Ming的部落格

謝奇宏早產缺氧，偏偏醫院的氧氣筒故障，出生時沒哭，媽媽以為死胎。 直到四個月大時，剛由國外學成歸國的前衛生署長診斷，才知已成為腦性麻痺患者。 
為此媽媽特地讓奇宏晚一年上學，和小他一歲的妹妹同班，以便照顧他。
當奇宏要入小學時，媽媽告訴他，如果有小朋友罵他「白癡」或「神經病」，那不是你的錯，因此，第一次在學校被罵，奇宏回家立刻對媽媽說，今天有人罵我，我不生氣。
以後在學校的情形，依然如故。
直到奇宏上國中一年級了，有一天放學回來，媽媽看到他被欺負的身體多處瘀傷，長期的自我建設崩潰了。
媽媽聽人家說，像奇宏這樣的孩子，外國比較會接納，而且還有特殊教育等，但不知道哪個國家最好，手上並沒有資訊。 十四歲的奇宏和弟弟妹妹，就這樣被媽媽帶到人生地不熟的南非，在流浪到第四個城--開普敦時，終於打聽到專門給腦性麻痺小孩上的Vista NovaSchool，從小學、初中到高中畢業。但當時還在種族隔離，該校師生一律純白，怎會收留外國孩子呢？
媽媽帶著奇宏向學校請求，校方要奇宏的健康檢查、智力測驗、推薦信，並經家長會通過後，試讀一星期，家長會再開會決定是否接受奇宏入學。
智力測驗的題目是英文，才會ABC的奇宏不會，校方主動聘請我駐南非領事館的人員來翻譯。
通過後，學校考慮到奇宏的英語能力，為免學習挫折，特地給他降讀小學六年級。
全校共有八百個學生，每班約八個人。
視神經受到傷害，弱勢六百度的奇宏，運動神經也受傷，他的手不能寫小字，校方特地為他向各方爭取經費，買了一台手提電腦專供奇宏使用。
奇宏覺得南非這個國家很浪費，竟然把昂貴的手提電腦給他當打字機，媽媽一聽，索性為他請了電腦家教，從初階到高階。
有次處理電腦的老師搞不來，奇宏同老師說，只要這個程式加那個程式就可以了，老師一試，果然如此，驚為天人，以後高中部電腦當機或有病毒，都送小學部給奇宏解決，家長們也都把家裡的電腦，請奇宏幫忙。
在南非上學才半年，奇宏就狂愛英文古典詩，喜劇劇本，文法雖錯，還是一直寫，老師就一直改，讓他進步很快，有一次，老師以為他抄襲，就要他寫一篇更長的詩，校長甚至對他說：「你再寫幾篇比這三篇更長的詩，我把它裝成冊給全校看。」
校長拿到他的新作品時，說：「你是一顆閃亮的星。」
奇宏成為全校的風雲人物。
每年都得獎的奇宏，高中是第一名畢業獎，也得全校英文最好的獎。
畢業典禮時，全校的家長起立為奇宏鼓掌。
優異的成績，讓奇宏申請到南非最好的開普敦大學，大學的同學也把他當寶貝，大三畢業時，奇宏順利的讀碩士先修班。
南非的大學三年畢業，總成績七十分以上，才可上大四，等於碩士先修班(南非大學系統不易轉系。）
回顧在台灣上小學時，奇宏都是全班倒數第二名，常被老師打，他很難過時，媽媽就說：「沒關係，媽媽以前都讀最後一名」來安慰奇宏。
上體育課時，台灣的老師要他留在教室，南非的同學卻集體拉他一起上體育，同學都是死忠兼換帖，感情好得不得了，校方還為不笑的奇宏召開家長會，由七、八個老師對媽媽一人，診斷出奇宏太想念在台灣的爸爸關係。
如果不是媽媽勇於闖蕩，奇宏認為今天他可能只能在街頭賣公益彩券，而不是開普敦大學受景仰受寵的英文詩人學生，他說「媽媽真的好偉大。」
 

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分享給從事教育工作的朋友
或是
常會被大環境所打擊的朋友

話說誠信被那個“聰明”的年輕人投棄到水裡以後，他拼命地游著，最後來到了一 個小島上。“誠信”就躺在沙灘上休息，心裡計劃著等待哪位路過的朋友允許他搭船，救他一命。
突然，“誠信”聽到遠處傳來一陣陣歡樂輕鬆的音樂。他於是馬上站起來，向著音 樂傳來的方向望去：他看見一隻小船正向這邊駛來。船上有面小旗，上面寫著“快樂”二字，原來是快樂的小船。“誠信”忙喊道：“快樂快樂，我是誠信，你拉我回岸可以嗎？”“快樂”一聽，笑著對“誠信”說：“不行不行，我一有了誠信就不快樂了，你看這社會上有多少人因為說實話而不快樂，對不起，我無能為力。”說罷，“快樂”走了。
過了一會兒，“地位”又來了，誠信忙喊到：“地位地位，我是誠信，我想搭你的船回家可以嗎？”“地位”忙把船劃遠了，回頭對“誠信”說：“不行不行，誠信可不能搭我的船，我的地位來之不易啊！有了你這個誠信我豈不倒霉，並且連地位也難以保住啊！”誠信很失望地看著“地位”的背影，眼裡充滿了不解和疑惑，他又接著等。
隨著一片有節奏的卻不和諧的聲音傳來，“競爭”們乘著小船來了，“誠信”喊道：“競爭，競爭，我能不能搭你的小船一程？”競爭們問道：“你是誰，你能給我們多少好處？”“誠信”不想說，怕說了又沒人理，但“誠信”畢竟是誠信，他說：“我是誠信……”“你是誠信啊，你這不成心給我們添麻煩嗎？如今競爭這麼激烈，我們‘不正當競爭’怎麼敢要你誠信？”言罷，揚長而去。
正當誠信感到近乎絕望的時候，一個慈祥的聲音從遠處傳來：“孩子，上船吧！一個白髮蒼蒼的老者在船上掌著舵道：“我是時間老人。”“那您為什麼要救我呢？”老人微笑著說：“只有時間才知道誠信有多麼重要！”
在回去的路上，時間老人指著因翻船而落水的“快樂”、“地位”、“競爭”意味深長地說道：“沒有誠信，快樂不長久，地位是虛假的，競爭也是失敗的。”
 

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這是我一個認識很久很久的朋友與我分享的, 跟大家分享
 
認識也十多年了吧
從不特別熟稔
(但也許是當初特殊的環境, 總有一份似家人般的感情)
我們各自的飛
飛向心中的綠洲
卻也從不曾有緣錯身而過
而這一次的交錯
卻是因為一個在台生活多年, 真摯熱誠的日本人-石村先生
(雖然我早就放棄在那個領域努力, 妳應該看看石村先生聽到我敘述後來的工作與生活時的表情, 滿臉愕然之情)
 
奇妙的緣分
希望我們都將更珍惜

缺點與優點的界線
 
有個老富翁在臨死前，想把財產分給個性、行為最成熟的孩子，於是他想了個法子把三兄弟召來床前：「我想決定遺產的分配，但不知道該怎麼分比較好，能不能請你們幫個忙？每人拿兩張紙，一張寫下自己的優點，一張寫下另外兩個人的缺點，然後再把兩張紙拿給另外兩兄弟簽名，不管是優點還是缺點，寫得愈多，且愈快完成這件事的人，就能分得最多的財產。」三兄弟聽到指示急忙照辦，並與父親約定隔天早上在他的房間揭曉結果。

 
第二天一大早，三兄弟就聚集在老富翁房前，只見老大、老二仍在為簽字與否爭論不休時，老三卻坐在一旁氣定神閒，父親於是問他情況如何，老三說已經獲得兩位哥哥的簽名同意了，父親非常驚訝，問他是怎麼辦到的？老三說：「我寫自己優點的這張是空白的，寫哥哥缺點的那張紙也是空白，我認為自己沒有優點，他們沒有缺點，他們接受起來一點也不困難，當然非常同意，就幫我簽字了。」

 
老富翁接著叫兩位哥哥拿出他們的優點與缺點清單。老翁看了一下笑了笑，兩人所寫的自我優點與寫別人缺點的數量剛好一樣多，有趣的是，大哥自認為的優點卻是二弟眼中的缺點；相反的，二弟自認為的優點，正是大哥所列舉的缺點。兩人看自己的觀點剛好南轅北轍。

 
父親見老大、老二爭執不下，於是又再問老三，有沒有什麼好建議能幫他們解決。老三說：「我建議他們先簽下寫自己缺點的那一張紙，如果先承認自己的缺點，對方也會同意你有優點。」兩位哥哥聞道，便照著小老弟的話試試，結果果然皆大歡喜，寫下缺點和優點的兩張紙都順利獲得簽名同意。

 
老富翁微笑地點點頭，比對著三兄弟的清單，其中三弟的兩張清單上的簽字時間分別是十點一分及十點二分，差距只有一分鐘。與兩位哥哥清單上別人簽字的時間整整差了24小時以上。

老富翁拿給三兄弟一人一個信封，裡面放有一張紙條，上頭寫著「原來要別人接受你的邏輯很簡單，先承認自己有缺點，優點才有成長的空間。原來要別人接受你的方法是那麼的簡單，先體會別人的感受，不是先保護自己的感受。」

 
原來優點和缺點的界線並不在我們身上，是在別人心上。
 

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去年不小心參加到日本豪華旅遊團中認識的一位貴婦與我分享的...
與大家分享

The Witch
Andrew Lang

Once upon a time there was a peasant whose wife died， leaving him with two children -- twins -- a boy and a girl. For some years the poor man lived on alone with the children, caring for them as best he could; but everything in the house seemed to go wrong without a woman to look after it, and at last he made up his mind to marry again, feeling that a wife would bring peace and order to his household and take care of his motherless children. So he married, and in the following years several children were born to him; but peace and order did not come to the household. For the step-mother was very cruel to the twins, and beat them, and half-starved them, and constantly drove them out of the house; for her one idea was to get them out of the way. All day she thought of nothing but how she should get rid of them; and at last an evil idea came into her head, and she determined to send them out into the great gloomy wood where a wicked witch lived. And so one morning she spoke to them, saying:
'You have been such good children that I am going to send you to visit my granny, who lives in a dear little hut in the wood. You will have to wait upon her and serve her, but you will be well rewarded, for she will give you the best of everything.'
So the children left the house together; and the little sister, who was very wise for her years, said to the brother: 'We will first go and see our own dear grandmother, and tell her where our step-mother is sending us.'
And when the grandmother heard where they were going, she cried and said: 'You poor motherless children! How I pity you; and yet I can do nothing to help you! Your step-mother is not sending you to her granny, but to a wicked witch who lives in that great gloomy wood. Now listen to me, children. You must be civil and kind to everyone, and never say a cross word to anyone, and never touch a crumb belonging to anyone else. Who knows if, after all, help may not be sent to you?'
And she gave her grandchildren a bottle of milk and a piece of ham and a loaf of bread, and they set out for the great gloomy wood. When they reached it they saw in front of them, in the thickest of the trees, a queer little hut, and when they looked into it, there lay the witch, with her head on the threshold of the door, with one foot in one corner and the other in the other corner, and her knees cocked up, almost touching the ceiling.
'Who's there?' she snarled, in an awful voice, when she saw the children.
And they answered civilly, though they were so terrified that they hid behind one another, and said:
'Good-morning, granny; our step-mother has sent us to wait upon you, and serve you.'
'See that you do it well, then,' growled the witch. 'If I am pleased with you, I'll reward you; but if I am not, I'll put you in a pan and fry you in the oven--that's what I'll do with you, my pretty dears! You have been gently reared, but you'll find my work hard enough. See if you don't.'
And, so saying, she set the girl down to spin yarn, and she gave the boy a sieve in which to carry water from the well, and she herself went out into the wood. Now, as the girl was sitting at her distaff, weeping bitterly because she could not spin, she heard the sound of hundreds of little feet, and from every hole and corner in the hut mice came pattering along the floor, squeaking and saying:
'Little girl, why are your eyes so red?
If you want help, then give us some bread.'
And the girl gave them the bread that her grandmother had given her. Then the mice told her that the witch had a cat, and the cat was very fond of ham; if she would give the cat her ham, it would show her the way out of the wood, and in the meantime they would spin the yarn for her. So the girl set out to look for the cat, and, as she was hunting about, she met her brother, in great trouble because he could not carry water from the well in a sieve, as it came pouring out as fast as he put it in. And as she was trying to comfort him they heard a rustling of wings, and a flight of wrens alighted on the ground beside them. And the wrens said:
'Give us some crumbs, then you need not grieve.
For you'll find that water will stay in the sieve.'
Then the twins crumbled their bread on the ground, and the wrens pecked it, and chirruped and chirped. And when they had eaten the last crumb they told the boy to fill up the holes of the sieve with clay, and then to draw water from the well. So he did what they said, and carried the sieve full of water into the hut without spilling a drop. When they entered the hut the cat was curled up on the floor. So they stroked her, and fed her with ham, and said to her:
'Pussy, grey pussy, tell us how we are to get away from the witch?'
 
Then the cat thanked them for the ham, and gave them a pocket- handkerchief and a comb, and told them that when the witch pursued them, as she certainly would, all they had to do was to throw the handkerchief on the ground and run as fast as they could. As soon as the handkerchief touched the ground a deep, broad river would spring up, which would hinder the witch's progress. If she managed to get across it, they must throw the comb behind them and run for their lives, for where the comb fell a dense forest would start up, which would delay the witch so long that they would be able to get safely away.
The cat had scarcely finished speaking when the witch returned to see if the children had fulfilled their tasks.
'Well, you have done well enough for to-day,' she grumbled; 'but to-morrow you'll have something more difficult to do, and if you don't do it well, you pampered brats, straight into the oven you go.'
Half-dead with fright, and trembling in every limb, the poor children lay down to sleep on a heap of straw in the corner of the hut; but they dared not close their eyes, and scarcely ventured to breathe. In the morning the witch gave the girl two pieces of linen to weave before night, and the boy a pile of wood to cut into chips. Then the witch left them to their tasks, and went out into the wood. As soon as she had gone out of sight the children took the comb and the handkerchief, and, taking one another by the hand, they started and ran, and ran, and ran. And first they met the watch-dog, who was going to leap on them and tear them to pieces; but they threw the remains of their bread to him, and he ate them and wagged his tail. Then they were hindered by the birch-trees, whose branches almost put their eyes out. But the little sister tied the twigs together with a piece of ribbon, and they got past safely, and, after running through the wood, came out on to the open fields.
In the meantime in the hut the cat was busy weaving the linen and tangling the threads as it wove. And the witch returned to see how the children were getting on; and she crept up to the window, and whispered:
'Are you weaving, my little dear?'
'Yes, granny, I am weaving,' answered the cat.
When the witch saw that the children had escaped her, she was furious, and, hitting the cat with a porringer, she said: 'Why did you let the children leave the hut? Why did you not scratch their eyes out?'
But the cat curled up its tail and put its back up, and answered: 'I have served you all these years and you never even threw me a bone, but the dear children gave me their own piece of ham.'
Then the witch was furious with the watch-dog and with the birch-trees, because they had let the children pass. But the dog answered:
'I have served you all these years and you never gave me so much as a hard crust, but the dear children gave me their own loaf of bread.'
And the birch rustled its leaves, and said: 'I have served you longer than I can say, and you never tied a bit of twine even round my branches; and the dear children bound them up with their brightest ribbons.'
So the witch saw there was no help to be got from her old servants, and that the best thing she could do was to mount on her broom and set off in pursuit of the children. And as the children ran they heard the sound of the broom sweeping the ground close behind them, so instantly they threw the handkerchief down over their shoulder, and in a moment a deep, broad river flowed behind them.
When the witch came up to it, it took her a long time before she found a place which she could ford over on her broom-stick; but at last she got across, and continued the chase faster than before. And as the children ran they heard a sound, and the little sister put her ear to the ground, and heard the broom sweeping the earth close behind them; so, quick as thought, she threw the comb down on the ground, and in an instant, as the cat had said, a dense forest sprung up, in which the roots and branches were so closely intertwined, that it was impossible to force a way through it. So when the witch came up to it on her broom she found that there was nothing for it but to turn round and go back to her hut.
But the twins ran straight on till they reached their own home. Then they told their father all that they had suffered, and he was so angry with their step-mother that he drove her out of the house, and never let her return; but he and the children lived happily together; and he took care of them himself, and never let a stranger come near them.
 

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對啦~~
好類似糖果屋那一類的故事...
可以嗎?
還是要成熟一點的?

 
引述

Follow Your Dream

  

I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a

horse ranch in San Ysidro. He has let me use his

house to put on fund-raising events to raise money

for youth at risk programs.

 

The last time I was there he introduced me by

saying, "I want to tell you why I let Jack use my

house. It all goes back to a story about a young man

who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who

would go from stable to stable, race track to race

track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training

horses. As a result, the boy's high school career was

continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he

was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to

be and do when he grew up.

 

That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing

his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote

about his dream in great detail and he even drew a

diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of

all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he

drew a detailed floor plan for a 4000 square-feet house

that would sit on the 200-acre dream ranch.

 

He put a great deal of his heart into the project

 

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從Ben那邊抓來的

有空時讀一讀吧

練習你的英文閱讀能力吧!