2016-06-27

【Aiden in English】

        You know how tough it is to find something to do on a cruise ship when you have an entire day to yourself! Although one may think that there is so much to do. After doing things once or twice, however, there really is nothing to do at all. So, rather than having fun, I was trying to find things to occupy my time. 

        When you do the math, food only lasts a Chinese person thirty minutes at each meal of the day. Although it sounds quite racists, it is true, since we like to eat food. A lot of food is consumed at extremely quick rates, and we don’t talk much at the table. Trying to make small talk with other Chinese people seems like trying to sag the letter 'm' without having your lips touch teeth, tongue, or the other lip. Plus, usually, the only thing we ever talk about around the table is about what food we eat. Therefore, the food goes quickly, but the time does not, and we simply cannot seem to get a dinner lasting more than a few short conversations without guests. Generally speaking, with all the meals accounted for, there wasn't much time spent on food. 

        Looking at what I did today, dining may have been the highlight, but the main pastime would be me chucking up a random shot at the basketball courts. The court is not big. In fact, the full court line would probably the width of a bracket all court, but it is playable. Most sports events take place there, including sport competitions and family activities. There is something for everyone, even the old. They play a game known as pickleball, or a mix of tennis, badminton, and ping pong. It is a smart game for the old, but it also is offensive in the fact that they are too weak to play tennis, too slow to play badminton, and too clumsy to play ping pong. Obviously, with great wisdom in age comes great hatred of the young, and all basketball players were yelled to get off the court or else... not that they really scared us since an old man waving a racket around is not very intimidating. Yet it is still very enjoyable to watch that one young man playing this sport, absolutely taking over the game. 

        The other interesting part of the cruise is the number of Chinese people. Earlier, I wrote about how we didn't have long meals because we didn't talk much about other things at buffets or restaurants, so it is easy to see the Chinese as we go around the dining rooms. There are a ton and not just Chinese. Japanese, Koreans, all come to this Baltic cruise because it is popular in eastern Asia. Not only can you tell by the odd pronunciations of English, but also the number of chopstick users there are in the buffet. The stock needs a constant supplement, as it is always running out. This is proof of the idea that the Asian cultures are ascending and are taking over the world. Ironically, the Chinese population is going to dip...

【紅霞譯文】

        在遊輪上，假如偶有一整天時間讓你自由支配，你反倒不知所措！想必有人會說，這年頭好玩的東西多的是。可等我幹完手頭個把雜務之後，閒下來確實悶得無聊，既然興趣索然，我打算找點事情打發日子。

        你做過計算就會明白，其實我們中國人每天花在早中晚三頓飯上只有卅分鐘的時間，儘管乍聽起來帶有種族傾向，但是事實原本如此。中華民族講究以食為天，不僅吃東西的速度極快，而且吃東西的時候鮮少說話。國人同胞在飯桌上彼此聊天無異於發英語字母“M”音時嘴唇與牙齒、舌頭或唇部其它部位互不搭尕。話說回來，即使在飯桌上聊天，通常我們僅僅談論即將入口的食物而已，難怪飯菜吃得奇快、時間花得超短，如果沒有客人在場，那麼一頓飯下來全家老少不過寥寥數語。一般情況下，若把一日三餐全部累加起來，我們用於吃飯的時間還是微乎其微。

        縱觀今天日程安排，就餐也許真成了本人焦點話題，另外不乏到球場上投點籃消遣一下。球場面積不大，實際上整個球場長與寬幅度差不離，反正湊合着能打，遊輪上很多體育盛事都在這裡舉行，包括競技比賽和家庭娛樂活動。有項運動老少皆宜，那就是匹克球，匹克球兼容網球、羽毛球和乒乓球等運動特點，雖不及網球力量大，也不如羽毛球速度猛，更不比乒乓球反應快，但對上了年紀的老人來說堪稱上乘選擇。無疑，老年人感冒的運動必定是年輕人討厭的項目，結果打籃球的被打匹克球的給轟了下來，否則……並非長輩對晚輩有什麼威懾力，憑藉某個人單槍匹馬衝着大家揮舞球拍大喊大叫實在沒啥可怕的，正好我們也想見識眼前這位匹克球戰績卓越的小伙子精湛球技。

        還有一個饒有興趣的話題就是遊輪上中國遊客數量可觀，前面我剛提到國人吃飯速戰速決，因為在自助餐或正規餐廳大家習慣少言寡語，所以途徑就餐的地方很容易辨認出自己的同胞。當然船上除了中國人，還有大批日本人和韓國人，要知道波羅的海航線在東亞國家相當流行，因此南腔北調的英語喜聞樂見，自助餐廳使用筷子的顧客大有排山倒海之勢，致使筷子一直供不應求，充分顯示亞洲文化正逐漸滲透並將主導世界潮流。相形之下，中國人口卻趨於下降……