The sail of this childhood fantasy was set when I was in third grade, during a three-day summer trip, organized by Dad’s office, to Tianjin, a city by the sea.
It happened so long ago all that I can remember about the trip are mostly bits and pieces: our bus driver got lost countless times as streets in Tianjin are not laid out like lines on a chess board but twist and turn as if they are paths in a maze designed by a madman, we all slept on the pleasantly cool marble floor of the lobby of an elegant old building that bore witness to the glory of a bygone era of the Tianjin concessions, we visited a pork processing facility where pigs were “humanely” rendered unconscious by electric shock before being dispatched…
It was on that trip, during a visit to the Tianjin Harbor, when I started to have this fantasy of sailing the seven seas. The harbor visit was nothing short of eye opening. I remember strolling on the pier, dwarfed by towering gantry cranes lined up on shiny rails. They looked like giant soldiers ready to leap into action. I marveled at ships moored along the pier. Everything seeming bigger when you are young, those ships appeared humongous to me that day if they were in fact featherweight among ocean-going vessels. And yes, for the first time in my life, I saw the ocean.
I had read about the ocean. I had heard stories about the seafaring Odysseus. I had seen the ocean in movies. But I had never seen the real thing. Now that I was standing there staring right at it, as book knowledge of its vastness embracing eye-popping reality, I found myself gaping at it longingly, lost for words, totally mesmerized.
It could have been a long time, or it could have been a fleeting moment, before I heard a voice inside my head, growing from a whisper into a deafening crescendo, “I want to sail the seven seas!”
The yearning for the vast and endless sea has been with me ever since, but the fantasy to sail it had to stay just that, a fantasy, for a long, long time. There was once a chance for me to get enrolled in a college that would have trained me for the ocean-going transportation industry. But a different school, with clout, grabbed me. I did travel from Dalian to Tianjin once by ferry, but that would hardly count as sailing the seas, as the voyaging was done almost entirely at night inside the Bohai Gulf.
I’ve done more sea travel since then. I have done Caribbean cruises. But the Caribbean Sea is not “the seven seas”. I have done transatlantic cruises. Then again, the Atlantic Ocean is not “the seven seas”.
I love traveling by sea, so much so that, I suspect, I would keep on narrowing my definition of "the seven seas” to allow me to continue fulfilling that childhood fantasy of mine.
Oh, how I wish all this chaos thrown our way by the pandemic will soon end so that we can all go back to the happy business of turning our childhood (or adulthood :) ) fantasies into reality.
Sweet Dreams-:?..&i will get the lyrics this time..
Sweet Dreams 1983
Song by Eurythmics
Sweet dreams are made of this Who am I to disagree? I travel the world And the seven seas, Everybody's looking for something. Some of them want to use you Some of them want to get used by you Some of them want to abuse you Some of them want to be abused. Sweet dreams are made of this Who am I to disagree? I travel the world And the seven seas Everybody's looking for something Hold your head up Keep your head up, movin' on Hold your head up, movin' on Keep your head up, movin' on Hold your head up Keep your head up, movin' on Hold your head up, movin' on Keep your head up, movin' on Some of them want to use you Some of them want to get used by you Some of them want to abuse you Some of them want to be abused. Sweet dreams are made of this Who am I to disagree? I travel the world And the seven seas Everybody's looking for something Sweet dreams are made of this Who am I to disagree? I travel the world And the seven seas Everybody's looking for something Sweet dreams are made of this Who am I to disagree? I travel the world And the seven seas Everybody's looking for something Sweet dreams are made of this Who am I to disagree? I travel the world And the seven seas Everybody's looking for something
听别人读东西通顺流畅会很享受,自己一读,才发现真真不容易。好歹试一回,献丑。
【Childhood Fantasy】Sail the Seven Seas
The sail of this childhood fantasy was set when I was in third grade, during a three-day summer trip, organized by Dad’s office, to Tianjin, a city by the sea.
It happened so long ago all that I can remember about the trip are mostly bits and pieces: our bus driver got lost countless times as streets in Tianjin are not laid out like lines on a chess board but twist and turn as if they are paths in a maze designed by a madman, we all slept on the pleasantly cool marble floor of the lobby of an elegant old building that bore witness to the glory of a bygone era of the Tianjin concessions, we visited a pork processing facility where pigs were “humanely” rendered unconscious by electric shock before being dispatched…
It was on that trip, during a visit to the Tianjin Harbor, when I started to have this fantasy of sailing the seven seas. The harbor visit was nothing short of eye opening. I remember strolling on the pier, dwarfed by towering gantry cranes lined up on shiny rails. They looked like giant soldiers ready to leap into action. I marveled at ships moored along the pier. Everything seeming bigger when you are young, those ships appeared humongous to me that day if they were in fact featherweight among ocean-going vessels. And yes, for the first time in my life, I saw the ocean.
I had read about the ocean. I had heard stories about the seafaring Odysseus. I had seen the ocean in movies. But I had never seen the real thing. Now that I was standing there staring right at it, as book knowledge of its vastness embracing eye-popping reality, I found myself gaping at it longingly, lost for words, totally mesmerized.
It could have been a long time, or it could have been a fleeting moment, before I heard a voice inside my head, growing from a whisper into a deafening crescendo, “I want to sail the seven seas!”
The yearning for the vast and endless sea has been with me ever since, but the fantasy to sail it had to stay just that, a fantasy, for a long, long time. There was once a chance for me to get enrolled in a college that would have trained me for the ocean-going transportation industry. But a different school, with clout, grabbed me. I did travel from Dalian to Tianjin once by ferry, but that would hardly count as sailing the seas, as the voyaging was done almost entirely at night inside the Bohai Gulf.
I’ve done more sea travel since then. I have done Caribbean cruises. But the Caribbean Sea is not “the seven seas”. I have done transatlantic cruises. Then again, the Atlantic Ocean is not “the seven seas”.
I love traveling by sea, so much so that, I suspect, I would keep on narrowing my definition of "the seven seas” to allow me to continue fulfilling that childhood fantasy of mine.
Oh, how I wish all this chaos thrown our way by the pandemic will soon end so that we can all go back to the happy business of turning our childhood (or adulthood :) ) fantasies into reality.
更多我的博客文章>>> 读英文 -- 【Childhood Fantasy】Sail the Seven Seas 英译李白《独坐敬亭山》 【Childhood Fantasy】Sail the Seven Seas 当梭罗对上山民 --- 夏日随想 试译诗词名句
Sweet Dreams 1983
Song by Eurythmics
Sweet dreams are made of this Who am I to disagree? I travel the world And the seven seas, Everybody's looking for something. Some of them want to use you Some of them want to get used by you Some of them want to abuse you Some of them want to be abused. Sweet dreams are made of this Who am I to disagree? I travel the world And the seven seas Everybody's looking for something Hold your head up Keep your head up, movin' on Hold your head up, movin' on Keep your head up, movin' on Hold your head up Keep your head up, movin' on Hold your head up, movin' on Keep your head up, movin' on Some of them want to use you Some of them want to get used by you Some of them want to abuse you Some of them want to be abused. Sweet dreams are made of this Who am I to disagree? I travel the world And the seven seas Everybody's looking for something Sweet dreams are made of this Who am I to disagree? I travel the world And the seven seas Everybody's looking for something Sweet dreams are made of this Who am I to disagree? I travel the world And the seven seas Everybody's looking for something Sweet dreams are made of this Who am I to disagree? I travel the world And the seven seas Everybody's looking for somethingat the same time?
搜一下garage band for iphone/ipad tutorial
Sweet Dreams -:))..
https://bbs.wenxuecity.com/mysj/236972.html
会有奥斯卡级别到颁奖典礼:)
也请参加每周三的听歌练听力,每周五的一句话翻译
都是大家轮流主持:)
刚刚到 youtube 里找了美音的听了听,有意思。
use Audacity or Garage Band.
Audacity , open source freed audio editing software for, Windows, Mac, or Linux
GarageBand: free audio software for Mac.