welcome to Jo Jo's PIE

It has been a very long time since I returned from the voyage, and I feel so ashamed that I haven't written something about it to share with my friends. The following is an article I wrote for the newspaper 21 Century, and I hope you can share my experience of this amazing sailing:

 

The HSBC Voyage of Understanding was a ten-day leadership training voyage that took its participants across the English Channel and through Britain, France and Belgium. I was very proud to be one of the 48 college student attendants from 10 countries participating in the voyage. Our ship,  named “Prince William”, was something to behold: a 60-metre-long sailing vessel with a 45-meter-high main mast, it was a true beauty.

The ship’s non-student crew complement consisted only of six permanent crew members and a few volunteers there to assist us students with our training.  This meant that most of the responsibility for keeping the ship working fell on us students. Students were split into three Watches; the Blue, White, and Red Watches.  Each of these watches was assigned its own “watch leader” whose duty was to train and direct the watch. In order to keep the ship operating continuously, the ship’s three watches would take turns performing necessary ship-board tasks throughout the day and night. Keeping watch was not easy: it often involved doing things like getting up at 4am and climbing to the cold and dark of the ship’s deck to keep watch over the seas around the Prince William.  Sometimes, a student on watch might be asked to steer the ship: this was pretty cool, though the captain would get mad if a student carried out his orders inaccurately.  On other occasions, those on watch had to clean every part of the ship, from the outside of the ship, to the smelly crew cabin to the messy bathroom.  It was on such occasions that I learned two important lessons.  The first lesson was that sailors are incredibly fussy about their cleaning: we were not allowed to leave even a single brass screw uncleaned.  The second lesson was that there is not a nation on earth whose people enjoy cleaning the toilet.  Apparently, some things are simply universal.  The most important of the tasks we might be asked to perform when on watch was to set and reef the sails. This could involve climbing as high as 45 meters above the deck and walking on the bowline to the yard end to do our work.  On very windy days, the royal yard might swing out of the ship body: if this were to happen, one’s safety harness would be the only thing keeping one from falling to her death. Those on watch sometimes had to work as the messmen and do jobs like repeating the menu to everyone, serving the dishes, and worst of all, washing dishes.  A large ship like the Prince William produces mountains of dirty dishes, and so the dish washer’s job could feel endless.  As a sailing ship, Prince William is, of course, dependent on the wind for its power.  When we encountered an advantageous wind, we had to act swiftly to adjust the sails.  When this happened, everyone would come up to the deck and work in groups to pull or ease the ropes, all the while shouting cheers in different languages. On the ship, everyone’s effort was equally important, whether that effort was made in steering the ship or cleaning the toilet.

“It is amazing to learn how to get the sails right and run a ship”, said Noha, a delightful girl from inland Egypt. But it wasn’t always pleasant for everyone. Sometimes, a person suffering seasickness would occupy the toilet for hours, cursing the nasty windy weather. Sleep was definitely the rarest commodity on the ship, followed by hot water. While the Prince William’s cook was one of the best I have ever encountered, I have to say that after ten days of eating boiled vegetables and huge pieces of meat smothered in various strange sauces, I developed a great loyalty to Chinese cuisine.

“The voyage is a great achievement and the most memorable experience in my life”, said Kyle, an American boy who always volunteered to climb to the royal yard. Indeed, when our ship passed beneath London’s famous Tower Bridge, we all felt an indescribable thrill as we stood on the yards and sung sea chanties.  As thousands of Londoners watched us pass, we came to realize that this was a voyage we would never forget.

No one knows if there will be a day when the 48 of us can get together again, but we will all cherish our memories of these ten days: we learned not only to run a ship, but also to work as a team; not only did we share the experiences of our lives, but we also shared the cultures of our nations. Though we came from some very different nations, we all became friends in the end.

 

 

        DuDu去面试了，要三个小时才能回来。房间里突然只剩下了自己，有一点点的无聊，但又有种重获自由的感觉：两个人在一起的时间太多了，也会感到腻吧。 本来想补上HSBC航海的日志的，好多人催了，自己都感到惭愧，但是说到两个人，自己总是想说些什么，下次再说航海吧。请大家原谅我啊。

和DuDu在一起很久了，彼此照顾，体谅……做了很多很多的事。他一个人在中国人生地不熟的，我总是尽全力的帮他过得好一点，从找房子到找工作，好像是做自己的事。他就像乖巧的“小狗”，顺从的跟在后面，保持微笑，略带傍徨。DuDu和那种典型的美国人一点都沾不上边，绝对的安静，不食人间烟火。有人说，两个人的性格互补比较好。我也对此抱有希望，但亲身经历后还是发现有很大问题的。现在想想，我似乎在做所有的事情（排除了他是外国人的因素），而他则是“惟命是从”，这不是简单的对我的谦让，DuDu在生活的能力真的让我发愁，真希望他能一夜之间情商长到30岁。他对事情和自己的态度让我觉得自己是个过于乐观的人，而他则是反面，自己总是试图让他乐观些，自信些，但价值观真的是无法改变的，我都快被自己气疯了，和他争论、发脾气的次数也多了起来，直到自己觉得说累了，绝望。。。

以前写信、打电话都觉得他是个很不错的选择：第一次感情失败后，希望找个不张扬的男朋友（不用担心被人抢走）；对DuDu的学者生涯有很高的期望，自己也希望一样。现在看来，自己真的是太盲目了，似乎是牺牲了自己也连累了他。突然觉得DuDu好可怜，因为我来了中国，一切都那么不适应，还要由着我发脾气。我们很坦白地谈论所有的事情，包括我对他的不理解，价值观和文化的差异，这在任何中国人之间都是绝对不可能发生的。我对此感到很欣慰，真诚的表达自己是莫大的自由，我想只有和DuDu可以敞开地谈。但渐渐地我希望我们之间一致的东西更多一些，他能像个男子汉一样照顾我，哪怕是大男子主义。

DuDu可能会看到我写的话，不过没关系，他早已了解我们的不同。或许今天说的会让我们都很伤心，但可能这就是事实。自己曾经非常有信心地要克服我们之间的所有障碍，可以忍受文化的差异、将来的不确定、性格的不同，但是从每天的相处中，信心一点一点的减少了，性格是无法改变的，思想的平行线将会是我们之间最大的痛苦。我很清楚的明白这一点。

不愿意去想太远的事情。我们的相聚太不容易了，我们都不希望这样早地伤害对方。但事实是这样，自己必须想清楚，但可以做的糊涂。其实表面上，我们过着快乐的日子，但深入的生活和交流，我们并不轻松。我不在乎他是美国人或者是中国人，我需要真实的生活。其实没有多少时间可以浪费的，妈妈也这样担心。

太多太多的不同。。。

抛开这些复杂的念头，我们很爱彼此，可以过得很轻松，但是人总要在某个时候想想清楚自己在做什么。毕竟热恋之后，还有更多的东西要考虑。就快24岁了，以后会怎样呢？

还是有信心的，大家继续努力吧，总要有时间去改变，虽然会很难。自己选择了难走的路，要竭尽全力走到底。我会让DuDu在这一年里过得幸福。每次我问他，“如果不是因为我，你回来中国吗”，他毫不犹豫地回答“当然不会”的时候，心里总是很感动。说“我欠他很多”可能会遭来非议，但自己确实被这份情意牵绊着。

说了好多了，看上去现实真的很残酷，只有戏中人才知道其中的味道。

在不同的国度里，任何的价值判断都会失灵——这大概就是所谓的“文化”。改变自己的文化不是容易的，绝对不是。性格也一样。

祝福我和DuDu吧，真诚的……大家都不容易啊

今天班搓，平时不是太熟的人，突然之间都很亲切了。每次的分离都是这样的感觉，在最后一刻才有那种情愫。喝了很多啤酒，大概有5瓶吧，把自己吓了一跳，潜力无限，不过也伤身哪。听着大家聊天，谈以后的打算，突然觉得人生要真正的开始了，可我还是比较平静的，或许自己的心太小了，只放着DuDu，希望他早点来，对我来说，毕业也许并不意味许多，更多的是看别人，而自己则越简单越好。怪怪的想法。

 

妈妈刚才来短信了，想我了。24年，始终是个小孩子，惭愧，希望可以让父母过上好日子的那天可以早点到来。

 

讨厌这种感觉。祝福大家

The thesis presentation was finished yesterday, which was the last schoolwork I had to do in college. Now everything is finished, and the farewell time comes. A little sad, a little excited, and a little eager to see the new life in front.

 

To me, I am lucky enough to have a wonderful college life: good academic record, exchange study experience, rewording work with SIFE, many life-long friends, and most importantly, the best boyfriend.

 

Recently, I am rather busy, but glad to see that eveything is in process and will have good result.

 

I have to say that, reflecting on the past time, I am really lucky.

 

Thanks to everyone. My parents, my friends, my DuDu:) I love you all.

    昨天和室友去新建的室外游泳池游泳。。。终于，在我们有生之年见到了传说中的。。。游泳池，荣幸之至啊。设施还是不错的，门票才5元，也算合理。。。问题是为什么80%以上都是男同志，还有众多的观众？站在池边放眼四方，依旧是一片荒凉，感觉自己就像是荒岛上的室外桃园，唯一进化的生物，怪怪的。还穿了新的泳衣哦，小肚肚都被看到了

 

    王老板终于通知我们明天下午答辩了，不过没人知道谁是答辩老师。我们这些可怜的人，只能自生自灭了。同志们，送大家一句忠告：太牛的导师，高不可攀啊。算了，总算熬到头了，明天就彻底解放，要是不给我个优秀，我和他拼命！！！

 

    给汤总写的东西，还没什么进展，要是按时交不了货，和DuDu的暑期经费就成问题了。为了DuDu，我要加油了！！！