2016-03-24

【Aiden in English】

        In general, the word "indigenous" is used to describe a subject that is native to a specific location. Going back in time, the root is derived from the Latin "indigent," meaning "a native." Add the English part of –ous to its end, and there you have the word. Hopping back to the present, New York is a melting pot of cultures on earth and has some Indigenous characteristics that the small county of Montgomery, PA, can't compete with.

        The first thing you notice upon exiting Pennsylvania Station in New York City is the mix of scents. By that, I mean not necessarily good. The fragrance on 33^rd Street smelled nice. Small stands selling kabobs, fried rice, roasted nuts, and sweets provided an overpowering scent of a buffet, making my stomach rumble. No, I'm not hungry, but I like throwing up. It also seemed to clear the clogged nasal passages that had been bothering me for a few days. They seem to have always kicked in around mid-day, and it shouldn't have been mid-day if Mom didn't miss the turn onto the Garden State Parkway from the I-95 NJ Turnpike. I guess she didn't see the giant sign with exit number eleven.

        I wish I had made my teachers proud today, as my trip had a specific objective. Today, it aims to get visas to go to Denmark and Russia. So, off it was to the streets of the Empire City in the world.

        The visa for Denmark came first, and to clarify, Mom and I don't require visas to visit Hans Christian Andersen's hometown as US citizens. On the other hand, my grandma had a Chinese passport and needed a Schengen visa. I thought the Travisa Visa Service would be a more official way to obtain visas. However, a small room around 30 feet would be suitable for applications, fingerprinting, biometrics, and other purposes.

        An hour later, we walked out of the building, cringing at the failure of the visa. This meant Mom had to come back. The reason is that Grandma has to apply for a United Kingdom visa first, even though the British Isles come after the Baltic region, including Denmark, on our itinerary, to avoid confusion. However, the Danish look up to Great Britain, regardless of whether Grandma has a green card. Everything would be okay if Grandma returned straight from Denmark to the US. In other words, the Danish wanted to ensure that Grandma wouldn't stay in Denmark if the following country or the English Empire had an issue with Grandma's entry. This entire thing is so ridiculous that it's not like we are staying in Denmark for half a year. It's only for three days. Does a seventy-two-hour stay in a country require a visa of �60 upfront and a hidden tariff of approximately $65 for a government-issued pass? Like Russia, where a visa is only necessary for a short stay, the only place in Russia where a visa is required is the capital, Moscow. Nevertheless, we must pay $160 for each person, regardless of whether we outsource visa services. And the 2^nd largest Russian city, St. Petersburg, doesn't require a visa for all cruise tourists. Hopefully, the Russian visa will be a much easier task than the Danish incident. 

       Never mind Murphy's Law, as it seems as though Mom has failed to make an appointment online. Later, she told me that Verizon wasn't sending back the confirmation emails from the Russian website for the appointment, whereas her Yahoo email was working well. Screw you, Verizon! What the opponent internet and data companies say about you is accurate. That mistake made me mad, as this 181-mile trip to New York City from the Great Philadelphia Area was wasted. As the truth of the error sank in, Mom got heated up at the Russian Consulate's door. As I saw the expression on her face, a strange sense of déjà vu kicked in, but I couldn't remember whereabout. Perhaps it was related to a test score……? No idea.

       The day wasn't entirely wasted. On the way home, we dined at Penang Malaysian & Thai Cuisine and picked up our favorite groceries and fine Chinese bakeries from Kam Man Food, such as slices of bread stuffed with red bean paste or Taro, Deep-fried Dough Sticks, and fried glutinous rice balls with sesame. Lucky for Mom, she'll get to come back to the Russian Consulate at rush hour tomorrow morning on Good Friday again. Hopefully, she won't miss the turn onto the Garden State Parkway to catch up with the NJ Transit at the Metropark Station.

【紅霞譯】

        單詞“本土”通常用來描述土生土長的人或物，如若追本求源，其詞根來自拉丁文“土著”，意思是“原住民”；英語加上詞尾，即衍變成現在這個詞形。時光旅行，我們從古代穿越回到現實，紐約堪稱世界各族文化的大熔爐，到處洋溢着特有的鄉土氣息，區區賓夕法尼亞“山林”州蒙哥馬利“巨人山”小郡說什麼也無法與之相媲美。

        一走出紐約賓夕法尼亞車站，你立刻被千奇百怪的氣味所吸引，我這麼說並非意味着五味雜陳全都好聞，但33街確實令人百感交集，烤肉串、炒米飯、烘堅果、炸甜點的商鋪地攤一展自助餐民風食俗，八珍野味能把我肚子裡的饞蟲勾出來。本人倒是一點不餓，但凡聞到這種組合，禁不住要嘔吐起來，宛若幾天前過敏藥堵塞鼻孔通氣管道的感覺那樣。快到晌午，曼哈頓一向奇香異味，要不是媽媽來時在95號新澤西“草”收費高速公路上錯過轉入花園州高速公路，哪至於耗到這個節骨眼上。我覺得她大眼漏神，居然對11號出口巨型告示視而不見。

        但願今天的紐約之行能讓老師們引以為榮，因為我身兼重任，眼下當務之急正是申請丹麥及俄羅斯兩國簽證，千里之行始於足下，我們從帝國之都放眼世界。

        先從丹麥簽證入手，在此有必要講明，作為美國公民，我和媽媽無需為拜訪童話家安徒生的家鄉而申請旅遊許可；但持有中國護照的外婆出行前必須得到申根簽證。我本以為專門辦理丹麥簽證的中介服務公司非常……氣派，其實不足30平方英尺／10平米的小房間照樣可以審理申請表、按指紋、攝頭像等相關事宜。

        過了一個鐘頭，我們怏怏離開辦公大樓，顯然媽媽還得再來一趟，原因是外婆必須在拿到英國簽證之後才能申請丹麥簽證，儘管我們首先出遊包括丹麥在內的北歐波羅的海地區，然後再道訪西歐英倫三島，但是不管外婆有無美國綠卡，丹麥王國極其看重大不列顛首腦的意向。當然，如果外婆玩完丹麥之後直接返回美國，那麼一點問題也沒有。換句話說，丹麥想要確證外婆將去的下一個國度即英格蘭同意入境，不至於到頭來滯留本國，好一個彎彎繞。我認為這純屬無稽之談，我們原本就沒打算在那裡呆上半年，前後不過三天，72小時歇腳工夫楞要支付�60歐元簽證費外加差不多$67美元手續費豈不美事一樁？同樣地，另一個國家俄羅斯花時更短，只有兩天而已，每位必須繳納$160塊大洋人頭稅。即便如此，我們所到之處僅有首都莫斯科才需要簽證，因為任何隨遊輪前往第二大城市聖彼得堡的遊客均一律免簽，多麼希望俄羅斯簽證別像丹麥簽證節外生枝。

        墨菲定律說得恰中要害，怕什麼來什麼。媽媽出師不利，事先網上預約失敗，事後她才悟出緣由並告訴我說，估計她所使用的威瑞森電訊公司服務器疏怠傳送俄羅斯網站發回的電子確認郵件，而其雅虎郵箱卻來者不拒，可惡的威瑞森！這下恰好印證了其它網絡與數據庫競爭對手指責威瑞森的種種劣行全部屬實。倒霉喲，如此失誤着實把我折騰得天翻地覆，紐約─大費城地區之間來回行駛181英里／291公裏白白浪費，在得知無法即時面交申請資料那一時刻，媽媽簡直給氣瘋了，衝着俄羅斯領事館的工作人員大發雷霆。眼見她滿臉陰雲密布，我心中頓時產生一種似曾相識的感覺，但又吃不准這種幻念記憶源自何處，也許考試分數……？天曉得。

        說來今天並非完全作廢。在回家的路上，我們去具有馬來西亞─泰國風味的“馬來檳城”吃頓晚飯，到“金門超市”購得最愛吃的日用料理，捎些可口的中式紅豆沙麵包芋頭麵包油條麻團等等。可憐的媽媽算是交上八輩子好運，明天耶穌受難日一大早還要再跑去紐約一趟，希望她振作精神，切莫忘記取道花園州高速公路前往都市公園站趕乘新澤西通勤火車。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2014: March Madness @ Fifth Grade(小學五年級的瘋狂三月)

Rahway Station, NJ (新州羅威“河流之地”站 03-24-2016)

New York Penn Station (紐約賓夕法尼亞車站)

Lexington Avenue @ 51^st St Subway Station

(列剋星頓“新法鎮”大道與51街地鐵站 03-24-2016)

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir @ Central Park Looking West

(中央公園西側—傑奎琳·肯尼迪·奧納西斯“篡位者·戴頭盔的首領·受寵者”水庫)

Central Park West, a Mixture of Late 19^th- & Early 20^th-Century Architectural Styles

(西中央公園·融合了19世紀末和20世紀初的建築風格)

Gatehouse @ Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, Central Park Looking South

(中央公園東側—中央公園水庫門樓)

Engineers' Gate @ Central Park (中央公園·工程師門)

St. Francis of Assisi Church (1892) in Gothic Revival @ 135-139 West 31^st St

(西31街135—139號方濟各教堂·建於1892年，哥特復興式)

St. Francis of Assisi Church w/ Its History of Compassion & Service

(方濟各教堂·以仁慈和服務著稱 03-24-2016)

Main Altar @ St. Francis of Assisi Church (方濟各教堂·主聖壇)

of Rudolph Margreiter’s The Glorification of the Mother of Jesus @ St. Francis of Assisi Church

(方濟各教堂——魯道夫·馬格雷特“名譽·珍珠”《耶穌之母的榮光》)

Mosaic Murals @ St. Francis of Assisi Church 

(方濟各教堂·馬賽克“鑲嵌”壁畫 03-24-2016)

Organ @ St. Francis of Assisi Church

(方濟各教堂·管風琴)

Transept @ St. Francis of Assisi Church

(方濟各教堂·耳堂)

Church of the Heavenly Rest (1865) in Neo-Gothic Styles w/ Art Deco Details on 1085 5^th Ave

(第五大道1085號天安教堂·建於1865年，新哥特式與裝飾藝術細節)

Rose Window @ Church of the Heavenly Rest

(天安教堂·玫瑰花窗)

The Nave @ Church of the Heavenly Rest (天安教堂·中殿)

The Narthex @ Church of the Heavenly Rest (天安教堂·前廳)

Stained Glass @ Church of the Heavenly Rest

(天安教堂·花窗)

The Brick Presbyterian Church (1768) on 62 E 92^nd St 

(東92街62號·建於1768年的好人長老會教堂)

Roman Catholic All-Girl School @ Convent of the Sacred Heart (1881) on 1 E 91^st St 

(東91街1號建於1881年的聖心修道院·現為天主教全女子學校)

Consulate-General of Russia in New York City (1903) in the 5-Story Renaissance Style Limestone Townhouse on 9 E 91^st St

(東91街9號俄羅斯聯邦駐紐約市總領事館·建於1903年，五層高文藝復興式石灰岩聯排別墅)

Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum

(庫珀·休伊特“制桶商·聰穎”史密森尼“鐵匠之子”設計博物館)

National Academy Museum in a Mid-19^th-Century Venetian Gothic Style 

 (國家科學院博物館·19世紀中葉威尼斯哥特式風格)

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in the Modern Style Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1959 

(所羅門·古根海姆“和平·沼澤村”博物館——現代派建築，由弗蘭克·賴特““自由人·工匠”於1959年設計建成)

5^th Ave Museum Mile near Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Non-Objective Painting in 1939

(第五大道即藝術館大道·1939年的古根海姆非具象繪畫博物館)

Penang Malaysian & Thai Cuisine @ Edison, NJ 

(新州愛迪生“財富之子”鎮·馬來檳城及泰國美食 03-24-2016)

印度煎餅、清蒸馬來西亞春卷、檳城家常嫩豆腐雜燴、油炸芋頭雜燴

Penang Char Kway Teow w/ Mixtures

(檳城炒粿條雜燴)

肉垂水雉、巨頭鵲鴨、鸕鶿、雄綠頭鴨

Waterfowl Nest (水禽窩)

Female Mallard (雌綠頭鴨)

Crosslinks(相關博文):

USA(出遊美國)

7th Grade(初中二年級)