Wine – Luck Party

A Best Christmas Gift from My Student and Her Mother

今年收到最好的一份圣诞礼物

新加坡人与其它发达国家的人们一样，正在疯狂地购买圣诞礼物。大家都不太明白理由，就像我们“聪明的”政府和所有的电视商业广告所引导我们“应该”成为“完美的社会角色”和“应该”拥有所谓的“社会地位”，一生都在疯狂地为房子和车子、银行数字、家庭和孩子的教育而去忙碌那样。

今天，刚收到我的学生及她母亲送给我的圣诞礼物，相信是最好的。学生看了这部短片能大胆地说：“老师，我们的课本上讲得不对！！”

我在新加坡教课这两年里，就常常把课本摔在一旁，然后告诉我的学生课本里讲的是如何的没有道理。最后，因为课本有太多没道理的东西，让我讲不下去。 （呵呵……我在挪威奥斯陆遇到一位美国的中学老师，抱怨美国的课本教孩子远离战争，而美国的总统小布不停地发动战争，所以她只好辞职了。）

A must-see video especially during this time of frenzied festive shopping.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html

The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns…

再回到亨利-戴维《瓦尔登湖》里的一段：“我相信，倘若所有的人都像我当时那样简单地生活，偷窃和抢劫是不会发生的。发生这样的事情，只是因为在各种社会里，一些人拥有了更多的东西，穷奢极欲，而另一些人拥有不够，缺吃少喝。”

“I am convinced, that if all men were to live as simply as I then did, thieving and robbery would be unknown. These take place only in communities where some have got more that is sufficient while others have not enough.”

——By Henry David Thoreau. <WALDEN>

我之所以欣赏在路上的人们，因为他们绝大部分都是环保主义者，超过60%的人们都是素食主义者（为了保护动物和节省地球资源）。他们是极为有信念的、蔑视一切过份富裕、物欲在心中日益膨胀人们的群体。

Judie

I met a Chinese girl, she was the first Chinese backpacker I met on this trip. Her name is Wing, a pretty girl from Hangzhou, Zhejiang. I was surprised because she’s just started travelling in Europe last year. Now she was brave to quit her job and she has been travelling for two and half months. She’s just sold her laptop and planned to go to Pakistan and the middle-east.

She told me a very moving story about a courageous Japanese girl, Makiko. We both loved Japanese travellers so much, because they are polite, brave and principled. In the last twenty years, the young Japanese travellers have changed the mind of people in the world. Why can’t our young Chinese?

I love the life on the road…

Sometimes, travelling is like a walk in paradise, you will see the best landscape on the journey. You will get the help and the love from everyone and everywhere.

Sometimes, travelling is like a romantic story. You will meet a lover by chance who will wait for you somewhere and someday.

Sometime, travelling is like the act of charity. You bring the hope to the local people. You help them and they help you too.

Sometimes, travelling is like a war. You have to defend for yourself and your belongings. You will be tired, exhausted, lonely, weak and miss your family. But you will be stronger and prouder of yourself.

Travelling is like a poem, you use your own print to fill in every word and every sentence in the poem, fill in your emotion, your story and your entire life…

我遇到了一位美丽的女孩，她是我此行中遇到的第一位中国旅行者。她的名字叫Wing，来自杭州。我非常惊讶且敬佩是因为她去年刚开始在欧洲短期旅行，今年就勇敢地辞职并且已经旅行了两个半月的时间。她刚在Jasailmer城外卖掉沉重的手提电脑，准备去巴基斯坦和中东国家。

她告诉我一个很感人的、勇敢的日本女孩的故事（Makiko目前在南美，她的旅行近一年）。我们俩都非常喜爱日本的年轻旅行者，因为他们有良好的教养、勇往直前的精神和处事极为有原则。年轻的日本旅行者在过去的二三十年间改变了世界对他们的看法。为什么我们中国年轻的一代不能？

在路上的日子……

有时，旅行像在天堂散步。你总是处处获得爱与微笑、食物与帮助。因为年轻与勇气，你能很艰苦地涉入深山险境，你能看到这世间最美丽的风景、一瞬间。在那一刻，无数的旅行者来自世界的每个角落（甚至持着拐杖、轮椅和婴儿车），他们就站在你的身旁。你们的微笑与言谈，就像一出生就认识的单纯的孩子。

有时，旅行像一段浪漫的故事，你的情人会在某天某地等着你的出现。你们的邂逅、月夜，是如此的动人。

有时，旅行就像是一次慈善的行为，你把你的劳动所得带到世界各角落，你给当地人带来希望，你帮助了他们同时他们也在帮助你。

有时，旅行就像是一场战争，你必须捍卫自己和随行物品。你会孤独、精疲力竭、软弱、想念你的家人，但你永不会放弃。旅行会让你更坚强，越来越为自己而骄傲。

旅行是一门哲学，能让你把这个世界看得更全面、更清晰，懂得去思考在国家及传统教育中永远不会教你去思考的问题。

旅行，就像一首诗歌，由你用自己的脚印去填写每一字每一句，填写你的情感、故事、整个生命……

Judie
In Jasailmer, on the desert
在沙漠夜里的日记

This was a really early morning. I heard the sound of drums from somewhere when I was dreaming. I tried to remember the same sound from the past. That was seven years ago, when I trekked in Himalayas in the north west of Nepal. One night, I heard the same sound of drums in the valley. The kind of sound was rare illusive.

I was thinking of the movie “Seven years in Tibet” which is my favorite movie. Almost every trip, I meet people who ask me about the “Tibet” affair. For example, seven years ago in Nepal, a Spanish man asked me to talk about “Tibet”. This trip, a young dauntless U.S. guy asked me the same question. He said, “Do you think the Tibetans are happy?” I answered, “I am on the Tibetan side. They are unhappy for the politics and the government, but they have religion and belief that let them keep a pure and kind heart. As you are an American young man, you may also be unhappy because of the president and the government, right?”

I love the area of Himalayas, Tibet, India and Nepal. The people are very peaceful and pure. They enjoy the poor and simple lifestyle, and the smile always shows on their face. Their eyes are pure and sincere.

Compared with the people of the city, they have “Everything”; house, car, marriage, family and wealth. But they are always unhappy and do not have a smiling face…

I asked a lady in Jodhpur, why is the city blue? She said, “The city is not blue, but the sun of the sky made the wall blue.”

Judie

In Fort, Jodhpur

Mehrangarh Fort: In 1459 Rao Jodha laid the foundation of what was destined to become one of the mightiest forts of all time; Mehrangarh, citadel of the sun.