My first ride on a ferry .

My first ride on a ferry . 

My first ride on a ferry .

The first time I ever rode on a ferry was when I took one to cross from the city to an island. My family and I had gone to the island for a holiday. 

We arrived at the ferry terminal just as the sun was setting. My father paid the fare at one of the tollbooths and we were ushered into a lane. We had to stop behind a row of cars to await the arrival of the next ferry. 

Presently a light yellow ferry arrived. Cars and motorcycles Sped out of it. Then the green light came for us to board. My father carefully drove the car onto the lower deck of the ferry. It was an exciting new experience for me. 

As soon as the ferry was filled with cars and motorcycles on the lower deck, it left the terminal and proceeded towards the island. I stood at the front end of the ferry and watched the water churn and twirl as the ferry cut through it. 

I could see the island a short distance ahead of us. To our left spanned the newly built suspension bridge. The setting sun cast a red glow on the whole scene and I must say that it was beautiful. 

My sister and I climbed up the stairs to the upper deck. It was filled with passengers who either sat on the seats there or loitered around the area. 

Soon the short ride ended. We hurried back down to the lower deck and got into our car when we saw the island loom closer and closer. 

Finally the ferry docked and my father followed the row of cars out of the ferry. The car bumped a bit on the uneven ramp but soon we were on the island itself. My first ferry ride was over. 

Lần đầu tiên tôi đi phà 

Lần đầu tiên tôi đi phà là khi tôi đi từ thành phố đến một hòn đảo. Gia đình tôi và tôi đến hòn đảo ấy để nghỉ mát. 

Chúng tôi đến bến phà khi mặt trời đang lặn. Ba tôi trả tiền vé ở một trạm thu phí xe và chúng tôi được hướng dẫn đi vào một làn xe. Chúng tôi phải dừng sau một hàng dài xe hơi đang chờ đợi chuyến phà kế tiếp. 

Chẳng bao lâu chiếc phà màu vàng nhạt đến. Xe hơi và xe máy chạy nhanh ra khỏi nó. Rồi đèn màu xanh lá cây bật lên cho phép chúng tôi lên phà. Ba tôi cẩn thận lái xe vào tầng dưới của chiếc phà. Đây là một trải nghiệm mới thú vị đối với tôi. 

Ngay khi chiếc phà chất đẩy xe hơi và xe máy ở tầng dưới, nó rời bến và trực chỉ về phía đảo. Tôi đứng phía trước mũi phà và nhìn xuống dòng nước sôi sục và cuộn tròn khi con tàu cắt ngang nó. 

Tôi có thể nhìn thấy hòn đảo cách một khoảng ngắn phía trước mặt. Bên trái là chiếc cầu treo mới xây bắc ngang sông. Mặt trời lặn đang tỏa ánh sáng đỏ dịu trên toàn cảnh vật và tôi phải nói rằng cảnh tượng thật đẹp. 

Chị tôi và tôi leo cầu thang lên tầng trên. Ở đó đấy những hành khách đang ngồi trên ghế hoặc đang la cà chung quanh. 

Chẳng bao lâu chuyến đi kết thúc. Chúng tôi đi xuống tầng dưới và lên xe ngồi khi hòn đảo sừng sững hiện ra càng lúc càng gần. 

Cuối cùng chiếc phà cập bến và ba tôi theo đoàn xe ra khỏi phà. Chiếc xe dằn xốc một tí trên chiếc cầu nối gập gềnh nhưng chắc mấy chốc chúng tôi đã ở trên đảo. Thế là chuyến đi phà đầu tiên của tôi kết thúc. 

The Newspaper Deliveryman.

The Newspaper Deliveryman. 

The Newspaper Deliveryman.

The newspaper dcliveryman delivers newspapers to us and many other houses in the neighborhood. I hear his motorcycle every morning when he comes to deliver the daily paper. He comes promptly at 6.30 every morning, rain or shine, unless something extraordinary prevents him from doing so. 

He is so regular and prompt that I do not need any alarm clock to wake up. At six-thirty, the neighbors' dogs start barking as he arrives and I know it is almost time to get up for school. 

Though he comes every day, I do not get to see him. I only pick up and read the newspaper he has left at the door. I only see him once a month when he comes to collect the bill. 

Promptly on the first of each month, at six-thirty in the evening, he shows up with his bills. This time he rings the door bell and I usually have to go and pay him. My mother normally gets the money ready one day earlier and asks me to pay him. 

He never smiles. He merely gives me the change if any, and goes off to the next house. It appears that his regular, almost regimental, rounds of newspaper delivery has made him behave like a robot. He is very efficient, very prompt and does not smile. That is certainly very robot-like. 

Nevertheless, I appreciate his reliable service. For one thing, I am never without the daily paper. Some of my friends complain that their newspaper deliverymen are very unreliable. Not so with mine, he is number one. 

A day in the life of a bus driver.

A day in the life of a bus driver. 

A day in the life of a bus driver.

The alarm rings. It is six o'clock. Mr. Kim gets up wearily. It is the start of another day ferrying school kids to and from school.

At six-thirty, after a hurried bath, Mr. Kim starts his old 22-seater bus and moves off. He goes along a regular route picking up children to send to various schools. By seven, all the regular children, except one who is ill, is on the bus. Mr. Kim drives carefully through the busy roads.

He stops at four different schools, dropping off some children at each. He plans his drive carefully so as to reach the last school by seven-thirty. Otherwise some children will be late for school and he gets the blame. 

At seven thirty-two, his bus is empty and the roads are less congested Most of the children are in the classrooms. Mr. Kim stops by at a stall to have his breakfast. 

Come eleven-thirty, he picks up other school children for the afternoon session. By twelve-thirty he has sent all the children to the schools satellite

At one o'clock he collects his first batch of children from a school. Then he proceeds to three other schools to collect the others. After collecting the children he sends them home. 

Mr. Kim has lunch at home and takes a nap afterwards. At three o'clock he cleans up the bus. 

At five in the evening, Mr. Kim goes on his last round of collecting the children from the schools. He safely sends them home by six thirty. Then Mr. Kim goes home, takes a bath, has dinner and watches television for a While before retiring to bed. Thus ends yet another day in the life of a bus driver. 

Something unexpected.

Something unexpected. 

The routine of following lesson after lesson can be very tiring. Recess time always seems so far away. The bell rings. One teacher leaves, another appears. What we need is a break from the monotony. 

One morning, we had a lesson as a matter of routine when I felt that it was going to be just another day of endless studying. After what seemed a long time the bell rang for the second period. The Mathematics teacher left. Next would be Geography with Mrs. Ellen. 

The short break between the going of one teacher and the coming of the next was when we had the opportunity to talk and have some fun. It usually lasted a minute or two, sometimes more. 

This time no teacher appeared even after five minutes. We were having a great time. Ten minutes, Mrs. Ellen still did not appear. Our monitor went out in search of her. A few minutes later, he returned to announce that Mrs. Ellen was absent. We cheered. This was unexpected, but it was welcome. 

So for forty minutes we literally fooled around. The monitor could do nothing. What a good time we had. The bell rang again. Forty minutes of fun seemed so short, but it was great while it lasted. 

Again no teacher appeared. It was another case of an absent teacher. We cheered even louder because it was a double-period which meant we were free until recess. 

Altogether we had one hundred and twenty minutes two hours of no lesson. It was unexpected of course and I have to say I enjoyed it very much. I would not mind having more of this unexpected thing.