Written by Henry Sorren / Edited by Sherry Sorren
Part 1/2
我手上拿著接下來兩個禮拜要打工換宿農場的地址，但是我根本不知道應該怎麼去。我只好在公車站附近的農田閒晃，一邊想著下一步該怎麼走。突然，有一位嘴裡叼著菸的老人騎著摩托車慢慢地朝我的方向過來，我伸出手朝他招了招，他停下摩托車仔細端看我遞給他的地址。接著他點點頭，對我豎起大拇指，並指了指自己的摩托車，我猜他應該是決定要載我一程吧。於是我坐上了機車後座，但是尷尬的雙手不知道該往哪擺…這是我第一次坐在機車後座，深怕自己會跌下去，所以我決定抱住這老農夫的腰來保護自己。當我回頭想這次的經驗，實在是怪到不行……但是在當時我卻覺得自己徹底融入了台灣文化。
I had the address of the farm I was going to stay at, but I wasn’t sure how toget there. After all the farm was in the countryside. I found an old guy smokinga cigarette with a motorcycle, I showed him the address and asked if he knew how to get there. He nodded and pointed to his motorcycle, he was offering to take me there. So i got onto the motorcycle, sitting behind the guy. It was my first time on a moterscooter so I wasn’t sure how to hold on, so I held onto his waist. Looking back now I realize how strange this is but at the time it felt totally normal.
大約 10 分鐘過後我到了一棟很大的房子，還有很多隻狗在前院中奔跑。我從機車上下來，老農夫笑笑地對我揮了揮手，就騎著摩托車帥氣地離開了。終於，千辛萬苦之後，我到達了打工換宿的農場。農場主人熱情的向我打招呼，帶我熟悉環境，還提供我一個很舒適的房間讓我休息。當我坐在床上稍作歇息，我覺得我自己真是瘋狂，竟然毅然而然就決定要在開學前兩個禮拜來到一個陌生的國家，還在一個偏遠的農場打工換宿。我傻傻的對自己笑了笑，瘋狂但我準備好了。
After driving for about 10 minutes I arrived at a large house and a few dogs running around. I got off the motorcycle and he waved and drove off. Then the owners of the farm greeted me, they were very nice and welcomed me into their house, showing me the room I would be staying in. It began to sink in what I was doing, how I bought my plane ticket so I would arrive two weeks before school started, so I could work on a farm. It was all pretty crazy but I was ready.
此時我的中文並不是很好，而且農場夫婦們也不太會說英文，但是我們還是能 無障礙的溝通。農場主人非常好客，吃飯時間我們總是肆無忌憚地聊天大笑，他們也常跟我開玩笑說要不要找一個台灣女朋友，之後就住在台灣吧等等，我們的相處非常輕鬆融洽。我也把一本中英字典隨時帶在身邊，當我有任何問題想詢問他們，就可以即時的幫上忙。
At this time my Chinese wasn’t very good and the farmers couldn’t speak any english, but somehow we managed to communicate. I would be staying there for the next two weeks, so it was important that I got along with them, but it was easy, most every meal we spent laughing and talking about how it would be impossible for me to get a Taiwanese girlfriend, because of the culture differences. I kept a dictionary with me to help me with the conversations, which came in handy.
我很期待隔天早晨醒來在台灣真正的第一天，有點緊張，他們跟我說我會在芭樂園幫忙農務，但是因為不知即將面對甚麼挑戰，所以我帶著興奮又微微害怕 的心情沉沉的入睡。
I would start my first day in the morning and I was excited and nervous. It was volunteer work to help them with their guava farm, I had no idea what to expect.
Note from Henry:
“I am an illustrator, photographer and traveler! For more of my own work please visit http://muumao.com“
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