By Susan
*插入不时因疼痛所致的呻吟声*
我从来不知道戴牙套会这么疼！今天下午我刚刚戴上。刚开始的时候，除了觉得嘴里有外来的金属物这一事实外，我觉得还行，但是现在……嗷嗷嗷嗷……，快傍晚了，我的牙像是要被连根拔起一样。此时，我关心的所有事儿就是能否有什么办法让我不再疼了啊。而关于戴牙套看起来有多么傻、或者清洁它们有多么麻烦这些事儿，我连一个字也不想多说了。我疼得心烦意乱。所以，我得干点什么转移一下注意力，干脆回忆一下我是怎么戴牙套的吧。
最近，我父母一直在对比整形牙医诊所，想找一家性价比最好的。最后，我们选定了奥克.布鲁克矫牙诊所，那是我最喜欢的一间。我很高兴能够选择这一间，因为它的设施看起来更干净、气氛更友好 ，觉得更高级，并且整体上比另外那两间都好。昨天，我去那儿做了牙模（那是他们给你照完X光片和压完你的牙印儿后，给你准备牙套时要用的）。今天，我去那戴牙套。很快，对吧？
戴牙套之前，我没少想这事儿。我会喜欢牙套吗？它们在我的嘴里看起来会是什么样？我要选什么颜色的橡皮筋呢？有什么东西我不能吃了呢？我想啊想地，最后也没想出个啥结果来，只是胡思乱想而已。
我说不清戴牙套有什么感觉。有一点点不好，是因为牙套会使我的生活变得很麻烦。我将不得不为之负起责任来——认真清洁牙齿、不再吃一些我喜欢的食物。也有一点点紧张，牙套会不会让我看起来很糟？它们能不能不太显眼？戴着牙套的样子会不会很丑？另外，还有点儿莫名的兴奋，不过只是一点点儿，一小点儿。因为我从没戴过牙套，这是一个全新的体验。牙套是个身外之物，我无法想像它会如何。从某种角度来说，它可能也会挺好玩儿，因为以后我就知道戴牙套是怎么回事儿了。当然还有，一年半后，我的牙齿会比现在看来更整齐。
嗯，今天我去了矫牙诊所戴牙套。我真的很喜欢医生们的态度。他们不是话唠（有一些医生说得太多，讲了太多笑话，问了太多你的个人生活，和他们说话我很不舒服），也不会闷不做声（也有一些医生几乎就不说话，他们说话的时候都是不得不说。这总是会让你去想是否他们生你或什么事的气了，那也让人不舒服），他们恰到好处！我觉得和他们在一起很放松很舒服，他们非常地温和并善解人意，你一点也不用担忧他们会如何看待你。我很高兴在他们那里矫牙。
然而，尽管有着相当不错的医生和干净明亮的环境，戴牙套还是一件非常不舒服的事儿。我不得不把嘴张开一个多小时！是的，有个工具会帮着扒开嘴唇，但是一直打开下巴对我而言也很辛苦。还有另一个问题——口水。是的，虽然一直有吸管在吸走嘴里的水， 可是还会有一些口水流到我的嗓子里，我不得不一直忍着想嗯口水的冲动。
几分钟后，我开始放松，慢慢地就感觉不到嘴里的不方便了。看来还不算糟，也不太疼，只是有点不舒服而已。虽然无奈，我也清楚地知道，这个不舒服的感觉要持续至少一个小时。因为昨天晚上睡得太晚，我开始感到有点累（昨天天气很闷热，我像得了感冒似的。长话短说，昨晚过得很糟糕），所以放松一下不是坏事儿。我嗓子里滴滴嗒嗒的感觉和一直让人不得安宁的忍着不去吐口水的感觉，不久也变得很容易接受了。我的思想在那一个小时里彻底开了小差（当然，我还要听从医生的指示）。很奇怪地，我在之前的几天想了那么多关于戴牙套的事儿，可是当我最后真的在戴的时候，却根本不再想它们了。我大部分时间在想一本我正在读的书，不久以后就进入一种什么也不想的状态了。这个过程很放松。
最后，当他们把牙套在我嘴里固定好后就把我抚起来了，这时我才又开始想我的牙套。我觉得牙套特别地大，感觉很不好，好像他们正在接管着我的嘴似的，而且，他们还接管成功了！从本质上说，牙套的工作原理是这样的：一些东西被贴到你的牙上，大概有半厘米宽、三分之一厘米长。然后，再用一些非常小的彩色橡皮筋，将一根拱形的金属丝连到你的上排牙上面。类似地，再把下排牙也这么搞好。因为我的牙有些歪，所以不得不将完美的拱形金属丝弯一弯才能连接到贴在我牙上的那些东西上面。然后，这根金属丝就会试着恢复原来的形状。大约一年半后，它们就可以复原了，而在这个过程中，我的牙也会跟着他们一起扭转，转到最后，我就有一口漂亮的牙了。完了。
那是牙套的基本工作原理。当然，还有一些很重要的细节，比如清洁呀，一个月去检查一次呀什么的。但是最重要的基本原理我都写在这儿了。我也是今天才算把这个事儿给弄清楚，要不你会以为有谁早就告诉过我了呢。医生只是告诉我这个东西很复杂，我得自己去想矫牙的力量源自于哪，要是我想知道的话。今天我总算是弄明白了。不管怎么说，我这是在哪里呢？噢，我在戴牙套。医生在我的牙后面放了一些胶，这样我就无法把牙完全地合上，因此也就不能把牙套咬下来，但是这种感觉怪怪地。觉得整张嘴又笨又肿。当我最后举起一面镜子照时，我觉得自己的样子多少有点奇怪。
实际上牙套没有感觉的那么大。事实上它们相当地小。然而，它们比我事先想像的丑了点。我原来想着两排笔直交替出现的深绿和浅绿的圈圈会非常地漂亮，结果我看到的是两排歪歪扭扭的线，那些橡皮筋的颜色在这两条线上看起来很奇怪。它们看起来好讨厌！他们毁掉了我的笑容！虽说我的微笑将要因着戴牙套而变得很漂亮，可是现在戴着牙套，我的笑容却看着很可怕！还有戴着牙套的感觉……我嘴里的这些东西让人感觉虽然挺好却又挺笨。简言之，牙套破坏了我对它的期待，但同时又让我对它们寄予期望。真是好坏参半。
他们给了我一些清洁用品，写了几条保持牙齿清洁的建议。瞧！这就结束了！
现在我在家里，终于感觉到了这些见鬼的牙套有多么地疼了。在开始的那几个小时里，我都有点适应了，我还找到了一个如何让自己戴着牙套还能笑得很完美的表情（好吧，不是完美。是不断地发现、探索，永远也不可能接近完美）——稍微有点半微笑的状态看起来相当地不错。我以为我把一切都搞好了，如果不是这个疼痛来临。
太疼了！开始只是不舒服，然后稍微有一点疼，接着就是很疼了。我甚至合不拢嘴，觉得我的牙根都被拧着。这正在发生着啊——我的牙正在被连根扭转，开始了它们18个月的通往完美的旅程。我曾经预料过会有一些轻微的不舒服，可能，也只是可能，有一点疼痛。医生们说会有一点不舒服。但是没有人告诉我会疼得要命!!
嗷嗷嗷……我应该把它们拿下来，我真是不应该戴着它们。但这完全跟一种誓言似的，我必须得戴着它们。这哪是仅仅有一点儿疼啊，这根本就是我不可能想到的那种疼。我整个嘴都麻木了，一颤一颤地疼，疼死了。通常，我在生活中碰到的牙疼，只是一到两颗蛀牙那种疼。那都让我觉得简直到了世界末日了。你能明白吧？蛀牙，把一颗牙敲掉或者拔掉……现在想像一下吧，那种事儿发生在你所有的牙上，并且一下子全来了。太可怕了！这个压力远大过我先前以为的一根金属丝！是的，“压力”，这个词儿用来描述这种疼痛的根源非常好。这些牙套不仅看起来奇怪，感觉上更糟糕！直到现在都是。现在……我觉得好多了。
当然，疼还是有，但有点麻木了。我开始有点习惯了，非常小的一点点。那个在疼痛时可以使用的、用温盐水清洗牙的小尖头工具根本不管用，它只是让疼痛更加强烈了。所以， 我放弃了医生给的建议手册，开始上网搜索。我找到了几个事实。一，这个疼痛只能用止疼类药物去缓解，这搞得我很伤心；二，在我的牙彻底适应前，这种疼痛会持续一个星期，这令我感到更糟糕；三，这是个很正常的过程，而且每一个戴牙套的人都会有这种感觉，这又使我感觉好多了。我的意思是，如果一半的美国人都能从这个过程中活下来的话，为什么我不能呢？
然而，戴着牙套我还是觉得不舒服。我是用这个办法拯救自己的：事实上，尼尔.霍拉尼也戴过牙套，他戴了一年零四个月，就在今年四月份他才刚刚摘掉！哇！？？？？！我一直都爱慕着尼尔，他那好可爱的微笑，还有他那令人惊喜的爱尔兰口音，以及他那绝妙的嗓音，还有……你知道我的意思了。尼尔好可爱。噢，顺便说一下，如果你不知道他是谁，那我告诉你，他是1D乐队里的那个金发帅哥。
不管怎么样，我很惊讶于尼尔也戴过牙套。当然，他戴的是透明的牙套，但你还是能够看到金属丝。如果再靠近点看，你也能看到牙套。这使我意识到，牙套并不会改变你是谁，它只会让你的微笑更迷人。它们不再象我以前以为的那么显眼了。尼尔带了一年半，我从来就没有注意到过! 还有，他好像已经是十九岁还是二十岁了，所以我根本没必要觉得自己在十三岁时戴牙套已经很老了！至少，如果尼尔戴着牙套还可以带给全世界一个可爱的微笑，那我也能！读了一篇关于尼尔和他的牙套的文章，让我对自己的感觉好了很多，也让我觉得跟他靠近了很多。
现在，这个疼痛感觉上不那么糟糕了。当我开始写这篇文章时，我正疼得嗷嗷直叫呢。写到中间的时候，就是写到我开始在网上搜索的时候，在那块儿我开始感觉舒服多了。现在，我感觉相当地不错。我能搞定这件事儿，我当然能！这将是一个全新的体验，我喜欢体验新事物！牙套不仅能带来漂亮的牙齿，还能带来漂亮的手指！戴着牙套，几乎不可能再去咬手指了，因为有金属线在那里，会伤到我的手。现在，我竟然开始期待着拥有着完美笑容的那一天了。我以前从来没有关注过我的牙齿，但是现在，我开始意识到它们有多么地重要了。
【小哭介绍背景】戴个牙套还是要做一些调研工作的。因为费用不低，保险不包，所以，我们货比了三家。当然，这主要是Susan爸爸的功劳。我当时被正常的牙医转到矫形那边，人家报了个价，我根本就没想到还可以换，虽然觉得贵，可是以为也只能那样了。结果Susan爸爸在网上查了跟我们保险公司有合作的几个医生，最后列了两个医生给我。我就带Susan一家一家地去落实。最后选了一个报价最低、离家也正好最近、硬件条件也是最好的一个！Susan文中甚至觉得软件条件也不错。
接下来的治疗过程基本上就是Susan介绍的那样了，我帮她拍了不少照片。我和她的性格很不一样，没想到这简直人人都会有的经历，在她的眼里是如此地痛苦不堪。在我眼里，这不应该算个啥。就如同生小孩一样，我觉得这全天下的人都是妈妈生出来的，过程再辛苦也没有几个妈妈挺不了的，所以一直都不觉得要把生孩子这事当成天大的事儿来对待。我也以这样的观点来看待戴牙套这件事儿，听到她直哼哼也没觉得有啥大不了的。所以读了Susan的文章很意外。她很会描写自己的痛苦，不得不说：）她竟然觉得疼痛已经到了无法忍受的程度了；偶像尼尔竟然有着那么大的力量，比止痛片还管用哈！看来她喜欢1D也没有什么坏处。
前几天回波士顿，她的那个写作教练老师D，随手翻看了她带去的暑假写作集，然后就重点看了看牙套这一篇。因为带给D老师的那一份装订好的文件夹落在朋友家里了，要在下一周才能请另一个老师转交，所以D老师问Susan她可不可以先复印牙套这一篇，拿回去给与Susan同龄的两个双胞胎女儿看看，因为她们下个月也要戴牙套了！Susan很开心有人对她的文章表示出真正的兴趣，加上老师那么客气有礼貌，所以高高兴兴地让老师拿去复印了。我也很高兴Susan的文章能够让别人觉得有用。
刚才我在翻译时，突然间想到，下个月去看矫形牙医时，应该把这个文章打印一份带过去！以我自己当老师的经验来看，我是很希望看到工作反馈的；同理，一个好的医生，也必然想知道病人的感受。事实上，这个医生在一周后曾经专门打电话给Susan了解过情况 ，那时Susan已经适应了。从这个电话来看，我们也算是遇到了一个挺负责任的医生。
前天我们刚刚又看过这个医生，这次没有紧牙套，而是把几颗牙的边给磨了磨。当时压根没有想过这篇文章的事儿。在我眼里，这篇文章所能起的作用，主要是能让医生和Susan有更多的话题，接下来的治疗过程可能会因此更加轻松愉快。如果真能如此，那就是我前面提到的，写作会帮助Susan和一些成人之间建立起良好的关系。
附上英文原文：
*Insert random groan of pain*
I never knew braces can hurt so much! I just got them this afternoon, and at first, I felt okay, other than the fact that there’s foreign metal in my mouth, but now… ugh. It’s approaching evening, and my teeth feels like they’re being pulled out at the roots. Right now, I’m not going to say a word about how silly braces look, or about how much work it takes to clean them. All I care about is if there is any way to make the pain go away. Distraction always works. So, I’ll distract myself by going over how I got my braces.
Lately, my parents have been going through orthodonists to find one that has the best pricing and the best services. Finally, we decided on Oak Brook Orthodonics, the one I liked the best. I’m glad we chose that one, because its facilities seems cleaner, friendlier, more advanced, and just generally better than all the other ones. Yesterday, I went there to get my records done (that’s when they take x-rays and impressions of your teeth to make braces for you). Today, I went there to get my braces. Pretty fast, huh?
Before I got my braces on, I spent a lot of time wondering about them. Will I like them? What will they look like on my mouth? What color elastics should I get? What foods will I not be able to eat? I wondered and thought, and usually, my thoughts lead nowhere, just to a jumbled mass of confused feelings.
I wasn’t sure how to feel about getting braces. I felt a little unhappy, because braces would just complicate my life. I didn’t like the responsibilities that it would bring, the careful cleaning of the teeth, and the way that I wouldn’t be able to eat some foods that I like. I also felt nervous. Would braces look really, really bad on me? Or would they go unnoticed? Would I look ugly with braces? Also, I felt strangly excited. Just a tiny, tiny bit. It has to do with the fact that getting braces would be something so entirely new that I’ve never done before. Something so foreign that I can’t even imagine what it would be like. It would be fun, kind of, because then I would finally know what getting braces is like. And of course, my teeth will look way straighter than it is now in about a year and a half.
So, today, I went to the orthodonist, and got my braces on. I really like the doctors’ attitudes. They were not too talkative (there are these doctors that talk too much and make too many jokes and ask you too much about your personal life that it gets uncomfortable talking witht them), they were not dead silent (there are also these other doctors that hardly talk at all, and only does it when they really, really need to. It always leaves you wondering if they’re angry at you or something, and it’s really uncomfortable being in there company), they were just right! I felt really relaxed and comfortable with them, and they were very gentle and understanding, and not judgemental at all. I’m glad I have them to take care of my teeth.
Still, with the really awesome doctors and the clean-and-shiny environment, it was very uncomfortable getting the braces. I had to open my mouth for more than an hour! Yes, there were these things that helps stretch open my lips, but the act of keeping my jaw open was still up to me. There was also another problem—saliva. Sure, there were these suction things that suck the moisture out of my mouth, but some does get down to my throat, and I had to constently resist the urge to swallow. Swallowing wouldn’t be a good idea with all that equipment in my mouth. However, surprisingly, I got over the discomfort very fast.
A few minutes into the treatment, I started to relax, and I began to get the hang of “not feeling” the awkward sensations in my mouth. It’s not really that bad, nothing too painful, just uncomfortable. And I also felt helpless knowing that the awkward sensation would continue for at least an hour. After a few minutes, though, I started to find peace. I was already tired from not being able to fall asleep last night (It was so hot and stuffy, and I felt like I had a cold. In short, it was an awful night), so relaxing wasn’t hard. The tickeling sensation at my throat and that constant nagging of my instint to spit all that stuff out of my mouth soon became very easy to tune out. My thoughts wandered all over the place in that hour (I still listened to the doctor’s instructions, of course). Strangely, while I thought so much about getting braces the previous few days, when I was finally in the process of getting them, I didn’t think much about them at all. I was mostly thinking of a book I was reading, and then soon settled into not thinking at all. It was very relaxing.
Finally, when they rose me up again with my braces secure in my mouth, I started thinking about the braces again. They felt huge. They felt awful. They felt like they were taking over my mouth, and succeding too. Basically, the way braces work is: there are these thing that are glued onto your teeth, about 1/2 cm. across and 1/3 cm high. Then, usisng tiny colored elastic bands, a wire, a single wire in the shape of an arch, is attached to your top row of teeth, and another to your bottom row. Since my teeth are crooked, the perfect arch of the thin wire have to bend to connect to each of the things that are glued into my mouth. Then, the wire will try to bend back into its original form, and in about a year and a half, it will, and my teeth will follow, resulting in perfect teeth. The end.
That’s the basics of how braces work. Of course, there are important minor issues like cleaning and monthly check-ins, but the most fundamental way of how they work I’ve described up there. I just figured it that out today. You’d think someone would’ve told me. The doctors told me the complicated stuff, leaving me to wonder about where the force fixing the teeth actually come from, until I finally figured it out today. Anyway, where was I? Right, getting braces. The doctor put some sort of glue on my back teeth, and now my teeth won’t close entirely. That was so I wouldn’t bite down on my braces, but it felt fairly awkward. My whole mouth felt awkward and fat. When I finally held up a mirror, I was a bit surprised at what I saw.
They weren’t as big as they felt. They were actually quite small. However, they were a bit more ugly than I’d imagined. I had imagined two straight rows of alternating light-green and dark-green circles, very pretty. What I found was two very crooked lines, and the colored elastics looked very strange on those lines. They looked horrible! They ruined my smile! Not that my smile what that pretty to begin with, but with braces, my smile is now horrifying! And the feeling of them… the texure in my mouth feels both good and awkward at the same time. In short, the braces failed my expectations, yet rose above them at the same time. Good and bad.
They gave me some cleaning supplies, a few written advice for keeping my teeth clean, and voila! I was done.
Now I’m at home, and finally started to feel the pain of these darn braces. I had gotten a bit used to them in a few hour’s time, and I had finally perfected (okay, not perfected. Discovered. Practiced. But no where close to perfection) that little half-smile that would actually look pretty with the braces on. I thought I had it all figured out. Until the pain started.
It hurt so much! At first it was discomfort, then mild soreness, then pain. I couldn’t even bite down without feeling as if the roots of my teeth were being tortured. Which is exactly what is happening—my teeth is twisting and turning in their roots, starting the long 18-month journey towards perfection. I had expected mild discomfort, maybe, just maybe, a little soreness. They doctors said it might feel a bit uncomfortable. NOBODY TOLD ME IT WAS GOING TO HURT LIKE HELL!!
Oops. I should take that back, I really shouldn’t swear. But this is fully deserving of a swear, so I’ll keep it there. Not only did it hurt a little, it was a kind of hurt I’d never imagined possible. My whole mouth felt numb, throbbing, sore. Usually, I’ve only felt it with one or two teeth in my life that got really bad cavities. I had thought it was the end of the world back then. You’ve probably gotten that. Cavities, getting a teeth knocked out or pulled out… now imagined that happening to all of your teeth, all at once. AWFUL!! The pressure was much more than I had expected from a single wire! Yes, pressure, that’s a good word to describe the source of pain. These braces not only looked strange, they felt even worse! Until now. Now, I feel a lot better.
Sure, there’s still the pain, but it’s numbing a little. I’m starting to get used to it, a tiny bit. That little tip of rinsing with warm salt water in case of soreness didn’t work very well. It just make the soreness more intense. So, I ditched the advice manual the doctors gave me and went to search on the internet. The fact that the pain won’t be able to go away without Advil or some sort of pain reliever saddened me. The fact that it was going to hurt like this for at least a week before my teeth fully adjust makes me feel even worse. But the fact that it was normal, that everyone who’s gotten braces felt this way, made me feel a lot better. I mean, if half of America survived this, why can’t I?
However, that wasn't what made me the most content with my braces. My salvation came in the form of this: the fact that Niall Horan also had braces, for a year and four months, and only got them taken off this April! Whoa! Mindblow! I’ve always adored Niall, and his oh-so-cute smile, and his amazing irish accent, and his wonderful voice, and…etc. You get my drift. Niall is adorable. Oh, by the way, if you don’t know who he is, he’s that blonde guy from One Direction.
Anyway, I was surprised that Niall had braces. Sure, they were clear braces, but you could still see the wire, and if you look a bit closer, you can see the braces too. That made me realized that braces doesn’t change a thing about how you are, other than to change your smile for the better. They’re not as noticable as I think. Niall had then for a year and a half, and I never noticed! Also, he’s, like, nineteen or twenty, so I shouldn’t think that me getting braces at thirteen is too old! Lastly, if Niall could deal with them with an adorable smile to the world, so can I! Reading an article about Niall and his braces made me feel a lot better about mine, and made me feel a lot closer to him.
Now, the pain doesn’t feel as bad as it did. I was howling in pain when I started writing this, and somewhere along the middle, I searched about it on the internet, and found comfort there. Now, I feel pretty good. I can get through this, of course I can! It’ll be a new experience, and I love new experiences! Not only woud braces get great teeth, it would get me great fingers! With braces, it’s almost impossible to bite my fingers, because the metal is in the way, and it hurts too much. Now, I’m actually starting to look forward to the day I would finally get a perfect smile. I’ve never paid much attention to my teeth before, but now, I think I’m starting to realize just how important they are.
| 杏子花开 (2013-08-28 23:59:14) |
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还是Susan乖，愿意戴牙套。我的孩子不愿意纠正。他的两个大门牙和我的以前一样，八字开的形状。我后来纠正了一点儿。
Susan作文可以写这么长，好厉害！ 你当然没有时间写文化桥梁了，翻译Susan的一篇篇佳作，就够你花时间的了！但这要比自己写作更快乐更有成就感哦！ |
| 雨林 (2013-08-29 01:20:37) |
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女儿的文章和妈妈的翻译相得益彰，成为文轩又一道风景。。 |
| 周小哭 (2013-08-29 01:29:14) |
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估计你儿子长大了会想戴。我有一个师弟，都读博士了才戴，那时戴的人很少，可是为了美，师弟还是坚持着，当然，他那时也没有女朋友：） Susan算是很乖的小孩了，呵呵。我放弃了她的几往篇作文，因为太长了，估计是这篇的两倍长还不止。受不了了，觉得内容也没有什么吸引我的，主要是她自己感兴趣的东东，细化得不得了。不想译了。还是选些短的来译吧，然后赶紧转到下一部分，去译她的读后感吧。
说实话，我更愿意写桥梁文化，那个我更有成就感，觉得自己在专业上霸着一个领域，颇有点霸主的感觉。可是教育小孩，我一细想就觉得自己是门外汉。可算作文方面有点心得，还老有朋友跟我争辩不同的观点，弄得我好不容易有点信心一会就给打击没了：（
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| 周小哭 (2013-08-29 01:30:58) |
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谢谢雨林这么高的评价！这事挺花时间的，希望能够达到初衷，否则还不如去写桥梁文化了。 |
| 雨林 (2013-08-29 01:33:53) |
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桥梁文化也是我们期待的。 在工程师面前得寸进尺... |
| 周小哭 (2013-08-29 01:43:09) |
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我也很想写。上个月在教会的一个团契上又做了一次桥梁文化的讲座，猜猜我给起了一个什么名称？“桥梁，还可以......讲故事呀！”（文轩的文友都有感觉了吧？）当时准备资料的时候心潮澎湃，心想这么辛苦地做讲稿，至少再在中国交通报上发表一个系列。可是最后左思右想，还是决定先放一放。内心里希望，趁着小宝上学，翻译完Susan的作文，可以写个桥梁文化系列，可是谁知道这些小小的梦想，会不会实现啊？更不知道哪一天会实现。我最想出的一本书，就是桥梁文化故事，因为觉得自己生来就是写这类东西的：） |
| 杏子花开 (2013-08-29 03:31:28) |
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小哭是学以致用啦。“桥梁，还可以......讲故事呀！”嗯，有感觉有感觉。 |