【Aiden in English】

        Here’s the simple truth about life. Everyone grows old. What’s intriguing is, the younger you are, and the less you care about time. Yet as you grow old, and time grows short, you begin to realize the precious gold sliding away every second. The funny thing is when all the adults tell kids to not put things to tomorrow, but they are the ones who are ultimately procrastinating. They always, at some time in life, suddenly think that there were so many things that they had yet to accomplish. Finally, when they grow old, life somewhat dulls out, and they complain about all the things they hadn’t done in life yet.

        At the beginning of the Year of Rooster, my school, Guanghua Chinese School, decided to give the elderlies in our community a slight spark in their life. So, a few groups from the Chinese New Year’s Gala were sent to Park Creek Place, an elderly residence home, to perform. Obviously, being one of the hottest shows on the list, our Yo-Yo group was welcome to start on the job.

        The first problem upon entering was the extreme lack of space. If one was to wave a Yo-Yo in front of your face, you would not feel comfortable. We were performing in the lobby, which was about the size of a large classroom. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough by far. Upon meeting up with the rest of the group, we discussed the plans of action. Instead of having the beginners and the advanced groups forming two separate lines, we combined into a large group.

        The second major issue was the elderly audience with mobility problems. It is not a good idea to have swung and flying Yo-Yo’s all around the lobby with the aging people. If a single windmill or toss went wrong, there could be some serious damage. Furthermore, the lack of space constricts our breathing room, so that increases our chances of mess-up even more.

        While the experienced group was sweating over the problems, the others were just practicing its tricks and messing around for the most part. In addition, two veterans did not arrive, therefore leaving us with a gap in the show. Luckily, we could cover their tracks with ease. Because of the major changes, however, no one felt confident.

        After the show, we kind of left without talking. It was well delivered and much better than we hoped for. Apparently, there wasn’t much to talk about, which is great. The audience, I’m not sure, was entertained, because not many of them applauded. But I do think that this time was probably, somehow, the smoothest performance we have ever done, which feels extremely satisfying. Hopefully, next time on a bigger stage, we can produce one even better than this show.

        I know we can.

【紅霞譯文】

        生命的基本規律包括生老病死。滑稽的是，你越年輕越不在乎時間，而隨着年紀變大青春將逝，你開始意識到金子般寶貴光陰一去不再復返。正因如此，所有長輩都會諄諄教誨子女切莫明日復明日，可惜他們本身未必今日事今日畢，身處某段年齡區間總會突發異想，自己仍有好多理想尚未實現，等一旦步入暮年，生命趨於終結，往往抱怨事業未競愧對天地萬物。

        農曆雞年伊始，我所在的賓州光華中文學校決定走進社區幫助老人煥發新春活力，部分參加春節聯歡會的表演者由此而被派往園溪中心老人護理院進行義務演出，作為最受歡迎的春節聯歡會節目之一，我們空竹隊責無旁貸，人人都願儘自己微薄之力。

        走進園溪中心我們所面臨的首要問題就是場地出奇地小，假如有人在你面前揮舞空竹，你肯定覺得彆扭。我們表演地點設在門廳，其空間與教室相當，根本不算大。針對眼前現況，大家聚集一起討論措施，決定讓新手和老將並列站成一排，而不是分成前後兩排。

        其次，觀眾都是上了年紀行動極其不便的長者，在老人面前忽悠空竹未必合適，一旦失手或某一環節發生意外，那麼後果不堪設想。況且場地不大，空氣流通受限，出錯的幾率明顯增加。

        正當老將加緊調整應變對策，新手則頻頻在自己熟悉的常規動作上栽跟頭，再加上另外兩位行家告假缺席，我們必須填補空檔，幸虧沒遇到什麼麻煩，演出進展順利，然而由於幾個因素的影響，大家確實信心不足。

        演出結束後，我們默默地離開老年護理院。全套動作完成得不錯，甚至比預期想象的還棒，確實無啥好說，到此總算畫上一個圓滿句號。至於觀眾滿意與否，我心裡沒譜，畢竟沒有太多人拍手鼓掌，不過以我個人之見，這場演出或許可以算作我們空竹生涯里最為順利的一次經歷，讓人非常有成就感。但願下次舞台給力，這樣我們能更好地發揮水平。

        我知道肯定沒問題。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2014: Descriptive—Eragon @ School Day(記小說人物一天學校生活)

Crosslinks(相關博文):

2016 Yo-Yo @ Lansdale Intl Fest(2016年蘭斯代爾春季國際節抖空竹)

Yo-Yo Performance @ Travel & Adventure(旅遊探險展表演空竹)

2015 Yo-Yo @ Lansdale Intl Fest(2015年蘭斯代爾春季國際節抖空竹)