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153. Christmas and New Year on the Sea | 航海迎新年

 

153. Christmas and New Year on the Sea | 航海迎新年

 – Musings of Dr. Jamie C. Hsu1.10.2024

My wife and I had a unique experience of celebrating Christmas 2023 and welcoming the New Year of 2024 aboard a cruise ship. The journey followed our stay in Taiwan visiting friends and family. By chance, this 13-day cruise fit our schedule perfectly and allowed us to see lands and countries we have never visited, including Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Hong Kong.

People on the ship were a good mixture of ethnicities and ages. This was well reflected by the variety of foods served. There were Chinese, Mediterranean, vegetarian, European, American, Thai, and Vietnamese foods to satisfy different tastes and needs. This was a rare opportunity to sample the cuisines of many countries. I wonder if food can be a good tool for us to understand and communicate with each other.

On the land tours, we observed the modern world of Singapore, the tree-lined streets and ubiquitous gardens and parks, and the varied designs of buildings, which make the hustling and bustling city a nice living space.

In Thailand, the influence of the King and Buddhism is everywhere. Wherever we went, we saw temples and photos of the King and Queen. It was surprising to us how much the royal family and the temples have impacted the lives of ordinary people. Many of the schools, parks, homeless housing, and disaster relief centers are run by the temples with funding and sites provided by the royals.

Vietnam provided a contrast to Thailand. Things were more tightly controlled by the government. Immigration officials and police were more visible in all the cities we visited. The unified Vietnam still has some differences in the south and north.

Our celebration of Christmas and New Year’s was unique in some sense. Due to the multi-ethnic and religious backgrounds of the guests on board the ship, the celebration was more focused on Santa and joyfulness than religion.

New Year’s was fun, but confusing to us. Since we traveled through multiple time zones and had friends and family in different time zones (Taiwan, China, Hawaii, and various parts of the US), we spent all day and night wishing everyone a happy new year.

I hope you all have a great start to the new year in 2024!!

航海迎新年 (2024/01/10)

-作者 許俊宸博士

中譯 薛乃綺

               最近我和太太在遊輪上度過了一個很特別的假期,慶祝2023年的聖誕節、還迎接了2024新年。這次旅行是在我們回台灣探望朋友和家人後才啟程的。其實是偶然發現這趟為期13天的郵輪之旅,非常完美地適合我們這次回台灣的行程,讓我們有機會遊覽從未到過的地方,從新加坡到泰國、越南,最後回到香港。

          這艘郵輪上的人來自不同的種族和年齡層,從供應的各樣式食物中就可以看出來。有中式、地中海式、素食、歐式、美式、泰國和越南菜,滿足了不同的口味和需求。的確是個品嚐多國美食的難得機會。我真心認為,飲食是可以成為彼此理解和溝通的好工具。

          在新加坡,我們上岸後觀察到此處街道綠樹成蔭、花園及公園十分普遍,更有多樣化的建築設計,處處為這個繁忙喧囂的現代化都會區打造成為一個宜居城市。

          在泰國,皇室和佛教的影響無處不在。無論我們走到哪裡,都能看到寺廟和國王與王后的照片。皇室和寺廟對普通人生活的深遠影響,著實讓我們感到驚訝。許多學校、公園、無家可歸者的住所、甚至是救災中心,都是由獲得皇室資金與場地支援的寺廟所經營。

          至於在越南,則與泰國形成了鮮明的對比,有許多事物仍受到政府的嚴格控制。比起我們到過的這幾個城市中,當地移民官員和警察可說是隨處可見。統一後的越南,在南北上仍然存在一些差異。

          就某種意義上來說,這次在郵輪上安排的聖誕節和跨年活動還蠻特別的。考慮到船上賓客種族的多元和不同的宗教背景,整個慶祝活動大多圍繞在聖誕老人和歡樂節慶的主題,而沒有太多的宗教色彩。

          這個新年對我們來說,既有趣又困惑。主要是因為這趟旅程經歷了不同的時區,而親友們又分別住在了台灣、中國、夏威夷、美國東岸、中部和西岸等地方。這讓我們花了一整天向不同時區的親友們祝賀新年快樂。

          總之,希望我們都能在2024年迎來一個美好的新年開始!