Wednesday, October 03, 2007

New York ‧New York



十年前,首次到紐約,是一班人鬧著玩的驚鴻一瞥。這次重遊,才是認真看清楚這世界之都的風光。

走在曼克頓街上,隱約有點似曾相識的感覺。高樓間的悶熱,人車相爭的馬路,和地鐵上上落落的人潮;這些都不像美國其他城市,反而更像遙遠的香港。

紐約和香港,是一樣的雜,一樣的亂,一樣的商業化。

或許,這是現代大城市的共同風景。早上八時半撲克面孔川流不息的Penn Station,和新宿,和中環,完全沒有兩樣。

然而,一口咬下去,便會發現大蘋果與别不同的芬芳。

紐約是美國的藝術文化中樞,The MetMOMA是一流的藝術館;其餘五花八門的博物館和展覽場所,更是多不勝數。濃厚的文化氣息,沖淡了不少商業社會的俗氣。

另一點令我訝異的,是紐約的歷史。它不是歷史名城,急速發展也不過是近百多年的事,但大街小巷裡,卻到處是掌故。由世紀初猶太人聚居的下城區貧民窟,到世貿旁邊St. Paul’s教堂裡那棵倒下了的無花果樹,都說明了百多年來,這城市一直是世界的中心,見盡了興興衰衰的故事。

不過我認為紐約最獨特的,是它的包容。

紐約的國際化,可不是數條窄巷裡的幾間酒吧。它是個真真正正的大熔爐,是千萬不同種族的人一起生活的地方。我覺得,紐約市民甚至不是美國人,而是自成一國的New Yorkers。

紐約的包容,不是天真的,理想化的和諧。住了千萬人的都市,當然不可能人人和平共處。但看著地面地底,各色人等肩摩踵接,就彷彿聽到城市在輕嘆:生活已很艱難,實在犯不著再為膚色、國籍、思想的不同去大驚小怪。

紐約的魅力,就在於這揉合了務實和自信的氣度。

人口,別的城市比它多;高樓,別人起得更快更高;但是,真正的世界都會,自持的不是千萬人口,也不是萬丈高樓,而是一份能容納所有人的胸襟。

因此,雖然紐約殘破、骯髒、雜亂;我想,我會喜歡這個城市。

6 comments:

  1. 住下來會有不同的感覺的。

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  2. readandeat:哈哈,我想也是.家花不及野花香嘛.不過NYC太貴了,住唔起.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. I did live in NYC for a year... and couldn't stand it, but perhaps that had more to do with culture shock than anything else (my German roommate and I couldn't understand why there were 50 varieties of butter in the local supermarket, all of them with artificial ingredients! Or why people would choose to buy those humongous but absolutely disgusting "fat-free" muffins, or why it's so hard to get a decent cup of tea... And don't get me started on the dirty and rat-invested subway system...)

    I absolutely loved the Met and the MOMA though, and Broadway musicals, and Chinatown (Ireland doesn't have a Chinatown you see), and Dean and Deluca (where we could get real butter, albeit at over-inflated prices), and the sushi-as-lunch lifestyle, as well as the beautiful "Winter Garden" - which was located near the WTC, now part of the Ground Zero site...

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  5. snowdrops: Indeed, your complaints against NYC seem more like an overall dissatisfaction of ways of life in US. As for the subway, I did find the sleaziness inexplicably attractive, hehe.

    I totally understand the difference between "living there" and "visiting there". What NYC appeals me the most is the sense of diversity in its atmosphere. It's very different from other places in US and Canada. However, if I am to spend a year living there, I would desperately want to come back and embrace the rain here in Seattle!

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  6. 在紐約住一年, 也不過就是一各過客... ~_~

    因為你知道 時間一到 就離開, 心態上永遠如 T.S 上的遊客般的走馬看花

    這是一各很特別的地方, 剛開始身在其中時, 你不喜歡它, 等你真正習慣後, 你會融入它, 有一天, 當你真的完完全全的離開了... 你會想念它

    不論你來自世界各地,有著什麼樣的背景,文化,生活習慣,宗教信仰;到最後,你都能找到屬於你自己的角落... in NYC

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