. It's so lulling to gaze at the brown kelp waving in the water and carefree fish. 

        魟魚也來道晚安！

     Even the stingray comes to say goodnight! 

        這不僅看起來像一場夢，經歷過也感到無比夢幻！

     This not only looks like a dream. It feels like a dream too! 

        共有六個睡眠區可供選擇，據說這是人氣指數很高的海底隧道區。

     There are six sleep areas for visitors to choose from. The underwater tunnel is said to be extremely popular. 

        不過不論睡在哪一區，睡覺時都是一片漆黑啦！

     However, wherever you choose to spend the night, the lights are all turned off during sleep time. 

        也有選擇睡在極地區的朋友們，但空調氣溫比較低，這是可愛的海鸚鵡，四到八月是繁殖季，從全身漆黑變成圖中的樣子，岩壁的洞穴供孵蛋用。

     Some people opt for the polar zone, but the room temperature is quite chilling. These puffins can be your companions. From April to August, their appearance will change from completely black to the colorful looks in the photo during the breeding season. The holes on the rocky walls are where they hatch the eggs. 

        超美麗的珊瑚區和超迷人的魚類！任何我們想得到的造型在大海裡都找得到。

     These are the super lovely coral reefs and super lovely fish! 

        沉船區的造景也是我的最愛之一。

     The sunken ship is also one of my favorites. 

        很有蕾絲風打扮的獅子魚其實每根刺都可釋出毒液。

     The lacy-looking lionfish delivers a potent venom via its needle-like dorsal fins if attacked.

        我們還去了後台，水域模擬海水表中下三層，燈光模擬陽光。

     We also visit the backstage. The waters simulate the three layers of the sea from the top to the deep part. The lights are used to simulate the sunlight. 

        我們還餵了南極蝦，這種蝦很腥，專門餵魚用。

     We also feed the fish with krill, which are used specifically as fish feeds. 

        也用試管餵水母吃小小蝦。

     We also feed jellyfish with tiny shrimps in test tubes. 

        館方餵魚兒高麗菜。

     The staff feeds fish with cabbages. 

        但大家更期待的是飼育人員的餵食秀。

     But we are most looking forward to the feeding time. 

        多麼華麗的登場啊！

     What a gorgeous appearance! 

        飼育人員最不喜歡餵魟魚，因為魟魚眼睛在上面，嘴巴在下面，常常對不準，被咬到很痛，因此工作人員棉布手套裡還得加戴鋼圈圍成的手套。

     The staff dislikes to feed stingrays the most. With their eyes on the top and the mouth at the bottom, they have a hard time aiming at the feeds. Thus, the poor staff is often bitten, which hurts much. That's why putting on two pairs of gloves is necessary, the inner pair formed by wires and the outer pair made of cotton.

        主持人說他對這麼浪漫的工作很有憧憬，像在水中跳華爾滋，不過飼育大哥請他想像脫光光在洗衣機裡轉，就是他的心情。他的身邊總圍繞著一大群貪吃的黃金鲹，他不由得也跟著轉，最後完全被包圍了。

     The host says he has a very romantic idea of the fish-feeding job. Doesn't it look like waltzing in the sea? However, the staff asks him to imagine turning around in the washing machine naked. He's always  surrounded by a huge school of greedy golden kingfish which cause the water to swirl. See, he can't help but spin with them. In the end, he's totally surrounded by them. 

        我來過海生館好幾次，不過都是短暫停留幾個小時，這一次經驗很特別，來海生館過夜非常有療癒喔！現在我簡直就是個海洋迷了！

     I've been to the aquarium several times, but I always spent no more than an afternoon there. Thanks to Shaggy, I am glad to have signed up for the camp. I'd say this is a very healing experience to spend a night in the aquarium. Now I am completely in love with the sea and creatures living in it!