One day on the train, life before Melbourne: Part Two
The constant uniform sound of trains had been a relieving presence for me. The repetitive nature of it allowed me to keep calm, sit back and live the moment. Of more than one square meters big, what I saw from the window was different from the view on planes: I saw utility poles and trees quickly passing as if I’m not the one that was moving. Smaller trees, bigger trees, oleanders, weeping willows, camphor trees, poplars, elms—too many species for me to tell, especially when we traveled in the southern part of China. There were green hills and mountains covered in green in the distance; little cottages and houses scattered in the view; ponds and lakes with cows and sheep walking and standing mindlessly around; huge chunks of farmlands situated afar, smaller pieces of them placed near; farmers and blue skies of the countryside. I shall love to stay in one of the cottages and enjoy the quietness, being occasionally disturbed by the trains in a good way which reminds me of the era I am living in—or I’d thought I must be living in a pre-industrial world! It was nice to think that there are still some places in China preserved its purity. I’m not saying that the industrialization is a bad thing which polluted the land; but the misuse and overuse of modern methods by us have done little good to the land. I suppose it is the price China needs to pay in order to catch up with the world, but I’m not sure if it’s worthy now.
Back to the window, I realised that when I stood in the middle and looked, the view in the window was like a film. The window frame was like a film frame; every frame was of about one square meters big, thousands of those frames composed of a film. Such infinite number of frames was what time is; every frame was the smallest measure of time. One frame, two frames. I was different between each and every frame. What I saw in front of me passed like how life passes us. It all happens too quickly. What we can do is to cherish the moment we have now just as how we’d cherish the view outside the window.
