回頭看自己的成長過程，我覺得，在上大學以前，我似乎並沒有真正追逐過什麼流行。那些年，生活很單純，重心幾乎都放在功課上。我的課餘時間多半是讀書或聽音樂。對於所謂的潮流，我幾乎完全沒有記憶。

小學和初中時期，我喜歡卡通和電視影集。寫完作業，我常坐在電視機前面看《大力水手》、《神仙家庭》、也看歌仔戲，兒童連續劇，田邊俱樂部和群星會等。這些電視節目都是當時最流行的，也許，就這個層面而言，我應該也算是在 追逐潮流 吧？！ 電視機發出的光，映在牆上，也映在童年的記憶裡。

仔細想來，小學時我其實也短暫地站在「流行」的邊緣。那時班上曾流行過一本兒童雜誌，名字叫《王子》，裡面有故事，也有漫畫。全班只有一位從台北轉學來的同學家裡有訂閱。每次她帶新一期雜誌來學校，大家便圍過去看，誰能先翻到、誰能借回家，都是小小的榮耀。她很快成了受歡迎的人，我們也都想和她做朋友，只為了能多看幾頁。

真正陪伴我長大的，其實是書。我常看圖書館借回來的各國的童話故事集，從陌生的國度一路讀到遙遠的想像。姑丈是初中國文老師，姐姐經常向他借書，我也跟著翻閱。於是，在還只是小學生的年紀，我已經開始讀大人寫給大人的書，雖然不一定讀懂，卻讀得很認真。

音樂也是這樣悄悄進來的。姐姐買了許多唱片，我在家中聽她放的歌，一邊寫功課，一邊讓旋律流過房間。有時乾脆躺在地板上，什麼也不做，只聽音樂。那些並不是為孩子準備的聲音，但我毫無防備地接收了它們。當時並不知道什麼是流行，更談不上追逐，只是單純地聽。

直到上了大學，世界才忽然熱鬧起來。校園裡開始流行迪斯可，西洋歌曲無所不在，貓王、ABBA、Air Supply、芭芭拉・史翠珊、老鷹合唱團，一首首歌，成了青春共同的背景聲。同學們常在討論和分享唱片和歌曲。

那些年所接觸的一切——卡通、影集、歌曲—很多是來自西方，尤其是美國。這不只是個人的選擇，而是整個時代的風景。台灣在那樣的年代，透過書籍、影像與音樂向外張望。對大學生而言，西方文化代表著一種現代感，也是一種想像中的遠方。懂得西方書籍，音樂，電視，電影，歌星，影星的人都算是比較趕得上潮流的人。

多年以後，再回頭看那段被稱為「崇洋」的歲月，我覺得那或許不是單純的迷戀，而是一種在有限世界裡，努力向外伸展的渴望。對我們而言，西方文化並不只是時尚或流行，它承載的是自由、遠方與可能性的想像。在那個資訊尚未爆炸的年代，書籍、影集與音樂，是少數能讓我們看見不同生活樣貌的窗口。

如今世界變得近了，文化的流動也不再單向。我覺得，那些曾被我們仰望的事物，其實也只是另一種生活方式。與其說是我們「追求流行」，不如說是對外面世界的好奇吧！

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Which fads did you embrace growing up? 

Looking back on my childhood, I realize that before college, I never consciously chased after fads. My days were centered on schoolwork, and whatever free time I had was spent quietly, usually with books or music. Trends felt distant then, almost irrelevant.

During elementary and junior high school, cartoons and television series were my main forms of entertainment. After finishing homework, I would sit in front of the television and watch shows like Popeye, Dennis the Menace. American TV series such as The Beavers and Bewitched were also favorites. These programs became part of the rhythm of everyday life in Taiwan at the time—simple evenings at home, the television glowing softly in the living room.

There was, however, one brief moment in elementary school when I became aware of what it meant to follow a trend. A children’s magazine called Prince was popular at the time. It contained stories and comic strips, and only one classmate—a girl who had transferred from Taipei—had a subscription. When she brought the magazine to school, everyone gathered around her. We all wanted to be her friend, hoping she would lend us a copy. Looking back, that was perhaps my first realization that trends were not only about content, but also about access, and about the people who possessed them.

Reading, however, played an even more important role in my upbringing. I often went to the local library to borrow children’s fairy tales from different countries, fascinated by stories from places I had never seen. At home, books were never far away. My uncle was a junior high school Chinese teacher, and my older sister frequently borrowed books from him. I followed her example, quietly reading the same books. As a result, I was reading adult literature while still in elementary school, long before I fully understood it.

Music also entered my life through my family. My sister bought many records, and I listened to them at home, sometimes while studying, sometimes simply lying on the floor and letting the melodies play. These were not songs meant for children, but I absorbed them naturally, without thinking of music as something fashionable or trendy.

It was only after I entered college that Western popular music truly became part of my life. Disco music was popular on campus, and Western songs were everywhere—in dorm rooms, student gatherings, and small cafés near school. I began listening to artists such as Elvis Presley, ABBA, Air Supply, Barbra Streisand, and the Eagles. Their voices and melodies felt new and exciting, different from anything I had known before. For the first time, music became a shared experience among classmates, something we talked about and enjoyed together.

Looking back now, I notice how much of what I embraced—cartoons, television series, and later popular music—was connected to Western, especially American culture. People who knows Western novels , American TV shows , Western movies and music were considered as ‘Fashionable’. This reflects not only the cultural environment of Taiwan at the time, but also how college students and educated young people often looked outward for inspiration.

For me, popular culture did not arrive all at once. It entered my life gradually, shaped first by family, books, and quiet listening, and only later by the wider world beyond home and campus.