打开BBC网页，发现一张熟悉的面孔。安德鲁·洛伊·韦伯正在邀请国民参加Eurovision歌唱大赛，代表英国，演绎他正在亲自谱写的新歌。

祝挑战者们都好运吧。

1995年的那一届大赛，带出了我最喜欢的 Secret Garden 组合，他们那首“歌”（因为严格来说演唱部分很少）叫做 Nocturne.

这几天爱国情绪都很浓的，很多人胸前戴上一朵红色辫黑色蕊的罂粟花 (Poppy)，纪念这个国家在一战中牺牲的士兵，当然还一并纪念在阿富汗和伊拉克为国捐躯的人们。 然而今天才是正式的 Remembrance Day，早上十一点，女王，政要，大将，民众，同时默哀，在阴沉的天色下献上花圈。

昨天才在收音机里听到有人批评假如奥巴马生在英国，是没有可能当上首相的。

才发现自己已经很少想“假如”了。

I got off from a bus that had just got out from the long River Mersey tunnel. Just now at the Bus Terminal, I misunderstood an old lady who was trying to show me the way, 'the next stop', she pointed somewhere. 'So can I just walk there?' said I. It must be just a mere few hundred yards away, I thought to myself.

'Can you understand English?' she didn't seem at all annoyed. She walked, I followed her, just a few meters away under the same roof, we moved from Gate 6 to Gate 7, where different buses come in to pick up passengers.

So I managed to get back. It was dark now in the city centre. I remember the only time when a teenager asked me for some money for a phone call. He began the conversation by asking, 'Speak English?'

But now it was the last night of the Proms, the end of a two-month long season of non-paused classical concerts. What a surprise it was to find this big wide television screen high above next to Clayton Square was showing this as well, live from the Royal Albert Hall. Another old lady came up as asked me to do a survey. She must have noticed that I was intrigued because I stopped walking and started watching.

How much I knew about this big screen here, how I liked it, these all seemed to me very interesting. 'Do you know who's supporting it?' Honestly I didn't know. The answer was the BBC. Then I looked up, oh yes, 'BBC' has been always written on there.

'How good do you think it is?' Well, it's in the right location showing the right things at the right time. As long as there is not too much noise, and making sure this is not affecting the privacy of the neighbouring people, I said, I don't think there'll be any problem. 'Does this make you feel better about the BBC?' Right, I'm not feeling better or not about it just because the big screen here. Instead I think it is normal because the company is so well funded.

Soon I realised she was expecting more information than I could give, partly because few channels other than those BBCs could be received in my residence hall, limited by the type of TV licence we've paid for.

When this was finished, I spotted something ironic. You can see a CCTV has been attached to the screen. So it's a Tele-, and it's a Screen, and there's an eye on it too, so it is watching you. I mean, they could have avoided fixing it there.

Behind the 'BBC', it happens to be a Tesco. A huge lorry was there ready to unload goods that we buy every day. Britain's two most powerful signs both in front of me, am I right to say.

Please give your self a break before reading the following. I appreciate your patience if you have reached here.

Another old lady, yes, another, was the only person watching the concert with me on the square. A devout Christian, she decided to stop to enjoy what she only considered 'good music'.

8月13日

很高兴的一天，来到我平生第一次寻访的一国之都。繁忙，拥挤。一日之内天气变化无常的时节，偶尔暴雨突然来袭，几分钟后又晴朗起来。河上猛烈的风，吹得人走路有点吃力，湍急的水流，比不上一艘艘轮渡的繁忙。下班时间，道路水泄不通，西敏寺下成千上万的游客，饶有兴趣地观望着几个反战示威者，特拉法尔加广场上立起了一个大屏幕，转播着奥运赛事。

Royal Albert Hall 在这个都城没那么喧闹的海德公园一角，巨大的红色圆拱形建筑，就在大名鼎鼎的 Imperial College 对面。今年BBC逍遥音乐会的第37场，主角是哥德堡交响乐团，演绎拉威尔和柏辽兹的作品。

坐在4楼的外围观众席 (circle) 上，仍然能看清楚整个乐队，听到的声音效果也还很好。柏辽兹的《幻想交响曲》(Symphonie Fantastique) 长达足足有一个时，但人们似乎仍听得入迷。时间尚早，观众反响热烈，要求加演。于是我们听到了瑞典作曲家史坦哈玛 (W. Stenhammar) 的半首缓慢沉重的曲子。指挥让乐队在一个长音符上突然收住，好久观众才反应过来。意犹未尽，掌声如雷，指挥 Gustavo Dudamel 只好再次上场，整个音乐厅便跟着那首轻快热烈的 Tico-Tico 舞曲跳动起来。

8月14日

早上，如果不坐地铁，地面交通的速度可能会比不上走路。我感到这个城市的脉搏，一种静默、有序而自觉的生存规则。人们把自动扶梯的左边空出来，给赶时间的人通过。几条古旧的地铁线路没有装屏蔽门，竟然能让人看到铁轨下栖身的一些鼹鼠，这个管道系统追溯到日不落帝国时期，它们也应该按着某种法则生活了上百年了吧。比起利物浦，这里的外族人口担起了更重要的社会角色。他们有的是巴士司机，有的是地铁工作人员，还有的是市区金融中心里的西装白领。

8月15日

从大英博物馆里走出来，不得不承认匆忙地走马观花，不知所云。几天下来，该走的景点走了（当然除了收费太贵的），但不知道为什么，我还想再来。昨晚在 Soho 的一间吧台里，叫了一杯长岛冰茶，酸甜的味道掩饰着酒精度，但就像游客与居民相比一样，我所谓的经历，还是离纯伏特加差太远。

Sorry for the absence for the last two months and I apologize for my laziness but I hope you have all been well.

I'm from a hardworking country who is rapidly making life better for so many, but people in the west sees it quite differently, in many different ways too. I'm very glad that they do.

The same as they have been with issues within themselves. I can see the courage in here, the courage to be dissatisfied with what you have, and to make fun of them, and not avoiding speaking out issues that we face. I should have learnt a great deal of that during the first two years as a student majoring in English language. It is not valued any less, I have to say, by the ancient Chinese literature that we learnt in high school.

Politics is Politicians' matter, and none of us are able to see through what plot is behind it. So disappointed can you be by the media and believe that they are all controlled. But what matters is the way it has made us to be what we are today. They shape such a large part of our thoughts, which come from what we see, what we listen, and, depending on your lifestyle, what we read. You are made, if not controlled, and thus shaped, to be what you are now. There are, unfortunately, no exceptions.

When I watch some of the Games these days, the expressions that athletes competing for different nations have on their faces tell us a lot. Generally the army from the powerful host nation would usually wear a grim look, as if they were ready for a battle, and they look somehow very much pressurized as well, I must say. By contrast I would generally imagine a smile from an athlete from a western team, who would simply see the joy and excitement in the game. They enjoy the game, just like they chose the career of an athlete, simply because they LOVE it.

This is what we can be made to me. I don't want to me too much generalized on this. But is it fair to say, freedom, even if it is just propaganda, really makes some difference here?

Yes, I can see when the athletes from Iraq paraded in the Bird's Nest Stadium on the spectacular Opening Ceremony of the Games, the camera (in fact BBC's) focused on the grim look on the US President's face, and you can challenge me on this.

A

世界A对世界B的人说，你们了解我们还不如我们对你们了解得多，有什么资格评判我们如何不是呢？

世界B对世界A的人说，你们连说什么、看什么都被限制着，言不由衷，说我们有偏见，叫人怎么相信呢？

不如给双方一点时间吧。

B

传教士A对同学B说，没有宗教怎么行呢？

同学B说，为什么要非要把一个地方的信仰扩张到与它毫不相干的地方呢？

传教士A说，好的东西怎么可以独自占有而不分享呢？

同学B说，怎么知道你认为好的东西对别人就一定好呢？

传教士A无言。过了一会他说，我知道造字的人用“羊”和“我”组成了“義”字——这跟“我为羊，食我肉”的受难精神很巧合。

C

参加了一个去年患癌离世的本地音乐教师的纪念音乐会，在合唱席上，参与的同时又欣赏了表演。逝者与家人、亲友、同事、学生全因音乐走到了一起，如今音乐又是他们共同的慰藉。鲁特（John Rutter）的歌曲都特别优美，我们唱了他的 'For the Beauty of the Earth', 'Gaelic Blessing' 和 'Requiem' （安魂曲）。合唱席上身服装白色，每人胸前别上了一朵新鲜玫瑰花。

玫瑰被采摘，注定明天就要枯萎。太美丽的生命，是不是上主也太喜欢，而被太早地采摘到了一个叫天堂的地方？

我们无从知道，但我们有能力珍惜。

D

她自己下了车，坐回到轮椅上。我忘不了短短几天里脑海中属于她的图景，那双强壮的臂膀支撑着她所有日常运动。她给我写了 'With Love From Belgium' 几个字,  让我感到我那天不小心问她的尴尬问题仿佛全化解了。

轮椅不只是跟我们那副眼镜一样平常吗？

“真的猛士，敢于直面惨淡的人生，敢于正视淋漓的鲜血。”

有一个多钟头，也许话题沉重，始终没有穿插气氛和笑话。Liverpool Hope 这次举办的国际青年会议 (Global Youth Congress) 叫做 The Big Hope. 旨在让不同信仰、不同种族的年轻人欢聚和交流，增进了解，让他们能为明天一个和睦美好的世界出一分力。

求求你们千万别笑，站在此地看此地的历史，爱尔兰这个美丽小岛，许多流血冲突，无休止的仇恨纷争，都是这种外人看来很可笑的信仰分岐造成的（至少是名义上，先不管背后“利益关系”如何）。Mary McAleese 夫人1997年继任爱尔兰共和国总统直到现在。今天她给我印象最深的一个观点就是，面对着不断发生的让人伤心的事情，我们无能为力（也许坐在她的位置也无能为力），但需要学会 live with them, and don't loose faith. 自己要紧紧抱住“一切会变好的”的希望。

她说与希望相对的是同以H字母开头的仇恨，这造成了很多 toxic scenes. 人们 ransack 了对本是同根生的教义的不同理解。目光停留在对方的不同 (focus on differences, otherness of the other)。

她强调教育在化解冲突中的作用。文化和文化间了解了各自的不同后，不应该各人自扫门前雪，过着 isolated 的生活。要主动地相互了解（比“和平共处”更进一步），主动化解双方关系中的毒素 (challenge toxics). keep your hope alive. explore commonality. know one another well.

而且了解并不会让你 lose your own identity. 人们从一个文化走到另一个文化，带来的不仅仅是行囊，还带来了比如艺术等等的文化的各个方面。

谈到了常存希望，她让人惊喜地引用了鲁迅的话“世上本来并没有路，走的人多了也就成了路”。

以上只是我作为活动志愿者，忙乱中做得不是很好的笔记连起来的碎片。