爱华网系列专题：《点亮生活的智慧：人生之钥》
No – it’s not the location; it’s the configuration. The geometric concept that produced the amphitheatre: a Greek marriage of structure and drama, perfectly arranged. Ever since it first entered my consciousness – whenever that may have been – this figure has persisted as my guiding star. The ideal I always reached for. Definition of my aims. It led to architecture, theatre, astrology; conditioned every word I wrote. The essence of my mind in three dimensions, graphically depicted by the amphitheatre. It took a long time to arrive at that picture. But it was worth waiting for. I am a transnational. One of those people who leave their country of origin, sacrifice the security of birth right, give up an established identity honed by background and education. All for the dubious pleasure of starting anew, unconditioned, unencumbered, naked as the day you were born; even at the price of being relegated to the bottom rung of the social ladder. Everyone, down to the beggar in the street – provided he is in his own country – is better placed than a recently arrived immigrant. Initially you struggle along, ignorant of procedures that all others take for granted, stuttering in flawed idioms, unable to assert yourself; unwittingly violating established codes and customs. You behave, and you are treated, like someone mentally and socially deficient. Courtesy and respect are in short supply. As a clever immigrant you pick up the challenge and do your best to assimilate, fast and furiously, until your new countrymen can no longer tell that you’re not ‘one of them’. But is that really what you want? Go through life masquerading as something you are not, and never will be: ‘one of them’?
The whole point of migrating, which by far outweighs the hardship, is the wonderful freedom it brings. The privilege of not being expected to conform. The advantage of belonging to all cultures and none. Choosing the best from each one you sample but at heart remaining your true unaffected self.
