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...

【红霞译文】

        在游轮上，假如偶有一整天时间让你自由支配，你反倒不知所措！想必有人会说，这年头好玩的东西多的是。可等我干完手头个把杂务之后，闲下来确实闷得无聊，既然兴趣索然，我打算找点事情打发日子。

        你做过计算就会明白，其实我们中国人每天花在早中晚三顿饭上只有卅分钟的时间，尽管乍听起来带有种族倾向，但是事实原本如此。中华民族讲究以食为天，不仅吃东西的速度极快，而且吃东西的时候鲜少说话。国人同胞在饭桌上彼此聊天无异于发英语字母“M”音时嘴唇与牙齿、舌头或唇部其它部位互不搭尕。话说回来，即使在饭桌上聊天，通常我们仅仅谈论即将入口的食物而已，难怪饭菜吃得奇快、时间花得超短，如果没有客人在场，那么一顿饭下来全家老少不过寥寥数语。一般情况下，若把一日三餐全部累加起来，我们用于吃饭的时间还是微乎其微。

        纵观今天日程安排，就餐也许真成了本人焦点话题，另外不乏到球场上投点篮消遣一下。球场面积不大，实际上整个球场长与宽幅度差不离，反正凑合着能打，游轮上很多体育盛事都在这里举行，包括竞技比赛和家庭娱乐活动。有项运动老少皆宜，那就是匹克球，匹克球兼容网球、羽毛球和乒乓球等运动特点，虽不及网球力量大，也不如羽毛球速度猛，更不比乒乓球反应快，但对上了年纪的老人来说堪称上乘选择。无疑，老年人感冒的运动必定是年轻人讨厌的项目，结果打篮球的被打匹克球的给轰了下来，否则……并非长辈对晚辈有什么威慑力，凭借某个人单枪匹马冲着大家挥舞球拍大喊大叫实在没啥可怕的，正好我们也想见识眼前这位匹克球战绩卓越的小伙子精湛球技。

        还有一个饶有兴趣的话题就是游轮上中国游客数量可观，前面我刚提到国人吃饭速战速决，因为在自助餐或正规餐厅大家习惯少言寡语，所以途径就餐的地方很容易辨认出自己的同胞。当然船上除了中国人，还有大批日本人和韩国人，要知道波罗的海航线在东亚国家相当流行，因此南腔北调的英语喜闻乐见，自助餐厅使用筷子的顾客大有排山倒海之势，致使筷子一直供不应求，充分显示亚洲文化正逐渐渗透并将主导世界潮流。相形之下，中国人口却趋于下降……