Page 78 - 普台之星08

英

語 Another Side of the World
寫
作 國三己 卞譽馨
My family moved to one of the poorest countries of the world, Bangladesh, when I was seven years old. It was a

completely different life from what I had known, but staying there taught me many lessons, such as cherishing and

being grateful for what I have.

When I learned the news, I imagined a beautiful country and a nice environment, but I was wrong. The moment
when I saw the scene out of the airport, it was a harsh reality to me. I saw many people sitting on the grass and
wandering around. They stayed there and seemed having nothing to do. On my way home, when the car stopped at a
red light, an old woman carried a very skinny baby, whose ribs were clearly seen, and knocked on the window begging
for money. It was such a pitiful sight that I’m afraid I’ll never be able to erase the image from my mind.

Whenever I stepped out of my house, I could see many poor people sitting on the pavement, waiting for some
kind people to give them money. They sometimes annoyed people and were shouted at to go away. Once I was on the
scene, a voice inside me always appeared, “What if this happens to me one day? How can I not be happy for what I
have? How can I not appreciate the things I have before I lose them?”

Being a fifth-grader, I donated all my used books and stationeries to a school in the village. I was also chosen to
go there out of charity. The school building with unpainted walls was very old as if it’s going to collapse at any second.
There were some classrooms with no chairs and desks, so the kids sat on the ground to learn. I felt sorrowful and
unfortunate for the kids. While giving the books and stationeries, I saw the joyfulness on their faces. I was quite
happy for what I could give to them.

I witnessed those people living in penury for eight years. They became a source of gratitude for me and taught
me that not everyone lives the same life as I. I should be happy and cherish whatever I have now because people in
“another side of the world” still suffer from poverty and struggle for their lives.

76

亮 My First Skiing

在

紙 國三己 蘇樂知

頁
上
的 This winter I went to Colorado in the United States. My mother gave me this opportunity because she had a
光 conference there. Though the U.S. was once my home, Colorado was very different from where I came from. Colorado

was a famous scenic spot of skiing and snowboarding. The snowing season is from November to June. When I heard
that I could go skiing, I was very excited because I’d never skied before.

First, we transferred in Japan. Then we flew to Denver, the capital of Colorado. After we got off the plane, we
took a bus to the resort we stayed at. It was a three-hour ride. I hadn’t noticed that the bus was continuously going
uphill until the night we got in the resort. At first, I was so excited to see so much snow. It was so beautiful; I even
saw some ice engravings in front of the houses. The nightmare began when I started feeling so sick that I was going
to faint. Later we found out that the altitude was about 9,000 feet. Both my mother and I got altitude sickness. Beside
us, lots of people at the conference couldn’t deal with the high altitude, either.

The next day when I woke up, I felt better, so my mother decided to sign up for a three-day skiing lesson. The
first day of the skiing lesson did not go so well. The lesson started at nine in the morning, and I went to my locker
at 8:40 to get ready. First, I couldn’t get my feet into my shoes for thirty minutes. Then, I was late for my lesson. I
was literally the youngest one in the group. The worst thing started when I felt sick again and went inside to rest. We
grabbed some lunch and my mother told me to stay in bed for the rest of the day. I had to start again the next day.
I met another coach and he told me that Colorado has the finest snow in the world and skiing is the most exciting
sport on the entire planet. This time, things went a lot better. We learned a few skills before we took the lift up to the
mountain. Skiing down the mountain was totally another thing from skiing down a little bump. The wind blew on my
face and I just felt so great. One time, I fell down on a very steep slope and it left a mark on my knee. Though it’s
freezing out there, I still had a lot of fun in the snow.

This was a very different experience for me. I was confronted with the coldest day in Colorado this year, -2 ℉ . I
not only learned a lot of skiing skills but also made lots of new friends. Although I’m not used to the high altitude;
however, I enjoy skiing a lot. If there is an opportunity to learn new things in the future, I will be glad to broaden my
horizons and discover different journeys.