愜意的自然環(huán)境

在飛機尚未抵達溫哥華之前，我已對溫哥華有了一種莫名的期待。或許是因為看過一部電視劇《別了，溫哥華》的緣由。

抵達溫哥華，大概是當?shù)貢r間中午十二點多。我拖著行李箱從溫哥華國際機場出來，迎面撲來一股清新的泥土香，我原本近乎混沌的頭腦被喚醒了?？諝獾那逍鲁潭?，在隨后的生活中得到了多次證實。譬如，經(jīng)常伏案碼字的我，累了打瞌睡，此時只要打開窗戶，深深吸上那么一兩口氣，戶外的清新空氣瞬時就可將昏睡的頭腦催醒。

從機場開往學校的時候，我發(fā)現(xiàn)沿途矗立著大片的樹林，朋友告訴我那是原生態(tài)的森林，不遠處則是連綿不斷的雪山，小松鼠在路邊蹦來蹦去，全然一派原生態(tài)的美麗自然。據(jù)了解，溫哥華市政府近些年一直在致力于綠色城市的建設(shè)，他們每年都會種植大量的樹木，且限制樹木的砍伐，這些政策措施都維系著這個城市的環(huán)保。

“冬天是不是會挺煎熬的？聽說加拿大冬天都很冷的?！蔽覇柕馈！安?，溫哥華的氣候很舒服的。”我從好友KEKE的講述中了解到，溫哥華盡管屬于北半球的高緯地區(qū)，但它是典型的溫帶海洋性氣候，靠海，有暖流經(jīng)過，所以冬天不冷，夏天還不熱，氣候四季宜人，非常適宜人居住?！拔以跍馗缛A已待了好幾年了，這里的空氣特別好，在國內(nèi)經(jīng)常發(fā)燒感冒的，來這還真沒感冒發(fā)燒過呢。”KEKE微笑著跟我講著。

溫和的陽光，暖暖地曬在我們的身上。我在KEKE的陪同下享受了溫哥華的第一頓晚飯。一看時間，已近八點了，然而陽光依舊不錯。

“對了，你以后出門最好戴上一副太陽鏡，涂上防曬霜?？諝夂茫贤饩€比較強烈，直射，小心曬成小黑臉哦?！盞EKE向我叮囑道?！皼]那么夸張吧?！蔽倚睦镞@樣嘀咕著。后來的日子里，我才意識到好友的這些囑咐真的很有用。有一天，我隨朋友徒步旅行，臉上既未涂防曬霜，也沒戴太陽鏡，結(jié)果晚上回家后發(fā)現(xiàn)脖子和臉蛋已是黑白分明的兩截。

熱情的城市居民

受益于好友一路的導航，我順利地抵達了自己的住所。之后，KEKE還驅(qū)車前往超市幫我買了很多生活必需品，包括大米、油鹽醬醋、蔬菜、水果等，東西很重，他逐一幫我搬到了住所?！摆s緊休息下吧，調(diào)整調(diào)整時差。有什么事情，盡管聯(lián)系我！”這一天，一切都很順利妥當，我感受到了溫哥華人情的暖意。

KEKE是我?guī)熃愕囊粋€朋友，在來溫哥華之前從未謀面過，僅僅是通過幾次電郵?？伤麉s像接待認識多年的老朋友，周到細致地幫我安排好了很多事情。我覺得自己很幸運，也愈發(fā)感受到了這個城市的人文溫度。

“好好休息了，坐了那么久的飛機，確實有點累了。”嘴巴里輕聲嘀咕著。我這才發(fā)現(xiàn)自己忘記購買被褥被單了?！斑@可怎么辦呀？”房東很友好，一個中年婦女，她似乎發(fā)現(xiàn)了我的這個小麻煩，輕聲敲門說：“如果你不介意，這個你可以先用著?！彼龑⒓依飫傁催^的被單和床單遞給我?！爸x謝你！”心里一陣暖意，這簡直就是雪中送炭啊。常言道，人在異國他鄉(xiāng)挺不容易的，孤苦一人，無依無靠?？晌页鮼頊馗缛A，就一次次地體驗到了“異國他鄉(xiāng)，人情洋溢”。

在溫哥華訪學將近1個月的時候，我覺得自己還是有必要買個手機?？紤]到僅在溫哥華生活一年之久，我決定從別人那里買個二手手機。出發(fā)之前，我與賣主約好下午兩點在市中心SEAR商店門口碰頭。不知何故，我在那里等了她一個多小時，還是沒有等到，“那位朋友該不會出什么事了吧?！蔽覜Q定找個公用電話聯(lián)系下她?！按驍_問一下，請問這附近有公用電話亭嗎？”我向路人問道?！澳愎P直走，左拐彎，大概再走10來米路有一個公用電話亭，可以去看看。不過有點遠?！?/p>

正當我起身走過去的時候，旁邊一個老人主動湊上前問：“你是要聯(lián)系你朋友嗎？拿我的手機聯(lián)系吧。這邊的公用電話很多都是壞掉的?！蔽医舆^他的手機，連說“謝謝”，并撥通了電話號碼?！爸x謝你！”我拿出幾元加幣給他，這是用人家手機應(yīng)付的酬勞。“不用，我很樂意幫助你，孩子！”他擺擺手，示意不要這個錢，寥寥數(shù)語顯示著真情。

那一天，不知是湊巧還是咋的，整整一個下午，那個賣主一直沒有等到。所以，有了前一次的經(jīng)驗，我決定就向路人借用手機，“您好！可以借用下您的手機嗎？我想聯(lián)系一下朋友。”那些路人均非常友好地借給我使用。而當我在結(jié)束通話后要付給他們費用時，他們都說“不用，很樂意幫助你”。這樣的類似情景發(fā)生了至少三次，且每次都是隨機的借用。或許，這已不是簡單的個案了。這似乎應(yīng)該說明些什么了：“良好的人文環(huán)境……”為期一年的訪學生活，溫哥華的城市居民，其溫和親切，平易近人，對于不同族裔人群所表現(xiàn)出來的友好和熱情給我留下了難以忘卻的印象，也難怪乎查爾斯·狄更斯將其稱為“充滿希望的福地”。

校園里的特寫鏡頭

2010年5月20日，中午十二點左右，我到學生服務(wù)樓買了一片匹薩，打算找個座位閱讀電腦里的一些資料。由于手提電腦快沒電了，我需要找個靠近插座的位置來使用外接電源。我打量著靠墻的一側(cè)，琢磨著哪個沙發(fā)座靠近插座些。

正在這個時候，坐在沙發(fā)上的老外主動跟我講話：“您是在找什么東西嗎？丟了東西嗎？”我當時覺得挺奇怪的，他怎么會這樣問我呢。我回答說：“不是，只是想找個靠近插座的座位學習?！蔽疫x擇坐在了他旁邊的位置上。在跟他交流的過程中，我發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個事情。原來這個老外是在等待一名失主，他在這邊座位上撿到了一個錢包，里面有若干錢幣?！芭?，原來是拾金不昧的好學生！”我心里被震蕩了一下，由于這個老外下午還有課程，他不得不離開這幢學生服務(wù)樓。在離開之前，他拿出一張紙，寫上了這樣的幾排字“I foundawallet with NoID，Have call me if it’s yours between 12:00-2:00 or after 9:00.”再加一個簽名。我說：“你趕緊上課去吧，我下午沒課，我接替你在這里等失主?！蔽蚁耄且还商厥獾牧α吭跔恳覀?。

一天傍晚，我騎著單車經(jīng)過校園的一條小道，不遠處，一個頭發(fā)花白的老婦，背著一個雙肩包，手中拿著一本書，悠然徜徉在校園的小道上。我震驚了一下，“哦，終身學習，原來在加拿大已落到實踐的程度了。”近些年，我一直很關(guān)注國際教育的思潮，知道終身學習的理念正在全球范圍內(nèi)盛行。然而，這就是我第一次看到老年人在校園學習情景時的感慨。“國內(nèi)的終身學習，與西方發(fā)達國家相比，差距實在還是比較大啊?！?/p>

訪學期間，我又有幸認識了在英屬哥倫比亞大學學習的老年人。比如Jack，我在學習中心認識的一個朋友，現(xiàn)正在修讀英屬哥倫比亞大學的環(huán)保課程。Jack告訴我，英屬哥倫比亞大學早在90年代就開始向老年人開放很多課程，比如他現(xiàn)在修讀的環(huán)保課程就是完全免學費的，唯一需要花錢的就是自己要買些與課程相關(guān)的書籍。Jack希望自己組建一個團隊，能夠創(chuàng)辦太陽能發(fā)電公司。他談到了自己的創(chuàng)業(yè)夢想，也跟我交流著他的實施方案。他的具體年齡，其實我并不清楚，出于對別人的尊重，我自始至終也沒有問過他的年齡。然而，花白的頭發(fā)、臉上的皺紋以及言語中的豐富經(jīng)歷，告訴我他至少已經(jīng)60多歲了。一個年已花甲的老人，那樣富有激情地實踐著他的人生夢想，我真的有所觸動了。當問及創(chuàng)業(yè)理由時，他說：“我希望自己依舊能為社會創(chuàng)造些價值，比如太陽能發(fā)電，綠色環(huán)保?！?/p>

夢想，在這個老年人心中沒有停滯……而這，不是一個特殊的例子，我碰到了太多類似的個案。對此，我不禁無限感懷。在這里，每個人都找到了自己的座標，每個人都活出了自己的精彩。溫哥華，一個讓夢想起飛的地方，一個令夢想實現(xiàn)的地方。

鏈接：

作者畢業(yè)于華東師范大學，曾經(jīng)在加拿大英屬哥倫比亞大學做訪問學者一年，還多次走訪和考察美國紐約、洛杉磯等多個城市的世界著名大學。

My Impressions

of Vancouver

By Zhao Fengbo

I was looking forward to seeing Vancouver before my flight reached the city on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. The pulsating eagerness in my heart could probably be ascribed to “Farewell， Vancouver，” a 2004 television drama I had watched.

It was about 12 AM local time when I reached Vancouver. As I stepped out from the airport dragging the baggage， the fresh air made me take a deep breath. It was so enticing and enlivening. My head was cleared immediately. The freshness of the air in Vancouver is something real， physical and convincing. During the year I stayed in Vancouver， taking a deep breath of the fresh and crisp air was always a great relief from my daily routine.

On my way from the airport to the school， I found the streets were lined with woods. To my surprise， I learned that these were original forests. Behind the woods towered snow-capped mountains; squirrels could be seen along here and there. I was informed that thanks to a series of policies of the city government， Vancouver now gives priority to forestation and does its best to maintain the green coverage. Would the winter be gruesomely cold? My misgivings vanished when my friend Ke Ke’s replied that Vancouver enjoys an ocean climate with a mild winter.

My first dinner in Vancouver was pleasant. Ke Ke and I dined in a local restaurant. When we walked out of the restaurant， it was already eight o’clock in the evening， but sunlight was still strong.

Ke Ke cautioned me against the possible harms of sunlight in Vancouver， warning that I would need a pair of sunglasses and use sun cream whenever I would go outside. I did not take his warning seriously at first. I soon paid for my carelessness. At the end of a day’s hiking with a friend， I found my face and neck had two distinct colors.

Ke Ke was a friend of my classmate. Before I came to Vancouver， we had established contact through email. But he made all the necessary arrangements for me. He picked me up at the airport， drove me to the school， and helped me buy all the necessities at a shopping mall. When I found I had forgotten to buy bed sheets， the mid-aged landlady seemed to have known my difficulty in advance. She came to my door， knocked and offered to lend me a set of sheets if I did not mind. I was touched by the friendliness and generosity.

Before a month had elapsed in Vancouver， I decided to buy a cellphone. After all， I would stay in the city for another 11 months. I decided to buy a second-hand cellphone and made an appointment with the seller. We had arranged to meet in front of Sears in downtown at two o’clock in the afternoon. I waited for more than an hour but the seller did not show. I tried to use a public phone to call him. I asked a passerby where I could find a public phone. Someone gave me detailed information on the nearest public phone. An old man offered to let me use his cellphone saying that many public phones in the downtown were out of order. I made the call and offered to pay， the old man declined saying he was very glad to help. Unfortunately， the seller did not show up that whole afternoon. I asked a few passersby if they would be so kind to let me use their cellphone to make a call. They all agreed to let me use their phones and they all declined my payment. I was deeply impressed with the generosity and kindness.

One day in May 2010， I went to a student service on the campus. I wanted to find a seat where I could use my notebook computer while recharging it. Someone asked me if I had lost something. It turned out that he had found a wallet and had been waiting for the owner to turn up. The owner did not come back. As he needed to take a class in the afternoon， he wrote a small note: “I found a wallet with no ID. Call me between 12:00-2:00 or after 9:00 if it’s yours.” I offered to wait there on his behalf in the afternoon in case the owner would turn up.

Then one day I was biking on the campus when I noticed an old woman with silver hair walking on a path. She carried a backpack and had a book in her hand. I was shocked when I realized that she was a student of the school. She stood for the practice of lifelong education in Canada. I had been paying attention to the trends in international education and known that lifelong education was all the rage over the world. It was the first time I spotted a golden-age citizen on the campus. China had a long way to go in lifelong education， I concluded.

I got to know a few old students at the University of British Columbia. Jack was taking an environmental protection course at the University of British Columbia. He told me that the university had opened some free courses to senior citizens since the 1990s. The course he was taking was free but he needed to buy some books. Talking about his purpose， he said he hoped to form a team and start a solar energy company. He even talked about details of his future entrepreneurial startup. Out of respect， I did not ask how old he was， but he looked like in his 60s.