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April 24, 2011

不再受難

前天,美國人所謂的 Good Friday,臺灣人翻譯做基督受難日的那天,爺爺走了。

他其實是外公,可是我一直都叫他爺爺,害我小學一年級的 "生活與論語"考試沒拿滿分,因為媽媽的爸爸應該要叫外公。
後來為了區分,他是松山爺爺,爸爸的爸爸叫屏東爺爺。

爺爺是山東人,後來又說他其實是大連人,反正因為他,我有四分之一北方人的血統。

每個小朋友都有的乳名,就是名字最後一個字連音就是了。漢漢,君君,中中,佳佳,侃侃,亘亘,但是我就沒有,因為我的名字不適合。
可是爺爺給我一個乳名,只有他在叫。小佩"易"。因為北方腔的關係,他唸起來就是"易"。

爺爺來台灣娶了台灣人,可是我沒聽他沒說過一句台語,倒是阿嬤的台灣國語有山東腔。
爺爺當警察的時候騎哈雷,自己也有一台打擋車,我幼稚園的時候有坐過幾次。
爺爺不當警察以後在饒河夜市當管理員,我有去參觀過他的辦公室幾次,並沒有因為他的關係撿到什麼店家的便宜。

我國小的時候,爺爺每個禮拜天下廚。他做的酸菜白肉鍋還有北方涼菜是我童年回憶裡還不錯的片段。不過,我完全沒有勇氣去碰他面前那每餐都有生大蒜和一小杯高梁。
爺爺很兇的,我沒有逗他笑的天份,只有阿姨碼媽和君君有本事逗他笑。
爺爺訂了很多吃飯的規矩,都是被罵的時候才知道規矩的存在,例如他動筷子前沒人可以動筷子,吃飯的時候不可以講話,左手要就著碗,筷子不可以跟碗盤敲出聲音,拿碗的時候不可以捧的碗,敬酒的時候要兩隻手一起拿酒杯。
跟爺爺打麻將的規矩也很多,腳不可以放在椅子上,不能用左手拿牌,不要隨便碰吃槓壞了門清。

爺爺那麼兇,我幾乎沒有頂過嘴,除了用筷子這件事。
我一直不會用筷子,像是拿筆一樣的握著拳頭拿筷子。高中還是大學的時候,他又唸了我一次,我回嘴說會夾就好了,他瞪了我一眼說會寫字但是寫得不漂亮有什麼用。我忘了是麻嗎還是阿嬤使了眼色要我安靜,可是我認為他理由沒有說服力,我現在也還是不同意。
可是就在我大學畢業前,我突然學會用所謂標準漂亮的方式用筷子。不過他沒稱讚我過。
我離開台北之後,他老得好快。不兇了,更不多話。

爺爺退休之後,練毛筆字不算什麼,他學英文,還信了主。
他成了全家唯一的天主教徒,書房裡放了聖母聖靈的畫像,阿嬤沒說什麼,覺得他要拜什麼就讓他拜啊。
健康狀況走下坡後,他沒再去做禮拜,聽麻嗎說教友會來拜訪。
最近幾次住院,神父和教友都有來探望。麻嗎說他還捨不得走。

前天,他放下了,在誦經聲中安詳的離開了。教友開玩笑說他會跟耶穌一起復活。
於是 Good Friday 從此對我而言是有意義的。

April 20, 2011

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor


I arrived in Honolulu, 7:30 pm April 8th. It took me more than an hour to drive to the hotel. Not that it was far from the airport, but it was that all the street names looked alike (and sounded alike if I tried hard to pronounce them). So I missed turns and went to strange places although the car-rental clerk had told me it was easy to get to the core of Waikiki from the airport; "just follow H1 and then 92 east" she said.
After picking up mama the next morning, I agreed with the clerk that it was quite easy.
Navigating in Oahu is easy in general. The network of the highway is not complicated. The signs are clear. The roads are in good conditions with few potholes. The only thing I have to complain is the traffic lights. One night when we were driving back from the west to the hotel, meaning we needed to go through Waikiki, green lights were followed by red lights, and lights seemed to stay longer red than green. For the same amount of time I could have walked back if I had abandoned the car right after getting H1 (the highway).

The Pearl Harbor is close to the airport. We went there after the morning session of the conference on April 10th. Yes, I did go to the conference before enjoying the vacation.
I am going to post more pictures of my Hawaii trip. Here is the first entry (just click the album cover above.) The pictures preserve more memory that my narratives. Aloha.