The Concept of Time

我的歐洲同學對於時間的概念與亞洲人相差甚遠。

雖然我早已習慣對於歐洲人來說八點才進餐廳吃飯

是非常正常之事，不過在某些時間概念來說，的確

很無法適應。



最近因為要做報告所以很常跟同學約時間討論，每次

凡妮莎小姐或是露意絲小妞總是非常在意時間的早晚。

由於他們都有 重 要 的 朋友要見面，所以在赴約

之前要做許多準備，加上要睡美容覺，早上常常是約不

到人的。



不過這一次就讓我很吃驚，凡妮莎跟露意絲突然央求

我這次討論約星期六早上 早 一點，我雖然心裡不

太願意，（老實說要我早起也是一件不太容易的事！）

不過這無聊的報告也不想浪費週末休閒的時間，

睡晚一點是可以犧牲的。



於是我就說拉，那我們就約十點或十點半，會不會

太晚呢？



沒 想 到！



凡妮莎跟露意思居然一臉不可置信的看著我，一邊誇張的

大叫起來，NO! NO! NO!!! Impossible!!!!!!!!!!!



於是我就反問他們想要幾點，而這一切就是疑惑的開始。



凡妮莎說，十二點好了，露意絲說十二點半。

整個傻眼的我，淡淡的問，十二點不是已經是中午了嗎？

為什麼是早上哩？！



不過後來我慢慢能夠理解凡妮莎的時間邏輯。後來她跟

我說要和朋友約見面，因為是 重 要 的人，所以下午

得花時間好好準備準備。我隨口問她們要幾點見面，

凡妮莎很認真的跟我說，可能週六下午晚一點吧，

大概七點。



真是差點沒暈倒，凡妮莎小姐，妳不知道七點已經是晚上了嗎？









Well, the concept of time between the Italian and Taiwanese

is totally different.



Last weekend, I had to work on a project with Vane and Lou.

Since we need to give an oral presentation on Monday, we have

to work for the weekend. So we've decided to meet on Saturday.

However, Vane got an important date on Saturday and she really

needed some time to "freshen up" before going out. She asked me

if it's ok for me to meet earlier on Saturday morning.



Well, for me it's not a problem at all. Though I hate working on

weekends, I guess to finish this project, something must come

first. So I propsed to meet like 1000 or 1030 in the morning.

I was thinking if they wanted to meet earlier then 1030 might

be the best time.



Haha, I was not prepared to see their reaction. It's a shame I

cant show you the photo of their shocking facial expression.

It was like I've said some most impossible thing. Both Vane

and Lou said "no" like a hundred times to me.



'Well, when do you want to meet then? I asked.

"How about 1200?" Vane said.

"1200's too early, 1230's better," said Lou.



I was like totally speechless.

"I thought 1200 is in the afternoon." I said.





Then, some time later, I asked Vane when she's

going to meet her friend. She said, which I quoted,

"LATE in the afternoon."

I then asked her "what time?"



Well, I got to say her answer shocked me as well.



She said, which I quoted again,

"Around seven."



I was speechless again.....................







Gee..... Vanessa, seven is in the EVENING!