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話說朋友事業心重,但前途呆渧,來電求助. 首先我開門見山,問他:「您是走江湖的,天大地大, 何處不為家?有沒有考慮到其它地方,另謀發展,或回歸本國?」他答:「離家時,滿肚雄志,夢想開天創地,當日送行者衆,親朋戚友,宴開数席,為我薦行.觀今日情景,前途未卜,不知何去何從,那有面目回家見鄉親父老.再者,我妻子颇受她僱主重用,孩子也勤憤向學,故此不打算移居別處,最重要是解决個人適應之基本間題,明白西方工作環境的需要」我聽後明白他是個腳踏實地的人,也就作出下列提議:
思想系統: 在加拿大這個多元文化社會,每人的思想過程和表達方法,未必是相同的. 例如:甲是先談論點,然後詳細分析衡量,最後才作結論.乙則先說自己的意見和結論,之後才解釋理由.丙就抽像的從觀感與角度入正題,再加上其它關键性的資料和對答,最後才發出抨論或結語.假如甲乙丙從來沒有明白其他人的思想系統,甲會說乙不加思索,就魯莽下結論.乙則反駁他不耐煩甲的長篇大論,他想聴的就是結論,原因次要.甲和乙都認為丙説的是不着邊際,轉彎末角,教人摸不着頭腦.丙卻認為甲乙文化淺薄,未能客觀化的領畧事件的來龍去脈和上文下理.既然甲乙丙都不能或不願了解對方,工作或合作就當然非常困難了!
我的朋友聽後,展顏大笑,拍我着我的膊頭說:「我明白了!我明白了!您說的甲乙丙就是英國,法國,和中國人罷!」
<欲知我的反應如何,請聽下回分解>
微豆
"A dragon floundering in shallow water is teased by the shrimps" Part 2
(to be translated)
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Saturday, September 23, 2006
「龍游淺水遭蝦戲」之一 / "A dragon floundering in shallow water is teased by the shrimps" Part 1
「龍游淺水遭蝦戲」之一
前数天接到一個朋友的求救電話,他來了加拿大約三年多,是做工程科技行業.在未移民之前,他有十多年的工作經驗,包括人事管理,財政等等,手下不少,也算是很高級的了.可是來加之後,發覺不單只外地學歷不被承認,而且大才小用,薪金和責任都比以前少,又常被西人上司批評,又恐其他人看他不起,背後作弄嘲笑,正是「想當年金戈鐵馬,氣吞萬里如虎」, 現今卻是「龍游淺水遭蝦戲」,大有屈屈不得志之嘆!他問我有什麼意見, 可以幇助他脱離這個處境.雖然我與他工作單位不同,實在不什知道他的情形,但大家都是這個多元文化社會的一份子,既然開心見誠向我訴苦,我也義務承擔了做教練的角色,希望帶給他一些輔導作用. (待續)
微豆
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A dragon floundering in shallow water is teased by the shrimps" Part 1
Earlier this week, I received an urgent call from a colleague asking for career advice. He immigrated into Canada about three years ago and is currently employed in the engineering / science and technology field. Prior to his arrival, he was a middle-manger with over ten years of supervisory and financial responsibility. According to him, his past credential is not recognized and he is under paid and under utilized by his company. His boss criticizes his work and his peers tease and laugh behind his back. It pains him to think about the good old days when, "..... holding the golden scepter of power and riding on my chariot of iron-clad authority, I was the tiger that could leap ten thousand miles with one single breath!!!" He recognizes that his career is floundering and asks me how he could extract himself out of the situation. While I am not familiar with his job portfolio, I can understand the kind of challenges he is facing as a new comer to our multicultural workplace. I appreciate his frankness and agree to be his volunteer coach, with the hope that we can share some ideas and make progress.
(to be continued)
Haricot
前数天接到一個朋友的求救電話,他來了加拿大約三年多,是做工程科技行業.在未移民之前,他有十多年的工作經驗,包括人事管理,財政等等,手下不少,也算是很高級的了.可是來加之後,發覺不單只外地學歷不被承認,而且大才小用,薪金和責任都比以前少,又常被西人上司批評,又恐其他人看他不起,背後作弄嘲笑,正是「想當年金戈鐵馬,氣吞萬里如虎」, 現今卻是「龍游淺水遭蝦戲」,大有屈屈不得志之嘆!他問我有什麼意見, 可以幇助他脱離這個處境.雖然我與他工作單位不同,實在不什知道他的情形,但大家都是這個多元文化社會的一份子,既然開心見誠向我訴苦,我也義務承擔了做教練的角色,希望帶給他一些輔導作用. (待續)
微豆
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A dragon floundering in shallow water is teased by the shrimps" Part 1
Earlier this week, I received an urgent call from a colleague asking for career advice. He immigrated into Canada about three years ago and is currently employed in the engineering / science and technology field. Prior to his arrival, he was a middle-manger with over ten years of supervisory and financial responsibility. According to him, his past credential is not recognized and he is under paid and under utilized by his company. His boss criticizes his work and his peers tease and laugh behind his back. It pains him to think about the good old days when, "..... holding the golden scepter of power and riding on my chariot of iron-clad authority, I was the tiger that could leap ten thousand miles with one single breath!!!" He recognizes that his career is floundering and asks me how he could extract himself out of the situation. While I am not familiar with his job portfolio, I can understand the kind of challenges he is facing as a new comer to our multicultural workplace. I appreciate his frankness and agree to be his volunteer coach, with the hope that we can share some ideas and make progress.
(to be continued)
Haricot
Thursday, September 21, 2006
適應環境 / Adjust and Adapt
剛從亞洲過來的華人,很多都有困難適應加拿大的新環境, 開門四件事,衣食住行,不在話下,但思想和言語,這都不是一朝一夕可以改變的.達爾文說:「適者生存,不適者淘汏」.先知先覺,要多下功夫了!
微豆
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Many Asians who come to Canada really have a hard time adjusting to the new environment. Apart from what the Chinese call "The Four Essentials" (clothes, food, shelter, and transportation), the differences in languages and thinking processes are major challenges. There is no magic bullet that will solve the problem overnight. What one can do is to remember what Darwin once said: "Survival of the fittest." One needs to be aware of these challenges and work on it over time.
Haricot
微豆
--------------------------------
Many Asians who come to Canada really have a hard time adjusting to the new environment. Apart from what the Chinese call "The Four Essentials" (clothes, food, shelter, and transportation), the differences in languages and thinking processes are major challenges. There is no magic bullet that will solve the problem overnight. What one can do is to remember what Darwin once said: "Survival of the fittest." One needs to be aware of these challenges and work on it over time.
Haricot
Flin Flon
One of my favourite past time on a weekend is to play with the globe in the living room and locate all the places I would like to visit. While I cannot remember when and why I started this habit (perhaps from watching too often with my parents their favorite movie, the Great Dictator), the act itself seems to always:
(a) satisfy my primal territorial instinct;
(b) evoke an illusion of being a world traveler;
(c) make me go to the mom-and-pop store and buy a lottery ticket.
All of these actually seem very unrealistic, other than the real hard-earned dollar I spent in exchange for a dream that last maybe half a day (longer if I buy the lottery on Wednesday and the draw is on Saturday).
So imagine how surprised I was when I surfed the web this morning and actually found a place that I had visited and lived there for almost three years !!
Here are some pictures of old Flin Flon (way before my time).
For more recent pictures and beautiful drawings of the people living up North, please go to:
http://www.cityofflinflon.com/index-frameset.html
http://www.northroots.ca/
http://www.northroots.ca/stories15/kuehl.html
Enjoy !!
Haricot
(a) satisfy my primal territorial instinct;
(b) evoke an illusion of being a world traveler;
(c) make me go to the mom-and-pop store and buy a lottery ticket.
All of these actually seem very unrealistic, other than the real hard-earned dollar I spent in exchange for a dream that last maybe half a day (longer if I buy the lottery on Wednesday and the draw is on Saturday).
So imagine how surprised I was when I surfed the web this morning and actually found a place that I had visited and lived there for almost three years !!
Here are some pictures of old Flin Flon (way before my time).
For more recent pictures and beautiful drawings of the people living up North, please go to:
http://www.cityofflinflon.com/index-frameset.html
http://www.northroots.ca/
http://www.northroots.ca/stories15/kuehl.html
Enjoy !!
Haricot
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
威尼斯式面具 Venetian Mask: The Final Reckoning
Here are a few lines I sent to San Wen Ji 散文集: 現在﹐過去﹐歷史 back on June 8, 2006 sharing my thoughts on her topic "Present, Past, History":
Will I come face-to-face with the past?
Am I afraid to meet my abandoned twin of yesteryears?
I ponder, and then some thoughts .....
The Final Reckoning:
* Over the years, has my mind not learnt to protect its master?
* In the morning, do I not avoid the unseeing eyes behind the venetian mask?
* During dark moments, do I not look for enlightenment to distract myself from despair?
* And yet ... exhaling my last breath, why am I so afraid to meet myself in the last play of life???
Haricot
Masks 面具 / Face 面子
Many of my friends and relatives who are CBCs or grow up here in Canada have issues with this Chinese "thing" called FACE 面子 (façade). To us, it is embarrassing to watch our parents and their friends fighting over the restaurant bill and shoving their money back and forth. It inevitably ends up with the final ritual of the 'loser' trying to put money back into the pocket of his/her generous host. When being caught in situations like that (especially when I am expected to jump into the fray), I usually joke that I have short hands and very deep pocket, and if that joke passes over people's heads, proclaim sheepishly that I am too westernized, even though I had gobbled up most of the Chinese food on the table while the older generations were busy playing Chip 'n' Dale (卡通片 two cute overly polite cartoon characters - you first please, I have enough, no after you please, etc).
Just the other day, one of my far away but close relative came to visit our family. After a couple of days of bonding and re-bonding, we were beginning to loosen and open up, laughing and reminiscing about our childhood time together. Then at our farewell supper, as soon as it was time to pay the waiter, my mother all of a sudden put on this standard-issue mask and started, much to my horror, a pretend fight with our relative over the restaurant bill 爭結數. Although I did not say it aloud, I mumbled under my breath (in English of course): "Mother, how can you do this to someone with whom we shared our darkest and funniest of all family secrets in the last two days?!" Then it dawned on me that this giving and saving face by my mother was just a way of expressing her genuine gratitude to our relative without exposing her true emotion in public. In fact, I recall the trip with my mother to Venice, Italy 義大利威尼斯, where she was quite fascinated by the different Venetian masks and the beautiful costumes worn by the locals for foreign tourists. Perhaps, she was impressed by the colour and artistic value of the masks itself, or perhaps it was the mystery of who actually were the people under those masks that captured her fancy. Interesting though, for whatever reasons, my mother just would not keep the gift that had been given to her by a local mask-maker. "You keep it." She shoved it to me as soon as we left the artisan's studio. "Why did you accept it in the first place?" I asked without thinking. She gave me a side look and I knew better not to pursue it further. Perhaps she is afraid that the mask might come alive in the middle of the night and speak to her? I will never know.
Haricot
Just the other day, one of my far away but close relative came to visit our family. After a couple of days of bonding and re-bonding, we were beginning to loosen and open up, laughing and reminiscing about our childhood time together. Then at our farewell supper, as soon as it was time to pay the waiter, my mother all of a sudden put on this standard-issue mask and started, much to my horror, a pretend fight with our relative over the restaurant bill 爭結數. Although I did not say it aloud, I mumbled under my breath (in English of course): "Mother, how can you do this to someone with whom we shared our darkest and funniest of all family secrets in the last two days?!" Then it dawned on me that this giving and saving face by my mother was just a way of expressing her genuine gratitude to our relative without exposing her true emotion in public. In fact, I recall the trip with my mother to Venice, Italy 義大利威尼斯, where she was quite fascinated by the different Venetian masks and the beautiful costumes worn by the locals for foreign tourists. Perhaps, she was impressed by the colour and artistic value of the masks itself, or perhaps it was the mystery of who actually were the people under those masks that captured her fancy. Interesting though, for whatever reasons, my mother just would not keep the gift that had been given to her by a local mask-maker. "You keep it." She shoved it to me as soon as we left the artisan's studio. "Why did you accept it in the first place?" I asked without thinking. She gave me a side look and I knew better not to pursue it further. Perhaps she is afraid that the mask might come alive in the middle of the night and speak to her? I will never know.
Haricot
Monday, September 18, 2006
The Art & Science of Blogging for Beginners
As someone new on the blog, I am still learning the art and science of blogging. For example: I just discovered that the "comments" switch had not been on since day one. No wonder there have been no comments from anyone out there. The other issue is the choice of topics. I don't like this to become a babbling soap-box type of forum. While I am not prepared to enter into a deep and profound discussion every time, I do want the dialogues to be meaningful. Any suggestions / advice out there?
Haricot
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Summer returns
Yesterday, I saw some geese flying in formation over my house heading north and I waved my hands and yelled (as if they would understand) "Hey you guys are flying in the wrong direction, south is THAT way!!!" Well, guess what, their leader was right. Today the temperature hits 25 deg C and summer has returned, at least for a short little while.
In this northern country, we have a relatively long winter and every plant and animal has learnt to take advantage of warm sunny weather. I was out running in the afternoon and there were actually more people in the park than during mid-summer. There were old couples walking hand-in-hand, new parents pushing strollers, youngsters chasing each other, dog walkers accompanying their four-legged friends, and even people in formal dresses attending a wedding event at the Ornamental Garden.
Don't get me wrong, I actually enjoy a lot of outdoor winter sports (as long as the mercury is warmer than minus 15 degrees C) but hey I will take whatever nature has to offer and enjoy this moment in life while summer continues to linger on.
Haricot
In this northern country, we have a relatively long winter and every plant and animal has learnt to take advantage of warm sunny weather. I was out running in the afternoon and there were actually more people in the park than during mid-summer. There were old couples walking hand-in-hand, new parents pushing strollers, youngsters chasing each other, dog walkers accompanying their four-legged friends, and even people in formal dresses attending a wedding event at the Ornamental Garden.
Don't get me wrong, I actually enjoy a lot of outdoor winter sports (as long as the mercury is warmer than minus 15 degrees C) but hey I will take whatever nature has to offer and enjoy this moment in life while summer continues to linger on.
Haricot
Friday, September 15, 2006
Summer ends
With fall upon us, the water in Big Rideau Lake is dropping toward single digit and will eventually freeze. This picture captures a carefree moment of the youths in the canoe when life is lily dipping, splashing each other, and generally having fun. How I long for those days to return. I hope they will remember the friendship they once had when they grow up !!!
Haricot
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Lotus and Cedar: Temp Profile
As a starter, this "Profile" will do (better than nothing .... I took this pic myself).
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