美國玉米田裡教中文 / Teaching Mandarin Chinese in American Corn Fields

Eating was always an exciting time when I went to Chinatown. I am not really a foodie, but I do enjoy when there are more options of familiar foods that I can choose from. One afternoon, I stepped into this “Shan Dong Mandarin Restaurant” in Oakland Chinatown. Shandong Province in China is famous for their noodles and dumplings. I was craving for some noodles. I saw “大滷麵 Dàlǔ miàn ( Dalu Noodles) ” on the menu and knew in a heartbeat that’s going to be my lunch for the day. Dalu Noodles reminded me of my college days back in Taiwan. On a chilly day, I would walk with my roommates at that time, who are still my best friends now, from the packed 6 persons dorm to a restaurant in a small alleyway called “郭家奶奶 Guō jiā nǎinai (Grandma Guo’s).” It felt so comforting after devouring a big bowl of chewy thick-cut noodles soup in which you could also taste some good amount of napa cabbage shreds, thin pork shreds, wood ears, and egg drop. It warmed up your stomach and lifted up your spirit. A f

It was a regular Thursday morning in February. What was not regular for me was that I took some days off from work and flew from Indiana to San Francisco. I was wide awake at 5 am because technically it would have been 8 am already in Indiana. I found on Google Map this Vietnamese-owned little breakfast store that opened early in Chinatown called “Latte Express” and walked my way there.  I stepped into the store and felt a bit overwhelmed by all the different food I could order from the wall. A woman came in right after me. She got her food and walked out of the store before I could even figure out what I wanted. Some older men walked in and ordered coffee. They said hi to each other and chit chat in a dialect that sounded like Cantonese. Another woman walked in and friendly said hi to whoever was in the room. The owner greeted her by name and asked if she wanted the cinnamon roll as usual.  I probably shouldn’t expect anyone to entertain a tourist/traveler like me since it was a busy

時差因素五點就起床了，青年旅館裡也有一些跟我一樣有時差的旅人，五六點就爬起床在交誼廳等七點半才開始供應的早餐。不過青年旅館的幾片乾吐司對我來說並沒什麼吸引力，等到快七點天差不多亮了，我就出發去中國城準備開始今天的探險。不愧是舊金山，短短十五分鐘的路程就爬經過了好多個陡上陡下的坡，身旁的其他路人看起來習以為常，好像只有我氣喘吁吁。 我來到了一個看似大家上班前會來買杯咖啡和早餐的地方，可能像是個中國城版本的美而美。店裡沒有網路也沒有廁所，不是個太適合好好坐下來寫文章的地方，但若要一探舊金山中國城裡的一大清早是什麼面貌，這裡有絕佳的視野。 早餐店的老闆看起來是一對父女。我點了一個可頌夾火腿蛋和一杯咖啡，但你也可以點越南長棍麵包夾肉和越式冰咖啡。店裡陸陸續續進來了一些常客，老闆娘似乎都已經知道他們會點什麼了，大家用帶有各自口音的英文交談，也有些人用聽起來像是廣東話的方言閒聊打招呼。接過了老闆娘迅速做好、熱騰騰的早餐後，大部分的人就踏向店外，這裡只是他們上班前的一個過渡站。 我坐在一個搖搖晃晃的鐵椅上，眼前的一大片窗戶面向著Kearny Street。這是條單行道但卻有四線道，算是跨經中國城的一條主要幹道。 今天是二月份一個平常的星期四。請假不用上班的我，看著熙來攘往的上班族邁著快速的步伐前進，長長的卡車停在路邊，卸貨給餐廳備料。開開停停的車潮裡不只有汽車，一起建構出這條車陣的還有公車、校車、觀光巴士、零零星星的摩托車和腳踏車，甚至有好幾台無人的自動駕駛車，也大膽的在這尖峰交通時段裡試車。 這是舊金山中國城裡的清早七八點，大家的目的地不一樣，但都不約而同、頭也不回的朝著自己的目標前進，為舊金山忙碌的一天揭開序幕。 唯一沒在趕時間的只有我、一位喃喃自語的遊民、和眼前一位推著助步器在練習走路的老奶奶，她來來回回走經過這片窗戶大概有三十次。 九點了，人行道上的人群少了拿著公事包的上班族，多了些推著嬰兒車的媽媽、拖著菜籃的長輩、和拉著行李箱的觀光客。天空的霧氣散去，陽光從露出來的藍天灑落下來。咖啡差不多喝完了，我思索著今天會有些什麼有趣的故事等著我去發掘，然後我走出這間越式早餐店，加入了人群。

（ For English Version ） 那是一個帶著時差的午後，我在舊金山轉機，決定多留一天。走在舊金山中國城的街頭，順道進去參觀  美國華人歷史學會博物館 。館內最近正好有個關於李小龍的展覽，說實在的，李小龍的電影我一個都沒有看過，頂多只看過一些武打片段，更多的是後世的模仿。對於這位耳熟能詳的電影巨星，我並沒有太多了解。帶著一顆好奇心，我開始參觀了起來。 當我正在閱讀展覽牆上的一些文字和照片時，有一位先生走來並開始替我介紹旁邊這個李小龍在演「青蜂俠」（The Green Hornet）電影裡「加藤」（Kato）這個角色時戴過的眼罩。開始跟他交談後，才發現，原來這位 Jeff Chinn 先生並不只是個導覽義工，展區裡的所有物品，其實都是他本人的收藏。而今日恰巧是李小龍逝世滿49周年，所以他特地前來替今天的觀眾導覽，我也就這樣很幸運的，誤打誤撞認識了這位算是世界上數一數二的李小龍收藏家。 （與此展的收藏家 Jeff Chinn 先生合影） 我問了 Jeff Chinn 先生蒐集李小龍物品的緣由，他開始娓娓道來。Jeff 與李小龍誕生於舊金山中國城裡的同一家醫院。在中學時期，Jeff Chinn 先生一家人搬離了中國城，到了一間只有他這一個中國人面孔的學校。除了要適應新環境外，他也因為膚色不同，成了弱勢，而遭受霸凌，壓力甚至大到得了胃潰瘍。 在 Jeff 那段艱苦的青少年時期，李小龍開始在美國的影壇闖出一番成績，也讓 Jeff 第一次在電視上看到一位跟他一樣長得是中國臉孔的名人。李小龍驚人的功夫拳法，讓當時的美國社會開始出現了一種「中國人也可以很酷」的氛圍，這讓 Jeff 漸漸的開始對身為中國後代感到驕傲，也讓當時在美國的許多亞裔後代多了點自信。Jeff 就這樣成為了李小龍的忠實粉絲， 從五十年前開始，一路收藏李小龍相關物品，也在李小龍意外逝世後，致力於推廣他的傳奇，不讓李小龍被後世所遺忘。 Jeff 回憶到，那時候在學校經歷低潮，他回到家裡，邊哭邊望著房間裡牆上的李小龍海報，彷彿就給了他一個走下去的力量。在當時，我想李小龍之所以能成為許多亞裔人士的精神支柱，除了同樣的亞洲臉孔外，最鼓舞人心的是當李小龍面對困難時所展現出的堅韌性。 （Jeff Chinn 先生於青少年時，房間裡掛的李小龍海

（ 中文版，請點此 ） It was an afternoon in San Francisco while I was waiting for my connecting flight to Indianapolis back from visiting my family in Taiwan. I decided to use those spare hours to explore the Chinese Historical Society of America Museum in Chinatown. As I was strolling through the “We Are Bruce Lee” exhibition, a gentleman approached me and started to tour me around. He introduced himself as Jeff, or Mr. Chinn, and it turned out that he is the collector of this exhibition. Mr. Chinn was there that day to pay tribute to Bruce Lee on the 49th anniversary of his passing. I didn't know that I showed up on a special day, and I for sure got a special personal tour around the exhibition. All the artifacts from the exhibit were the collections of Mr. Chinn. And from his sharing, I now have a deeper understanding about the legacy of Bruce Lee and the Asian American experience. (On the left is Mr. Jeff Chinn, the collector of this exhibit "We Are Bruce Lee.") During mid