One of my best friends Vivian is a big fan of bears and as soon as I saw the ad on Santa Barbara 2008 Visitor Magazine, I decided that I must visit the Quinlan Doll & Teddy Bears Museum on her behalf.
Vivian 很喜歡熊，上次她來美國玩，帶回了一隻熊；前陣子看到聖塔芭芭拉旅遊雜誌廣告上有個 Quinlan Doll & Teddy Bears 博物館，便決定幫她去看看。
When we were on West Canon Perdido St., it was a bit hard to find no. 122 because some of the shops or offices do not have number on their walls or doors. I saw a mother and a daughter walking a dog, so I asked: “are you residents here? Do you know where the Teddy Bears Museum is?” They said, “We have never heard it before, but you are on the right street.”
在 West Canon Perdido 這條街上找 122 號，照理說應該很簡單，之前逛街發現門號都很明顯，可偏在這條街上，連續好幾家都看不到門牌號碼；後來看到一個媽媽帶著女兒在溜狗，想說應該是本地人，便向她們問路，結果竟然沒聽說過。
So I kept walking west and it was such a delight to see “122.” As soon as you walk into the Museum, there is a display window with new acquisitions. I walked to the reception desk and asked to visit the galleries. After I paid an admission of $6.5, I asked whether she just works here, or she is running this place. She said she’s managing the Museum. Because I have read her statement online, I pulled out my homework and tried to find her name: “so, you are Susan Quinlan!”
我只好繼續往西，至少方向是對的，看到 122 時還真給它興奮了一下。一進去就有櫥窗展示新購得的收藏品，我往內走，跟櫃台的阿姨說要參觀博物館，付了6.5美元；因為只看到她一人，我問她只是在這兒上班，還是這邊的經營者，她說她是老闆，也就是所有展示品的收藏者，我馬上掏出我的作業，找到她名字，問說，那您就是 Susan Quinlan 嘍！
Ms Quinlan came into the galleries and gave us an introduction of each gallery. The first gallery houses dolls and bears that are arranged according to the history of California, which is one of Ms. Quinlan’s interests: there are Natives, Spanish, Chinese, Russians, and many more ethnics in a chronological order. Politics aside, the chubby bear with Chinese military uniform was very cute.
參觀時， Ms Quinlan 進來跟我們大致解說館藏的分類與位置：第一廳的娃娃依照各民族移民到加州的前後時間排序，有印地安人、西班牙人、中國人、俄國人，還有許多其他的種族，這跟 Ms Quinlan 對加州歷史極大的興趣有關。
Further inside is the gallery that house many bears. Some of the facial expressions of those bears present wonderful frozen moments as if caught by a camera, and the one I love most is the bear who puts his hands and knees on the ground, trying to stare away a little turtle.
On the opposite side of this galleries are dolls and bears made from different materials, such as wood and wax.
再進去那一廳有許多許多熊，有些表情極為生動，像是被相機抓住片刻的淘氣；我最愛的是隻趴在地上的熊，對著小烏龜吹鬍子瞪眼睛；本廳的另一面牆則是以材質的不同作為分類的標準，有木工、蠟像等。
The last gallery exhibits objects that are related or represent books or novels. For me, the easiest one to recognize was, of course, Harry Patter. There are others, such as Gone with the Wind, Winnie the Pooh, and many others that I couldn’t name.
最後一廳則展示著與小說故事或卡通有關的群組，我這個文盲只認得「哈利波特」，另外還有「飄」跟「小熊維尼」等，看得眼花撩亂。
Ms. Quinlan returned periodically to see if we had any questions. I asked her which one is her favorite: while she said the little red riding hood with the wolf were her favorite, she then pointed out several others as her favorites, too.
Ms. Quinlan 不時就走進來問我們有沒有問題；我問她最喜歡的是那個，她說是小紅帽熊跟大野熊，不過她馬上又加了好幾個喜歡的，不然好像對不起這麼多藝術家。
She started to collect dolls since 1970s and the bear collection is now catching up with the dolls in the quantity. The collection got so expanded that her house could not take any longer. The museum opened in January 2006 – the same time as we reopened the Getty Villa actually. It took her 6 years of planning, researching, traveling, and executing, with help from her husband, to finally open this Museum.
她從 1970 年代就開始收集娃娃，慢慢地熊的數量也快跟上，她家也裝不下；籌劃了六年，加上她老公的搬上搬下，博物館在 2006 年一月正式開啟，跟我們 Getty Villa 重新開放的時間一樣。
Because of my lack of knowledge in American novels, stories, and cartoons, I asked whether she would plan to label these objects and give some descriptions. She said she thought about it, but at the same time, she didn’t want these labels to take away focus of the exhibition - not to mention that she is the only one who is working here.
我又問她有沒有想要為每個小說故事作個簡介，放在櫥窗內，她回答說有，可是她又不希望這些文字搶了太多注意力，而且只有她一個人在此工作，很辛苦的。
We told her that we are working at the Getty and her response was, “I am so jealous!” When we described our areas of study to her, she said she could use us all in her Museum. Her Museum is run as for-profit because it would mean that she needed to find a board of directors and file out so much paperwork if she would turn it into a non-profit organization. It’s just easier to keep it as for-profit. Thus, any donation is not deductible.
我跟她說我們是從 Getty 來的，她竟大喊「好羨慕呀！」我可以了解她的心聲，她的博物館並不是非營利的，有人捐款的話，並不能抵稅，可是要轉成非營利，又得有一群董事，很多文件，雜七雜八的，所以她還是把博物館當成一般營利事業，只不過除了我們四人之外，只看到兩位遊客，而且大概 10 分鐘就走了，我還真替她擔心呢！
The Museum opens from 11 am to 5 pm, Friday through Monday; she said that the rest of the week, she needs to clean and organize the shelves, do constant research, make new acquisitions . . . very busy for a retired person!!!
博物館每星期五到星期一從早上 11 點開到下午 5 點，其餘的時間，她除了從新整理排放這些館藏之外，還繼續作研究，購買新品，雖然已經從學校退休，她可忙得很！
Ji was especially impressed with the collection of African-American dolls, whereas Janka started to think of what dolls she may be able to get and send over to Ms. Quinlan after she returns to Slovakia. I love models and the Japanese model houses are a great collection of market, toy store, park, pavilion, back yard . . . really cute!
Ji 很喜歡非裔娃娃，Janka 則已經在想實習完回斯洛伐克，可以寄一些她們當地的娃娃給 Ms. Quinlan； 而我特愛模型，看到一組日本房屋模型，有市場、庭院、玩具店、公園等等，超可愛的！
* Because no photography is allowed, I can only show stuff outside the galleries. This is the gift shop.
因為禁止攝影，只好拍拍其他地方 - 禮品部。
* Gift shop from another side; on the right hand side in the back is the entrance to galleries.
從另一邊看禮品部，右後方進去就是展覽廳。
* By the gift shop is a nice tea room where you can rest and enjoy complimentary tea of coffee here, kindly prepared by Ms. Quinlan.
禮品部旁有茶室 (tea room, 是這麼翻譯嘛) ， Ms. Quinlan 準備茶跟咖啡，請客人坐坐，聊天休息。
Notice the painting on the wall: 2 of the clouds are shaped like bears – one of them even fly up to the sky (ceiling) and “grow up.” Can you find them?
注意牆上的畫，有兩朵雲是熊熊，其中一隻還往天花板飛，然後長成大熊。找到了嗎?
* A few bears from the collection, the Spanish one and Japanese as pointed out by Ms. Quinlan particularly, appear on the opposite wall.
另一面牆有西班牙熊與日本熊等，也是館藏品。
* Geeta, Ms. Quinlan, Me, and Janka; Ji took the photo (all 5 of us are from different countries!!!)
It was a short but pleasant visit to the Quinlan Doll & Teddy Bears Museum . Ms. Quinlan was very friendly and passionate about what she does. If you are going to Santa Barbara , make sure you stop by for an hour or two.
博物館雖然不大，可是可以看得物品不少，如果有機會去聖塔芭芭拉，別忘了去博物館晃晃；它離所謂的市中心其實很近，先上網查一下地點，它門口前就有停車位，頭75分鐘免費，當然是 - 如果還有位置的話，不過停車場很多不必擔心。
Direction & parking as well as other info on the web:
http://www.quinlanmuseum.com/Whether it’s for profit or not, I feel that what matters most is that people enjoy the exhibition and re-live the wonderland and fantasy that used to be in every young heart.
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