茶碗蒸

Whew, the much needed and anticipated long weekend has arrived at last!! It must be one of the greatest joys in life to be able to leisurely put together a warm breakfast of eggs on toast with a steaming mug of coffee accompanied by a novel in hand… What simple pleasures the life of a working person involves XD

As it has been many years since I was last in Nelson for Queen's Birthday weekend, this year I thought I would take the time to revisit what has become one of the most popular annual fundraising events in the region – the Founders Park Book Fair.

Throughout every year Founders Park accepts any second-hand books, comics, CDs, records, and even jigsaw puzzles that people has kindly donated and organizes them into a charity book fair of an impressive scale that takes place over a nine-day period, always starting on the Saturday of Queen's Birthday weekend. I have always found it to be a wonderful channel for recycling books, for just because a book has been sitting in someone's attic collecting dust doesn't mean it couldn't turn into a treasure for somebody else. And indeed, I remember being always overwhelmed by the sheer volume of books available and the pure excitement as I joined in the crowds patiently rifling through each row in search of their next favourite read. So it is with the same anticipation (and a little apprehension that I wouldn't be able to restrain myself), that I headed down to Founders Park this morning.

It turned out to be a grey drizzly morning as I parked and walked towards Founders, but evidently the weather has done little to dampen the spirits of of book-lovers as there were already long rows of cars fanning out from the park. As I waited at the main entry for my turn to pay the $2 entrance fee, I couldn't help but smile at the many elderly people slowly making their way in on their walkers and the high squeals of laughter that echoed from the inner buildings – it never ceases to impress me to see so many locals, no matter the age, relentlessly making an effort to support local fundraising events such as these. This feeling grew as I passed through the reception and headed into the main building where most of the books were placed, for there were thirty or so volunteers assisting people at the various doors and tirelessly restocking books onto the rows and rows of tables, as well as those helping with the transactions at the tils and even a sausage sizzle stand just outside the building. At the time I arrived the crowds seemed to be at a tolerable level, with just enough buzz and murmurs of conversation to warm up the mood, and when combined with the quiet flutters of page-turning and the faint aroma of fried onions wafting in from the sausage sizzle stand, the atmosphere was a very pleasant one.

Being back at the fair after several years was both a nostalgic and refreshing experience for me. I seem to recall coming here as a child and hoping to find novels written by specific authors who I liked at the time, so I would spend hours pouring over the tables and be slightly disappointed when I couldn't find what I was looking for, then would come away with a few novels that I was only half-heartedly interested in but chose anyway because it seemed like a waste to leave empty-handed, then those books would sit for many months to come on the shelf at home, some untouched or half-read, and most often neglected and forgotten. Now, however, I let myself loose with no expectations whatsoever, armed with only a few general ideas about the genres I might want to look for (this year it would be crime/thriller and chick lits hrhrhr), and I find myself enjoying the selecting process in a thoroughly new light, with a more open and relaxed mindset. I also noticed many things that I had not noticed years before – that there were much more than novels on sale. There were mountains of vinyl records and CDs, as well as dictionaries, encyclopaedias, recipes, magazines, and even posters! And amazingly also a wide selection of books in all sorts of foreign languages... It truly is a treasure cove for enthusiastic second-hand collectors, and I was not surprised to see so many prowling the aisles loaded down with huge grocery bags and trolleys.

I also have to mention that I am very greatly impressed with the courtesy and good manners that other people around me showed. Although I am a little guilty (and might be wrongly generalizing) to say this, but it is sometimes difficult to imagine Taiwanese people automatically shuffling along as soon as I inched back to indicate that I wanted to switch places with them to have a better look at the range of books in front of them, or taking care to give you plenty of space to browse and read the books in front of you in peace. There was no shoving, no pressing bodies, and no reproachful looks even when I was taking my time at the same spot by the table. Everyone's patience, mutual awareness and understanding was simply astonishing and heart-warming, and really allowed people to appreciate and make the most of the event that much more.

So finally, after an hour and a half of assessing titles, scrutinizing spines, and scanning millions of back covers, I finally picked out my prizes of three novels (yes I was VERY restrained, the massive clean-out last year has cast too dark a shadow over my shopping desires hahaha). A thriller and two others that looked more light-hearted (I still can't believe “A Year in Provence” lured me in with just its opening sentence – “The year began with lunch.” XDD Obviously my obsession with mentions of food in stories is still standing strong!!). Although with a queue of reading materials already lined up for me at present (lent to me by the lovely Wilkes!) it might be a little while before I actually start any of them, I am still finding myself itching to open those covers and indulge myself in the exciting new worlds. So I think I am right to say that these books can be assured a fortunate fate and a great deal of love in their new home!

Happy reading everyone!! :)))

P.S. For some reason, even though new books are constantly being brought out, people still think all the good ones are going to be snatched away first so there's always a big rush on the first day of the book fair... The Nelson Mail has posted up this hilarious video to show what happened on Saturday morning and I just had to share with you all! XDDD (...有必要狂奔嗎?? 一瞬間還以為是在看迪士尼樂園的開園時間咧 哈哈哈)