The train after work was packed. At this one stop, I was pushed around as people walked past me to get off the train. Then a few people got on. It was crowded.

I remembered ej's warning to me, "Some day there's going to be an accident in the subway." During rush hour, the trains are always packed. We were packed in there like sardines, or probably even worse. Sometimes it's hard to breathe and there's no room to turn around. One time there were so many people on this one platform that the subway staff temporarily stopped people from entering the station. They were afraid that someone might fall and the masses would walk over that person and kill him. That's a scenario that many people who have taken the subway can picture.

Just as I was thinking this, the Subway Man showed up, in yellow uniform. Every day, there are these people in yellow uniforms at subway stations to keep order (I think they're volunteers). They make sure people are not getting pushed under the train when it comes into the station and that not too many people try to get on the train as it gets ready to leave. To do so, they usually have to raise their voice and repeat the few phrases again and again and again: The train's coming into the station... Please don't push each other... Please wait in line... Please wait for the next train. ...

Their job is repetitive and nobody really listens or pays much attention to them.

But this Subway Man was different. About 5'3'' tall and 60 years old, he talked very little. As one woman ran to the door of the train and tried to get on, he pushed gently from behind so she could get on the already packed cart. The train was full, but with his push, this woman got on. Then came another person. "Hurry, hurry," he said, pointing to our cart. "There's room here." "Where?" I was thinking. But sure enough the second person got on, too.

Within less than a minute, he got five more people onto the train, without raising his voice a single time. Each time he just assisted them in the slightest ways, but I can't imagine those people getting on the train without his help. As one last person ran toward our cart, the bell rang signalling the train's departure soon. "OK, OK, please wait for the next train here," he said gently as he stopped the woman.

Somehow I really liked this man. He never once yelled or shouted or showed annoyance or bitterness, but he got his job done. People were orderly and most got on the train as they wished. It's a change from this noisy, busy and crazy city, where so many people in the service industry are pissed, impatient or just plain incompetent.

As the train was leaving, I looked through the glass door at the old man and couldn't help but smiling. He just finished looking around the station and appeared to be satisfied that everybody was safe and the train was leaving. Then he caught my eyes.

He smiled back.

I had just finished dinner Monday evening, when I was notified that there would be an electricity outage in 15 minutes and the outage would last an hour. "What am I going to do? I don't even have candles at home," I complained upon hearing the news.

Fifteen more minutes of light and life as usual, and then it would be all dark. What can I get done in the next 15 minutes? What should I do? I asked myself. It's odd that once you are used to having light and water and all the other conveniences, it's a little upsetting to see that being disrupted. I was kind of at a loss as to how I should use these "last" 15 minutes. Strangely, I chose to wash my dishes first. When I was doing this, I realized that I could use my laptop, which was fully charged, to help me get through the outage.

It turned out to be a relaxing hour. I looked at past photos on my computer while listening to my favorite songs. Also got a phone call from one of the dearest people in my life. It was almost the best hour in the past few weeks, as I get through hectic work, and get checked and rechecked for my health. It was also right after I was told that my health seemed to be fine, at least for now.

Over the weekend, I was talking with y and ej about how fragile life is. The Chinese student who was attacked by American teenagers for no reason, stumbling into traffic and killed by a moving car; the killing and raping of a British woman in India; and the unfortunate things that were happening to friends of our friends... It's amazing how someone could be smiling and being loved and enjoying life one day, and yet suffering or even dead the next day. When I was a cops reporter, I wrote about car accidents after car accidents and killings and rapes. And then there's watching others get sick and getting sick myself. Until this day, I feel that it's a miracle each additional day a person gets to live.

But at the same time, it's amazing to see how resilient life can be. People get sick, people recover; people make mistakes, people correct their courses; people get their hearts broken, people fall in love again. After each day you survive, when you wake up in the morning and see the bright sun, it's another day.

... 


Lights were on. Electricity was back. Life went back to normal. Tomorrow will come soon.
 

下午，电话铃声响起，是个奇怪的号码。以为是林子里的朋友，但昨晚刚通过话。

接听中，听出居然是刚回国时在代英语课时教过的学生，当时几个人的公司把他们送到北京进行一个月的专职英语培训，为去澳大利亚进
一步进修做准备。记得一个月当中学生很努力学习，问了很多关于在国外生活、交流的问题，英语进步很快。我到现在还记得自己震惊的发现（确切的说是这些学生让我回忆起中国的学生对老师表现得多么的尊重），因为我本身作为被聘用的老师，感觉学生是我的客户，只是想尽我所能，把课上好，针对学生的需要，帮他们准备出国。

想不到，短短的一个月过后，有那么一两个学生保持了联系。更想不到，会接到一名学生从澳洲打来的电话。听起来他们在那边一个月来适应得很好。非常enjoy当地的优美环境、学校里和世界各国去进修的学生的接触、和当地的host family的融洽相处。电话中洋溢着excitement. 让我不禁想起自己第一次
出国的情形。深深地祝福这些学生，这一年里在澳洲一切顺利、学业有成！

I'm finally studying Spanish. I don't know why, but even though I've only had one real Spanish lesson, I feel that it's become the highlight of my life outside work. I'm so excited!!

Always wanted to learn Spanish. I still remember telling EJ that I heard somewhere that if one speaks Spanish, English and Chinese, that person can talk to 98% of the population in the world. I was excited about this tidbit, but EJ looked at me and said, jokingly, "Why do you want to talk to so many people?"

So I've been wanting to study Spanish for years. My best friend in the U.S. is from Latin America and I remember watching Italian and Spanish movies with her. Really enjoyed that, and thought it would be so much more fun if I knew Spanish. Always wanted to travel throughout Latin America and spend a lot of time in Italy, for some reason.

The first time I tried to learn Spanish was when I was in Reno, where I enrolled in a beginner's class. Then I quickly realized I had no time to even go to the class, let alone spending any time after class to learn the language. I dropped the course after going to just one class and didn't learn anything.

Then I tried it again in North Dakota. This time I tried to learn it on my own. I often had to drive long distances for interviews in rural areas, so I bought a Spanish tape, hoping I would be able to learn from "immersion." I simply couldn't get it. The only phrases I learned from that were, "Hola" and "No habla Espanol." (I don't speak Spanish.)

They say the third time is the charm. But for me this was not true. I tried to pick up the language on my own again in 2005, when I got seriously ill and had to cut back to working three days a week. Along with the Spanish book, I also borrowed cantonese CDs from the local library and a keyboard -- these three things were the top three things I wanted to learn. Before long, dust gathered on my keyboard, the Spanish book was deserted, and I learned one cantonese sentence -- "ngo mu sig gone guang dong wa" (or something like that) -- which means "I don't speak cantonese." I'll just use my illness as an excuse for these sorry results.

But I did realize it takes more than curiosity and personal interests to go through with your plans and reach your goal. Now I'm trying Spanish again and the excitement remains -- I've learned why the words "Austria" and "Australia" look so similar; I've learned what is "bonita," which I hear a lot from a Jack Johnson song a friend introduced me; and I've learned where the word "sincerely" came from (try "without wax" ;-). I find the language difficult, especially when I bring so much of my way of learning English into this, which is totally counterproductive. But I'm glad I'm giving this a try again. And I'm hoping that one day, I'll be able to use this language -- even if just for a little bit. I think you get a lot more when you travel if you talk with the local people. And I hope if I get that opportunity, I'll be able to say more than "No habla Espanol."

＊长周末，妈妈过生日，好像这几周来才有机会去见妈妈，也难得有和两位姐姐同时见面的机会。想不到北京，是如此的大、如此的忙，和家人、朋友同处一城市，却很难有机会见面，一整天也好像只能办一件事。

＊《我叫金三顺》真的很好看。早就有几个让人信赖的人推荐，但一直到这周末才有机会看。Funny, sweet,short ...真是周末消遣的好电视。我看得天昏地暗，昨晚和前天晚上熬了夜，今天起床就嗓子疼，结果今天在家一天看了8集，感觉现在眼睛要瞎了。明天还要早起。