旅記｜BARCELONA 巴賽隆納

Updated: Sep 15, 2020

SPAIN

You Are Forgetting How Far You Have Come

Sitting on the top of the Sagrada Familia, one of the marvelous architectures Gaudí has created, I wondered where and how had all these inspirations come from, combined with his love and passion towards nature and religion. I was wandering inside his masterpieces, in and out, up and down, cannot help taking pictures but feeling disappointed at the same time, because those awe-inspiring moments, the lights, the vibes and the feelings were so hard to catch and store. Sadly, the pictures I captured couldn’t really tell you the whole stories of Barcelona and how amazed they are in the real world. I was stunned and moved by the way how those little details embody our emotions, they are breathtaking in their beauty, and most importantly, they express what cannot be put into words.

“I remember when I first stepped into the Europe continent by myself last year, I was shocked.”

Surrounded by all different kinds of languages such as French, Italian, Spanish, and more that I don’t even understand at all every single day, I was honestly getting a bit lost under my trying-to-be-calm-and-cool appearances. Although I know, it sounds normal to people who used to live here, or someone else who has studied or lived in various international schools or communities etc. But for me, NOOO, IT’S NOT LIKE THAT.

I came from Taiwan, an isolated island, which is protectively surrounded by the ocean. If you have any chances to visit my normal world where I’ve lived and stayed for more than 20 years (almost my whole life actually) with me, you will get some hints about the reason why I said that. Those people who I usually met or strangers who I commonly passed by are mainly Asian, speak the same language, similar cultural background and of course similar lifestyles as well. Although it seems that we have embraced so many different cultures, cuisines, festivals from almost all over the world there: Christmas markets, British afternoon tea, German bars, Japanese department stores, Thai massages, American restaurants, etc. Unfortunately, in today’s world, a lot of them have to do with money and advertising. These marketing and commercial tactics utilised by various international businesses have somehow created many cultural misunderstandings.

"We consequently start thinking or assuming that cultural differences are easy to understand and overcome.”

Because most of them are good, fun and exciting, they are celebrations, parties and holidays; not old, boring and discriminated, or criminals, drugs and homelessness. I used to be one of them, accidentally locked myself inside my little planet, cannot understand what the real world looks like.

Several days, months have flown away, and now it has been more than a year since I first came to the UK, I have a sense that these diverse societies here are actually living separately and independently, but also together as another bigger community at the same time. These experiences have fundamentally challenged my entire lifestyle. I am excited, motivated and curious. However, they also inevitably give me a sense of insecure and fear, because this was not the world I was familiar with, not simple enough, not feeling comfort, not safe at all…not easy to understand…and was extremely complicated, unknown and mysterious where I could hardly predict before anything starts happening or deal with what has already happened. I hate to do things that I cannot plan for them at the beginning or caonnot imagine what they will look like eventually.

Casa Milà

I always thought I would be fine and I would get used to it. However, this feeling never goes away and sometimes becomes even stronger than before.. likes playing trust games with strangers during the first couple of days at schools to meet people when we are little kids, playing in pairs and trying to fall backward to let the other person who is behind you to catch you. Trust the person, fall backward, he or she will be there, don’t worry, just fall backward, yes, go ahead. Always having fun but meanwhile wondering whether there will truly be someone there catching us back before we hit the floor.

Starting a new life is always risky.

Especially when you need to turn the globe upside down to find the place you have picked. Although it seems easy when you look back, don't forget how far you have come.

巴賽隆納

坐在高第設計的米拉之家裡，盔甲煙囪在屋頂上保護主人也保護天空，我想著如此簡樸的他，一張單人床、每日禱告與簡單生活，是如何同時創作出無數個至今無人能匹敵的藝術作品呢。世人的創作不能超越上帝，於是聖家堂的總高度並沒有超過巴塞隆納的最高點——蒙特惠克山(Montjuïc，又稱猶太山)。我靜靜地一個人坐在那裡，被折射的七彩陽光溫暖著。

Casa Milà

「從小到大生活的城市太過現代，所以每當自己走在歷史混雜的痕跡上時，總感覺心臟突然多了太多能量。」

我還記得剛到歐洲的時候，震懾於身旁多元的語系與人種。在地鐵裡隨處可見說著法文、義大利文、西文等多元語系的不同臉孔。這些混雜的背景一方面刺激著我，一方面也帶給我些許不安與恐懼，因為這不是我熟悉的生活樣貌，不再是單純的，清一色的讓人安心。而是複雜的，摸不透的，像是徘徊於信任遊戲的開端，不確定雙手抱胸往後一躺的那個瞬間，會不會有人像以前一樣扶住自己。

我說我來自一個小島，海洋成為了我們的防護罩，也減少了我們可以去接觸不同的人事物，價值觀與文化的機會。在這樣相對單一的族群裡，隨著人類的本性群聚，有著一份穩定與舒適。偶爾會遇到幾個外國人，然而，其他像是中東或南美等地的民族幾乎不曾見過。我們生活的地方因開放與自由而充斥著各國文化、食物與節慶，儘管有些只是商業行銷手法的置入，但也讓人誤以為，所謂的文化衝擊其實很好理解或適應，因為都是好的一面。於是我們不小心侷限在自己的小天地裡，看不見外面的世界。

在歐洲，歷史的糾纏使各國的邊界十分模糊，也因歐盟與申根的政策使得這道藩籬變得更加薄弱，一台客運幾個小時就能帶你橫跨邊境。而古老破舊的建築，骯髒悶熱的地鐵，醉漢小偷無家可歸的人，尿騷味酒味食物的酸臭味，這些沒提的也要一併體會。這讓我想起二十歲去美國打工度假的那個夏天，銀行專員看到我護照裡的各國入境章後說 “You are very lucky.” 她低著頭，邊對著資料邊說著 “You are still young, but you’ve already seen the world.”