不須路遙而知馬力

為期四天的印城國際節慶, 在昨晚閉幕了, 非常感謝幕前幕後的所有工作人員. 早在兩個多月前, 在決定參與今年的國際節慶後, 資深的同鄉會員, 就為今年大會的主題”成年禮儀”從便條紙上的手繪藍圖, 到呈現在大家面前的展覽成品, 絞盡腦汁. 所幸, 大家的辛勞及付出的有所代價, 都沒有白費, 印城台灣同鄉會再度拔下餐飲類總冠軍, 及民俗文教類的頭彩. 

在李教授號召與指揮下, 眾同鄉,  IUPUI學生會會友, 在四天中挪出個人時間, 義不容辭的幫忙, 我是看在眼裡, 感動在心! 很值得一提的是, 李教授跟許多資深的同鄉, 都是十五多年來, 為著宣揚我們台灣民俗, 文化在默默耕耘. 很遺憾的, 他們的下一代在成家立業後, 大多都無法繼續參與這項很有意義的活動. 今年我們一家因為作息緊湊, 只能幫忙採購, 在四天中到會場幫忙兩天, 然而, 在短短的兩天中, 我們很明白的看清在下一代中, 誰是任勞任怨, 能夠肩負重任的, 而誰是臨陣脫逃, 推卸任務的.

從小事中, 往往能看得出一個人是否能受託付重任, 儘管今年的小吃攤沒有往年的場面浩大, 但是派兵遣將, 準備瑣事, 仍是件不容易的事. 經手過的, 都知道這是件吃力不討好的差事, 正因如此, 大家更需要互相幫助, 發揮團隊精神. 我們一家值週六早/午班, 跟海倫, 肉包, EO, Jeremy, Jacky,照顧小吃攤.上午九點四十分左右我們到了場地, 原以為當天的小吃攤負責人會在十點開幕前將廚房事項打點好,怎知我們到了以後, 發現油鍋未開, 食品, 用具也沒有補給. 轉頭一看, 原來值班的”班長”正穿著光鮮的中式長袍, 自己轉了班, 到對面的文教展覽當助解.

我們值小吃攤班的幾個, 對了眼 個個搖頭, 我們自忖一群人有辦法應付, 算了, 讓她去吧. 十一點左右, 國龍, 美慧, 清海, 秋如跟Jefferson也陸續加入陣容. 今年人潮或許沒有以前的一半, 但是小吃攤的生意還是不錯. 美慧跟清海現包的鍋貼, 雖然數量有限, 但是為我們小吃攤樹立了佳評, 沒多久就”一銷而空”. 我一家四口, 很慶幸的吃到六,七個高氏鍋貼 - 真好吃!

午後近將一點, 大家都飢腸轆轆, 我們都分批的吃了點東西. 我帶了兒子在別的攤位買了吃的, 我們不好意思白吃白喝, 也在自己的小吃攤買了珍珠奶茶, 蔥油餅, 春捲, 享受了員工特價優待. 我知道大夥兒為了不虧成本, 沒有一個真的吃飽. 對我這個大胃王, 兩, 三條春捲實在起不了作用. 無所謂, 反正晚上朋友請我們去他們家吃火鍋, 就讓肚子裏的戰鼓去響吧! 不多久小吃攤的逃兵端著一盤吃的,到後面坐下用餐, 或許是當展覽助解蠻辛苦的, 那一盤還挺豐盛的.  三點半多, 晚班的會友到了, 我們交了班, 跟大家說了再見後離開會場.

當晚, 我收到了通電話, 問我們是不是週日也有當差? 可惜大兒子隔天有跆拳道晉級測驗, 沒有辦法去幫忙. 他說沒關係, 週六的班底差不多都會到, 足夠應付. 我稱讚了現包的鍋貼, 好多人都想買, 但是都沒有買到. 這時我才知道, 鍋貼一共是包了九十多個, 而我們這位小吃攤轉展覽助解, 一個人就吃了接近二十個, 我苦笑著跟 他說, “這次領教到了, 不會有下次.”  

認識我們的朋友, 都知道我們很少計較, 凡事退個半步, 大家都好相處, 不是嗎? 昨晚, 我跟今年貢獻最多的珍珠小姐 - 海倫聊了幾句, 才知道這幾天在閉幕後, 當大家忙著打掃, 清洗餐具時, 我們這位助解小姐都是甩下一句”辛苦你們, 那我先走了”, 拋下在廚房忙得油頭垢臉的一群, 大家除了繼續埋頭苦幹, 能又奈她何呢?   

有時候, 不須要路遙就能知道馬力, 也不用等到日久, 就能看清一個人是否可以擔當大任. 

*註: 同鄉會一位元老級會員解釋說, 是他要她去作展覽助解.

Home Coming

One of my favorite photos of my sons, is the one with them helping out their puo-puo (婆婆: grandma) in the kitchen. The boys had flour all over them while taking turns churning the manual pasta machine as puo-puo looked on. It was all fun and play for the kids, sheer joy for Puo-Puo. The love in her eyes was evident, displayed freely in her gentle smile. It was a messy scene for the usually spotless kitchen but Puo-Puo didn't seem to mind at all.

Gogo (哥哥) stood a little taller than the table with his hands on the machine handle. Didi (弟弟) was just three years old then, not quite able to reach even with all his might. That was nearly five years ago. We needed to plan a trip to visit my in-laws, a long overdue trip. This trip would have added significance – help my father in-law celebrate his big 6-0.

I asked our sons if they were excited about the upcoming trip, neither of them expressed much excitement. I didn’t blame them, memories from five years ago were about as distant as the toy cars they had tossed into the donation bin. Gogo is tall and husky for his age, Didi has also grown a lot since the picture on the fridge was taken. 

It didn’t come as a surprise that the flight would be a one-day affair. Too bad we don’t live closer to my in-laws or we’d definitely visit them more often. Looking at the few flight options, we opted for one that would require the family to be up at 4 am for the airport shuttle. Blame it on the time difference and the heightened air travel security. I actually don’t mind the extra layer of airport screening, it brings some peace of mind.   

Came departure day, everyone got up rather swiftly. Our boys had been on quite a few trips, they knew the drills. No sooner had I looked through our checklist and double checked our travel documents than the shuttle arrived in our driveway. The drive to the airport took much less time than it normally would. There were very few vehicles on the roads before the break of dawn. 

After checking in our luggage and passing through airport security, we headed to the gate for our first flight. The totally flight time was actually short, however, the 3 ½-hr layover in between flights chewed up the day. We had lunch, browsed the stores, and rode the airport tram just for fun. Finally, it was time to board our second flight, one step closer to our destination.

I was having sporadic chats with 周公 when the flight attendant came around with his cart. I asked for a cup of apple juice and cookies. I looked over at another passenger, he requested peanuts. “The bags of peanuts being handed out sure have shrunk!”, I thought to myself. “If you’d like extra peanuts, they are $3 each (bag).”, our friendly attendant offered. Robbery at mile-high was more appropriate. 

Before long, we were less than a hundred kilometers from the airport. Over the intercom, the captain announced that we would soon begin to descend. Although she didn’t display a lot of emotions, I was sure that my wife was very happy to be back again. We didn’t spend more than a few minutes going through customs and getting our passports stamped. Briskly, we marched out to the lobby and were met by my brother in-law. 

“Say Hi to QQ (舅舅), I asked the boys. They turned and greeted the “stranger” stood before them. QQ was in disbelief that the kids had gotten so big. We chatted as we strolled through the parking garage and were soon on our way – to Puo-Puo’s. 

The city’s outskirt hasn’t changed much but there are definitely a lot more houses and stores now. QQ took us on a new route which I didn’t recognize, supposedly, a shorter distance back home. Some thirty minutes later, we finally arrived! Gogo got up to the door and rang the bell. A familiar voice responded and the door was ajar. My mother in-law greeted us as she gazed upon her grandsons. Her smiles grew as the boys greeted her, “Hi Puo-Puo.”. She stood in amazement for a brief moment. The little baby that she had once taken care of, is now taller than her - Gogo. She looked at both her grandsons and smiled once again.