2016-04-30

【Aiden in English】

        Everyone has an objective in life, whether it is to found a company or start a lemonade stand or time travel back to when you were little to stop a very embarrassing moment. Along the way, branches of side objectives appear, and they, with your intention, can be taken. The piano was one of the small, side objective branching off from the current general goal all kids have, school, and it has grown into quite the branch, as here I am for the fourth year returning to the Golden Key Recital in Weill Hall, New York City.

        After getting used to traveling to NYC, this journey was not about to be just the performance. Why waste the time, energy, money, gas, more money, and even more time just to play less than four minutes of a song when there’s a big “Apple” to explore. I mean, it only is NYC. So the first stop of our trip started on Wall Street. Mom wanted me to see the Charging Bull statue in downtown Manhattan. It symbolizes the financial industry, and while I’ve never seen it, most have a pretty good idea of how it may look.

        I guess that’s all it will ever be. An approximation. The number of people surrounding the bull was so dense that the only visible part was the back and the tail. The head was covered by a mass of swarming tourists. Life lesson: never rumor about an object giving good luck, because, for example, the bull’s head was being patted, rubbed, and hugged over and over again, which not only made things difficult to see but also unsanitary.

        Philadelphia is a great city around our neighborhood. If only our Chinatown section was better… but this is New York! What am I talking about? NYC has a huge Chinese ethnic group, and you need good food to satisfy the Chinese people. Unfortunately, it really wasn’t all that great, as the food was all right. The importance of Dim Sum is how people have a great experience. The food and the noise of moving people pushing trolleys may be overwhelming, but it is the Jing Fong Restaurant you must see. Many of the dishes are traditional, such as the chicken fingers, a steamed bun filled with barbecue pork, rice noodle rolls, Yuba rolls, and shrimp dumplings. Although the population of Asians is high, the quality of this biggest Chinese restaurant wasn’t keeping up. The variety of dishes was quite low, compared to little inky-dinky Philadelphia. While not having all that many choices, the setting of the dining area was quite something to look at. The ceiling rose high over our heads, hanging large, majestic chandeliers. The tables, crammed against one another, forming a sea of red with the table cloth, and navigating to the bathroom was quite the adventure itself.

        A miniature stop along the way was at Central Park, which isn’t anything small, to begin with. The light breeze gave a calming feel as I strolled along the banks of the winding ponds and bicycle roads, avoiding horse manure and geese poop. The nature beauty contrasted the city life, having a spot of peace and tranquil within a chaotic world of business and conflict. Whether it’s a jog through the area or just lying on the grass for seven hours, which I highly do not recommend, each and every one of us has a sense of relaxation.

        The trip went downhill from there. I hated the performance because it was nerve-racking, and I messed up majorly. No problem, as I just need to shrug it off. This is what life is all about. Shrugging off errors so they don’t become mistakes. All classes have that hanging up on a poster, and most don’t pay much attention. Nevertheless, you can’t have these moments spoil the other ones, such as city life and my other travels today.

【紅霞譯文】

        人人都有自己的奮鬥目標，無論獨建公司經商創業，或者擺攤站台賣檸檬水飲料，哪怕時間旅行重返兒時尷尬困窘之地，一路走來，雜七雜八的事情漫布途中，與你結伴同行。鋼琴本來無足輕重，但因為所有適齡學童個個身手不凡，結果成為盛開在人們心目中一朵奇葩，致使我連續第四年參加在紐約卡內基威爾演奏廳舉行的“金鑰匙音樂節匯演”。

        我對紐約地理經緯算作瞭如指掌，所以這回出行並非僅僅為了表演，“蘋果”之大無奇不有，何必單把時間、精力、金錢、財力乃至生命投放在一首不足四分鐘的曲目上。今天首站指向華爾街，媽媽有意要我見識一下銅牛雕像，它象徵着金融業，我從未親眼見過，因此藉機逛逛曼哈頓下城也不枉紐約之行。

        我明白耳聞不如一見，哪怕看個大概也好。銅牛四周可謂里三層外三層，早已被遊客圍得水泄不通，惟有後背和尾巴尚暴露在光天化日之下，整個頭部完全淹沒在滾滾人流當中。人生訓誡：對于吉祥物千萬不要以訛傳訛，否則下場肯定會像銅牛那樣橫遭拍打歷經撫摸任意熊抱，簡直不堪入目，況且又欠衛生。

        家門口的費城堪稱一座了不起的城市，假如再有上乘的唐人街定會為它錦上添花……紐約全然不同！我說什麼來着？紐約城畢竟華人居多，只有美味珍饌才能讓炎黃子孫心滿意足，然而並非每家餐館都能做到這一點，當然打打牙祭不成問題。可品嘗“廣式早茶”的重要性在於，要使廣大就餐者享受到各式各樣的民間風味。也許食物本身與服務員手推糕點小車來回走動帶來的嘈雜聲叫人感到不可思議，但這正是金豐大酒樓特色所在，它的不少菜餚沿襲了中國傳統，譬如：鳳爪、叉燒包、腸粉、腐竹卷以及蝦餃，前來就餐的大多為亞裔食客，這個所謂中國城最大餐館的飯菜質量可真是徒有虛名，與烏漆麻黑連身子都轉不開的費城小館相比，“金豐”的早茶種類實在寒酸，其內部裝潢倒是打造得金碧輝煌，天花板高懸，水晶吊燈氣派；餐桌一張緊挨一張，紅色座椅匯聚成鮮活的海洋，起身上趟廁所無異於一場冒險。

        期間我還順便道訪中央公園，那可不是小打小鬧的地方。漫步在蜿蜒曲折的池塘邊，穿梭於自行車道旁，迎面吹拂的微風給人帶來一種恬靜的感覺，我得小心走路，儘量躲着馬糞鵝屎下腳。中央公園自然之美徹底優化了都市生活，儼然成為到處充滿利益衝突的世界金融中心一塊陶冶心智的淨土。無論你來跑步健身，還是躺在草坪上休息七個鐘頭（我不建議這麼做），我們每一位無不身心放鬆。

        紐約之行到此出現狀況。我討厭登台表演，因為神經過度緊張的時候，往往容易醜態百出。別擔心，我不會在意彈奏失誤，大不了聳聳肩膀一笑了之，人生難免出現這樣那樣的問題，懂得糾正過失才能避免鑄成錯誤。再說各個班級紛紛張貼壁報，有誰在乎誰好誰差。無論怎樣，你都不要因為一時失意而影響整個心情，以我為例，當下沒有什麼比享受紐約都市生活欣賞春遊時光更為可貴。