今天是阳历年除夕，我们海上航行。 

      Today it's New Year's Eve and we were cruising at sea again.

      I yawned widely as I got up in the morning. As I checked the clock, I toppled out of bed. It was 10:30 am. I still was in pajamas and cuddling a teddy bear. For some reason, I actually grew fond of the bear because he was a nice replacement for my old punching bag. I was thinking of having a brunch after getting dressed, but the thought was interrupted with a gurgle from my stomach. On second thought, I decided to ask for something to eat. When I went to ask mom, she surprised me by showing a platter of food to me. After a suitable meal, it was time for lunch. I didn't think a few pounds added wouldn't be disastrous in New Year holiday season, would it?

      早晨醒来我不住打着哈欠，一看表已是上午十点半，我晃晃悠悠爬下床来，身着睡衣，手抱泰迪熊，不知为什么，我喜欢上泰迪熊，至少它可以替代拳击吊袋。我准备穿好衣服再四处收集几个，只不过计划尚未实施，肚子饥肠辘辘，开始发出咯咯叫声。我不得不改变初衷，决定先吃点东西再说。这时我转问妈妈，没想到她已把早饭备好。等我刚刚吃完，午饭时间到了。新春佳节期间，增加几磅体重有什么了不得？

      After lunch, I walked to the Youth Center. Within 5 minutes, we were smashing the football around the room, rebounding off the walls. Plenty of times we got a few bruises here and there but no one cared. As always, we had ice cream with sprinkles. The subject kept changing. It initiated from brain surgery to flying. But all this was hushed up as we started to play Wii. I lost track of time and space. Only when I drank water, I noticed that the boys weren't with me anymore. I looked around and saw them goggling at the PS3 screen. Soon my own eyes were bulging at the Play Station. Sometimes I wished that I could slow the time down because before I knew it, I was dragged away to dinner.

      午餐后，我去少年活动中心报到。不到五分钟，我们立刻玩起室内足球，球满屋横飞，大家被打得青一块紫一块，可谁也顾不上在意什么。与从前一样，我们踢完球照旧去吃冰激凌甜点，但这回聊天的内容有所改变，从脑外手术到空中飞行，不一而足。过后只要一上手“任天堂”第七款游戏，我们一下子安静起来。我将时空置之度外，直到口渴喝水时才发觉其他男生都跑去玩“索尼”第三款电视游戏，我赶紧凑了过去，不再话下。有时我真希望时间能够放慢速度，等过完玩瘾之后，方去吃晚餐。

      When we cruised halfway between Valparaiso, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina from the Pacific to Atlantic Ocean on Star Princess, we ran into a young lady, Olga who was on duty as an acting manager in Customer Service Desk. One day, she overheard the tones that I incidentally pitched on a grand piano used for entertaining in Princess Plaza. We hanged out unexpectedly in a meeting room where she played an electronic upright piano in front of us. She came to chat with me about the music and especially piano. Olga had played piano for 23 years when she began at the age of 3 in Ukraine. She practiced 5 hours every day when she was 9 years old exactly like my age! She graduated with a bachelor degree in piano performance from Moscow Music Conservatory, Russia and won numerous top-notch awards in the international piano competitions. Mom admired her solid background and wondered why she gave up her passion and talent on piano performance. I could tell that a professional pianist only sounded like her dream right now. Well, we lived on dreams, strived for dreams and enjoyed the process of dreaming. The most importance of all, we had to learn how to survive successfully. It was the very moment that mom hired her to be my piano teacher. I was kidnapped to the music dreamland!

      我们乘“星辰•公主”号游轮沿着太平洋向大西洋进发，从智利瓦尔帕莱索扬帆，到阿根廷布宜诺斯艾利斯抛锚，半路下来经历了许多意想不到得事情，与奥尔加不期而遇，就是其中典型一例。奥尔加是游轮上客户服务部代理主管，当班那天，恰好听到我在大厅试弹全船唯一用来表演的三角钢琴。后来彼此在“琴房”第一次碰面，她正弹奏电子钢琴，准备为娱乐晚会登台献艺。奥尔加主动跟我搭讪，谈音乐，更谈钢琴。她出生于乌克兰，从三岁起便开始学习钢琴，至今已有23个春秋。像我9岁这把年纪，她每天坚持练习5个钟头！奥尔加毕业于俄罗斯音乐学院钢琴演奏专业，获得过无数次国际一流钢琴比赛大奖。妈妈非常羡慕其蜚声全球的艺术学府，佩服其扎实无华的音乐功底，并好奇为什么不再继续专业生涯。看得出，钢琴表演对她来说现在只是一个梦想。凭心而论，我们都生活在梦想之中，为梦想而不懈努力，从中期待享受愉悦。最重要的是，我们要努力掌握生存能力。就在那一时刻，妈妈毫不犹豫聘请她出任我的钢琴老师，让我欲爱不能，欲罢不忍，欲弃不舍！

(二O一二年十二月卅一日，除夕)