一塊地 Piece of Land

(The same is posted on my Facebook. 放在我的部落格裡讓有心想要到荷蘭留學的學生也可參考)

來到阿姆斯特丹半年多, 所有倒楣事都遇過. 除了第一天行李箱還沒拉到我的房間輪子就斷掉, 第三天我的生日那天從腳踏車摔下來, 膝蓋感染到現在還沒完全痊癒外, 跟學校行政單位, ING銀行,TNT郵局,ISP保險公司還有Thylas火車整個就是完全八字不合. 隨便舉一個東西我都有倒楣經驗.

I found this webpage of myself by accident...wait...i don't even remember how i ended up finding this! multi-tasking indeed causes me attention deficit disorder and shortens my memory spam. 

http://www.informationactivism.org/chinese --> find me here =)

This is a cool translation project I've been doing for the Tactical Techonology Collective. It takes me much longer time than I originally expected partly because I have been occupied by my school and other volunteering in other organizations in Amsterdam. Anyway, seeing what saying in the article's title "COMING SOON" makes me very guilty...need to catch up soon now ;p

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Update (09/2010): 對資訊行動主義有興趣的朋友, 歡迎觀看這部影片. 字幕選擇 Traditional Chinese 即可

我的不開心及煩躁  多半來自於社會制度及社會價值的制約

以前我總歸咎為心理問題  但現在似乎找出了問題背後真正的原因

確定自己想要什麼  想要朝什麼方向邁進  卻發現被社會制度給捆綁了

我們其實打從一出身就被強灌定義  先不論生理構造  人類首先就被國籍定義

權力的擁有者為了統治  發予人民身分證及護照等證件  這其實就影響了我們很大一部分的人生

譬如說  美國人或新加坡人絕大部分可以無拘無束  不需要辦理簽證地到處短期旅行

但是即使台灣的生活水平也很高  我們卻到哪兒都需要繳費辦簽證 

譬如說  光一個荷蘭入境簽證就天殺地要了我兩萬多台幣

這些制度影響了我們人生中的許多決定  不遵守就是違法 

我們以為的自由根本就是在體制內的服從

沒錯  我們是可以選擇  但通常都只是在"可以選擇的選擇內"做抉擇

終究還是必須回歸體系 

體系, 透過權力與法律, 控制了我們的 能與不能

同樣的體系也決定了社會價值

我們就像被洗腦了一樣  被告知 善 惡 對 錯

但這世上其實根本就沒有絕對  抽大麻在荷蘭是個像泡咖啡廳的周末消遣  在其他國家是要坐牢的!

長年累月的社會價值很難被推翻  因為那已成為一種文化  一種傳承

不遵從  很容易被劃歸為失敗者或異類

在這個世界上  有勇氣不理會他人批評或眼光的人有多少?

所以大多數人選擇社會價值中所謂的成功者或精英這條路走

靠著勇氣及毅力  每個人還是能夠開創出自己的價值  進而影響社會

但是社會體系卻需要策動革命及極度反抗才能創新  因為掌控體制的人隨時都在準備對付反抗者  他們知道如何預防反動或對付反動份子

就像埃及金字塔早在千百年前就設計出對付盜墓者的重重陷阱機關

我最近  實在被荷蘭行政機關的一堆繁文縟節搞到快抓狂

必須在我的部落格抒發一下 ;p

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I returned to Amsterdam with a surprisingly pleasant feeling of nostalgia when I dealt with a series of airport customs investigation (because I forget to bring my residence permit), walking home in the dark through icy paths with heavy luggage, and finally saw my roommates. I thought I hate this place because of all the inconvenience and troubles it has always brought me. Well, this trip makes me believe I am gradually getting used to it though I still complain a lot ;p  

Yesterday I had a great meeting with my thesis supervisor and other group mates. Our first panel discussion was productive, in my view, that I have a stronger faith to complete my Master's thesis because I am not fighting alone. Exchanging critical reviews as a group definitely helps more than the completion of the thesis itself, it is the process of communication and interaction that I enjoy and learn the most.

My short trip back to Taiwan is rewarding. I feel myself recharged after meeting close friends and spending some quality time with families. Amsterdam remains snowy, but I see a beautiful silver world and can't wait to walk out to meet my lovely friends for a bowl of soup at school :))

(pic taken this morning through my window)

Four months later, I am back in Taipei for a short visit. Homesick. The only reason explains everything: families, friends, and foods. I call them Yufen's 3Fs! ;p

The most visible change is the physical conditions. My nose and throat became itchy right after arriving in the airport probably because of the particles in the damp air. Taiwan is really taiwan. I can tell just by smelling it. It's a smell of home.

And there are more new shopping malls and replacement of shops around my neighborhood, the XinYi/East area. The most shocking look to me was the abandoned old United Daily News building. the press is now moving to another location.

What has not changed is the nearly-psycho news coverage! In fact, they seem even more rampant in reporting non-stop gossip news about celebrities and those rich families who dominate the top of the wealth on this land. Who's daughter is getting married, who is cyring, whose mom has passed away, who bought a gorgeous house to his wife, who is dating the son of xxx big corporates...COME ON!! What's wrong with the reporters here?!! I definitely don't doubt that news industries are the criminals which forge a fault mentality of materialism, money-priority marriage life, and hierarchical values in Taiwan. They together with simple-minded Taiwanese made our society stagnated.

My habit to go to the Eslite Bookstore has not changed :) I spent a delightful night there browsing piles of book about Foucault, Deleuze, Virilio, and Zizek. Taking my first step into in the 'Humanities and Culture' section in Eslite in my life, I know what Amsterdam has changed me, though the bookstore remains the same.

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新年快樂! After counting down my Happy New Year with a bunch of crazy Dutch late last night, I felt so inspired and energetic to work on my recent photos for producing a video. A very quick production while file compression and format for uploading actually cost most of my time. At the end, I cannot present the best video quality because of the Web site restriction. (If you are in Facebook check it out there! the video quality would be much better.)    

Anyway, I invite you to lay back a bit and hope you may find the video enjoyable. If you are reading my blog, have a great new year to you! :)

Note on my first Christmas and New Year experience in Amsterdam--

荷蘭的新年很不一樣啊! 可以說是整個城市都淪陷了. 就像台灣的中秋節是家家戶戶烤肉, 阿姆斯特丹這邊可是人人放煙火! 不是仙女棒那種喔, 是真的五光十射的飛天煙火. 12月31號一大早就有砲聲, 成天不斷的轟聲響. 接近快倒數時, 大家三五好友成群結隊就拿著酒杯, 香檳開始往街上移動, 圍在一起放煙火. 我去了外頭走了一趟, 實在是很危險, 到處都是酒鬼跟亂飛的炮. 跟寧靜的聖誕夜比起來是一大對比! 聖誕節那天晚上我們不小心排隊進了Westerkerk教堂, 跟著一千多人在神聖寧靜的氛圍中唱著荷蘭的聖誕歌...我當時還想說荷蘭人怎麼可以這樣地安靜有教養呀? 果真...跨年的時候就恢復本性!        

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Last weekend, I joined Friends of the Earth Int'l as a steward in our action for COP15.

Symposium: Is our world overpopulated? / Speaker: Michiel Bakker / 29 November 2009

應Hella之邀, 頭一次參加荷蘭當地的學生組織- 國際社會主義(internationale socialisten)的活動. 因為已經來來回回相約了好多次, 即使禮拜天起得晚, 有點感冒加上外頭又濕冷, 我還是冒著風雨趕去學校的Crea. 一去發現全是講荷語, 本來想趁機溜走回家趕報告, 但好巧不巧在門口又遇到人! 結果一留下來, 他們幫我當場找了個英文翻譯, 在萊登念歷史博士的Karwan居然立刻就移坐到我旁邊, 毫無準備也能馬上口譯! 雖然當中有些遺漏, 但是能翻出來的部分都十分清楚! 實在佩服這群社會主義學生的實力!     

我參加的座談是有關糧食與環境, 標題雖為"這個世界人口過多嗎?" 但其實講者Michiel Bakker先生很明確地否定了這個假設. 他表明, 早從羅馬時期, 人口是否過多就是個爭論不休的問題. 現在主流社會開始注意糧食危機與貧窮問題, 往往把癥結點放在人口過剩, 然而Bakker認為重點不是人口, 而是經濟體系所創造的需求及分配不均. 譬如說: 在美國生產的食物其實足夠供養美國人口的八倍, 但是美國境內沒錢負擔食物而需要申請補助的人卻年年增加; 還有很多開發中國家其實都能夠自給自足, 但是因為IMF跟世界銀行等要求, 為了還債而不得不進口已開發國家大量的輸出農產品, 因而造成擠壓國內市場, 影響國內整體經濟及物價. 另外, Bakker提到環境問題, 已開發國家如荷蘭, 因為糧食生產已轉向以酪農業為主, 品種固定的乳牛就連死了也不能成為食用肉, 這些已開發國家的糧食生產方式所產生的食物碳足跡, 遠比開發中國家高的多. 而開發中國家的環境問題Bakker則提到養殖漁業.

會後發言踴躍, 聽眾們討論的有: 阿姆斯特丹日益增多的建築是否表示人口過多? 人們是否有選擇居住地方的的權力? 貧窮是否導源於沒有個人選擇? 最後Bakker認為環境問題已經慢慢浮上檯面成為主流, 從災難片開始以環境及氣候變遷做為劇情就可以看出這個趨勢; 但是Bakke很激動地指出他厭惡現在的災難片: 從前的災難片(如外星人攻占地球)會描訴人類如何解決問題, 但現在的災難片卻讓人們感到沒有希望.

參加這個不到一小時的座談會讓我受益良多! 可惜沒辦法聽懂荷語需要靠翻譯. 我常覺得來到阿姆斯特丹念書, 整個腦系統似乎需要全部更新, 因為我念的科目十分批判, 而我們學校又以文化批判最為著名, 害我新媒體念起來覺得好厭倦~! 但今天跟這群社會主義學生聊到環境及糧食問題時可真是聊得開心! 我開始覺得, 人類社會的問題都很類似, 終究逃離不了權力, 階級, 控制, 反抗這些因素, 只是在我學的領域中, 必須把這些因素反映在新媒體的發展上: 機器控制論, 網路, 商業利益, 社群發展, 硬軟體開放碼諸類理論尚未成熟的領域上.

跟Karwan與Hella在樓下咖啡廳喝了杯茶, 順便聊了十二月在哥本哈根即將召開的聯合國氣候變遷會議. 到時可能會在那邊碰頭, 想必將會是個巧妙的際遇:)   

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