Contents February 2023 issue Across U-hub Let's get together Message from Executive Director- 悼師.導師 - 01 Winter Retreat - 04
Message from Executive Director
新春，我選了⼀束淡⽩的⼩花，放在窗前，靜靜地襯托著 ⾨外輕柔的飄雪，彷彿在等待⽼朋友的到來。 ⽼朋友，我們相識半個多世紀了，⾃問相識之後，我花了 段時間才能以「朋友」相稱。或許我們對⻘年⼯作有著 有相同信念，但我們的喜好、背景、⽣活品味和飲⻝習 慣，甚⾄⾔談舉⽌都不盡相同。直到有⼀天，我發現我們 之間的友誼不在乎有多少共同興趣，⽽是建⽴在相互信 任、包容和守望的基礎上。 去年⼆⽉，我失去了這個⽼朋友， 直不敢思念，可是思 念找到了我。 ⾃從他離開我們，我在Across U-hub聽到 最多的 句話就是：「我感覺James 還在每 個⻆落。」 我們都在思念這個⽼朋友。 燃動⻘年的⼈稱James 為年輕⼈的導師，他也欣然接受這 個稱呼。有趣的是，我們稱他為「導師」，並不是因為他 的學識、性格和能⼒，⽽是因為他「真」。他是 個不停 說話的⼈，聆聽者都清楚他說的不 定都是對的，事實 上，在很多情況下，聽者不同意他的⾒解，但不知何故， 他們就是喜歡聽James 的。 James 展現了另類導師的模樣， ⼀個「不完美」的⼈，還 有很多有⽬共睹的不⾜。然⽽，他敢於敞開⾃⼰的優點和 缺點，年輕⼈可以放膽地說出他的不是，⼜不時向他反 眼，就這樣，他也放膽地向年輕⼈提出針針到⾁的建議。 不管怎麼， 半個世紀以來，James不離不棄地和年輕⼈同 ⾏，留下了容⼈思念的「真」⾜跡
Nicole Wong
Message from Executive Director
In the new year, I bought a bunch of pure white flowers and placed them in front of the window, blending into the snowfall outside as if waiting for the arrival of an old friend.
This old friend, we knew each other for more than half a century, and it took me a while to call him a "friend" after we met. We shared the same vision about youth work, but our interests, backgrounds, lifestyles, eating habits, and even our way of talking and behaving were different. It wasn’t until one day, I discovered that our friendship was not about how many common interests we had, but it was a friendship based on trust, containment, and support.
Last February, I lost this old friend, and while I dared not miss him all the time, I found that the “missing" found me. Since James left us, the sentence I hear the most at Across U-hub is, "I feel like James is still around every corner " We all miss this old friend
People in Across U-hub called James a youth mentor, which he readily accepted Interestingly, we called him "mentor" not because of his knowledge, character or ability, but because he was "true.” He loved to talk, and what he said was not always right. In fact, in many cases the listeners disagreed with him, but somehow they just liked to listen to James.
Message from Executive DirectorJames presented the image of an alternative mentor, an "imperfect" person with many deficiencies that were obvious to all. However, he dared to open up and share his own strengths and weaknesses, and in this way, young people could boldly say what was wrong with him, and they could also turn their back on him from time to time. In this way, he also boldly made honest suggestions to young people.
In any case, for half a century, James steadfastly walked with young people, leaving the "true" footprint we all miss
Winter Retreat
After 3 years, we are finally back to this warm and cozy place for our winter retreat. Winter retreat has always been a time for volunteers and staff to come together, to reflect, to look forward, to share, to express, to inspire and be with each other
On a freezing Saturday, we started our day by having an interactive session chatting about what we can do to or offer this city: a place that we call HOME. We also chatted about some upcoming plans at Across U-hub. One highlight was the upcoming City Mosaic. With the new features added to CM, everyone seemed to be excited about this new yet familiar project! Please stay tuned for more information about CM 2023!
With some free time between the sessions, a few of us walked out to the frozen lake near the camp site where it has always been a stunning place to give ourselves a break from a busy life and to remind ourselves how great mother nature is. Not to mention, there was always a group of lovely helpers getting busy in the kitchen preparing for the meals. A big shout out to the food team who made sure everyone ’ s tummies were filled with delicious food!
In the afternoon and evening, it was time for us to explore! Little did we know that, a common food that we eat daily: bread, could lead us on a 2 hours appreciation and exploration session. Through this session, we had a journey exploring different kinds of bread from around the world and listened to stories on one ’ s bread-making journey.
The winter retreat wrapped up successfully As always, it was a warm and cozy time for us to be with each other and to catch up with each other.
Tiffany Ore
