Erik來自桃園，在台北工作十多年。 前幾年搬到台南來開店與生活。目前和妻子共同經營彩虹來了這個品牌。
Erik is from
Taoyuan. He had lived and
worked in Taipei for more than 10 years, but moved to Tainan a few years ago.
He now co-owns the brand Rainbow is Coming with his wife. The
couple opened a shop in the city.
為什麼來台南？
Why did you move to
Tainan?
最初就是很單純的喜歡這裡的民風，天氣很好，文化氛圍很濃厚。台南在五都裡面算是很特別的一個城市，因為除了台南以外，其他的城市都是商業走向，都是往綜合性商業這個方向去走。但是台南因為有著特別的歷史，是一個四百年的老城，百年老店、幾十年的老店你都找得到，對我來說，路上的攤販們都是行為藝術的一員。這樣的多元文化和長久累積的文化力量是很驚人的。
I was attracted by the people, the good weather, and the
rich cultural heritage here. Among the five municipalities of Taiwan, Tainan has the most unique character. While the other four
cities are on the way to become economic megalopolises, Tainan embraces its
historic background and refuses to become overly commercialized. Shops dating
back decades or even more than a century old can be found in the city that is
already more than 400 year-old. For me, even street hawkers are performers of
their own art. There is an amazing power within Tainan’s cultural heritage,
which has been accumulating through time and diversity.
那你應該是喜歡台南的吧？
Then I guess you like Tainan, right?
喜歡啊。當初決定要移居台南的時候，我們並沒有期待著要靠這間店賺錢，而是想要找一個城市好好的生活。台南有比較慢的步調，讓我們可以很簡單的生活。
Yes, I like Tainan. When we decided to
move to Tainan, we were not trying to earn a lot of money from our shop but
rather looking for a place to settle down. It has to be a city where we could
live well. Tainan is more laid-back, and we opt to live a simple life here.
當我看著台南的百年老店的老闆們，他們每個人就是很認真的在工作，胼手胝足，這讓我很欽佩也想要像這樣。我不想開六十間分店，但我想要經營一間六十年的老店，在這裡我有學習的對象。而且台南真的是一個很奇妙的地方，天氣很好，颱風與地震都少，台南人會說：颱風都會避開台南，好像有神力在保護這個城市。所以我有朋友笑說，你們才是天龍國吧。(此指台南天生的風骨傲氣，與台北狹義的自居高位不同)
I admired and learned from the owners of
the century-old shops here in Tainan, who took their businesses very seriously
and worked very hard. Instead of opening 60 shops in a blink, I’d rather build
a business that can last for more than 60 years. Tainan is also a magical place
with wonderful weather. The locals, pointing to the fact that Tainan is often
spared by a typhoon hitting Taiwan, would say that the city is protected by the
gods. Adding to that, we are almost never hit by earthquakes. Envious of our
life here, my friends would joke that we are living in haven.
那你有什麼台南私房景點嗎？
Are there any secret
vacation spots in Tainan that you can share with us?
私房景點倒是沒有，因為我並沒有特別去定義私房這兩個字。因為我住在這裡，所以我想去哪隨時都可以去，心是很自由也很滿足的，對我來說富有並不是和存款劃上等號的。在這裡我有很多的彈性，我有自由選擇我想要做什麼的彈性，不管是生活的條件或是質量。我可以選擇要吃滷肉飯或是很昂貴的餐廳，但我不需要天天吃大餐，台南就連滷肉飯都很強。
Not that I can think of, secret vacation spots is hard to define.
I enjoy being able to go wherever I want, and I feel free and satisfied. For
me, the concept of wealth and account balance does not equate. Here I have
flexibility, I can choose what I want to do and how I want to live. I can
choose either delicious Taiwanese braised pork rice at a hawker stall or eating
at a fancy restaurant. Even if I do not want to splurge on food everyday,
braised pork rice in Tainan is top notch.
你想要做什麼？
Can you tell us more about the projects you
are doing here?
因為台南給了我在生活上有很多的彈性，生活可以很簡單卻不虞匱乏，我花70%的力量在經營我的店，所以我還有30%去做一些其他的事情。我想要做一些可以讓人產生信任、希望的事情，這也是為什麼我會開始做正興街的社區營造。
Living in Tainan returned the power of choice back to my
life. I can live a simple life without worrying about food or other basic
needs. Managing my shop is taking about 70% of my time, so I can put the rest
of my efforts into something else. I want to start a movement that can bring
hope and trust in people, so I started a social development project in my
community, the Zhengxing St. neighborhood.
我自己是一個很喜歡人與人之間有互動，不喜歡算計，我很喜歡很有魄力的就一句話來達成協定。人和人之間很真實的互動是立基於彼此之間最基礎的信任。
I enjoy interaction with others and
abhor treachery and trickery. Here, we can make a business agreement without
the need of a contract. Trusting people by their words is the very basic form
of human interaction.
去年十一月我們在正興街辦了一個音樂會，由我來擔任總召和企劃，而執行的人就是我們正興街願意參與的街坊鄰舍。我們以一種資源交換的方式進行，並邀請了風和日麗唱片行加入我們。我們沒有提供金錢而是提供我們每間店不同的服務，包括免費的衣服、住宿、水果、餐點，大家各司其職並一同進行佈置。我們沒有簽約。這是一個建立在互信的概念上來完成的事情，我們就是想要認真的把一件事情做好。
Last November, we held a music concert on the street. I was
the chief organizer and planner of the event, while volunteers from the
neighborhood worked as a team to make it happen. The basic concept of the event
is that instead of using money, we exchange resources. With generous help from
the music label “A Good Day Records”, everyone pooled their skills and talents
and received clothing, fruits, meals and lodging for free. They all helped
towards the final event. It all happened without any contracts or signatures on
papers. Everything was built on trust and we just want to do something really
well.
我們沒有很華麗的行銷，只有最基本的口耳相傳，每一間店家就是最好的宣傳員。當然我們也拍了短短的影片在網路上，我們希望可以邀請對的人來參加這個活動。而這個活動很成功，有一萬多人來參與。我記得本來風和日麗安排了舒米恩和黃玠一起表演，但是當舒米恩到了現場，發現現場的人都是真的喜歡他們的音樂的人，光是下午的彩排就有幾千人在看，他二話不說的把他的樂手從台灣各地給叫來了。這一切都沒有以金錢為由的利益交換在裡面，我的意思是，我們大家提供我們所能做的，以一種很認真的態度來面對我們想要做的事情。我們和一起參與的群眾，大家都是很快樂的。
We didn’t have fancy advertising, but we spread by word of
mouth. Any business that had helped us became our best publicists. We also made
an effort to reach out to our target audiences by posting a short video on the
internet. The event was highly successful, with more than ten thousand people
joining the fun. I recall the record company had originally planned two
musicians, Suming and Dadado Huang, for the concert. But when Suming arrives to
the rehearsal that afternoon, he found thousands of music lovers waiting for
their performance. Pleasantly surprised by this, he made a phone call and asked
his band to join the show. Everything was done from the heart, without the
exchange of money. What I am trying to say is that by paying forward with
earnestness and thoughtfulness towards the same goal, everyone, participants
and audiences alike, had a memorable and joyful experience.
在社區營造這件事情上，我想要每年都進行不一樣的實驗。
I want to experiment with different
projects in our community every year.
我在部落格上發現你們很重視旅行這件事，請問，旅行的意義是什麼？
Reading your blog, I found that much of it is
about traveling. What does it mean to you?
我覺得旅行是透過新的環境來探索自己。在台南的生活也是一種旅行，但是比較多的新刺激會是來從來店裡的旅客獲得。在旅行的時候則是透過五感的刺激，再次確認自己的存在。和新的風景一同存在的自己究竟是什麼樣的一個價值？我和城市之間的關係又是如何？我覺得旅行是一個解構再結構的過程。有許多人旅行的意義是分享世界給朋友，但對我來說更重要的是自己。
Traveling is a process of self-discovery by reacting to
different environments. My life in Tainan is also a second kind of journey, as
I receive new stimulations through visitors who came to my shop. On the other
hand, when I travel, I get stimulated on all five senses to reconfirm my
existence. I asked to myself, “What is me, standing amid this foreign scenery?”
“How is my relationship between myself and this city?” I feel that traveling is
a deconstruction-reconstruction practice. While others travel to share the
world with friends, I keep it wholly to myself.
那生活的意義？
What does living mean to you?
我們說是生活的目的好了，每一件事情都會有它的目的。對我來說，生活的目的就是要確定自己生命的價值，這其實和上面的旅行是互相呼應的。我覺得旅行的時候它是一種增加、一種吸收，因此當我們出門旅行以後，往往會帶著很多新的想法回來，然後帶著那些新增加的內容，檢視自己，進行自我重整，不管是內在的重整或是表現在外在的樣貌，比方說我們會想要好好整頓一下家裡、換一下傢俱。相對的，生活對我來說是一種刪除、減少，有許多的捨。生活裡面總會有許多的瑣碎雜事，而我們必須要去練習捨，才能夠確認得。
Let’s talk about what I think is the purpose of living, as I
believe everything in the world must serve a purpose. For me, living is finding
the meaning of our lives. This concords with what I said just now about
traveling. I gain and absorb new
ideas while I travel, be it for self-improvement or a change in taste. With
what I have gained, I can reflect and reframe myself. For example, I might want to renovate the room or change the furniture
right after a trip. Living, on the other end, is a practice of subtraction and
removal of unnecessary bits. There are chores, or trivial matters in life that
we need to learn to give up, to find out what there really is.
那請問你有什麼甘苦談嗎？
Can you share some good or bad experiences with us?
我覺得沒有什麼甘苦談誒，就是做或是不做的一個想法。我對我自己所做的決定就是概括承受。並不是說我完全沒有遇到問題，而是當我遇到問題的時候，我會去解決它們，而且我的個性是不太會記得苦的事情。我在設定目標的時候並不會去設定我達不到的，舉例來說就是我設定的是虎頭山，那對我來說玉山就太高了，因為現在我還爬不上去 。以改造這間房子來說好了，我並沒有任何設計背景，但是我決定要自己弄，我相信只要我可以講得清楚，專業的工班就可以處理好這些事情。因為我並不是很會畫圖，所以我畫好圖以後天天都在工地和他們一起，天天都有成千上萬的問題，但就是一個一個的去解決它們。
Well, I don’t think there’s much to tell you. For me, everything is straight-forward — either I do it, or not. Of course I’ve also been through obstacles and challenges, but I tackle them one-by-one, and I easily forget how difficult it was. I always set myself achievable targets, like if I am only capable of climbing a hill, I will not force myself to climb a mountain. Take for instance the renovation of this house. Despite not having a background in interior design, I believe my workers can follow instructions as long as I am able to lay out my ideas clearly, so I decided to take the matter to myself. I realized I am not particularly good at drawing, so I stayed with my workers everyday to solve problems they encountered with my rudimentary design.
我有一個朋友想問：既然是彩虹，為什麼你們選用桃紅色取代正紅色？
A friend of mine had this question for you:
your shop is all about rainbows, so why did you choose the color peach over
red?
因為正紅色太硬了，我們想要用桃紅色，比較溫柔也比較粉嫩。這也是我作為獨立店家的一個好處，我只要跟我自己交代就可以了。我們可以直接表達我們對政治的想法，我們對社會的看法。因為這是我自己的店，我希望大家來到我們的店裡的時候，看到店就跟看到我一樣。當然，有時我也會很直接的教育客人，好比車子亂停這件事，我認為維持一個街區秩序的正當這是我的義務之一。
Red is too strong a color for us, whereas
peach is gentle and soft. The best thing about being the owners of a business
is that we can take responsibility on any of our choices and our ways of
expressing ourselves. We can be verbal about our views on politics and the
society. As this is a shop we own, we hope our customers can feel as if they
are meeting us when they are at the shop. I will also educate my customers when
I feel it is needed, like when they are parking illegally. I feel it is part of
my responsibility as a business owner to maintain orders on our street.
請描述一下你自己。
How would you describe yourself?
我有一股源源不絕向上的力量，或許是因為人生經過了太多大風大浪，所以我現在選擇在安穩的海面上航行，但是我還是不斷的在進行實驗。我立志成為清楚的人。我承認我還有很多不清楚的地方，好比說國家跟人民的關係、家庭的關係...等等。這些都還等著我去確認，或許確認需要付出代價，但我就是要這麼去做。
I am one endowed with an endless supply of positive energy. Perhaps because of all the ups and downs that I’ve been through, I now choose to sail on a peaceful sea. Still, I keep experimenting with different possibilities. I aim to be well-thought-out at all times, but I admit there are lots still waiting for me to clarify. I am still trying to understand the relationship between country and its people, or among members of a family… It can take sacrifices, but I am determined to find the answers.
I am one endowed with an endless supply of positive energy. Perhaps because of all the ups and downs that I’ve been through, I now choose to sail on a peaceful sea. Still, I keep experimenting with different possibilities. I aim to be well-thought-out at all times, but I admit there are lots still waiting for me to clarify. I am still trying to understand the relationship between country and its people, or among members of a family… It can take sacrifices, but I am determined to find the answers.
「彩虹來了」
台南市中西區正興街100號 | 06-2202868 | 營業時間：2pm-9pm
