Excerpt - 所謂「國際觀」，就是在這種不斷的漣漪「波及」中逐漸累積見識

談臺灣的「國際化」危機 ─ 龍應台女士


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以香港為例。二○○五年底世貿組織要來香港開會，一個這樣的會議給香港人帶來什麼？世貿會議在這裡開，負責協調組織會議的政府官員，從首長到最底層的小公務員，在與各國政府和代表不斷的來往溝通中，認識了國際的議題，更學到國際應對的技巧。衝著世貿會議，全世界反全球化的組織也動員要來香港抗議，由香港的民間團體負責統合。於是香港的民間團體從統合的運作中又學到了全球性的組織操作，而且在一瞬間就與全世界的反對組織接軌。至於普通市民，由於新聞的炒作，那平常不關心的人對世貿議題會得到多一點認識，平常關心的人更有機會取得第一手的訊息。

　　一次重大的國際會議就像一顆石頭拋進池塘裡，漣漪一圈一圈擴散，整個池子受「波及」，而所謂「國際觀」，就是在這種不斷的漣漪「波及」中逐漸累積見識，逐漸開闊眼界，而且深刻覺得自己是國際動脈的一份子。

幾十年沒有這樣的國際會議，幾十年沒有這樣的國際參與和對話，幾十年沒有這種國際議題的撞擊，幾十年沒有這種國際思潮和辯論的陶冶，也就是說，幾十年被排除在國際社區的外面，你能怪台灣人與世界不同調，你能怪台灣人缺乏國際觀嗎？

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- Excerpted from the web in around 2008
- Recycled in 2011

Vintage music video - 齐秦 - 不必勉强

Lyrics copied from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExWwIzQgJic :

不必勉強

作詞：陳昇　作曲：李柏

在每個分手道別的地方　總留一些紛亂的腳印 誰不曾徘徊過　不曾留戀過　將思念藏在未知的重逢裡 在一個淒清寒涼的夜裡　含著眼淚我默默離開你 千言和萬語　無從說起　只有靜待傷痛的痊癒 ＊離開你不容易　想念你不得已　如果你真在意　不必勉強你自己　我不怪你　日記裡太擁擠　只要輕輕把我抹去 在好多好多翻滾的夜裡　我在夢中輕輕呼喚你 想你的笑容　想你的身影　把思念化做蒼白的回憶 每一個淒美愛情故事裡　總有令人傷痛的際遇 不能不想你　不能忘記你　將思念藏在未知的重逢裡 

Rock and roll from Taiwan. Held especially dear by me. Love it immensely.

Sometimes girls love to squeak.

Traffic is gibbering in a lot of Chinese cities.

Lots of headaches.

On every news website or TV program you turn to,

there is a lot of mentioning of Twitter and Facebook. Heed that, my friend.

Without being involved in life struggles, artists don't thrive.

Microblogging services, e.g. Twitter, have come of age.

Before seeing the 1997 movie Titanic,

I hadn't known that the historic Titanic steamship tragedy was the biggest shipwreck at the beginning of the 20th century.

Just how closed we average Chinese children were to the outside world.

Twitter and the likes are considered to be microblogging service,

while Facebook and so on social networking service.

I feel that on average, stripped off monetary issues,

women cast their ideals into their lovers and their offspring, while men cast their ideals into their own enterprises and / or into women.

Gee. There are so many distinct types of drinkware in the Western world.

(Picture via http://goo.gl/IBnSd)

Rocks glass (a.k.a. old fashioned glass and lowball glass), table-glass, wine glass, shot glass, highball glass; mug, coffee cup; and on and on.

Personally I'm fond of rocks glass, table-glass, and mug. :-)