第十屆化工系正在籌劃下一次的同學會。這將是自2004年10月在北京，與2007年11月在台中母校舉辦後的第三次。第三次的舉辦地是泰國，由已經退休而長住當地的李朝三負責規劃。
規劃中的聚會期是2010年11月21日到28日，並包含旅遊活動，旅遊地點概括泰國中部，東部與東北部，含芭堤亞，曼谷，水上市場，古城，大山，以及咯啦。
主辦者也同時規劃另一套北部之旅，方便11月28日後有空閒與興趣者參加，初步預定地點是美思樂，清邁，清萊，全屬山區景色，但人文不同，也需時一週。
為更能回味昔日大度上的點滴，熱忱地歡迎同屆友系的同學共襄盛舉，有興趣參加者，請與李朝三連絡，連絡信箱如下:
lichowsan@gmail.com
2009年5月31日 星期日
2009年5月19日 星期二
張清鋒的UAE之旅
TRIP TO UAE By Ching Feng Chang
3/20/09
Our second daughter, Patty, works at an American firm at the capital city of Abu Dhabi of UAE (United Arab Emirates). She invited the whole family to visit her two months ago. Since Dubai is the biggest city, and has the most flights, we decided to meet in Dubai. Connie and Jim left Boston and arrived Dubai via Amsterdam. Shun-Tang, Cathy, and I left Cleveland and arrived Dubai via Paris. (No direct flight from our cities)
It was quite warm in January when we arrived, but it was comfortable. Patty had planned this family reunion for weeks and had events fully scheduled. Like visiting any new city on your first day, we took a double decker tour bus for a grand view of the city. One striking phenomenon you noticed right away is the amount of construction. It seemed as though all of the heavy cranes in the world were gathered in Dubai. (It is very similar to the construction activities in Berlin after the Berlin Wall came down)
UAE is a federation which consists of seven emirates, and was established in 1971. UAE is rich in crude oil and natural gas, and is very prosperous after the successful oil discovery in the 1960’s and foreign investments in the 1970’s. The government used the “petro” dollars wisely, and converted a nomadic tribe into a modern society at an astounding and ambitious speed. They built the tallest building in the world, (taller than Taipei 101) a man-made Atlantis on the Palm resorts, which can be spotted from space, the largest indoor aquarium in the Dubai Mall, a seven star hotel, an indoor ski slope where you can ski anytime during the year. They hire the best minds in the world for their planning, and use the most advanced technology (like electronic toll collecting system by using radio frequency ID technology) for their applications. Most huge companies, like Siemens, IBM, Microsoft, Bayer, Toyota etc., around the world, have their presence in Dubai. It has also been developed as a tourist “hot spot”, with many luxury stores, like Tiffany, Cartier etc., inside the malls for shopping.
There were many memorable events: such as walking around the renowned Jumeirah sandy beach; visiting a mosque; touring Palace and museums in Abu Dhabi and many museums in Dubai; and excellent eating near the bank of the river in Deira. I would just like to highlight two special arrangements made by Patty: one is very traditional, but new to us; and the other is very modern.
The modern one first: The afternoon tea at the sail-boat shaped seven star Burj Al Arab Jumeirah Hotel. It boasts itself as “the World’s Most Luxurious Hotel” It was built 280 meters away from the shores, designed to resemble the graceful sails of an Arabian dhow and soars to a height of 321 meters. We had our afternoon tea (it is a little over US$120 per person) at the top of the world’s tallest atrium (27th floor) with a magnificent view of the Dubai coastline, Atlantis on the Palm and Dubai skylines. The Hotel has a helicopter landing pad on the roof of the Hotel. Guests can be greeted and picked up at the Dubai International Airport and escorted to Hotel by helicopter. The room rates in January range from about $3,000 to $20,000 per night plus all of the service charges and taxes. We really enjoyed the architecturally magnificent exterior, a truly exuberant interior design, and the view of the surroundings. They have the best collection of the teas worldwide. I had the Wu-loong tea and it went well with all the finger-food.
The traditional one: The Safari trip to the desert. We drove out of the Dubai City for about an hour and arrived in the desert. Before we got into the real desert reservation area, the driver had to deflate the tire pressure, in order to proceed in the sandy terrain. The camels in UAE have a single hump, and stand about 10 feet tall. The six of us rode 3 camels on a very nice sunny day, which is new to all of us. (I had seen camels with two humps near Inner Mongolia, but never got close or rode them) After the camel rides, we were sand-boarding on a fairly long and steep sand slope. All of our three daughters and son-in-law know how to snowboard. It is much easier for them to get used to sand boarding. Shun-Tang and I were new to both, but we tried it anyway. I was falling half-way through, but having a good time.
After an exciting week of fast-paced activities, it was time to go home. Before we came home, we went to buy a lot of dates, which is the most famous fruit of the desert in UAE. It is very sweet and juicy. I could not stop eating them. Our family members all agreed that this is our best family reunion ever, and one of the best trips as well.
3/20/09
Our second daughter, Patty, works at an American firm at the capital city of Abu Dhabi of UAE (United Arab Emirates). She invited the whole family to visit her two months ago. Since Dubai is the biggest city, and has the most flights, we decided to meet in Dubai. Connie and Jim left Boston and arrived Dubai via Amsterdam. Shun-Tang, Cathy, and I left Cleveland and arrived Dubai via Paris. (No direct flight from our cities)
It was quite warm in January when we arrived, but it was comfortable. Patty had planned this family reunion for weeks and had events fully scheduled. Like visiting any new city on your first day, we took a double decker tour bus for a grand view of the city. One striking phenomenon you noticed right away is the amount of construction. It seemed as though all of the heavy cranes in the world were gathered in Dubai. (It is very similar to the construction activities in Berlin after the Berlin Wall came down)
UAE is a federation which consists of seven emirates, and was established in 1971. UAE is rich in crude oil and natural gas, and is very prosperous after the successful oil discovery in the 1960’s and foreign investments in the 1970’s. The government used the “petro” dollars wisely, and converted a nomadic tribe into a modern society at an astounding and ambitious speed. They built the tallest building in the world, (taller than Taipei 101) a man-made Atlantis on the Palm resorts, which can be spotted from space, the largest indoor aquarium in the Dubai Mall, a seven star hotel, an indoor ski slope where you can ski anytime during the year. They hire the best minds in the world for their planning, and use the most advanced technology (like electronic toll collecting system by using radio frequency ID technology) for their applications. Most huge companies, like Siemens, IBM, Microsoft, Bayer, Toyota etc., around the world, have their presence in Dubai. It has also been developed as a tourist “hot spot”, with many luxury stores, like Tiffany, Cartier etc., inside the malls for shopping.
There were many memorable events: such as walking around the renowned Jumeirah sandy beach; visiting a mosque; touring Palace and museums in Abu Dhabi and many museums in Dubai; and excellent eating near the bank of the river in Deira. I would just like to highlight two special arrangements made by Patty: one is very traditional, but new to us; and the other is very modern.
The modern one first: The afternoon tea at the sail-boat shaped seven star Burj Al Arab Jumeirah Hotel. It boasts itself as “the World’s Most Luxurious Hotel” It was built 280 meters away from the shores, designed to resemble the graceful sails of an Arabian dhow and soars to a height of 321 meters. We had our afternoon tea (it is a little over US$120 per person) at the top of the world’s tallest atrium (27th floor) with a magnificent view of the Dubai coastline, Atlantis on the Palm and Dubai skylines. The Hotel has a helicopter landing pad on the roof of the Hotel. Guests can be greeted and picked up at the Dubai International Airport and escorted to Hotel by helicopter. The room rates in January range from about $3,000 to $20,000 per night plus all of the service charges and taxes. We really enjoyed the architecturally magnificent exterior, a truly exuberant interior design, and the view of the surroundings. They have the best collection of the teas worldwide. I had the Wu-loong tea and it went well with all the finger-food.
The traditional one: The Safari trip to the desert. We drove out of the Dubai City for about an hour and arrived in the desert. Before we got into the real desert reservation area, the driver had to deflate the tire pressure, in order to proceed in the sandy terrain. The camels in UAE have a single hump, and stand about 10 feet tall. The six of us rode 3 camels on a very nice sunny day, which is new to all of us. (I had seen camels with two humps near Inner Mongolia, but never got close or rode them) After the camel rides, we were sand-boarding on a fairly long and steep sand slope. All of our three daughters and son-in-law know how to snowboard. It is much easier for them to get used to sand boarding. Shun-Tang and I were new to both, but we tried it anyway. I was falling half-way through, but having a good time.
After an exciting week of fast-paced activities, it was time to go home. Before we came home, we went to buy a lot of dates, which is the most famous fruit of the desert in UAE. It is very sweet and juicy. I could not stop eating them. Our family members all agreed that this is our best family reunion ever, and one of the best trips as well.
李朝三泰國教金鋼
(攝於泰國家前)在泰國，中文口謂金或今，就是一般的中國話。中國話又有多樣，像潮州話，福建話，客家話，甚至於海南話。但是這些都是地方性方言，其中又以潮州話最廣為人知，且泛用於老一輩的生意人群中。年輕人會操用潮州話者幾希，更不用說福建或客家語。因此，真正最受重視的中文或是華語，就是我們的國語，或是大陸的普通話，或是洋人口中Mandarin了。這種北京話，或是官話兒，泰國人敬稱為正統中文，泰音譯叫金哥啷，歌啷意為中央，短快叫稱為金鋼。
於是，退休後，就在一個緣份的搓揉下，我開始教起了金鋼。先是有一位銀行經理考慮於六十歲退休後的再就業，要求我教他中文，每星期一次。如此來來往往的幾個月，或因他工作忙碌，或是我出國不在，但是實際上是中文的難度太高， 教學的第一回合，便無疾而終，草草收場。
去年初，從居住了十二年的鄉下工作地搬到曼谷，新家打理妥善後，興起了再教金鋼的念頭，得學生兩位，是一對報關行父子，兒子還在念大學，曾經學過金鋼，父親則是未曾學過，但會用繁體字寫自己的姓名，而且其學習態度更積極於兒子，堪稱為好學。今年年後，我再度招生，教授地點是四十公里外的自家公寓社區，詢問者眾，但是報名上課的僅四個人，分別是一對大學教授夫婦，一位高中女生，另一位為年僅八歲的小學男生。就這樣，我兩個家每週往返兩次，教得不亦樂乎。
我教中文，採用大陸版的簡體字與漢語拼音，繁體字與注音符號教學已經不再流興，這是大勢所趨，無法抵擋的事實。好在移居到南洋二十多年，對簡體字與漢語拼音有下過工夫，教學還算能夠勝任，而在教學中發生的趣事與驚喜也不少。比如說，因為泰語發音的截然不同，我就不曾見過一位學生會將”去”字正確發音，而且越修正越偏離，南腔北調全出籠，真是令人噴飯，也是我極大的挑戰。而為了善盡教授金鋼的正統標準，我也比照正統北京官腔，盡量教授學生字正腔圓，也驚喜見到我那位教授學生亦步亦趨地跟著我學會捲舌頭，真不賴呢。而我那八歲的小學生，字体寫得很工整，但每當老師奉獻延長時間，講得口沫橫飛時，總不忘要提醒老師該下課了。除此之外，我還得學習靈活運用生活與工作上的用語，引導學生們一起對話，引發他們的興趣。 而另一方面，因為必須使用泰國語文說解，我發現我的泰文也悄悄的進步，體會到教學相長的樂趣。今後，我將喜歡繼續教中文。
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