New york and Paris represent two aspects of my life. It's day in new york and night in Paris. New york is the first half and Paris is the second half.
Before I was thirty-five, I thought new york was the best city in the world. I am a graduate student in California, and I can't wait to work in new york after graduation. Do it for five years at a time, and be as happy as a fairy. I love new york for the same reason as many people: she has been the center of world culture since the 20th century. Rich and convenient. By subway and taxi, you can travel through time and space and run back and forth for hundreds of years. New york can see the latest and oldest, the best and the worst things of mankind.
So when I was in new york, I seized every minute to experience it. Working in a financial institution during the day, ten hours a day. After work in the evening, I went to NYU to study movies and sat there for four hours. In those twenties, being busy is the only meaningful way of life. To live is to squeeze yourself dry and turn the city where you live inside out.
This idea is not unique to new york. In fact, people in Taiwan Province Province have lived a life in new york since childhood. New york's life is full of the fighting spirit of Protestants and the winning belief of capitalists. I believe that people should overcome all difficulties and win the competition through continuous efforts. The purpose of living is to be bigger, more, richer and more famous. Power and wealth are the two great gods of new york people. And the shoes that can help you enter heaven are career, career, career.
In this predatory lifestyle, in order to stay ahead, everyone is competing for time and resources. When I entered the elevator, I obviously pressed the button on the floor, and the light came on. I have to press it a few times, which seems to be faster. After leaving the company, I still have to keep talking about my mobile phone and remotely control every link. In new york, in order to achieve your goal, you can do whatever it takes, even uproot the grass. In new york, there are no bad guys, only losers.
Taiwan Province Province, has it become like this?
Everything turned into work. Of course, going to work is work, and entertainment after work is also work. Some people fall in love at work, and even go to hotels to drink and have KTV parties, with murderous faces, ready to fight to the death.
I once embraced this life warmly, and I was fascinated by the anxiety caused by the success of barbecue. This anxiety made me sit on the edge of the chair so as to jump up quickly and avoid the stab wound in the back. This vigilance has taught me to drink and courage, to resist pressure and to be cheeky. But it also produces paranoia and stubbornness, superiority and snobbery. When I was in new york, I was convinced that the only people who could survive here were respectable opponents. Those who leave sadly are losers. Everything in life must be absolutely adhered to. If you give up halfway, there must be hidden diseases. In this sleepless city, I wake up every day and sing "new york? With the vitality of human conquering nature. New york: If you can succeed in new york, you can succeed anywhere! Yes, in new york, the modern Colosseum, I want to compare myself with others.
This idea gradually changed after I was thirty-five.
The first thing that shocked me was the death of my father. My father has been law-abiding and kind to others all his life. Without bad habits, health is like a castle. At the age of seventy-two, he got cancer, which led to a stroke and experienced all the pain and humiliation. He worked hard all his life and saved money, firmly believing that the pain now can be exchanged for a better tomorrow. We also believe that no pains, no gains, and take care of him in the spirit of working hard in new york. But after two years of treatment, he was defeated and finally he left. On the day my father died, my value system collapsed. I am proud of the "new york Spirit" along the way, but I didn't expect it to be so fragile.
Not only in the hospital bed, but also in the workplace. When I climbed higher and higher in the enterprise, I found that "capitalism" may not be effective in the workplace. Everyone who has worked in a class knows that few companies are truly "open markets" and "fair competition". Most colleagues think you are either a friend or an enemy. Greatness in the workplace does not necessarily lead to success. Success, sometimes small. Many people dedicated their lives to the company and finally got a commemorative pen. Those who abscond with money have become legends.
Slowly, I understand that there is higher and more complicated fairness in the world than "one good deserves another, and evil deserves another". There is another pleasure in life that is more subtle and lasting than "success". This is the upsurge of American capitalism, which cannot be explained.
Where can I find fairness and fun? I have thought about Tibet, Bhutan, Africa and New Zealand. Then, I noticed France.
When living in new york, the French were the object of ridicule. As an economic, technological and military power, the United States cannot but make fun of France. France is a declining aristocrat, and everyone worthy of worship is dead. The French are very arrogant, and the high tax rate makes everyone lazy. Strike at every turn, even the winery owner has to take to the streets.
After moving back to Taiwan Province Province, Provence and Tuscany suddenly became popular. I saw Francis? Mace's? Beautiful Tuscany? One sentence touched me: "In California, time is like a hula hoop. I kept twisting, but I stopped where I was. In Tuscany, I can walk leisurely in the Mediterranean sunshine with a basket of plums all day. 」
Yes! What am I making up? I have exhausted my youth and tried my best to pursue things outside my body. As a result, am I really richer and more famous than others? More importantly, am I really happy about it? There is a vast horizon in the distance. Why am I still rocking the outdated hula hoop?
When I studied France again, I found that France and the United States represented two completely different lifestyles. Americans pursue that man can conquer nature, and everything must go against the current. What the French pay attention to is the existence of peace, and everything they do is based on the trend. There are many skyscrapers with a floor of 100 in new york, and the houses in Paris are 300-year-old monuments. New york keeps innovating, and Paris is always nostalgic. Parisians chat in cafes, while new york people use computers in cafes. There are many people in new york, and Paris has a taste. New york has money and Paris has cakes.
Whether it is the government or individuals, the French people put their energy into "internal affairs" such as food, clothing, housing and transportation. Make America a big brother. If he wants to conquer space, fight Iraq, raise interest rates and invent new technologies, let him go. The French are willing to go Atlantic, smoke and drink, watch football games and be fashionable. While Americans were busy with stomach ulcers, the French ate another can of foie gras.
Speaking of eating, there are 300 kinds of cheeses in France, and Bordeaux alone has 57 wine producing areas. Sitting in front of the cafe at six o'clock in the evening, a glass of red wine can talk for three hours. Go to eat at nine o'clock and eat until the early morning of the next day. They eat as long as we work. But ironically, they are not "full".
Eating is very important, but we should also know the timing. My friend introduced me to try a French restaurant and reminded me that they are closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays. "Why?" I asked. He said, "Because the chef is going home to watch the ball. 」
A clever cook knows the law. French law stipulates that the maximum working time per week is 35 hours, and most people have five weeks' holiday a year. Americans, on the other hand, regard overtime as their valuable expression, and reply to emails on their mobile phones when they are on vacation. The French play better than the Americans. At the Paris Music Festival in June every year, hundreds of open-air concerts are held at the same time in various places from afternoon to late at night, and the charges are suspended when there are many subway people. On the "white night" in October every year, the shops that close on weekdays are open all night until seven in the morning. Every summer, the Paris municipal government arranges three artificial beaches with a total length of1.8km on the right bank of the Seine-Marne River. Fine sand, hammocks, reclining chairs, palm trees and natural beaches are all here, so that people who can't afford to go to the seaside for a holiday can enjoy the beach scenery.
Of course, France's profound culture can't just come from eating, drinking and having fun. Americans study for textual research. The French study for the sake of mood. On the Reading Festival in October every year, at the railway station in big cities, people take turns to read poems on stage. The bookstore is open until dawn, and there is live music all night. The "Food Book Fair" was held in the stock exchange with the worst smell of copper. The books of the small town book fair grow directly on the tree, and readers must climb the tree and pick them to taste.
Will Taiwan Province people who have been following the United States be moved?
My heart is beating. I went to Paris 1 1 month, and a French friend came to meet me. Before leaving, I asked him, "What are you going to do tomorrow? 」
"I want to go to the bank. 」
"Then what?" I asked.
"I don't know what you mean ..."
For me, "going to the bank" is a small thing to do after lunch. For the French, this is his whole day's trip. The French are always focused and slow, doing a little thing well every day.
This kind of life is really decadent for people in the United States or Taiwan Province Province. That's true. The unemployment rate in France is close to 10%, and the high tax rate makes employers prefer to close their doors rather than help employees pay taxes. Money is everywhere in the center of Paris, but ethnic minorities in the suburbs have no job opportunities. These are all dark sides, but for people in Taiwan Province Province who are scorched by bright light every day, darkness may provide a breathing space. The end of life is the same, and the funeral of the rich is just more people burning incense. Constantly chasing, but rushing to the curtain call in advance. Why not take the time to warm up for life slowly? You don't need to dedicate your life to death. You can stretch occasionally and walk slowly.
Taipei has not changed since I came back from Paris. The cell phone that has been off for two weeks rings again, and a person who can't reach me will call ten times in a row. When I met a friend, he asked me with great concern, "Well, now that you have resigned and gone to Europe, what's the next project?" 」
"Project"? What a good new york word.
I really want to say, "living well is not the biggest project in life?" But I know that in the bustling streets of Taipei, I am less than forty years old, so it is too melodramatic to say so. Besides, the reason why I have money and leisure to enjoy today's French life is not because I have benefited a lot from American life. I still love my job and new york, but I don't have to follow in the footsteps of my twenties and never leave.
So I said, "I will still get up early and work hard during the day." But at night, I want to turn off my cell phone. 」
The world doesn't matter without me. But I miss myself. What's left?