Remembering Grandpa ....(Bonnie) 邦寧

Our beloved grandpa passed away, and because I have just started at my new job, I cannot say good bye to him at the funeral. But I will remember him always of the things that he had brought to my life and lessons that he had taught me.

Chinese New Year
When I was a child, one of the best thing that I look forward to was the winter break that we don’t have to go to school for a whole month. Winter break at grandpa’s home was always a fun and exciting time. Starting off with the loud fire cracker at the crack of dawn, everyone will wake up and walk or bike to the rice fields and sometimes gather tomatoes, corn and other crops, then followed by a whole morning of food preparation. The kitchen would be the busiest place where everything from rice cake to fried fish were made. Meatballs were freshly made and dropped into a big wok of boiling hot oil, then piled up high in a big bowl. You can hear the crackling sound of bamboo burning in the fire and smell the smoke mixed with aroma of various foods. I also remembered that uncle would go just outside the kitchen and catch a chicken.
Grandpa will be in charge of making sure everything is in order and tell each person what they need to do. He will then call everybody when it is time to gather and enjoy the meals we prepared together. New year was the best time of the year because it was when the whole family gets together. Every year during lunar new years, I always thought about the good times we had at grandpa’s.

Traditional foods
One thing that I missed from Taiwan while living in the states is the food that I grew up with. Some of the best comfort foods I had were made with grandpa. Savory rice dumpling soup was one of my favorite in the winter time. Grandpa makes the rice dumplings from scratch that’s filled with meat and cooked with green vegetables in a flavorful broth. When they are cooked, the little white rice dumplings would float on top of the soup and every bite is a little piece of heaven.
Another tradition we had at grandpa’s home was the savory crepes during spring time. I remember everyone will sit at the big round dining room table. The table is filled with plates full of ingredients for filling the crepes such as shredded cucumber, scrambled egg, bean sprouts, and freshly grounded peanut powder mixed with confectioner’s sugar. Each of us would make our own crepes with all kinds of goodies stuffed inside. Grandpa always take a small shot of rice wine with his lunch, sitting on his wooden stool, and smiling contently while watching us eat.

Summer night music
In the summer time, it’s very hot during the day. But when the sun goes down, you can see the dark blue sky filled with stars and feel the cool breeze. I remember during evening time, grandpa would sit outside and play his two-stringed instrument. Without formal training or background in music, grandpa reads the numbered music score and picked up the instrument without much instruction. Grandpa would sing and play familiar tunes of folk songs, sometimes solo and sometimes with his good friends. When he comes to visit us, he would bring his instruments along and play for us.
Yoyo and I both love music and enjoy playing the piano and violin. I grew up playing the piano which was given by grandpa to mom as her wedding gift. Dad is a great singer and he would sing along while I play the piano. We must have gotten grandpa’s genes for the love of music and developed our passion under his influence.











Rainfall
One afternoon, grandpa woke up from his nap and looked panicked. He told me that he has a reoccurring bad dream. I asked him what it was and he told me that he often dreamed about rain fall before the harvested crops are dried. He will be so worried when the sky gets dark and cloudy because if the beans or grains get wet from the rain during the drying process, they will sprout and cannot be sold. Grandpa was a tremendously hard working farmer and a clever businessman. With his hard work and great business mind, he was able to support his family and even lend a hand to those that needed help. Besides rice and other crops, grandpa maintained a beautiful garden filled with colorful and fragrant flowers that grandma loves. Also in grandpa’s back yard, there are lots of fruits including star fruit, wax apple, dates, and strawberries.
One of my hobbies is gardening, I grew herbs, tomato, eggplant, pepper, and flowers. Gardening can be rewarding although I will have to say that it’s not easy. It takes a lot of time, care, and knowledge of the plants. I cannot imagine how much work grandpa had to do and plan when he had lots of land filled with different crops. Any of us cannot have the hardship that grandpa’s been through or the fear of rainfall he experienced. But I know he’s in peace now and do not have to worry about rainfall anymore.

Exam
During elementary school, there were always lots of homework and exams. After school one day, I came home and looked upset because I felt the exam was difficult. Grandpa was in the living room and he asked me how it went, and I told him that I felt it was very difficult, and I am not sure if I answered the questions correctly. He did not seem mad or questioned me if I had studied hard. Instead, he casually said to me, I knew you did your best. But sometimes when you feel the exam was hard, that means you understand the questions and have thought about your answer thoroughly. On the other hand, if you feel like you did very well on the exam, you might have not considered all the possibilities and missed some questions. I thought about what he told me, and instantly felt relieved.
Although it was a very casual conversation we had, I often remember it when I encounter any difficulty. I will take a step back and think about the positive side of things. Grandpa was wise and he taught me to do the best I can and to think positively and consider all possibilities.

到日本旅遊
1988年七月中旬，在大伯的籌劃下，一家族共17人陪著阿公到日本旅遊，我爸爸說阿公一輩子勞苦，很難得有這次遠行，讓大家一生難忘。那次去日本，我是國小三年級，媽媽每天還叮嚀我寫日記，到現在媽媽還留著我當年的日記本，趁此書的出版拿出來與大家分享，希望可以喚起大家一些當年的記憶。

撘飛機
　　今天早上我們全家人一大早就起來準備到桃園機場，要搭一五一號的國泰飛機到日本。我好興奮，準備了好多東西，樣樣齊全，我想得真周到。
　　我們上了飛機，繫好安全帶，飛機就開始跑，轉了二、三圈以後，飛機就慢慢的飛起來，從窗戶看下去一片雲海，很壯觀，時間過的很快，一下子就到了晚餐時間，我們吃了一頓日本料理，吃完了，我們就依依不捨的離開了飛機。
　　弟弟真有趣，到了日本，他還以為又回到桃園機場，問我說：「奇怪了？怎麼到處都寫日本字呢？」

秋芳洞
　　秋芳洞是一個很大很長的鐘乳石洞，在山洞裡，因為山洞的上面有地下水層，溶有石灰的水會從洞頂滲透下來，因為壓力減小，石灰又析出來，因此形成石柱和石筍，石柱和石筍合稱為鐘乳石。
　　洞裡好像有開冷氣一樣涼，我在洞裡看到一大堆奇形怪狀的鐘乳石，有的像梯田，有的像碟子，有的像女王頭，還有像草菇、觀音菩薩、蓮藕等等，更令我驚訝的是洞裡竟然還有瀑布和河流，河裡還有盲目魚呢！
　　大自然真是奇妙！只要你仔細的慢慢去觀察，你就會發現，從裡面得到很多知識以及快樂。

東大寺
　　我們到日本的奈良住了二天一夜，在這二天裡，我們去了很多地方，其中，我覺得最有意思、最好看的地方，就是我們第二天早上去看的東大寺。
　　東大寺是一個很大的佛堂，還有很多草地，一眼看過去一大片綠油油的草地，好像一塊綠色的地毯，我好想躺在上面，看藍天白雲，可是我看到牌子上寫「請勿踐踏」，我的夢想又失望了。好了我們不說這些了，還是去看看今天的主題吧！佛堂裡的東西都是兩千年前的，今天的主角就是佛堂裡面的大佛，大佛是用銅製的，光是祂的一隻眼睛就有二尺長，想就知道祂有多大了，祂旁邊還有一個大柱子，柱下有一個洞，傳說可以爬過去的人會很聰明。寺廟很古老，裡面的東西都舊了，我們走了一大圈，就離開了東大寺。
　　我覺得日本人很有公德心，連二千多年的古物一點的古物一點也沒損壞。

狄斯奈樂園
　　狄斯奈樂園是小孩子的天地，小孩子到那裡可以很痛痛快快的玩，大人也只好陪著小孩玩。
　　從大門一走進去就是世界市集，寬大的街道，像皇宮一樣精細美麗，好像在維多利亞王朝的國度裡，附近還有許多服裝店、藝品店、茶館、餐廳、布偶店……等，再過去就是小孩子最高興的地方，有太空山、小小世界、海盜館、西部樂園……等，每一種都又刺激又好玩，我們先去坐太空山，我們排了一個小時才走到裡面，裡面好像在太空梭上，又排了很久，就到了，二個人一個位置，我們進入了太空，坐在上面的我嚇壞了，一下子向上一下子向下衝，一下子左彎，一下子又右彎，到處都是星星，啊我們快撞到火球啦，被噴的都是水，轟！又來一個急轉彎，爸爸的眼鏡還差點摔破呢！好不容易停下來了，真驚險，頭都轉暈了，弟弟一點也不怕還想再玩一次呢！可是時間老人太自私了，我們只好依依不捨的離開了。

小小世界和遊行
　　我們因為上一次玩不夠，所以今天還是到狄斯奈樂園玩。
　　我們看到小小世界很多人排隊，心想一定很好玩，我們就跟著去排隊，好不容易排到裡面了，我們坐船進了山洞，洞裡很美，有各國的小孩，他們都穿著不同的傳統服裝，有穿草裙的，有穿棉襖的，花花綠綠看得我眼花撩亂，上頭還有坐在魔毯上的阿拉伯人，左邊、右邊都是小小世界的人物，這裡還有騎在馬上的印地安人呢，哇！你看那兒還有飛魚耶吔！墨西哥人真會跳舞，一男一女整齊的舞步，真美呀！啊！我差點就要被那隻大象噴到水了，好險哪！啊！好亮啊！我們已經出洞了，真想再去環遊世界一次；今天是狄斯奈樂園的五歲的生日，下午還有遊行，我們看完了小小世界就跟著一大堆人擠到遊行的地點，響亮的號角，整齊的步伐，他們的樂隊訓練的真好啊！哇！後面還有米老鼠、唐老鴨，美麗迷人的藍衣天使、大方的白雪公主、英俊的白馬王子、可愛的小丑，哇！花車上有好多仙女喔，狠毒的巫婆還拿著裝蘋果的竹籃到處賣呢！哇！時間不早了，我們給趕快回旅館趕吃晚餐的時間，萬一遲到了，那是很不禮貌的呢！我們只好和好玩的狄斯奈樂園說一聲「再見了－！」
　　真希望以後還有機會看到那麼可愛的卡通人物，玩到那麼刺激的玩具。

回國的心情
　　今天下午我們就要回國了，我真的是好高興喔！又可以見到和藹可親的外婆，可愛又頑皮的小表弟了。
　　可是我又好想在日本多玩幾天，真捨不得回去，我想回去又不想回去，這種矛盾的心情真是難受，我好懊惱，我從來也沒有這麼矛盾過，一分一秒的過去了，下午很快的來到了，我們到了飛機場，坐上了飛機，飛機慢慢上升，上升，「日本再見了！」「再見！」
　　看著一大片美麗的雲海，想了想，這也是對的，也快開學了，我應該把心收回來，不要再天天貪玩，一切也都得恢復正常了，要早睡早起。