A wonderful day

在St. Louis，很多公園都很寬大，這一回帶你們到Laumeier Sculpture Park。因為Steve约了好朋友Terri一起用午餐及介绍给我認識，而约見的地点是离家駕車约半小时的一間餐廳，這個公園离餐廳很近，也是Steve成長时住的地區。我們就先去這公園走走吧…你可以看到不遠就會有一個個的雕塑品，有大 有小， 很抽象、藝術… 我們邊走Steve邊告訴我，他最后一次來這里是25年前，那是他姐姐Sue结婚來这公園拍照… 走入樹林小徑，也有一些雕塑品，這像Penang的Komtar嗎？還有一座＇小橋＇…一邊裝有特别的玻璃… 嗯！有人如瞎子摸＇象＇，其實這公園，瞎子也可摸某些小模式及雕塑品的盲文介绍。你來溜狗，牠有做大＇生意＇嗎？請處理呵…有提供胶手套袋，很好的设備！这是什么雕塑品呢？…是Steve做完小＇生意＇啦！

我們在一間泰国日本餐廳，見到的確如Sue形容 – very kind and wonderful的Terri。她與丈夫Chris帶给我們禮物及賀卡，餐后他們又搶着付錢。俩夫妻真的非常親切，我們言談甚歡。

餐后Steve帶我到附近的購物中心，这間department store就是他認識Terri的地方，當年Steve只有16歲，曾在這里做過臨时清理工作員。Steve的媽媽、Sue、Terri皆分别在不同的部門工作，Sue和Terri也只是短暫的工作。Terri对Steve很好，把他當成弟弟般，她是Steve的其中一位好朋友。

我們逛了几間店，來到一间department store，正在大減价。某些物品，削价了兩、三次… 如我買的一件Levi’s牛仔褲，從原价US$38削減成US$12.49﹔假首飾有些原价US$20，18，15，12削減成US$1.99﹔也有些原价US$20，18，15削減成只是US$0.99… 怎么可能！？在Penang都不可能买到這么便宜的貨啦！我选了很多的假首飾，觉得要捨掉一些，不過Steve却帮我拿所有选到的去付錢。

回家后，算一算假首飾﹕有始以來，一次買了15件的假首飾… 我太瘋狂了！

There are many huge public parks in St. Louis. This time I will show you Laumeier Sculpture Park. Steve set up a lunch appointment with his good friend Terri to introduce her to me. We had to drive a half hour from home to the restaurant, and this park is near the restaurant. It is also the area where Steve grew up. Let’s go to the park…you can see a couple of sculptures in the distance. Some are big; some are small; all are abstract art… While we were walking, Steve told me that the last time he was here was 25 years ago, when his sister Sue’s wedding photographs were taken at the park… We followed a trail through the woods; there are also a few sculptures along the trail. Does this look like Penang’s Komtar Tower? And this is a small ‘bridge’…one side is made from special glass… Emm! Like the story of the blind men touching an elephant. In fact, in this park blind people can touch small models of some of the sculptures, which include descriptions in Braille. Are you walking your dog and it does its ‘business’? Please pick it up…with plastic mitts provided by the park! What is this sculpture? …is Steve out after did his ‘small business’!

We met Terri and her husband Chris at a Thai & Japanese restaurant. As Sue mentioned about Terri, she is very kind and wonderful. They gave us a gift and card, and they also paid for the meal. Both of them are friendly, and we had a wonderful meeting.

After our meal, Steve showed me to a department store in a shopping center, which was the place he met Terri. At that time, Steve worked at a part-time cleaning job when he was 16 years old. Steve’s mom, Sue and Terri all worked there too, but they were in different departments. Sue and Terri also worked there part-time. Steve became like a younger brother to Terri; she is so kind and became one of Steve’s good friends.

We looked around a few stores in the shopping center and then went into a department store. It was having a big sale. Some prices had been reduced 2 or 3 times already… I bought a pair of Levi’s jeans. The original price was US$38; it was reduced to US$12.49. I also bought some jewelry. The original prices were US$12 to 20, but had been reduced to US$1.99; some with original prices of US$15 to 20 had been reduced to just US$0.99… How could it be!? I could never find this stuff with those cheap prices in Penang! I chose many pieces of jewelry and thought to drop some of them, but Steve took all those I chose to the payment counter.

When we got back home, I counted the jewelry: This was the first time I bought 15 pieces of jewelry at one time… I am too crazy!

30.7.07 6.10pm 晴热