今年看來是結婚的好年

這個星期六就要當伴郎了，生平第一次當伴郎，已經很新鮮了，而且又是台德聯姻，感覺更新鮮！沒想到剛剛hotmail收到許久未見的研究所同學的信，她今年也要結婚了，這對則是台法聯姻，第一場婚禮會在法國古堡舉行，第二場則回台灣辦。

婚姻現在似乎已經不只是兩個家庭共同的大事了，還常牽涉到兩個不同文化的衝擊、妥協和融合，真得是很有趣！

不過，許多朋友都在今年結婚，今年該是個結婚的好年！

My first time ever to be the best man

I feel excited but nervous now because I am gonna be the best man on May 3rd, which is the first time ever in my entire life. As the best man, I guess my role is to do anything I can for the furtherance of the ceremony. More importantly, I will be able to witness a couple I've known for more than 10 years finally walking hand in hand onto the red carpet. Sooner or later, it will be my turn to get married, so I think the experience of this kind can serve as apprenticeship.

Recently, I've been thinking why we need a ceremony for marriage. For me, I'd often think it could change nothing in the newly-weds' life, not to speak of changing what they are. Here in Taiwan we've got a lot of things to do if the newlyweds prepare the ceremony all by the traditions. Even if you decide to simplify it, the preparation is still tiring (it is definitely exciting, though). I come to realize that a ceremony is not just for a couple, but also for the two families supporting the couple. The ceremony is not intended to change anything in the newlyweds' life, but to let the couple learn how to respect each other and each other's families. No matter how long a couple have been seeing each other before getting married, until the ceremony will it be publicly declared to be the start of the union of the newlyweds, for which they should take some responsibility.

For the parents in Taiwan, the ceremony sometimes means a lot more than it means for the newlyweds. It's a token for the completion of a task, which is quite different from some foreign cultures. That's why there is an old saying here--"Those who have not been married are children still."

Irresistibly Endearing ~ My Niece

In my everyday life in the office, I cannot open my Outlook without seeing "For your information," which appears over and over again. To tell the truth, I'm quie fed up with this expression. Business English makes me puke; sometimes it occurs to me that I could use "for your amusement" instead. But, I don't dare to do so. This wacky thought is therefore just a voice-over in my mind, which seems to coax me into turning the upside down as I've been taught in literary theory class. I guess, if I really do that, my boss would think I must be nuts.

I browsed my brother's blog just now and found lots of recent photos of my lovable niece. I picked up one of my favorite, in which she's kinda making faces, and this time I can say appropriately, "For your amusement."

Life Sketch by Now

When we were kids, we talked about play;
When we were teenagers, we dreamed about future;
When we were in our early twenties, we fell for our loved ones;
When we had just graduated from college, we were all concerned about career;
When a few years passed, we complained about our immediate bosses;
When we were pushing to our thirties, we were so stunned that we were speechless;
When we are finally thirty-something, some have tied the knots,
Some are busy tying up the loose ends at work;
Still some are trying very hard to untie strangling cords around their necks.

海芋

踏上暌違已久的陽明山，今天(4/12)的任務是到竹仔湖摘海芋。
"摘"海芋似乎是不怎麼精準的語言，應該說是"拔"海芋，因為是從花莖的根部把海芋拔下來。
踩在濕軟帶滑的泥地上，心想海芋倒也是"出淤泥而不染"的另一例；蓮花出淤泥而不染，海芋也是，更妙的是，海芋的另一個名字就叫馬蹄蓮。
星期六我一貫都睡到中午，從信義區到士林區後，從容的吃了個飯，才往竹仔湖去，到了竹仔湖也差不多快下午四點了。不過時間拿捏的恰到好處，逛得差不多，山上才慢慢起了濃霧。即便如此，霧裡海芋的花苞還是淨白地讓人清楚的看見。
下山時，坐上直達士林捷運站的收班車，很快就又回到滿是人潮和建築物的士林。海芋讓人驚艷，而台北另人驚訝--不一會兒的光景，我竟能見識兩種截然不同的台北面貌。