台南的夕陽 Tainan's sunset

星期一從高雄飛日本, 週末回台南老家剛好安排一個下午帶第一次來台灣的同事Jeop台南半日遊, 行程從渡小月開始, 孔子廟, 赤崁樓, 大天后宮, 安平古堡, 安平老街, 最後在四草大橋旁的橋頭海灘公園結束行程. 我發現每次帶朋友遊台南我就又更認識了自己的故鄉, 蠻不錯的.

不過啊, 我不再是台南人了~~~ 這是我在進孔廟後深深的體悟~ 台南人在台南參觀古蹟是不用錢的, 所以到孔廟時我和以前一樣拿出身分證給櫃台看... 完全忘了二月份戶口已經遷到台北縣... 雖然櫃檯伯伯人很親切地跟我聊天... 我還是在心裡os... 我想當台南人啦...

古蹟沒什麼變, 假日照舊人山人海, 變最多的算是橋頭海灘公園, 防風林比上次去時又更長大了些, 好多人在衝浪, 沙灘上還有個用木條搭起的儉約棚子, 衝浪客們在門口起了個暖暖的火, 不管是台灣衝浪客還是外國衝浪客, 彷彿都很享受那種家的感覺. 和他們比起來, 我反而比較像是異鄉人. 好久沒有看台南的夕陽了, 坐在沙灘上, 雖然今天雲層太厚夕陽不是很壯觀, 卻還是滿足於回到故鄉的歸屬感.

另一個小插曲是Jeop想買禮物給他的小孩, 但我們一路上並沒有看適合的, 最後他買了一個益智的立體球, 但那難度應該是10歲以上的小朋友才會玩, 所以估計五年內應該都是他的玩具... ha ha.

Since I will fly out from Kaohsiung to Japan, I had the chance to show Jeop, a colleague coming to Taiwan for the first time, around at Tainan for one afternoon. We went to some famous tourist spots. Every time I showed friends Tainan, I felt that I knew my hometown more. It's nice.

However, I just realized that I am not the citizen of Tainan anymore as soon as we entered the first historic spot. Before, as a Tainan citizen, I only needed to show my ID and could enter all the historic spots for free. Since this year I just transferred my household register to Taipei, now I need to pay. Oh... in my heart I still consider myself more as a "Tainanese"...

The historic spots haven't changed a lot since last time I visited. It's still quite crowed during weekends. However, Bridge-end Beach Park has changed a lot. The windbreak forest grew up a bit. There were lots surfers on the beach and they even built up a simple bower with a fire in front. No matter where they came from, somehow they looked like being at home. Although the clouds were too heavy to get a fantastic sunset, sitting on the beach I was satisfied with the feeling of enjoying the time at my hometown.

On the way we paid attention on toys because Jeop would like to buy some for his kids. However at the end he only got a three-dimensional logic ball. Since the ball probably could be played by a kid/adult order than 10 years old, it might be Jeop's toy within the coming five years, I think. ha ha.

Birthday

Thanks for all the greetings from my friends/colleagues/families by cards, e-mails, messages, phone calls, in person congrats, and etc. I felt so blessed to have all of you around in my life. I had birthday cakes and songs twice. Hopefully the age I gained was not counted twice. Well, about the wishes... According to the tradition, I can tell two of the three, right?

Last year I was abroad half an year and in fact my body didn't adjust well. Therefore my health has not been in a good condition. Therefore, the first wish for the coming year is to get my health back. Well, actually I wished that all my friends, colleagues, families, and myself can stay healthy. hey hey, I tried to utilize the quota best. :-P

Secondly, I need to keep executing one decision. It's not easy to me, but I need to do it. I thought that I could make it within half a year in May. However if I can't, I wished that I can make it within one year. I will use my way and take my time! :-)

感謝眾親友用卡片, e-mail, 簡訊, 電話, 以及當面的祝福, 能有你們在我身邊真是太幸福啦! 今天我有兩個生日蛋糕和兩次生日快樂歌, 還好增長的年歲沒有被算兩次, 許什麼願? 根據傳統應該可以講兩個吧...

去年我一半的時間在國外, 身體沒有自動調節, 所以其實健康狀況並不是很好, 因此我的第一個願望就是把健康的身體拿回來. 哈哈... 其實我有充分利用這一個願望的額度喔! 因為我是祈求我所有的家人朋友和我自己都能身體健康~ :-P

第二個願望是我要繼續執行一件事, 如果半年內沒有辦法達成我要的進度, 我希望一年內可以, 反正就用自己的方法慢慢來嚕! :-)

有趣的禪修體驗 Intersting experience of "Zen"

從朋友口中聽說"禪七"是大學時候的事了, 當時很好奇, 但因為對宗教的態度一直保持尊重但無法只相信某一宗教, 所以一直沒有特別去注意. 前年因緣際會注意到法鼓山的禪修體驗活動, 看起來著重於生活哲學的"禪"而非"佛教", 所以好奇寶寶我就起了去參加看看的念頭, 我相信生命中多看多聽總是好的. 不過, 去年一直飛來飛去的我始終沒有很積極, 今年終於有緣分和Nicole相約一起去看看所謂的禪修.

之前對佛教不怎麼了解的我其實總是搞不太清楚各個道場和法師, 常常混在一起, 參加這個禪修活動的時候也沒有特別想到聖嚴法師和法鼓山的意義, 倒是我和Nicole第一次報名成功的活動因為聖嚴法師的緣寂而取消, 這樣的因緣才讓我注意到聖嚴法師, 然後緊接而來的是種莫名的親切, 那是種很奇妙的感覺. 直到回到家我才突然想通, 拿起電話打給老弟說: "你知道聖嚴法師像誰嗎?" 老弟說: "像爺爺..." 正是我想的... 那種待人處世的原則, 那種內自省以及利他求善的氣度... 太像了...

談談這個活動. 這是個兩天兩夜的禪修體驗營, 基本上就是個快樂營, 主要是介紹何謂禪, 並經由一些簡單的活動讓我們體驗禪的精神, 活在當下, 慢. 其實回想起來真的很像活再另一個世界. 比如說用很慢很慢的速度走路, 我已經覺得我已經慢到極限了, 但學長走到我前面, 我才知道, 真的, 可以更慢.... 比如說我們早上五點起床, 用慢步精行的方式走在法鼓山的森林裡, 法師要求我們不想過去, 不想未來, 不想風景, 不想蟲鳴鳥叫, 只想自己的存在, 自己的呼吸, 自己的腳步... 比如說要拿著一個裝滿水的水缽走過一個山坡小徑, 水不能滴出來, 然後發現當想加速時水會濺出來, 當在意別人超越時水會濺出來, 當快抵達因高興而疏忽時水也會濺出來, 唯有當我們依著水性而心安定時, 和水對抗的衝突感才會消失. 種種活動都是著重於個人的體驗, 不同人對同一個活動的領悟可能不同, 從別人的領悟分享中也會激發個人的思考.

其實兩天中大約只練習打禪4~5次, 每次約15分鐘, 打坐時一般人都會有各種畫面或雜唸閃過, 原則是"讓它過而不要回應". 法鼓山的法師其實和我刻板印象中的"和尚"形象很不同, 他們很幽默而且很親切, 常常說很多有趣的小故事, 就像打坐的方式也不會說什麼方法一定對, 只求每個人自己舒服.

"身在哪裡, 心在哪裡"是這次學習的重點. 但真正關鍵的是接下來如何在日常生活中練習與執行. "現在所得的, 是過去所造的; 未來所得的, 是現在所做的", 簡短的說, 把握當下! :-)

Although I don't have any religion, I respect most of the religions, as long as the religion leads people to a better world. I heard of certain activities of Zen practice from a friend in the university. I was curious, but didn't really pay attention. Two years ago I noticed of the Zen activity and thought of participating to experience Zen. Due to the intensive traveling schedule, I didn't make it. Finally this year I had the chance to join the two-days camp with Nicole and to take a look of Zen at Dharma Drum Mountain.

I had to admit that I mixed most of the masters and monasteries in my mind. Before participating this event, to me Master Sheng Yen was "one of the famous masters". Seeing him few times in the video, I couldn't explain the feeling of familiarity. Til I went back home, I suddenly knew! I called my brother and asked him "do you know who Master Sheng Yen is like?" Few seconds later, he said "grandfather". Exactly! The deep belief and execution in the principles of treating people and conducting himself in society, including the discipline of examining himself and never blaming others, the decent manner, the virtue of benefiting others first, and etc. are so similar.

Basically this two-days Zen camp is to introduce Zen in an easy way and to let people experience Zen by doing it. Two things to focus were "to live fully in the present" and "slow". The two days in Dharma Drum Mountain were like staying in another world. For example, we were learning how to walk slowly. I thought I already did my best to walk slowly. However when a senior walked in to show me, I realized that I could do it even slower. For example, we woke up at five o'clock in the morning and walked step by step slowly in the mountains. We were asked not to think of the past, the future, the beautiful flowers around, or the cute birds on the trees. We should only be aware of the existing of ourselves at that moment, and think of the current breath and steps, one by one. For example, we were asked to take a bowl full of water to walk along a trail on a hill, without dropping any water. When someone passed me, water dropped a bit. When I wanted to speed up, water dropped a bit. When I almost reached the end point, water dropped a bit. Water dropped whenever my mind/heart was not peaceful. Only when I followed the nature of water and when my mind/heart is in peace, I got the balance without fighting with water.

We were introduced of the method of sitting in meditation as well. It's quite interesting. Lots of pictures and thoughts would fly through our minds during the meditation. However we should just let them pass and don't "response". Zen is a living philosophy. Each person might have different thought and realization from the same activity. One thing I like Dharma Drum Mountain is that the masters there don't subjectively tell you what the "only" right way to do it. Instead, they care whether you are comfortable. They are very humor and always have little stories to tell and share.

There are many wise words leading to liberation. "Put your heart at the moment where your body is" was what we learned by really doing it during the two days. However the following practice and execution in the real lives will be the crucial tasks. "what you have results from what you created; what you will gain hinges on what you are creating." In short, cease the moment! :-)

表姊夫帶著女兒去旅行 My cousin is taking his daughters to travel by cycling

表姊夫杓杓訂做了一輛三輪車, 帶著兩個小美女依帆和楓順環島, 太酷了! 就是這種精神! 勇於追逐夢想! 不管甘苦, 享受實現夢想的每一刻! 看到表姊夫部落格上的主張"自由自在生活是夢想, 但是我要讓他變成真", 果真是實踐家!

看他們一路體驗, 多玩多看多聽多學, 學到的不僅是學校學不到的多種知識, 還有珍貴的生活哲學, 對現在的小朋友來說, 這有點克難的旅程反而難得地格外奢華.

今天是他們的第九天了, 抵達高雄, 幫他們加油! :-)

My cousin ordered a custom-made bicycle and is taking his two daughters to cycle around Taiwan. It's so cool! Like the slogan on his blog, "A free and unrestrained life is a dream, but I will make it come true", he is a real practician. It's the spirit! Chase the dream and enjoy every moment, including sweet ones and bitter ones!

Experiencing the trip by playing more, watching more, listening more, and learning more, the kids have learned not only some knowledge which the school can't teach but also the valuable life philosophy. To the modern kids, this kind of trip is rather rare and luxury.

Today is the ninth day of the trip and they arrived Tainan County. Cheer up for them! Go go go! :-)

The photos were copied from http://peterchiang.blogspot.com/

庭瑋和文君訂婚 The engagement of Shelby and Jasmine

恭禧! 恭禧! 我老弟和文君訂婚啦! 專門做行銷的小倆口自己打理一切, 老弟更被我們笑說他以為是在辦活動. :-)

Congratulations! My brother Shelby is engaged to Jasmine! Shelby and Jasmine used their expertise, marketing, to plan and arrange everything by themselves. We made fun of Shelby that he handled the engagement just like a marketing activity. :-)


細節就不描述了, 值得一提的是... 嫁女兒和娶媳婦果然不一樣ㄟ, 許媽媽這次就沒有像上次姊姊出嫁時哭得傷心~ (話說許媽媽還特別交代姊姊不要哭, 不然妝會花... 結果全場哭最慘的就是她... ha ha... 老媽, 不好意思出賣妳一下嚕...:-P)

另外, 要抱怨一下, 看來我們家我這一代完全被東海大學的勢力所包圍了... 我姊姊和姊夫都是東海的, 和老弟和文君一樣都是從東海認識後就一直到結婚... 太利害了.. 或該說東海到底是怎樣的一所學校啊... 唉~ 我這交大人(也算半個中原人)在家裡只能處於弱勢了...

I am not going to describe the details. However there are two things to record a bit.

Traditionally, it's quite different between having a son married and having a daughter married. The reason is that in the old time most people lived with their parents, considering as a filial piety. Therefore if a son get married, the family will have a new member join. In the opposite, if the daughter get married, the family will feel like losing one member. Although the situation has been changed somehow in the present age, the feeling of the parents are still different. I remembered that few years ago before my sister's wedding, my mom advised my sister that "When you leave, don't cry. Otherwise your makeup will be a mess." However when my brother in law came to pick up my sister for the wedding, my mom was the one who cried hardest. Today my mom was smiling, so you can see the difference. :-)

Once Jasmine joined our family, there are five people in my generation, and I am the only one who were not graduated from Tunghai University! These two couples had the similar stories, meeting their love in the university and getting married around 7 years later. Are they amazing? or maybe it's because of this University? :-P

蔣勳 Jiang-Xun

今年台灣應用材料的文藝季美術史講座由蔣勳主講"看見印象派大師高更-燃燒生命熱情的大溪地美學", 之前早已久聞蔣勳的大名, 但一直沒有真正和他書籍或演講有任何的接觸, 這次有機會和朋友一起去, 聽沒多久我就已經深深懾服於蔣勳的內涵與風度, 好喜歡他剖析陳述歷史與藝術的方式. 隨著他成穩的聲線進入他創造的情景, 歷史人物與藝術事件仿若是隔壁鄰居的故事, 有趣, 深刻, 而又貼近生活. 可惜四次講座我只有緣參與一次, 希望很快再有機會聽他話說藝術.

A course of lectures of art history is held by Applied Materials every year. This year as usual Jiang-Xun was invited to be the speaker, giving the lectures about Paul Gauguin. I have heard about Jiang-Xun for a long time, but I hadn't attended any of his lectures nor read any of his books. Few minutes after he started the lecture, I was already deeply attracted by his cultivation and manner. I like the way he dissects the history and art. Following his calm voice into the view he created for the audience, I felt that the stories of historical people and art events are as interesting and close as the stories of my friends. I hope I could participate in his lectures soon to listen more stories from him. :-)

貴客來訪 Guests from the Netherlands

Chien-shan's family, including Chien-shan, Johan, and Harm, came back from the Netherlands to Taiwan for a three-weeks visiting. Therefore we took the chance to meet at my new apartment. Ching-Yi, my roommate at RSM (Rotterdam School of Management), came as well.

千姍, Johan和Harm一家人從荷蘭回台灣三個禮拜, 於是我們安排在我的新家聚會, 我在Rotterdam唸書的室友靖宜也來了.

It was a very nice and fun evening. Johan is very cute! When Harm took the photo below, Johan was busy in treating us cookies. :-)

這難得的聚會很棒, Johan超級可愛. 當Harm在照下面這張照片的時候, Johan正忙著餵我們大家乖乖呢. :-)

The relations among us are a bit complicated. :-) Chien-shan and Ching-Yi were classmates in the university. Ching-Yi and I were roommates in the graduate school. Chien-shan used to visited Ching-Yi when we studied in Rotterdam. However at that time exchanged to US for one semester so I didn't meet Chien-shan. Years later I started to work for ASML. One day I received an e-mail from a colleague, Harm, saying that his wife is Ching-Yi's friend. By the way, did I said that my brother works in the office next to Ching-Yi's in the same company? ha ha...

我們幾人之間的關係有點複雜. :-) 千姍和靖宜是大學同學, 我和靖宜是研究所室友, 我們在RSM唸書的時候千姍有去拜訪靖宜, 但我大概是剛好交換學生到美國, 所以那時並沒認識千姍. 畢業一年後我到ASML工作, 有一天收到一位荷蘭同事的信, 說他老婆的大學同學認識我, 沒錯, 這位同事就是千姍的老公Harm. 還有, 我還沒提到, 我老弟和靖宜同一間公司就算了, 辦公室就在隔壁... ha ha... 很巧吧...

Hamantaschen

Paula made the delicious hamantaschen, traditional snack eaten during the Jweish holiday of Purim, to share with us. Hamantaschen refers to "Haman's ears", "Haman's pocket", and etc. However people say that Hamantaschen might be made in the shape of Haman's hat. I didn't check the detail history, but the cake was really good! :-P

Paula親手做猶太人普珥節吃的傳統點心和我們分享. Hamantaschen解作'哈曼的口袋', 希伯來語意為'哈曼的耳朵', 但形狀應該是因為哈曼帶的帽子都是三角形的原因. 歷史上哈曼好像是計畫殺害猶太人的壞人, 詳細歷史故事我就沒有查了, 餅真的很好吃倒是真的! :-P

公司福委旅遊 - 宜蘭和坪林 A company EWC trip to Yilan and Pinling

加入ASML兩年, 之前的員工旅遊都因為不在國內或有事而無法參加, 這次終於給我跟到了~ 台灣人, 荷蘭人, 美國人, 小朋友, 父母親, 男女朋友, 夫妻, 親戚等等全部出爐, 三輛遊覽車分別從新竹, 林口和台北出發, 加上五輛左右的轎車, 畫面好不熱鬧! :-)

由於天氣不甚理想, 原本的步道行程為茶葉博物館所取代, 加上不變的台灣傳統藝術中心, 這趟行程可說是道道地地的文化之旅.

位在宜蘭的台灣傳統藝術中心將台灣多元文化下琳瑯滿目的文化與藝術做規劃性的蒐集與展示, 以觀光的商業方式讓保存傳統文化並加以發揚光大. 鄉土文化藝術進階到國際文化藝術並不容易, 在這裡我們不僅可以看到先民的智慧, 更可看到當代台灣人的創意與精神.

坪林茶業博物館
坪林文山包種茶很有名, 但伴隨雪山隧道的通車, 坪林的觀光受到很大的衝擊, 雖然是星期六, 人卻很少. 茶博物館前方河堤欄杆上放置著各式不同造型的茶壺其實還蠻有特色的. 博物館內主要分為茶史, 茶事, 茶藝三個展示區. 值得一提的是這個博物館的創始人是個德國人, 所以網站有德語版和中文版.

Having joining ASML for two years, I had missed all the company trips. Finally I could join this trip. There were Taiwanese, Dutch, American, kids, parents, boy/girl friends, husbands/wives, relatives, and etc. in three buses from Hsinchu, Linkou, and Taipei, and around five cars following. The picture was very lively.

Because of the weather, we could only do some indoor activities.

Center for Traditional Arts in Yiland collects all kinds of arts in the diverse Taiwanese cultures. Here you can see not only the wisdom of the ancestors but also the creativity of th present generation. All kinds of design expands the scope of the traditional art and makes it an "ing" culture. It's always an issue about how to well preserve a culture without stopping the new one. I think that this center has successfully built a channel to continue the great job.

Museum Lasars is a tea museum in Pinling, famous of a specific kind of tea, Pouchong, in Taiwan. Although it was Saturday, there were only few people visiting this small town. While the Hsuehshan Tunnel effectively shortens the travel from Taipei to Yiland, the tunnel has created a serious iimpact on the tourist industry at Pinling because people don't need to pass by this town on the way to Yiland anymore. The museum exhabits the history, the distribution, and the art of tea. One interesting thing is that the founder was a German, and that's why the website has a German version.

Be dead, and to rise from the dead

How to make a dead hyacinthus rise again? The answer is to cut it. "Be dead, and to rise from the dead." How a beautiful life philosophy it is.