You never know something until you really try. I don't remember that's a motto by a somewhat saint or an author unknown. Yet that is by all means classic.

I went to MaChang Road last Saturday for an English competition. During my stay there, I encountered with an elder Chinese lady. More specifically, she came to me for talking in English rather than Chinese. Excuse for my curiosity as I've seen thousands of college students even shy of opening their mouths.

"Are you studying English (major in English)?" She asked as soon as she saw me.

"Well, sort of. (At that time I was reading an English magazine, but my major is Teaching Chinese as a foreign language." I responded when I raised my head to notice her, almost spontaneously.

"En... Can I talk to you ... in English?" She went on.

"Sure. Take a seat please." I said as I drank up the last drop of Fanta.

Then she smiled at me and unveiled herself by introducing herself as an elderly university student. A "well-behaved, disciplined intellectual" image soon took up my mind. So it is with the things she did in the following hour.

In the talk, she shared funny stories with me and made me feel much relieved in not so fluent English though I was ready to help her the moment she smiled. I couldn't remember how many times I burst into laughter. As I felt amazed for her knowing words like "perseverant" and "Zimbabwe", I've been getting the best of my stressful life. Anyway, wherever she heared a new word from my mouth, she immediately asked me to spell and explain.

You know, people around us in the dining hall began to talk in secret or squeezed or even laughed at us. I suppose they really need to make a confession in front of God and make a laugh at themselves. These young men are always apt to think themselves wise enough, as drunken men apt to think themselves sober enough.

As far as I am concerned, there are two kinds of people in general. The first kind are usually strong-minded and have self-control. They usually have positive life philosophy and well-defined personal goals. On the contrary, the second kind fall to be weak-minded. For most of them, easy pleasure is their ultimate life goal. They never try to achieve anything the hard way. Obviously, the elder lady belongs to the former kind and sets us really good examples.

So, think twice next time you want to indulge yourself.

作者：劉偉 天津外國語學院