Michael Chugani 褚简宁 - red-eye flight｜又中又英

It’s been one year since I left Hong Kong to return to the US. I took a red-eye flight on August 16 2021 for Los Angeles. As I explained before, the American slang word “red-eye” means a flight that takes off late at night. That flight is still fresh in my mind. If something is fresh in your mind it means you remember it clearly. My red-eye flight to Los Angeles a year ago will always be fresh in my mind because I was leaving the city I was born in. I didn’t know at the time, and still don’t know, when I will return to Hong Kong to visit relatives and friends.

I really want to return to Hong Kong for short visits but I don’t want to risk being sent to Penny’s Bay if I test positive for the coronavirus when I arrive or during my one-week quarantine. Sooner or later, Hong Kong will have to re-open to the world. Its economy will take a big hit if it delays re-opening. To take a big hit means to be affected by a lot of damage or loss. My one year back in the US has given me the opportunity to rediscover America. I have travelled across the country several times staying in hotels or with relatives in California, Texas, Georgia, Indiana, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York.

I left New York City two weeks ago and am now back at my niece’s house in Atlanta, Georgia. Next month I will travel to Washington DC where I lived and worked for six years in the 1990s before returning to Hong Kong for the 1997 reunification. I am on the fence where I will go after Washington DC. To be on the fence means to be undecided what you will do next. There are many exciting places in the world I would like to live in.
* *
*
*
*

我离开香港回到美国，已经有一年了。我是二○二一年八月十六日乘搭「红眼」航班（red-eye flight）到洛杉矶的。正如我之前解释过的，美国俚语“red-eye”是指深夜起飞的航班。那一程机仍是 fresh in my mind——若某事情是 fresh in your mind，那即是你对那件事仍是记忆犹新。我一年前远赴洛杉矶的红眼航班（red-eye flight）总是历历在目（fresh in my mind），因为我那时要离开我出生的城市。那时候我不知道，到现在还是不知道，我何时会回到香港探望亲友。

我真的很想回到香港短暂逗留，但我可不想冒险，在抵港之时或接受一星期隔离检疫期间，对新冠病毒测试呈阳性反应，而被送到竹篙湾。香港早晚需要重新向世界开放，若然再延后重开，它的经济将会take a big hit ——to take a big hit是指大受打击、损失惨重。我这一年回到美国，给了我一个重新发现美国的机会。我数度穿州过省，游历了加州、德州、佐治亚州、印第安纳州、特拉华州、宾夕凡尼亚州及纽约，都是住在酒店又或亲戚的家中。

两星期前，我离开了纽约市，现在回到了我侄女在佐治亚州亚特兰大的屋中。下个月我将会到华盛顿特区，那是我为了一九九七香港回归而返港之前，于九十年代居住和工作了六年的地方。而在华盛顿特区之后，我又会到哪里，我是 on the fence——to be on the fence是指犹豫不决，抱持观望态度。世上还有许多有趣的地方我想住住看。
中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁