開始感恩節假期

Susan著 小哭譯

總算到了：感恩節假期。一整個星期用來放鬆、娛樂和感恩，不用上學了也不用做家庭作業了。說實話，我並沒想到可以有整個星期不用上學來過感恩節。多數學校只是在星期四和星期五（感恩節總是在星期四）不上學，一些幸運的也會在星期三不上學。但是在HMS，家長-老師見面會正好安排在星期一和星期二，那就意味着我們這些幸運的HMS學生會有一整個星期用來過感恩節！哇！真的要感謝什麼。今天是星期五，感恩節假期前的最後一天，哦，天哪！整個學校都已經沉浸在感恩節的氣氛里了。

多數老師都決定不給我們留作業，因為感恩節到了，我們得應該有點什麼用來感恩的東西啊。他們還決定，既然今天是放假前的最後一天，我們應該放鬆一下，給每一個人都留下一個好印象。因此，今天所有的老師都讓我們放鬆放鬆，高興高興。在ACE（高級社會學）課上，我們看了一個叫做《戰馬》的片子。這片子講的事兒和世界第一次大戰有關，因此和我們的課程相關聯。我很高興老師選擇了這個電影！我都等了好幾年了，一直想去看看這部電影，因為那個我一直以來最喜歡的演員有份出演。但令人傷心的是，他在電影中出場的時間比較晚，而因為我們有限的時間（40分鐘），我們不得在他出場後就停了下來。幸運的是，我們在過完假期返校後會繼續觀看《戰馬》。

在威爾基女士的ELA課上，我們沒有任何不得不做的功課。我們有整整兩節課的時間（差不多一個半小時）進行獨立閱讀。有些人為了更舒服而帶了枕頭來。我手上正在讀的一本書很糟糕，故事情節很老套、人物交待很模糊，所以我去圖書館借了另一本書來讀。這第二本書相當地好，我在ELA課上度過了相當快樂的閱讀時光。

在西班牙語課上，我們也看了一個電影。事實上 ，我們這三天一直在看這個電影，而今天給看完了。這個電影很好看，基於一個真實的故事。我想我媽媽會喜歡這個電影。故事發生在一個非常貧窮的西裔社區的學校，那裡有着相當粗魯的孩子們，這電影讓我意識到了和世界上多數學校相比，HMS是一個多麼好的學校啊。

上面提到的活動都是放鬆和有趣的，但是接下來很重要的兩件事兒發生在我的數學和科學課上。在數學課上，我們做了一個與百分數、平均數和分數有關係的遊戲。首先，老師給了我們居住在所有七大洲的人數，我們必須得算出每一個洲所占全世界總人數的百分比。我一點也不驚訝於發現亞洲和非洲擁有着人口最多的國家。然後，基於這些百分比，我們班代表着整個世界，把全班按不同的百分比分成不同的。

亞洲有着全世界最多的人口（60%），由12個孩子代表；亞洲擁有世界財富的22%，由11個星形糖代表。11個糖，12個孩子。我們中大多數人只能得到一個糖，但其中有二人得到了不只一個糖，而另有四個人卻一個糖也沒得到。這種分配代表着在亞洲境內財富分布不均、多數的人還相當地貧窮這一狀況。現在……輪到北美洲了。北美洲的人口占世界的7.2%，僅由一個孩子代表；北美洲擁有世界32%的財富，由16個星形糖代表。這孩子他自己一個人就得到了所有的16個糖。嘿，北美洲富得見鬼。

這個遊戲讓我意識到在現實生活中我住在北美洲是多麼地幸運（在遊戲中，我被分到了亞洲組）。我擁有16個星形糖的生活，而世界上很多人們卻連一個都沒有。看着因為不夠分所導致的亞洲和非洲這樣的組為着星形糖而戰也很有趣兒；而象歐洲組（2人）則表現得比較平和，他們甚至還交換一些星形糖，就象在現實生活中一樣。這個活動讓我意識到我的生活是多麼地美好，並且也讓我為某些事情去感恩。我想上帝在恰當的時間讓我明白了這些事情。因為近來，我一直在想着我的生活有多麼地艱辛；而事實上，我生活得相當地富足。

今天所做的第二件讓人難忘的事兒是在科學課上。在科學課上，我們的老師讓全班同學聚在一起，做了一件相當特別的事兒。她先是講了一通她是如何地感謝我們中的每一個人的。她從教室的某一個端開始，結束於另一端，實際上她提前列了一個清單！(譯者注:Susan解釋說老師事先在紙上寫下了大家的優點)這事兒是如此地感人。對於一些同學，老師感謝他們的幽默感；對於另一些，老師感謝他們的堅定。我確信，這事兒使每一個人（包括我自己）對自己都感覺相當地高興和相當地好。她真是一個了不起的老師。

但是她說了一件事兒，卻象是打了我一耳光。她在談到其中一個同學時說：“我真的很欣賞你的謙遜。你是如此地謙遜，即使你是班上最聰明的孩子之一，你也從來沒有表現出你比其它人強。”她談論的那個孩子是一個相當安靜的女生，即使我不想象這個女生那樣地沉默和安靜（因為我通常是一個話多的人），但我想我也能從她身上學到很多。謙遜真的是我應該學習的東西。驕傲是我的一個致命的缺點，特別是當每一個人都告訴我我是多麼地聰明的時候。今天老師說的話讓我意識到只是因為聰明，我沒有必要去向全世界廣播。我的同學認為我聰明與否並沒什麼，只要我的老師知道我聰明和我的成績好就行了。我不應該在乎同學們會想什麼。當然，我也不可能完全像那個女生那樣，因為她也太安靜和謙遜了，象她那樣表現得好像讓人看不見似的也有悖我的天性。

今天學校的節奏很慢但是很有意思。安靜、放鬆，最特別的是，它提醒了我許多被我忘記了的生活真諦。現在，我將記得我的生活是多麼地幸運，記得上帝已經給了我一個極好的禮物。還有，我應該記得不要太自傲，因為那會讓我對自己的錯誤視而不見。我必須得記得跟上帝禱告，讓他在這件事情上幫助我。這個星期五是這個星期學校生活的一個完美小結，更是馬上到來的感恩假日的一個完美的開始。

【小哭介紹背景】這篇小文令我感慨萬千。縱然Susan再是“語言的巨人，行動的矮子”，我也真的是喜歡讀到“巨人”的這種語言。Susan不擅管理時間，不時就搞得大家焦頭爛額，令我這個媽媽常常生氣不已；可是一讀她的這種小文，那種生氣頓時就無形了。自己也不完美，不能要求Susan樣樣都好。欣賞她的優點吧。

我覺得數學課的小遊戲，告訴孩子們的事情其實很簡單，但是，Susan不會被我們平時類似的簡單的敘述打動，卻會被這種小遊戲觸動心靈。不管怎麼說，數學老師竟然可以通過這樣的遊戲教會孩子們認識世界、學會感恩，還是相當令人敬佩的。我只是在家長返校夜聽過這個老師短短十分鐘的自我介紹，就認定這是一個好老師。接下來在Susan的話語中很難聽到關於數學老師的具體介紹， Susan平時總是講她又得了幾分什麼的。唉，人家是大人在乎孩子的分數，孩子跟着在乎；我們家是孩子在乎分數，非得用分數來衡量她自己。怎麼告訴Susan人生有很多內容似乎也無法讓她不在乎數學成績似的，估計這一階段應該是暫時的，是她融進新環境中、尋找自己位置的一個辦法吧。

不過，有一天Susan回來說，中飯的時候，數學老師路過他們的桌子，跟他們說了剛剛批改完的成績，琥珀又為着沒有得滿分而傷心了，老師趕緊說，加上附加題，琥珀最後還是滿分，這才令琥珀臉色重回正常。後來，有兩次在班上，老師公布滿分的孩子名字時，故意把琥珀給落下了，就在琥珀傷心到想哭的時候，老師不緊不慢地補充說還有琥珀，氣得琥珀一下子沖了出去，大叫“我恨你I HATE YOU”。Susan說大家都看得出來老師想幫琥珀放鬆點，可是，看來並不容易。聽說琥珀家大人也不那麼在乎分，可是為什麼Susan和琥珀都這麼在乎呢？我懷疑，Susan得85分那次，可能傷心的細節講出來的話也跟琥珀差不多？只是，她沒有跟我們講。幸虧遇到這麼好的數學老師，要是遇到國內那種唯成績是論的老師，那這種類型的小孩去看“分”的眼神，絕對就是看“命”了：（ （“考考，老師的活寶；分分，學生的命根”）

Susan提到，科學課上老師對一個文靜女生的表揚，讓她非常地明白自己與那個孩子的不同。回家後她非常困惑地問我，她是不是不太好？她應該如何面對自己覺得自己聰明這一問題。她說她不想在自己有優點的方面，招來老師和同學們的反感。我給她提了個建議，她覺得挺好。我說你這樣想：感謝上帝，讓我在數學方面有一定的天賦，可以不用很辛苦地就能夠取得想要的好成績；但這不是完全靠我個人努力得來的成績，這是上帝的恩賜。我說，上帝一定是自有安排。上帝一定是希望你能夠好好地運用他賜給你的能力，活出他的榮耀來。Susan馬上說，她覺得這樣想很好，既能讓她自然地表達出來她的自我評價，也能在將榮耀歸給上帝的同時讓自己回歸謙遜。嗯，我其實對她的這類困惑特別地欣賞，因為我相信她為這種困惑尋求答案的過程，就是自身成長的過程。

其實，對於她為自己生活在北美而感覺幸運，因此就覺得上帝愛她、送了禮物給她的想法，我是相當地不同意的！可是這是我在教會團契中也一直沒有解決的問題，就類似於上帝為什麼允許災難存在一樣，單單靠“上帝想什麼不是我們可以明白的”這句話是不能解我的困惑的。所以，我也沒有在這件事情上跟Susan多談。如果為着非常物化的事情感恩，就必然讓人想問，那些沒有得到這麼多物化的東西的人們，還要不要對上帝感恩呢？每當人們為着不是一種心態而是一種可以物化的東西感恩時，我都會禁不住產生這類困惑——困惑上帝希望人們去追求什麼，為什麼而感恩，人們又是如何理解這一問題的。

當我周五讀完小文後，馬上將小文轉發給了當初勸我在小村買房子的朋友。我說，這裡的老師確實是非常地好！朋友回覆說，這裡是我千挑萬選才選定的地方，我哪會害你呢？嗯，我越來越覺得朋友很有眼光。對於Susan這種特別容易受老師和同學們影響的孩子，HMS真的是能夠幫助她更好成長的學校。

附上英文原文：

           
Start of Thanksgiving Break

It’s finally here: Thanksgiving break. A whole week off from school to relax, have fun, and be thankful that we don’t have homework. To tell the truth, I was not expecting to have a whole week off for Thanksgiving. Most schools only get Thursday and Friday off (Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday), some lucky ones get Wednesday, too. But at HMS, parent-teacher conferences just happened to land on Monday and Tuesday, meaning that us lucky students at HMS get this whole week off for Thanksgiving! Hurray! Finally something to be thankful for. Today is Friday, the day before our Thanksgiving break, and boy! The whole school was  already in the mood.

Most of the teachers decided not to assign us homework, since it’s going to be Thanksgiving, and we should have something to be thankful for. They also decided that since today is the day before the break, we should take it easy and leave each other on a good note. Therefore, all the teachers let us relax today, and be happy. In ACE (advanced History class), we watched a movie called War Horse. It’s related to WWI, which makes it relevant to the class. I’m so glad the teacher chose that movie! I’ve been wanting to watch it for  ages, because my favorite actor of all time is acting in it. Sadly, he appears later in the movie, and due to our limited amount of time (40 minutes), we had to stop right after he appeared. Fortunately, we’ll be continuing War Horse when we get back from break.

In Ms.Wilkie’s ELA class, we didn’t have to do any work. We had the entire two periods (about an hour and a half) for independent reading. Some of us brought pillows to be more comfortable. The book I was reading was awful, with an overused plot and underdeveloped characters, so I went up to the library and checked out another one. That second one was pretty good, and I had a really good time reading in ELA.

In Spanish class, we also watched a movie. Actually, we’ve been watching it for three days now, and we finished it today. It was really sweet, and based on a true story. I think my mom would like it. It took place in a really poor, Hispanic neighborhood, in a school with really rowdy kids, and it made me realize how wonderful HMS is compared most schools in the world.

Those activities mentioned above were relaxing and fun, but the two things that stuck with me the most are the things I did in Math and Science. In Math class, we did an activity related to percentages and averages and fractions. First, we were given the numbers of people that lived in all the seven continents, and we had to calculate what percentage of the world’s population each continent contained. I was not surprised to find out Asie and Africawere the two most populated countries. Then, based on the percentages, we pretended our class represented the world and split the class up into different continents. For example, since we had 20 people in our class (representing the world’s population), and 60% of the world’s population resides in Asia, roughly 12 people in our class got put into the “Asia” group.

After splitting the whole class up into different “continents”, with some only containing one person (North America), and some containing twelve (Asia), we were given the GDP in each continent. The GDP is the amount of wealth each continent contained. Then, we calculated what percentage of the world’s wealth each continent contained. Using 50 starbursts as the world’s total wealth, we divided the starbursts up among the students in our class based on continents. The result was startling.

Asia had the biggest population in the world (60%), represented by 12 kids.Asiaowned 22% of the world’s weath, represented by 11 starbursts. 11 starbursts, 12 kids. Most of us only got one. Two of us got more than one, and four of us got zero. That represented how wealth inAsiais not equally divided, and most people were really poor. Now…NorthAmerica. North America’s population is 7.2% of the world, represented by only one kid.North America owned 32% of the world’s wealth, represented by 16 starbursts. 16 starbursts, one kid. He got 16 all to himself. Yep,North America’s pretty darn rich.

This activity made me realize how lucky I am to live in North America in real life (in the game, I got put into groupAsia). I’m living with 16 starbursts, while many people in the world are getting none. It was interesting to see how the groups like Asia and Africa fought for the starbursts, because there were not enough, which groups likeEurope (2 people) acted pretty peaceful, and even traded some starbursts. Just like in real life. This activity put into perspective how wonderful my life is, and it really gave me something to be thankful for. I think God gave me this realization at just the right time, because lately, I have been thinking about how hard my life is, while in reality, I’m living pretty rich.

The second memoriable thing we did today was in Science. In Science class, our teacher got the whole class together, and did something really special. She gave a small speech on something she appreciates about each and every one of us, starting from one end of the classroom, and ending at the other. She actually made a list! It was so sweet. With some students, she appreciated their sense of humor, with others, their  determination. I’m sure it made everyone (myself included) feel really happy and really good about themselves. She’s a great teacher.

One of the things she said, though, was like a slap to the face for me. She was talking about one of the students, and she said: “I really appreciated your humbleness. You are just so humble, and even though you’re one of the smartest kids in the class, you don’t act like you’re above everyone else.” The kid she was talking to is a really quiet girl, and even though I don’t want to be as silent and quiet as her (since I’m usually a talkativer person), I think I can learn a lot from her. Humbleness is something I’ve really gotta learn. Pride is one of my fatal flaws, especially when everyone is telling me how smart I am. What the teacher said today made me realize that just because I’m smart, I don’t have to broadcast it across the world. Whether my classmates think I’m smart or not doesn’t matter, as long as my teachers know I’m smart and my grades are good. I shouldn’t care what they think. Of course, I can’t be completely like the girl either, because she’s too quiet and humble, and it’s against my nature to act invisible.

Today at school was a very slow but interesting day. It was quiet, it was relaxing, but most of all, it reminded me about a lot of life’s facts that I have forgotten. Now, I will remember how lucky my life is, and remember that God has given me a wonderful gift. Also, I have to remember not to be too proud of myself, because that can cause me to become blind to my mistakes. I have to remember to pray to God to help me with that. This Friday was the perfect ending to this week, and a perfect beginning to the start of the  Thanksgiving break.