A Gift to My Brother 給哥哥的禮物

Since I found a brother in October, I had always been thinking that I should give him a gift. When I learned that Shen Yun Calendar for 2018 was available, I knew I had found a perfect one.

自打在十月份認了個哥哥後，就一直想著得送他點什麼。當我得知神韻2018年日曆開始發售後，我知道這就是最好的禮物。

So, today, I went to the post office to send the calendar to him. It turned out that the calendar was too big for all  the  envelopes in the post office. I purposely chose the big size wall calendar from him as I knew he had a big family. A bigger size one hung on the wall can be appreciated by everybody in the family; whilst a desk calendar is more suitable for one person only. 

於是我今天到郵局去寄這份禮物。沒想到，掛歷的尺寸太大，郵局裏居然沒有那麼大的包裝袋或信封賣。神韻日曆有掛歷和臺歷兩種，我特意選了掛歷給他，因爲他家人多，掛歷大，掛在牆上，這樣一家人都能欣賞到。

The front of the package of  Shen Yun Performance -- 2018 Wall Calendar. 2018年神韻掛歷包裝袋正面。

I was a little bit at a loss as to what to do. The lady in the post office suggested that I go to another bigger post office to try my luck. I walked out, and somehow found a small shop nearby. I walked inside, showed my big calendar to the staff, and asked him if they had a big enough envelope for it. 

可沒有那麼大信封怎麼辦呢？郵局工作人員好心地告訴我，到附近另一個大一點的郵局去看看？ 我只好走出來，不知怎麼看到邊上有個賣雜貨的小商店，就信步走進去，舉起手裏的掛曆問：「你們這裏有這麼大信封賣嗎？」

The back of the package of  Shen Yun Performance -- 2018 Wall Calendar.  2018年神韻掛歷包裝袋背面。

And he said yes! So I happily bought the biggest one in the shop (16.5"X 20", or 42cm X 50.8 cm) , and went back to the post office. The lady felt happy for me too. After she weighing the whole package, she asked, "The postage will be $22.25, is that OK?" 

看那個店很小，且裏面亂糟糟的，我本來沒存什麼希望的，沒想店員居然說有！於是我立即走到貨架區去找，還真找到了，最大的信封有16.5"X 20"（42cm X 50.8 cm）大，足夠裝下了。

於是我立即買下並回到郵局。工作人員也替我高興。她把整個包裝放到秤上稱重後，有些擔憂地問我：「郵費要$22.25，行嗎？」

I knew she was a little bit worried that this price could be too high for me. The calendar is sold for $20; and she knew the price since I had to fill in a form with the value of the item filled in. She might feel that it was a little bit absurd to spend more on the postage than on the item itself.

因爲寄國際郵包要填報關表，表上要填物品價值，所以她已經知道這份日曆價值是$20。也許她覺得寄費比東西還貴，我會不會覺得有點荒唐而不想寄了？

I was lucky enough to have found a big enough envelope for the Shen Yun Performance -- 2018 Wall Calendar.  運氣好，終於買到了足夠大的信封來裝神韻掛歷。

I said without hesitation, "Yes! Shen Yun is priceless. I am a big fan. I watch it every year. I decorate my house with pictures from  Shen Yun Calendar. Have you heard about it?"

我立刻說：「沒關係。神韻是無價的。我是鐵杆粉絲，每年都看。我還把去年的神韻日曆一頁頁剪開，把她們裝在畫框裏，當作一幅幅的畫來裝飾所有房間呢！你聽說過神韻嗎？」

She said she had seen the promotions; and I told her that she definitely should consider going this year, it will be in Lincoln Center in January! 

她說她看過广告，我告訴她，一月份林肯中心就又要演了，一定要去看哦！

She happily agreed and finished processing my package. And I am feeling extremely wonderful when imagining how the calendar would shine for an entire year in my dear brother's house and bring beauty, blessings and happiness to his whole family!

她笑著說好，並處理完了我的郵件。我走出郵局，想著神韻日曆將在哥哥家閃耀一整年，爲他家帶來美麗、美好和福祉，心情真是大好！

Cover of Shen Yun Performance -- 2018 Wall Calendar. 神韻2018年掛曆封面。