王吉娜實習日誌03: 新竹普降大雨

 新竹普降大雨

    身為實習生，我們原本計劃前往新竹，旁聽秘書長在社區大學開設的課程。然而，由於我們搭乘的是高鐵而非普通列車，導致下車地點離那所大學較遠，最終沒能趕上課程。我們曾試圖改乘普通列車前往，但工作人員告知，因暴雨導致軌道積水，所有列車已暫時停駛。隨後我們想搭計程車，卻發現新竹站的其他乘客也有同樣的想法，導致叫叫車或計程車都需要排長隊等候。最終，我們決定返回台北，放棄聽課；由於那天辦公室裡沒有其他人，我們就沒去上班。我沒有預訂回程票，便買了一張高鐵「自由座」車票，起初我並不清楚自由座車廂具體在哪裡。但在車廂間穿梭時，我注意到車門附近的區域設有座位，也有人站在那裡，這才明白這就是所謂的自由座車廂。回程剩下的路途中，我只能擠在人群中，站在一個灰暗的角落；不過好在車程不長，倒也不算太難熬。再次看到山脈讓我感到欣喜，薄霧籠罩並縈繞在樹梢之間，景色美不勝收。

Heavy Rains in Hsinchu

    We as interns were supposed to arrive in Hsinschu to observe a class that Mr. He was teaching at a community college, but we weren’t able to make it as we took the High Speed Rail instead of the regular train, which meant we were farther from the college than we should’ve been. We tried to take the regular train there, but the staff came up to us and said that all of the trains have temporarily stopped working due to the flooding from the heavy rain on the train tracks. We then tried to find a taxi, but I think everyone else at Hsinchu station had the same idea, and so there was a long wait line to get an Uber or taxi. Eventually it was decided for us interns to turn back to Taipei and miss the class, and since no one else was in the office that day we also did not go to work that day. I had not reserved a ticket back, so I bought a ticket for a non-reservable car in the High Speed Rail, and initially I had no idea where that was. But as I walked through the train, I noticed there were spots between the cars with seats where people were standing by the train entrance and exits, and I realized that this was what they meant by non-reservable cars. I spent the rest of the ride back just standing in a gray corner squished among other people, but since the train ride was short it wasn’t that bad. I was glad to see the mountains again, they were extremely beautiful with the mist covering and clinging onto the treetops.