Traveler of Earth
The Swing in Helsinki
U
uglykiki
While traveling in Helsinki, I wore only a few clothes. Though the weather looked like it was going to snow, I wore only a short-sleeved T-shirt and a cotton maxi skirt. I put on Bluetooth headphones, using them as ear warmers. As the saying goes in Taiwan: “children have fire asses,” implying that children, with their higher body temperature, aren’t bothered much by the cold. Indeed, when my inner child emerges, I forget the cold.
Fenno experienced an annoying week. He fought with Linia last week and didn’t know how to reconcile yet. His mom urged him to go to the park to play with friends.
“Linia said sorry, right? Everyone must miss you! Just go to the park!” Fenno’s mom encouraged.
“I don’t want to go; the park is so boring!” Fenno sat on the steps at the doorway, his face reddened by the cold wind. He couldn’t help but cover his face with both hands as if trying to hide from anybody.
“You’re lying! If you don’t like it, why do you sit in the doorway every day?” his mom teased.
“Mom, leave me alone! I just don’t want to go to!”
Fenno sneezed involuntarily, his forehead still furrowed. He couldn’t figure out if the sudden wind made him uncomfortable or if not going to the park did.
Waking up from a nap, I packed my things and leisurely walked out of Think Corner at the University of Helsinki, strolling aimlessly around the campus in the afternoon. Perhaps my mood was influenced by the Think Corner building, now everything around me had a warm orange, woody tone. The campus bustled with people, and magically, all the events that had ever occurred here seemed to overlap at this moment. Group activities, sports games, audiences, and players filled the area with lively energy. Some people sat under the shade, chatting and playing instruments, perfect with hot coffee. At a not-very-far distance, a guy with a backpack on his left shoulder yelled his friend’s name toward me. As if whispering secrets, two young ladies in maroon scarves passed by my left side quickly. Of course, I couldn’t understand the language they were speaking.
Even if I accidentally bumped into them, I just passed through them gently, not bothering anyone.
The university seemed lively yet maintained a smooth order, a peculiar sense of tranquility different from many American or Taiwanese cities I had visited. Perhaps this was the essence of the Finnish people? The orange light streams and the crowd kept flowing around me, washing away some of Helsinki’s coldness.
It was 3 PM and almost sunset, but Fenno still sat in the doorway, feeling bored. Almost falling asleep, the cold wind woke him, making him shiver for a while. He thought that if it soon snowed heavily, and everywhere was covered in snow, maybe his mom wouldn’t keep asking him to go to the park.
But then Fenno thought, if it snowed, would it take a long time before he could play on the swings in the park? Although he wasn’t afraid of the cold, he knew Linia didn’t like going out when it was very cold.
“Even without Linia, I can swing by myself…” Fenno mumbled stubbornly.
I kept walking to unfamiliar areas of the campus, and suddenly, a swing set caught my eye. A swing on a university campus!? Without thinking too much, my body automatically sat on it and began to sway like an excited kid. Initially, I couldn’t figure out how to swing, and my feet struggled to push the ground, probably because Finnish people were generally taller, so the swing was higher. I felt like I was about to fall every time I swayed. But after a few attempts, I caught the hang of it. It was as if there were some mysterious force helping me, and my body finally swung effortlessly.
When Fenno realized, he had already walked to the entrance of the park. Oliver and Mathias were running around and making loud noise, while Linia reluctantly chased after them. Ada, as always, walked on the balance beam, seemingly unaffected by anyone. Fenno’s face was red, unsure how to explain why he hadn’t been to the park this week. As he hesitated about turning back home, Ada suddenly shouted.
“The swing is moving! Linia, Oliver, the swing is moving!” The empty swing suddenly started swinging on its own! It started slow and irregular, then gradually swung faster and higher. The kids were amazed, running and shouting around the swing. Fenno, forgetting his shyness, hurriedly ran towards the swing set to see what was happening. Oliver and Mathias, laughing loudly, pushed the swing a few times, and it began to dance in the air like the wind.
I closed my eyes, feeling as if I were dancing lightly like the wind. The music in my headphones Porter Robinson’s Wind Tempos, coincidentally reached the clear and calm piano melody in the middle parts, blending with the serene floating sensation in the air. I was so immersed in the music that I vaguely heard a little girl saying, “Fenno, come play with us!”
“Fenno,” Linia walked straight to Fenno, “come play with us!” She reached out her hand without hesitation. Initially reluctant, Fenno didn’t know what to do. However, Linia kept staring at his face for a long time, making Fenno feel embarrassed. Finally, Fenno placed his small skinny hand on Linia’s slightly larger hand, whispering, “Please be gentle this time…”
Linia led Fenno to another empty swing, gently helping him sit down. After ensuring Fenno was sitting comfortably, she slowly pushed him out. Every time the swing was about to touch the ground, Linia stood steadily beside Fenno, making sure he wouldn’t fall before adding more force to swing him. After a few back and forths, Fenno, like the empty swing next to him, swung higher and higher, gradually dancing in the air.
Fenno, you’re smiling!" I suddenly blurted out as I jumped off the swing.
It seemed that the snow in Helsinki wouldn’t come so soon. I casually turned over and picked up the cardigan from my LA home, putting it on.
赫爾辛基的鞦韆
在赫爾辛基旅行時，我穿的很少。明明天氣看起來快要下雪了，我卻只穿著一件短袖T-shirt和棉質長裙，戴著藍芽耳罩式耳機，索性就這樣當成耳罩保護耳朵了。台灣有句俗語是這樣說的：「小孩子屁股三把火（囡仔人尻川三斗火）」指的就是小孩體溫比大人高，其實不怎麼怕冷。確實，當內心那股玩心和稚氣都跑了出來時，人是會忘記寒冷的。
芬諾度過了討人厭的一週。他上週和莉妮雅吵架，還不知道怎麼和好，媽媽又催促著他趕緊到公園去和朋友玩。 「莉妮雅不是和你道歉了嗎？大家一定很想念你吧？你就到公園去嘛！」 「我才不要，公園無聊死了！」芬諾嘟著臉坐在門口的台階上，臉被冷風吹得有點紅。他忍不住用手將臉摀住，好像自己不並怎麼想要被人看見。 「在說謊呢！不喜歡的話怎麼每天都坐在門口看呢？」 「媽媽好煩！我就不想要去公園！」 芬諾情不自禁打了個噴嚏，眉頭仍然是皺著的，他搞不清楚是因為突然來的冷風讓自己難受，還是沒去公園讓自己難受。
從午睡中醒來，收拾好隨身物品後，我從赫爾辛基大學的思考角大樓(Think Corner, or Tiedekulma) 慢慢往外走，在午後的校園裡到處亂晃。不知道是不是因為深受思考角建築物的影響，我現在看著在環境，總是一個溫暖的橙色木質調。校園中到處都是人，所有曾經發生於這個場域的事件，現在全都交疊在了一起。有團體運動進行中，賽事和觀眾都快活著。也有些人坐在樹蔭下聊天、彈奏樂器，搭配熱咖啡正好。遠方那名朝我奔來的，後背包只背了單肩的男生，正大聲呼喊著他朋友的名字。剛剛快速經過我左側的兩個年輕女子，圍巾都是赭色，好像是悄悄說了些秘密。當然，他們說的語言我是聽不懂的。
即便不小心撞到他們，我也只是輕輕穿過而已，一點都不礙著誰。
大學裡看起來十分熱鬧，卻帶著明確的秩序、有一種說不上來的寧靜和諧感。和我走過的許多美國城市、台灣城市，有極大的區別。或許這就是芬蘭人的本質吧？我周圍橙橙的光和人群一起流動著，好似洗掉了一些赫爾斯基的寒冷。
下午三點，天色就要暗了，芬諾仍然坐在台階上無聊著。差點打了個瞌睡的他，被風冷醒，顫抖了好一會。他想著要是下雪了，雪下的很大、到處都積起雪時，或許媽媽就不會老要著他去公園玩了。
但是芬諾又想到，如果下雪了，是不是要過了很久才能去公園盪鞦韆呢？雖然自己不怎麼怕冷，可是莉妮雅在很冷的時候是不喜歡出門的…….. 「就算沒有莉妮雅，我自己也能盪鞦韆…….」芬諾賭氣咕噥著。
我往校園中不熟悉的地方走著，突然間有一處鞦韆，吸引了我的目光。大學校園中會有鞦韆嗎？來不及想太多，我已經像個興奮的孩子，身體自動坐了上去，開始搖晃起來。一開始還抓不到訣竅，腳不太好蹬，可能芬蘭人長比較高，鞦韆也架得比較高，我邊晃著總是感覺自己快摔下來。但是多踩踏幾次，抓到訣竅後，彷彿莫名地跟上一股推力，終於讓身體輕鬆地盪了起來。
等到芬諾回神時，自己已經走到了公園的入口。奧利佛和馬提斯一樣又吵又鬧到處跑著，莉妮雅有點不情願地追在他們身後。艾達則是一如往常地安靜，旁若無人地走在平衡木上。芬諾臉很紅，不知道該怎麼跟大家解釋自己這週沒來公園。當他還在猶豫是不是該轉身回家時，艾達突然大聲叫了起來。
「鞦韆在動！莉妮雅，奧利佛，鞦韆在動！」空無一人的鞦韆突然自己晃了起來！一開始鞦韆動得很慢，還有些不規律，然後慢慢晃得更快、更高。孩子們感到很驚奇，繞著鞦韆又跑又叫。芬諾也顧不得自己害羞了，匆匆地跑向鞦韆，想看看發生什麼事情。奧利佛和馬提斯大聲笑著，隨手又用力推了鞦韆幾下，鞦韆於是像風一樣輕盈飛舞起來。
我閉上眼睛，感覺像風一樣輕盈飛舞起來，耳機中的音樂正巧播放到了Porter Robinson的Wind Tempos，中後段的清澈安定的鋼琴旋律，和滯空時的悠然融合在了一起。我太專注於音樂，依稀只能聽見身旁好像有小女孩模糊的聲音說著：「芬諾，一起來玩吧！」
「芬諾，」莉妮雅直直地走向芬諾，「一起來玩吧！」她毫不猶豫就朝他伸出了手。一開始芬諾有點不情願，也不知道該怎麼辦。但莉妮雅一直地盯著他的臉，盯了好久，讓芬諾都害羞了起來。最後芬諾將他那瘦小的手搭上了莉妮雅的略大的手，小聲囁嚅的說著：「這次妳要輕一點….」
莉妮雅拉著芬諾走到了旁邊另一個空著的鞦韆，輕輕扶他坐上。莉妮雅確認芬諾坐穩後，再慢慢地將他推出去。每次鞦韆快落地時，莉妮雅安穩地站在芬諾的身旁，確保他不會摔下來，才增加推出去的力道。幾次一來一往，芬諾也終於跟著旁邊無人的鞦韆一樣越盪越高，漸漸飛舞起來。
「芬諾，你笑了呢！」在跳下鞦韆時，我突然沒由來地說了一句。
看來，赫爾辛基的雪，是不會那麼早下了。 我輕輕翻身，伸手抓起了在LA家中的針織外套，就這麼隨興披上。
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