By Wang Xu

A sensible seaman made every effort to get the boatswain’s son out of his room, but the boy didn’t want to go anywhere after seeing his father. Five hours slipped away like this, the boatswain and his wife just watched each other hand in hand…  

A seaman’s life on the sea is quite boring and monotonous. When faced with gale winds and tidal waves, the ship shakes furiously and seems not to stop until you feel completely exhausted and despaired. In the sky there are only a few stars, and no one knows where the moon is. A 10,000 ton-level ship in this vast sea looked like just a small boat but had to silently struggle against waves and winds. On the open sea, there are no signs of life but sound from cold waves tapping the lonely ship...

However, life is colorful, so is the seamen’s life, which has not only unhappiness, but more fascinating sceneries, such as the sunset, mirror-like sea, seabirds frolicking in pairs, groups of dolphins leaping out the water from time to time -- looking like to race against the ship.  the ship fleets and stirs sea water like snowing, the sunset seems to be a shy kiss between the sun and the sea, gulls soar in the sky, and at that time the mind is drunk although wine hasn’t been drunk. Enjoying such beautiful scene like boat, sea, sun, seabird, we gather at the fore of the ship to listen to the symphony of the nature...

Leaving hometown, we often miss our family. Especially in a quiet night with a moon in the sky, we look into the distance in the gentle sea breeze, when the homesickness is even more intense.

The tour in a foreign country was the happiest time we ever enjoyed and meanwhile it left us with pretty interesting memories. One time we went to a Mexico bar to drink a bottle of beer. Just taking seats, the waitress came and asked us what we would like to drink. As the waitress spoke Spanish, we could do nothing but guessing. While we were thinking how to make it, the quick-tempered chef said everything is ok (the pronunciation in Chinese language is “suibian”), and then the waitress really brought the beer to us. The reason is that the bar was promoting a new brand of beer called "SUIBRAN", with the similar pronunciation.

Another time we came to Tunisia and went to a grocery for milk. As Tunisians speak French, and the proprietress can’t speak English, we really didn’t know what to do. While we couldn’t find way out, the third officer extended his index fingers on top of two ears and made sounds of "moo ... moo ..." and the pump maker then took the hint to make a milking-like gesture and sounded "rip ... rip ... rip ...", then the proprietress totally understood and laughed, and finally she gave us additional box of milk as a present...

For people living abroad for a long time, it’s the greatest happiness to meet with the family, even just a few hours. The boatswain, who comes from Gansu Province, has been working for seven months on board, and once the ship docked at Zhangjiagang, his wife brought his five-year-old son to see him. As the cargo to be unloaded wasn’t much, however, the family needed to transact procedures to get on board, so when his wife and kid hurried up to board the ship, there were only five hours left. The sensible sailor made every effort to get the boatswain’s son out of his room, but the boy didn’t want to go anywhere after seeing his father. Five hours slipped away like this, the boatswain and his wife just watched each other hand in hand ... It’s no wonder that the boatswain felt extremely sad and really wanted to beat his son mercilessly. When it’s the time to leave, his son wasn’t willing to leave the boatswain. When hearing the cries of his son "Dad ... Dad ... ", the boatswain felt as if a knife were piercing his heart, and the couple shed tears because of sadness, also due to happiness, because the family is the most precious thing.

This is our life, full of downs and ups,melancholies and joys, sadness and hopes.