Learning English WITH ME

BY XUEFEI

WHEN I WAS AT UNIVERSITY, I 

READ ENGLISH LOUDLY EVERYDAY. 

IT IS THE SAME AS I READ CHINESE. FOR EXAMPLE TODAY I READ 

ABOUT YUBOYA AND ZHONGZIQI. 

I WAS CRYING A LOT. TEARS SHED FROM MY EYES. IT WAS SO MOVING. 

WHEN I LEARNT GUQIN, THERE IS ONE PIECE CALLED HIGH MOUNTAINS AND FLOWING WATER.GAOSHANLIUSHUI.

IT WAS A STORY ABOUT BOYA AND ZIQI . IT WAS ABOUT MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING. 

IT WAS REALLY MOVING. 

BOYA LOVED GUQIN AND PLAYED AT A BOAT STAYING AT THE FOOT OF A MOUNTAIN. BUT HE SUDDENLY BROKE ONE STRING. BOYA FELT STRANGE. THERE MUST BE SOMEONE LISTENING TO MY PLAYING. 

BOYA WAS RIGHT. THERE WAS A 

FARMER LISTENING TO HIS PLAY.

BOYA INVITED THE FARMER COMING ONTO THE BOAT AND ASKED HIM 

WHAT WAS HIS NAME.THE FARMER SAID HE WAS CALLED ZHONG ZIQI.

HE COULD UNDERSTAND PERFECTLY 

ABOUT WHAT BOYA WANTED TO EXPRESS. BOYA PLAYED A PIECE AND ZIQI TOLD HIM ABOUT THE QIN INSTRUMENT HISTORY, THE STORY BEHIND THE MUSIC AND WHAT BOYA WANTED 

TO EXPRESS.That was high mountains and the flowing water.

AFTER HEARING WHAT ZIQI SAID, BOYA HUMBLED HIMSELF AND TALKED 

WITH ZIQI AS IF THE LATTER WAS HIS REAL BROTHER.

THEY TALKED FROM MIDNIGHT TO DAYBREAK. 

BOYA ASKED ZIQI WHY HE DIDN'T GO TO TAKE AN EXAM AND BECAME AN OFFICIAL. ZIQI SAID HE WAS 27 YEARS OLD。HIS FAMILY WAS POOR AND HE HAD OLDER PARENTS AND NO 

OTHER RELATIVES, HE HAS TO TAKE CARE OF HIS PARENTS。 

HEARING ABOUT THIS, BOYA RESPECTED ZIQI EVEN MORE。 ZIQISAID WHEN PARENTS WERE ALIVE, AS THEIR SON, I SHOULD NOT GO OUT TO TRAVEL FAR AWAY。

THUS BOYA AND ZIQI MADE AN APPOINTMENT。 NEXT MID AUTUMN FESTIVAL, BOYA WOULD ROW THE BIG BOAT TO COME TO THE SAME PLACE TO MEET ZIQI。 ZIQI SAID OK AND SAID GOODBYE TO BOYA。

NEXT MID-AUTUMN, BOYA REALLY CAME OVER TO THE SAME PLACE TO WAIT FOR ZIQI。 BUT ZIQI DIDN‘T 

SHOW UP。

WHY?MAYBE HIS PARENT DIED AND HE HAD TO STAY AT HOME? BOYA THOUGHT。

THEN BOYA DECIDED TO GO TO THE VILLAGE TO VISIT ZIQI’S HOME。

ON THE WAY THEY MET AN OLD MAN。 BOYA MET THE OLD MAN AT A T

FORM ROAD AND DIDN‘T KNOW IF HE

SHOULD GO TO THE RIGHT OR LEFT。

BOYA ASKED THE OLD MAN AND TOLD HIM ABOUT HIS APPOINTMENT WITH ZIQI。 AFTER HEARING THE STORY,

THE OLD MAN CRIED AND TOLD BOYATHAT HE WAS ZIQI’S FATHER。 ZIQI DIED A HUNDRED DAYS AGO。 

RIGHT AFTER ZIQI‘S MEETING WITH BOYA LAST YEAR, ZIQI BEGAN TO READ MORE BOOKS AND STUDIED HARDER。 HE ALSO HAD TO TAKE CARE OF HIS PARENTS。 SO HE GOT SICK。A hundred days ago,he died. 

Where was he buried? I like to see his grave. Boya said.

The old man said to Boya, let's go backward along the road by the water where your boat was staying. I buried him there according to his will because he told me it was there he met you.

They went back to the grave and when they arrived there, Boya 

began to play his Qin again to express his extreme sadness. Yet people around listening to him laughed a lot and went away. Boya asked the old man why people laughed. The old man said because they didn't understand the music melody, they thought it was a happy melody.

After hearing this, Boya became very angry and smashed the Qin into the stone and put the Qin on the grave of Ziqi. 

"Why should I play again when no one else could understand me anymore? Only you could understand me very well. I will never play the Qin again." Boya said.

Boya gave the old man two pieces of gold, one piece is for him to buy a new house and the other is used to build a beautiful big graveyard. He decided to resign from his post next year and will live near the graveyard to take care of Ziqi's parents on behalf of Ziqi. What a friend! What a friendship!

This story has been carried on either by mouth or by written form or by music for three thousand years.

From then on thousands of thousands of people played the melody of High Mountains and Flowing Water, the most beautiful melody in the world. 

In the real world, Deng Hong, famous Chinese Guqin expert HAD PLAYED IN sWEDEN ABOUT TEN YEARS AGO WITH THE EXPLAINATION OF SINOLOGIST CECELIA LINDQVIST。 

西藏发生6.8级地震号召捐款

绿色邮报北京报道:最近西藏发生6.8级地震,网上号召捐款,本人捐了一份30元。你可以选择多捐几份,表达心意。其实,地震好像是个经常性的动作,在山区,经常会发生地震。大家多加小心。另外从四川汶川的教训来看,就是盖房子的时候,要盖结实一点。日本的经验就是把房子盖成铁筒子,地震了房子倒了,人可以从里边走出来,不要把墙弄成豆腐渣,墙一倒,人就埋在里边了。

作为防震的经验,就是家里房置结实的桌子或床也好,万一跑不出去,藏在桌子底下或者床脚等待救援也行。

多难之时,人们应该互相理解,互相帮助,互相体谅。

改革开放40多年了,我们有钱了,但是很多人也变得非常自私了。那就是瞧不起服务行业,认为自己有钱就是大爷。没钱的人连说话都不配。

尤其是在买房子的时候,第一句话先问你预算,如果没有足够的钱,人家理都不理你。好像马克吐温的《百万英镑》再现。可是,在中国何止《百万英镑》,《远大前程》,《灯红酒绿》也叫《伟大的盖茨比》都在中国出现了。

三十年河东,三十年河西,潮起潮落,经历过2018年2019年的嗨皮,2020-2023年的新冠隔离其实很多人已经悄悄地死去。所以,人们期望的报复性消费没有回来,为什么?原因很简单,即使人们再有钱,家里如果有老人去世,他们就再也嗨皮不起来了,人们都开始重新思考人生,人活着几十年,眼睛一闭不睁,这辈子就过去了。悲伤也提醒自己的老去,更年期让很多人都变得沉默了。以前可能还有周游世界的想法,还有再买一座海景房的想法,甚至是多买点吃穿的,最后也都冷静下来了。

再说那些提供旅游餐饮服务的,有的人坚持一年活下来了,两年活下来了,到第三年,就不行了。司机老张就是这样。他刚开出租一个多月。他说,1978年开始,他就在北京大街上卖糖葫芦。卖到2018年,攒了1000万。老张觉得自己有钱了,就花400万买了个商铺,装修花了600万。结果,疫情来了,生意冷淡,第一年坚持下来了。第二年坚持下来了。到第三年,决定关门了,因为再不关门就开始欠银行的钱了。一辈子没欠过钱的老张一下子上火得脑淤血了,住进了医院。老婆一着急就跟他离婚了。他很仗义,给老婆一套房,但写的是儿子的名字。儿子留学的钱攒下了。自己病好了,正想着卖了北京的房去四川找朋友一起去养老。

现在就是线上的很多人挣钱,线下的钱都很少。几乎没有。很多服装店,小店都close le ,because there is no customers. Many people buy clothes online. There is no money to pay the rent. If no money to pay the rent, real estate will be affected. So people expect the price of real estate will decrease. But real estate developers don’t like to see the price goes down. Those who entered the market earlier has earned many barrels of gold, but those entered later got bad luck. The same with house buyers. Those who bought apartment after 2017, the prices surged sky high. Now the prices fell several million. That is normal.

Tides rise and ebb. That is a circle. Young people buy apartment now actually is a good timing. Some people think it will decrease again. But some think it didn’t reach the bottom yet. We shall see. I think the tide arises slowly, but ebb suddenly.

With uncertain future, natural disasters also came. Accidents seldom come alone. Huo bu dan xing. hao shi cheng shuang. But good things also happen in pair.

Wish everyone has a better 2025! Greenpost.se receives donations and support.

不好意思,我现在又可以写中文了, 就是说,小店都关门,没有人流。很多人都是网上买。但是,现在看来网上服务也很差。 付不起租金,影响房地产业。房地产不行,开发商受不了。所以,房价就要下跌。但中国房价下跌的原因是2020年以前炒的太高了。所以现在应该回归理性和正常,让人能负担得起。倒霉得就是2018-2019那时候买房得人,价格最高。现在掉下来了,应该说是理性回归。该赚得都赚的盆满钵满。

未来不确定,祸不单行,西藏地震。缅北诈骗,都是中国人,但是,一些人就变质了。专门诈骗中国人。这就象《金银岛》。西方世界以前经济上升得时候资本原始积累时得很多问题,在我们这里也快速发生,好像没有因为发展快就丢掉了某些步骤。

希望2025年是新得一年。绿色邮报感谢朋友们得支持。希望继续得到支持和帮助。红包可以发到WeChat。谢谢。祝大家鸿运高照!

Life in Beijing feeling like in Switzerland

By Feifei

My sister asked me why she heard so many people moved to America but not many moved to Switzerland. I said that is because Switzerland is the best country in the world.

Having a lunch bowl in front of me, I recalled my life in Switzerland in 2005.

人在北京 心在瑞士

我妹妹问我为什么那么多人移民美国,但没听说谁移民瑞士,为什么?我说,首先,瑞士是一个非常小的国家,对移民可能有严格限制。第二瑞士是一个非常精致的国家,不是每个人都能适应那里的生活。第三那里的生活成本太高,对人的生活水准要求太高,一般人是受不了的。

瑞士是一个丘陵国家,象大连,山东威海,青岛,新疆的喀纳斯都有点儿象瑞士。那里有山,还叫山峰。但是那个山峰就象辽宁的一些山峰。或者东北的一些山峰。它属于南欧国家,气候是温和的。和瑞典不一样。瑞典是北欧国家。瑞士虽然在南欧,但是冬天山上也有很多雪,正适合滑雪。所以,瑞士也挖掘滑雪旅游的潜力。当然瑞典挪威芬兰也都有滑雪的环境,而且非常好,但就是更冷一些。瑞士几乎没有平原,所以,人们在丘陵地带种葡萄,在山区养牛。瑞士的牛很好看,都是吃天然的草长大,干净,肥美。瑞士的花草非常好。到了无法挑剔的程度。我在十月份在日内瓦,看到那花钟的花还没有老,就都被拔掉重换新的。为什么?因为换季了。这里的花分四季,不同季节换成不同的花。

再看那里的草坪,非常完美干净,一点杂质都没有。我记得摄影师亚男说过米勒斯公园的草象婴儿肥。其实在日内瓦都是那样的草。至少在金秋10月,透过灿烂的阳光,草地是嫩绿嫩绿的。相比之下,感觉北京的草总是老绿老绿的,而且树叶上总是有一层土似的。但在瑞士就不那样。这可能跟那里的气候有关,时不时来一场小雨,浇一下,就干净了。

那里的空气是干净的。透亮的。所以,在那里照的香都是微笑的,自然的。走在四川九寨沟的时候,我说,这里有点儿象瑞士,在这种环境中,人自然就放松精神,浑身舒服,照出来的像自然好看,因为人的精神是愉快的。

那里的水清澈见底。尽管世界经济论坛老总施瓦布给我们讲课的时候说,其实,日内瓦湖里的鱼有的变种了,只有一只眼睛,那就是比目鱼。为什么如此呢?他认为可能是因为水污染了,治理过程中放了太多的化学药品,导致鱼的变种。总之,我记得考GRE的时候,专门有一篇课文是讲比目鱼的。具体内容不记得了。还有一篇听力课文讲的是美国如何只花一美元就从墨西哥手里拿下墨西哥城的。

记得我曾接待一个来自中国的代表团,吃饭的时候,一个代表说,他去过瑞士,在瑞士吃黄瓜论片儿。说到这里,让我这个在东北吃黄瓜都论根儿的人产生了共鸣。是的,瑞士人对吃的就是非常“抠门儿”。

我在那里的时候,我们每顿饭就是一小盘菜,然后,用面包找平儿。你说饿吧,也没饿着,你说饱吧,顿顿都觉得没吃饱。就是没有吃饭的满足感。都是八分饱儿。我的一个小同事问我,你为什么非要吃的特别饱呢?其实吃太饱对身体不好。是的,因为吃的多,我总是吃胖了减肥,减完肥继续吃,确实搞得身体不怎么好。但我还是管不住嘴。就这一点让我对瑞士的印象一直耿耿于怀。平时吃八分饱,到周末了还没有吃的了。饭都是自己解决。可是你到商店去看,大部分商店都是关门的。满大街也找不到一个人。

当然,如果见到一个人,这个人十有八九是好人。我刚到瑞士日内瓦那天就遇上一个。当时,天下着雨,我看到一个男士,就问他商店在哪里,我需要买一个插座,好让我能用电脑。出来因为匆忙,我也忘了多项插座。他说,你十有八九在附近的商店是买不到插座的。你等着,我到家里给你找一个,你用完一个月还给我就行。其实,他对我这么慷慨主要是因为我跟他说我是在联合国组织实习一个月。他正好在其中一个组织工作。这个组织就在我们住的约翰诺克斯驻地附近。越说越近。还有一个更深层次的原因,就是那时人们对中国的崛起还没有那么恐惧,而是非常期盼,因此对中国非常友好。他跟我说,其实他的父母都是传教士。他是在四川成都出生的。后来,中国解放了,他们就回瑞士了。

由此,我也想起我刚离开不到一年的新西兰。那时,新西兰中国友好协会会长云达中可能是这个名字啊,我记不清了。但我记得他说他也是出生在四川。解放前,他的父母也在中国。后来,回到了加拿大。而他自己却来到新西兰定居在新西兰了。因此,我觉得这个世界真小。碰巧我在周游世界的过程中就遇到了他们俩,都因为与中国的关系而对我非常友好。我采访云达中的时候,他正在研究毛泽东的诗词,沁园春雪。把它翻译成了英文。

就这样,我接受了在中国出生在瑞士长大的瑞士友人帮助。 他借了我一个多功能插座,让我在瑞士实习期间,学习顺利。但是,瑞士的超市确实不大,东西也不多。周末的时候,饭店开业的也很少。瑞士商店在平时都是正常上班,就是跟别人一样,6点下班。这在澳大利亚也是一样,只有星期四晚上能多开两个小时,开到8点。但是,人也不多。只是周末的时候人多一些。

可是在瑞士,周末人也不多。人们匆匆忙忙地工作,学习,但是都是在一定的范围内。绝不加班加点。生活就是按部就班。吃饭不要吃的太饱,不要吃撑。因此,在瑞士,很少能看到胖子。人们的身材都很匀称。

瑞士人说三种语言,我是说有三种官方语言,德语,法语和英语。因为他们分不同的区域。有一次,我问一个女士路,她用英语说,我不会英语。我想她是说法语的。因为说德语的人大部分都会英语,但是,说法语的人出于傲慢与偏见,就是不愿意学英语。所以跟法国人说法语是可以加分的。有一次,我从非洲回来路过巴黎,我用法语说,我的行李有两个因为我工作两年,两个行李不多,但是,从德国到法国只许一件行李,我不知道怎么办。他说,这么办,你托运一个行李,我帮你把这件行李当手提帮你送到登机口,让他们放在进门的地方。我好感动,他帮我解决了问题。可是如果你不会点法语,只说英语,他是不爱搭理你的。

所以,我说,在瑞士生活,几乎是我们的传统思维,量入为出,量体裁衣,不多不少,正合适。不要浪费,要保护环境。一切政策都是围绕可持续发展的理念来。

一个博士生居然找不到工作,那么,他没办法就只好开出租车了。但是,作为政府,他们想办法给博士更好一点的工作。实在不行,再给救济。总之,我觉得瑞士真的发展的很好了,因为那里有那么多联合国的国际组织,为什么?就是因为语言多,环境好,给人印象好,人都很聪明,友善,能帮你解决问题。因此,这是一个非常理想的地方。

但是,对于我这样一个莽莽撞撞,糊里糊涂,经常做错事,很难作到十全十美的人来说,就觉得这样的生活对我是一个严重的约束。所以,我说我选择瑞典,是因为瑞典更自然,起码还有过车时产生一定尘土的现象。而在瑞士,真是一尘不染。

当然,后来我的一个朋友去了,说来了很多移民和难民,情况不像你说的那么好了。但我对瑞士的印象就定格在2005年10月了。我再也没有去过那里。我去瑞典而没有留在瑞士的最主要原因还是我在瑞士没有男朋友,而在瑞典有男朋友。所以,我跟着我的心走了。

现在想来,瑞士人就是为理想而活着,不走极端,严格自律,生活太平。所以,人也长寿。有钱人可以到瑞士银行存钱,信誉好。其实,很多有钱人都不是一般的人,有的人死了,钱就留在瑞士银行里了。瑞士还允许安乐死。所以,很多人年纪大了,不愿意活了,还有钱,就可以去瑞士去安乐死。

如果生不出孩子,可以到丹麦去借精生子。当然,现在这个服务随着试管婴儿的出现大部分地方都可以了。

瑞士因为生产力水平高,所以精密仪器就包括瑞士手表。很多人都要买瑞士表,甚至是在瑞典买瑞士表也可以。

瑞士旅游也可以。瑞士大学就专门培训旅游酒店人才。另外,朝鲜领导人金正恩其实就是在瑞士留学的。所以,他的胆量和技能肯定也和他在瑞士留学有一定关系。

由于身体的各种不适,突然想起瑞士的生活方式其实是最健康的。没有过度的煎炒烹炸,但是,人们吃的健康。我现在就买了一个不大的二碗和一个小碗,小碗用来盛饭,二碗用来盛菜。每顿就吃一小碗儿加一二碗。坚决不多吃。以前总是用大碗或者大盘子,吃了很多还不觉得。时间长了,就吃出了胃溃疡或者是肥胖症。

因此,说到最后,自己去不了瑞士,纯属吃不着葡萄说葡萄酸。其实,瑞士在我眼里是世界上最好的国家。