Chapter 7 4. If you are young but not frivolous

MM: The letter is late because I have been traveling for three weeks with my friends.Don't complain, you should be proud that your son is still willing to write to you at the age of 18, especially since you know that I have been lazy since I was a child.Let me tell you about my life, so that you don't always feel that you don't know how I live. But I was immediately caught in a dilemma: We went to the Mediterranean island of Malta and Barcelona, ​​but did I really tell you what we did?Can you—as a mother—understand and tolerate the lifestyle of 18-year-olds in Europe?Yes, I'll tell you the truth: yes, in the golden days we lived by what the saying goes, "sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll."Only a hypocrite and a hypocrite would deny this philosophy.There is a saying in German: If you are young but not radical, then you have no heart; if you are old but not conservative, then you have no brain.

I got a letter from a reader.An 18-year-old girl from Hong Kong asked me how I spend my time, what books I read, what I think about, what topics I talk about when friends get together, etc.I was taken aback, hey, do you really think I'm some deep, complicated, phony intellectual pedant?Of course, there are times when I get to think about big, serious issues... maybe five minutes a month, when I'm bored to death (MM, are you disappointed?) -- well, I'm exaggerating, but I Exaggerated so you can see what it's like to be 18.I just came back from the cafe, and most of the most lively conversations we had in the cafe were about the small world around me and the sesame and garlic that happened between friends.Of course we also debate political and social issues - for example, I will watch "Fahrenheit 9.11" tonight, and my friends will definitely have their own opinions, but our opinions are very superficial, and everyone makes it clear My own thoughts, that's all.

Everyone is busy Monday through Friday: football, basketball, dancing, everyone is crazy in a different way.The German school system ends at 3:00 pm every day, and everyone has their own time in the afternoon.I'm a soccer freak: three afternoons a week Ball, plus a time as a coach by myself, teaching a 7-year-old kid to play football.There is a football tour every weekend, so football accounts for a high proportion of my life.Homework doesn't take much time. Others, just hang out with friends, especially on weekends, we are either at friends' houses or drinking and chatting in cafes or bistros, and when we are drunk, we will smash the pub with a bottle or beat up anyone who doesn't like it. ...

How, did it scare you? (You're gasping, right—I know you'll believe it, MM, you're really Little Red Riding Hood, you can't help it!) Well, there are some things that little guys aged 14 to 16 want to try, such as Drinking (so watch out for your youngest) and we've reached a point where getting drunk is embarrassing.I get drunk sometimes, like in Malta, when our best friends of nine years are going their separate ways, we all get drunk, but... you want me to mention Namibia?I know a Chinese-speaking writer who got drunk in a hotel in Namibia. He was so drunk that he knocked on the glass and sang songs on the spot.I was only ten years old that year, but I still remember it.

I am not defending drinking, I am saying that drinking customs in Europe may not be the same as in Asia.Do you know how to clink glasses while drinking?In the Middle Ages, if you wanted to kill someone you hated, you put poison in his beer.Many people were poisoned to death in this way.So it became popular to clink glasses. When you touch a thick beer glass hard, hops splash into other people's glasses, and everyone dies together.Drinking beer together, clinking glasses, and passing out, showing that you trust the person sitting next to you, gradually became a social custom.After talking about such a long "preface", I actually want to tell you, MM, don't be overly nervous about young people drinking.

It was our graduation trip to the island of Malta, ten boys, ten girls, and one teacher.This island is actually quite boring. For us, the important thing is to get along with friends, and, because we get along day and night, we get to know each other from different angles.During the day, the teacher accompanied us to see the monuments, and at night, he "off work". 18 years old people are responsible for their actions.There were a few afternoons when we lazily hung out by the pool, listening to music, drinking beer, and chatting.Go to the tavern at night.The old street is very narrow and crowded with people from all over Europe.

Barcelona is more interesting.We were five people, we rented an apartment for only 500 euros for a whole week, put down our bags and went out.There are so many squares, surrounded by amazingly beautiful buildings, no matter classical or modern, they are all so beautiful, and so are the sculptures.Every day we walk with our feet and discover the city in detail.I think Barcelona is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited, and I have traveled to quite a few cities. One night we met up with a friend from America who was Venezuelan and was studying in Barcelona.She took us all over the old streets and alleys.That's the beauty of Europe: fly two hours in either direction and you're in a very different culture.It doesn’t work in the United States, it’s the same everywhere you fly.

What about you, MM?Growing up in years of scarcity, what was your teenage years (did you have)?How did your parents treat you?What did your era think of you? At the age of 18, you are a very popular girl?Or the most annoying model student who always comes first?A fringe person who is ignored, or the most self-righteous chief of discipline? Andre October 25, 2004 Andre: Please tell me, is the "sex, drugs, rock and roll" mentioned in your letter a realistic description or an abstract one? Metaphor?Please reply as soon as possible. MM October 25, 2004 MM: Can you please please don't just talk to me about big intellectual issues?There are also the most mundane pleasures in life: "sex, drugs, rock and roll" is of course a metaphor.What I want to express is that there are many kinds of pleasure in life. The so-called "drug" can be alcohol, football or anything that makes you devote yourself and burn to your heart's content.I think we've known since Freud that humans are governed by intuition. "Rock music" is not just music, it is a general concept of lifestyle and taste, a kind of self-liberation, don't care about other people's eyes, live a free life, dare to explore the unknown, and deepen the connection between people ...

Andre October 26, 2004