我相信大家對於第一次旅行都記憶猶新，有點徬徨得站在機場中望著顯示班機資訊的電子看板，再確認一切就緒後我們便踏上一段未知的旅程，旅遊令人著迷的一點就是體驗各地的文化、欣賞特色建築以及置身於當地並感受那只屬於那個地方的氣息，而這些經驗通常無法透過跟隨旅行團得到，那種粗淺的旅程和在家中收看國家地理頻道的感覺相去不遠。

比起跟團旅遊，自助旅行要來得更驚險刺激，而當中的小冒險包括了品嘗當地的佳餚，有時候你甚至不曉得在嘴裡咀嚼的東西究竟是什麼，接下來是一則發生在我身上的故事。多年前在巴黎仍是學生身份的我身無分文，有空檔時我常和一個小團體出遊，當中包括了幾個來自德國世家的女孩，她們住在市中心高房價區的公寓，我則是住在要轉好幾趟車才能到達市區的地方。

有一天這幾個女孩興起了前往高級餐廳的念頭，赴約前為了讓自己看起來是最佳狀態真的讓我折騰了好一段時間，當時拮据的我一天花費大約是十法郎，折合現在台幣大約一百元左右，我們用餐的地方讓我想起Tissot的畫作The Artist’s Ladies，然而翻著菜單的我內心越來越涼，菜單內盡是些遠遠超過預算的餐點，最後，只有八法郎的一道名為Steak Tartare終於被我給找到。

太棒了！我在心中吶喊，現在只需要再點一杯兩法郎的紅酒就可以讓我成為高級餐廳中的紳士，我不知道的是，我的小冒險從現在才開始。我興奮的等待著我的餐點，然而送至我面前碗中盛的竟是一團生肉、洋蔥、生蛋以及刺山柑花蕾，我像鄉巴佬一樣開始戰戰兢兢的試圖處理我不知道該怎麼下手的食物，我畏畏縮縮得以刀叉觸碰食物，坐在我對面的凱薩琳狐疑的問道：「你在搞什麼？」詢問完後的她隨即奪去我的碗，「好險，原來他們等會兒才要烹煮，我如果生吃了它，那可糗了。」我在內心暗暗叫好，但凱薩琳下一個動作讓我明白我剛剛以為的救贖是天大的錯誤，她開始使勁的攪和我碗中的食材，生肉、洋蔥、生蛋以及花蕾不出幾秒已經變為一坨我不曉得該如何形容的佳餚，從凱薩琳「這道食物這樣攪和才對嘛」的神情我瞭解擺在我眼前的這道菜已經沒有轉圜的餘地，我索性一點一滴的把它往嘴裡送，「Do you like horse?」凱薩琳問道，我回答「Horses」，我還特別強調了尾巴的s，「No, horse.」她堅持不加s是正確的，我簡直無法相信她竟然不知道複數要加個s，這次我還特別加個句子讓她學學，「Horses, my uncle has many horses.」，我又再一次強調了s，「NO, no!」她說道「Horse meat like you are eating.」，我終於搞懂她為何不加s，原來她想知道的不是我喜不喜歡馬，而是喜不喜歡馬肉，聽到她最後一句話時，我原本正在咀嚼的嘴停了下來，有太多的東西在我的腦中碰撞，下一秒我發覺喉嚨積滿了東西，我馬上藉口前往最近的廁所。凱薩琳面帶微笑詢問著從廁所踉蹌回來的我「沒事吧？」，「沒事沒事」我回覆道，她也沒有再繼續追問，不過我想她是明白我的窘境。我必須承認那次是我人生第一次也是最後一次品嚐馬肉，那一次的經驗也讓我徹底感覺到年輕的自己面對世界的無知，但也因為這樣開啟了我對於這個世界的好奇及求知慾。

I’m sure all of us can remember our first blush with travel. We stood helplessly in an airport watching a huge departure board filled with numbers and letters that signified when our epic journey would begin. Suddenly our embarkation was announced and we stepped into the unknown. One of the great joys of travel certainly is the architecture and the zeitgeist of the country that we are visiting. This usually cannot be achieved through a tour because this, for the most part, is sanitized travel without any real understanding of the society that we are spending time in. You might as well stay at home and watch the Discovery Channel, and save your money.

Independent travel is much more exciting and potentially more dangerous. One of the more intriguing factors of our adventure is the local food. What am I eating? A personal story identifiable to all of us: many years ago, when I was a student in Paris, I had little, to no money. The clique I travelled in, however, included girls from wealthy German families. They had an apartment right inside the Latin Quarter, the Quartier Latin. (1) While I was sequestered far, far away in Fontenay-aux-Roses on the Ligne de Sceaux. (2) It was so far in the banlieue or suburbs that you had to catch an express train into the city before you got to a metro station.

This one day “the ladies” decided that we going to eat in a real restaurant, not the student cafeteria. I went home and put on my best turtle neck pullover. I remember that the neck was so “out of shape” that I had to pin it in the back to make it look presentable. I was working on a budget of ten francs a day, around (NT) $100: not much money. We sat down in an establishment that was reminiscent of Tissot’s The Artist’s Ladies. (3) The menu was ordered: horror. I looked at the prices – far, far above my budget. Then my eyes stumbled over an item: Steak Tartare eight francs.

Wonderful: eight francs and a glass of wine for two francs and I would feel like a cosmopolitan gentleman. Now the adventure begins. My food arrived and it was an uncooked mess with onions, a raw egg and capers on top. I felt like the proverbial country bumpkin (4) and began to gingerly pick at my food. Catherine, the girl sitting opposite me, was a good looking, worldly young woman. “What are you doing?” she inquired. She reached over and took the food away from me. “Thank God,” I thought to myself, “They are going to cook it.” Not so, I sadly realized within seconds. She took this mishmash, deftly stirred the ingredients together and, once again, placed it before me. My confusion was complete and I continued nibbling on my food. “Do you like horse?” she probed. Ever the pedant, I responded, “Horses,” emphasizing the “s.” “No, horse,” she insisted. Gosh: some people take longer to learn, “Horses,” I responded, my uncle has many horses,” once again stressing the “s.” “No, no!” was her riposte, “Horse meat like you are eating.” My world went white and then black, and then white again. The image of eating Silver from the Lone Ranger (5) filled my brain. The food locked up in my throat. It would neither go down nor up. My dinner was suspended while my subconscious figured out what to do. I excused myself and visited the nearest washroom. When I returned Catherine had a bemused look on her face. “Everything fine?” she queried, “Fine, fine was my response.” Graciously, she let the matter drop: but she knew that I knew that she knew, as the saying goes. I must honestly say that this was the first and the last time that I have ever eaten horse. This appetizer is an international delicacy usually made with horse meat: but not in my reality. It was a seminal moment in my young life for I realized how little I truly knew about anything. This incident sparked my interest in the world and ignited my lifelong quest for knowledge. The great bard and raconteur, Mark Twain (1835-1910) leaves us with a thought: Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.

A small joke: A boy said to his father, “Dad, the other day my teacher asked me if I had any younger siblings who would be coming to school.” His father queried, “What did she say when you told her that you were any only child? She said, “Oh thank goodness!” the boy replied.

This week, please reflect on your own interesting travel experiences.

Every day look for something magical and beautiful.

Quote: If we open the door to travel, it can never be shut. There is a profound difference in understanding a culture, however, and in just surfing through it like some military occupying force. True understanding of any culture takes time: don’t be fooled.

Footnotes:

1) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_Quarter,_Paris

2) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligne_de_Sceaux

3) http://www.wikiart.org/en/james-tissot/the-artist-s-ladies-1885

4) en.wiktionary.org/wiki/country_bumpkin

5) The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his native American friend, Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture: video