洗衣成災

 

人是一種很奇妙的動物，常常吃著碗裡望著碗外，看到別人有的東西就會心癢難耐，恨不得自己也有一模一樣的東西。最近，我看到Vanessa買了一台新的洗衣機，心裡又羨慕又嫉妒，想說，要是不用抱著沈重的洗衣籃、為了洗衣服四處蒐集硬幣，也不用在每次洗衣之前先掀開洗衣機的蓋子聞一聞是否仍留有之前芳鄰留下的的臭襪子味道，洗衣不出門，是一件多美的事啊！

 

•  組裝煉獄

黃小美口中「購物太過衝動」的我，這次又憑著一股衝動，咬著牙在e-bay上買了跟Vanessa一模一樣的海爾洗衣機。洗衣機送達的那天，欣喜若狂的我，快手快腳地把紙箱給拆了，興沖沖地開始組裝。沒想到當天下午就踢到鐵板。原來，要讓洗衣機能像廣告上說的移動方便，得把洗衣機原本的四隻腳卸下來，再裝上輪子。笨手笨腳的我，光是把拴得老緊的四隻腳卸下來，就花了整整一個下午，滿頭大汗不說，手還破了皮！心情像洩了氣的皮球的我，只得打電話給親愛的學妹Vanessa哭訴兼求救，讓她晚上統計課下課之後帶著全套工具來解救我。在Vanessa的協助下，我們兩個好不容易把洗衣機裝上輪子，可以在屋裡推著前進。送走學妹之後，喜孜孜的我，把洗衣機推到廚房，接上廚房洗碗槽的水龍頭，準備大展身手，享受屋裡就有洗衣機的美妙滋味。

 

• 廚房淹水

就在我把衣服扔進洗衣機，按下開關，開始享受擁有一台個人洗衣機的歡樂時，慘事發生了。當時在客廳看書的我，聽到嘩啦一聲，接著就是「潺潺」水聲。轉頭一看，媽呀！勾在排水管上，讓水排入水槽的那一節管子居然可能因為沒有套緊，脫落了。水，救順著垂到地面上的排水管，嘩啦嘩啦地流了滿地都是。大驚失色的我，趕緊七手八腳找來各種抹布毛巾，手忙腳亂地拯救淹了水的廚房。原先，那股擁有個人洗衣機的小小優越感，在剎那間蕩然無存。

• 浴室泡湯

  就在廚房淹水慘案發生一個星期後，我好不容易平復了心情，揮別了一週前因廚房淹水的心理陰影，心裡又開始蠢蠢欲動，想要再來嘗試一次在自己屋裡洗衣的滋味。沒想到，這次造成的災難更加慘烈！原先我想，上週在廚房造成的淹水事件，由於廚房面積大，清理起來也不容易。這次乾脆把洗衣機推到廁所，廁所小，若要淹水，也好清理災區。沒想到，檢查了上次脫落的排水掛勾的我，這次居然又被這一台洗衣機給耍了。就當我扔進衣服、按下啟動功能，回到客廳拿東西的時候，聽到比上次更響亮的水聲。魂飛魄散的我，衝進浴室一看，天啊！整條排水管從接著洗衣機的地方脫落，所以，水，就直接從洗衣機裡嘩啦嘩啦地流出來。我的浴室，泡湯了！

看著泡了水的浴室欲哭無淚的我，只得把所有能用的抹布、毛巾以及廚房拿來的紙巾全拿來救急。一邊要清理積水，一邊還要想辦法把濕漉漉又因為沾了洗衣精而滑溜溜的排水管裝回滾滾冒出水的排水孔。焦頭爛額的我，好不容易稍微把管子裝回去，本以為可以專心清理災難現場，沒想到一回頭，嘩啦一聲，讓人心碎的水聲告訴我，管子又脫落了，水又冒出來，我，又得坐在水中重新來過。 麻木到哭不出眼淚的我，在總算把水管套進排水孔後，聽到一陣急促的敲門聲，披頭散髮的我，打開門一看，赫然見到一個粗壯的大漢，那位仁兄一臉不爽地說，他住在我家正下方，而他家浴室的天花板，現在正在滴滴答答地漏著水！

Oh My God!!一聽之下我的心不禁涼了半截，釀成災難的元兇，現在還在我的浴室裡轟隆轟隆地洗著衣服哩！我萬分愧疚地鞠躬哈腰致歉，把鄰居送走，回到遭了災的小浴室守著闖了禍的洗衣機。這時候發現，這台洗衣機，今天簡直跟我耗上了，不僅讓我浴室泡了水，現在連簡單的洗衣，似乎也成了問題。因為，原本應該全自動的洗衣、脫水功能，居然失了效。原先設定好的二十分鐘洗衣，會自動轉換成脫水，沒想到，該死的這台機器，就轟隆轟隆洗個沒完，二十分鐘過去了，控制儀表上的時間仍靜止不動，完全沒往下倒數。被氣得說不出話來的我，只得靠「手動」，先把洗衣機停下來，然後按鈕讓它一到下一個功能。

跟洗衣機奮戰一個晚上的我，精疲力盡之餘，發現，能用原先嫌得要死的地下室公用洗衣機洗衣服，也是一種幸福啊！所以，繞了一圈的我，正在聯繫把這台洗衣機給退回去，讓自己能回復到先前沒有個人洗衣機，卻比較單純的生活～

 

Black Wednesday

 

Two years ago, when I started my first semester at the University of Iowa, I had a black Tuesday. On each Tuesday, I needed to teach five sections for the First-year Chinese class. Four sections were in the morning, which stated at 8:30 am and finished at 12:30 pm. I still remember, I needed to act like a tape player on Tuesday morning, repeating the same materials for four times. After teaching, I had two hours to take a rest and prepare for the multimedia class in the afternoon. At 4:15 pm, I had to quickly move from the information arcade at the library to Phillips Hall to teaching the fifth section of the First-year Chinese class that started at 4:30 pm, kept repeating what I taught in the morning for one more time. At 5:20 pm, when the last Chinese section was over, it didn’t mean that I could call it a day. I had a Statistic class from 6 pm to 9 pm. I found that it was barely possible for me to have enough energy to keep awake in my night class.  

 

However, my nightmare returned this semester. I had a black Wednesday this semester. As a first-year PhD student, I am also a part-time teaching assistant working for the Chinese Language Program and a part-time graduate assistant serving as a curriculum coordinator at the Confucius Institute. In addition to work, I am taking three courses this semester. Unfortunately, all of them are on Wednesday. My Second Language Acquisition Theory class is in the morning. After that class, I have to stay in my office for 3 hours and work with some students for their individual sections in the lunch time. The heavy-workload Speaking Acquisition class is in the afternoon, which finished at 5 pm. I have one hour to take a breath and grab a bite for dinner. The last course, which is related to the theories and research about teaching Chinese as a foreign language, starts at 6 pm and lasts for two and half hours. I gradually realize that it is more difficult to concentrate and stay up at night when people get older. Therefore, it is easy for me to get lost in class and feel drowsy asI am getting older.

 

I know, life is not easy, especially for a novice PhD student. I need to seek a balance between academic study and work. I believe, pressure can be a driving force for me to grow up. Life is challenging and tough, but it also means the more I encounter and suffer, the more I can learn and develop. 

 

~ Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. ~ (Romans 5:3-4)