To Our Friendship!

I met Cor 7 years ago when I started to work for SmartAnt. He was the first Dutch people I know. Effected by many jokes about how stingy Dutch people are, I was pretty surprised by the kindness and friendliness Cor showed to me. As I never had experience selling, not to mention the professional knowledge about antennas, I was worried that I might cause my company lose profit. Luckily, as a gentleman, Cor never took advantage of my ignorance in product development. With constant contact and knowledge exchange, (well, most of the time I’m the receiver…), we become friends. He also witnessed my change from a young lady to a mother, and I have the honor to know his family as well. I like the way he valued his family, his wife and his missionary work, although I am no religious at all.

Recently, he came to Taiwan. I’m very happy to have the opportunity to show him around. When he asked to visit Tainan, I was in mixed mood. I’m happy and proud to present my hometown and my family, while I’m worried about where to go and what to eat. With a place I’m too familiar, I fear I take things for granted and never thought there is certain spot worth visiting. To organize this trip, I have to view this place as newcomer, from the point of view of people from different culture. I never knew there was a famous B&B near where I lived! (Unfortunately, there is no vacancy for this weekend. ) In Tainan, there are actually some historical sites with Dutch remains, but it’s about their being driven away. It was a history when Taiwanese and Dutch people were enemies. I’m not sure whether this is a good idea to put our relationship in this prerequisite. But since it was Cor’s idea, I think it wouldn’t do harm. After all, we are just looking for connections between Taiwan and the Netherlands.

As we usually visit our father-in-law every other week, it was this weekend that we should pay our visit. I told Cor that we had to stop by to let my father-in-law enjoy his company with his grandchildren. He took it without any problem and even showed interest, which surprised me again.

On our way down south, kids shouting, vomiting, and our constant stop to take care of kids’ need--- feeding, pea… made me nervous about our guest’s feeling. To my relief, he didn’t show any impatience. He even offered to take care of the baby so that I can take a breath.

For me, the scenic spots are all too familiar with as I grew up there. I don’t bother to portray our trip at those places. I want to keep the memory that how my friend from other culture reacted with my family, the thought we shared, and his attendance of Sophie’s first year celebration. Those are the precious memories worth keeping record.

有些點點滴滴，如果不趁著回憶還是新鮮的，很快就會淹沒在記憶的洪流中…

認識 Cor 是在我七年前剛進公司的時候，第一次當業務，也壓根不懂自己賣的產品，面對專業經驗豐富的客戶，我總是戰戰兢兢的應對，絲毫不敢大意，深怕害公司虧了錢。一直以為荷蘭人就是很吝嗇的民族，深諳做生意的手段，很會算計，遇見一個講話很慢，又很紳士的 Cor, 讓我很是訝異。慢慢地，我們變成了忘年之交，他見證了我人生的成長，我也很榮幸認識他一家人。

前陣子得知他來台灣出差數星期，很高興終於有機會可以盡地主之誼，帶他到處吃吃喝喝。他告訴我他想去台南參觀一些荷蘭人留下的史蹟。這可傷腦筋了，我們鄭大爺把他的祖先趕跑ㄋㄟ… 留下的「豐功偉業」他會想看嗎？不過人家都開口了，就裝死好了，到時候如果尷尬，就傻笑帶過吧… 藉著這次機會，我也重新地審視了這個我住了將近20年的城市。(我家附近竟然有一家很有名的民宿ㄋㄟ…)

卡到我們每隔一個週末就會南下去探望公司，計劃出遊前我告知他我們必須在中途稍做停留，他表示很想認識我公公，這很讓我意外。一路上小飯糰不時有吵鬧的情形，一會兒要上廁所，尿褲子，一會而又喝水嗆到吐出早餐，我想他大概很後悔跟我們共度週末吧！不過還好，他很優雅地看待這些「橫禍」，反過來還安慰我：小孩就是這樣。果然是過來人啊！

我並不想去記錄我們看了什麼地方、吃了哪些東西，我想記下來的是我們的友誼。