2018-08-04

【Aiden in English】

        I still remember walking into that summer camp without any hopes of having fun. A dreary, rainy day, not an inkling of sunlight to be seen. Then, I picked up a yo-yo. I can’t say I was impressed, or interested in having a long-term contract with the yo-yo culture, but what totally convinced me to join the yet-to-be-formed club was the people. 

        It’s a sad day for all, although I can’t say it wasn’t fun. A master of his craft (if spinning Yo-Yo’s was a craft), an intriguing teacher (with too many ideas), and a good friend was leaving… for college. Not that bad, I know. But in the small world of high school, college really does seem like an entirely different universe. One with terrible ideals like jobs and chores and whatnot. However, with all seriousness, Eric Lang, for as “long” (“Lang” and “long” sound similar in English) as I could remember, was always a nice person to converse with, usually tossing your brain around with philosophy or different ways to spin a yo-yo. He’s patient enough to bear ten little kids nagging him at once, so I can confidently say he’s one of my more patient friends. 

        Today was a dedicated day for goodbyes, but we ended up on the Xbox all day. I mean, it was bound to happen. While the plan was to leave before dinner, I’m not the type to go on schedule, so the meet-up lasted far into the night. Really, no one really talked about the club. I just feel like there were too many bad memories. From embarrassing mistakes on stage to deadly four-foot midgets wielding yo-yos like maces, there is so much to forget. And perhaps that’s what bonded the club’s older members together. Experiences like that remind us all that Eric wasn’t as much a teacher, but more of just a guy putting an exotic talent to use. And that he was taking in a whole lot of pain while exercising this talent. He shared his ability with us, and now his time to share has come to a close. Regardless, I do think some of us didn’t really care as much about learning new tricks near the end of the last school year. Besides, everyone knew that this club wasn’t going to be the same without Eric at the core, so I think we tried to preserve what little time we had left. That essentially meant chatting while letting the students torment anyone sitting on the first-floor lobby. And we weren’t going to care, considering we had to deal with them for three years.

        The current events were just to put aside our normal pains, and enjoy each other’s company for once in a while. That meant Monopoly, which we invested quite a bit of time into.

        Now I can’t really imagine what next year’s club is going to be like, considering the skill gap between all possible teachers and students might have dwindled down to a sliver. It was only until a week ago that I learned one of the other elder students decided to receive the mantle of responsibility from Eric, a mantle that also carried much pain and suffering and embarrassment. While I may not be in the club anymore (thank goodness), there still are somethings that I’ll miss, like Eric chasing down a bunch of the third graders. Will it outweigh the pain of practicing with the little kids? It’s pretty close.

【紅霞譯文】

        我還記得當年走進那個夏令營時壓根就沒指望有什麼好玩的，如同陰雨連綿的天氣難得看到陽光一樣。之後，我抖起空竹，談不上對它有多感冒，甚至未對空竹文化日久生情抱過希望，但最終促使我加入剛剛成立的空竹俱樂部的理由是人為因素。

        對所有人來說，這是一個悲傷的日子，儘管不等於說無聊。手技大師（假設抖空竹算作一種手技）是位有趣的老師（點子很多），這位好友馬上要離開……上大學去了，我心裡清楚沒啥大不了的，但在高中的小世界裡，大學看起來確實是一個完全不同的天地，人人得面對諸如職業、合作、規矩等可怕的現實，然而即便情勢嚴峻，在我的記憶“長”河裡，郎耶桁總是侃侃而談（“郎”與“長”英文諧音），並且不是讓你絞盡腦汁考慮哲學理念就是琢磨空竹不同套路；他脾氣特好，竟然能容忍十個小不點同時大吵大嚷，我敢肯定他是本人比較有耐性的朋友之一。

        今天特意為耶桁舉辦惜別會，結果大夥一整天都在玩Xbox遊戲，說來情有可原。起先計劃晚餐之前離開，可我本來就不是守時的人，一晃就耗到夜幕低垂。真的，根本沒人提及俱樂部，我覺得裡面牽扯太多傷筋動骨的回憶，從令人尷尬的舞台失誤到四尺高侏儒手握狼牙棒玩命地揮舞空竹，還有不少情願忘卻的事情，也許這正是俱樂部老將們感同身受的東西，上述種種經歷顯示耶桁不只是傳授知識的老師，更是身懷絕技的秀才，他跟我們切磋經驗，如今這種交流漸近尾聲，不管效果如何，我確實認為上學年結束之前有些哥們已無心學習新技巧。除此而外，誰都明白少了耶桁這根頂梁柱，空竹俱樂部不再像從前那樣，所以大夥竭力珍惜剩下的時光，兌現的方式無外乎促膝交談，讓上課時坐在學校一樓大廳開小差的頑童好自為之，畢竟彼此摸打滾爬已有三年光景，我們不想跟學生們較勁。

        今天的惜別會就是要避免觸及我們的軟肋，盡情享受相互陪伴的幸福瞬間，“大富翁”恰合時宜，我們當真花了不少工夫來玩這個地產遊戲。

        鑑於全體准師生技術水平可能相差無幾，現在我無法想象來年（2018—2019）空竹俱樂部會成什麼樣子。一周前我才聽說其中一位師兄決定接耶桁的班，執教少不了苦楚、磨難及困窘。本人可能不再留守俱樂部（謝天謝地），但仍有一些值得想念的事情，像耶桁追趕一幫三年級淘氣包，究竟比與小不點一塊練習痛苦多少？半斤八兩吧。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2017: Capitol Debate Camp Day-6(國會辯論夏令營第六天)

2014: Chankanaab NP in Cozumel, Mexico(墨西哥科蘇梅爾島昌卡納國家公園)

2012: Tennis Camp(網球夏令營)

Crosslink(相關博文):

9th Grade(高中一年級)