個人簡介:
Name :?Becky Ances
姓名:Becky Ances
Country of Origin :?USA
國籍:美國
Occupation :?Teacher
職業(yè):老師
Years in China :?12?years
在華居住時間:12年
How did your journey in China begin?
你的中國之旅是怎樣開始的?
I remember my first full day in China at the new school I was contractually obligated to live and work at for the next 6 months. Because of jet lag I woke up really early and had hours until I met my boss, so I decided to explore the area around the campus, and maybe find the city center and places like supermarkets and restaurants in my new home in Zhejiang Province.
我還記得我第一天到中國新學校的場景,而且接下來的六個月我都必須要在中國生活和工作。因為時差的關系,我醒得很早,距離見到老板還有好幾個小時,于是我決定去校園周圍轉轉,或許能在我的新家——浙江,試著找到市中心,或是超市和餐館。
It was a little after dawn, in August, but it was already oppressively hot and humid. My shirt was wet with sweat before I even reached the school gates. While the school was neat and orderly, outside the gate was another story. The road was just a dirt/rubble path and the buildings were half demolished. I would find out later that it was due to a revitalization program for the area, and within a few years they would have a shiny new paved road and dozens of new, handsome buildings, but at the time I thought that’s what it was always gonna look like and my new China home was more like a war zone than a livable city.
那是八月,天剛破曉不久,但已經悶熱潮濕得讓人難以忍受。我還沒到學校門口,襯衫就被汗水濕透了。雖然學校整潔有序,但大門外卻是另一番景象。校門外的道路是一條土路(石子路),周遭的建筑也是破破爛爛。后來我才知道,當時這個區(qū)域在重建,幾年之后,該地就擁有嶄新的道路和好幾十處造型美觀的建筑物。不過對于第一天到中國的我來說,我還以為破爛的場景將會是常態(tài),我在中國的新家更像是一個戰(zhàn)區(qū),而非一個宜居城市。
As I walked down the road/rubble pile I saw more chicken and mangey, starved dogs than people. The people I did see, like a woman doing washing in a plastic tub, eyed me suspiciously. After a seemingly endless journey I arrived at a paved road and an intersection. I had no idea which direction the city center lay so I chose at random. I walked along the paved road, but the only cars out and about at this early hour were giant construction trucks filled with rocks and rubble. There was no sidewalk, so I hugged the side of the road as these giant trucks rumbled and roared past me.
當我走在路上(或者說瓦礫堆更合適),我看到的小雞和餓狗比人還多。我也看到了一些人,比如有一個女人在塑料桶里洗衣服,還一邊懷疑地看著我。經過一段看似沒有盡頭的路程,我走到了一個道路平坦的十字路口。我不知道市中心在哪個方向,于是我隨便走了一條路。我沿著平坦的路向前,但天色尚早,只有裝滿巖石和瓦礫的工程車出動。而且因為沒有人行道,所以當這些巨型卡車轟隆隆地從我身邊呼嘯而過時,我只能緊緊貼著路邊走。
After about 30 minutes, with sweat and dust covering me, still scared of all the trucks passing dangerously close to me, I realized I had chosen the wrong direction and seemed to be heading away from the city. Defeated I turned around to walk back home. My throat was parched and scratchy from all the dust the trucks were kicking up. I wanted, no needed, a bottle of water. I passed by what maybe looked like little shops, they had some faded Coke signs on the wall, a cooler against the wall, but they were just cement buildings, with no door, no sign, and a few older guys in boxers and white tank tops fanning themselves and staring at me unkindly. I was too nervous to approach any of these little cement stores and I had no idea how to say “water” in Chinese, so I just kept walking hoping I would make it to my new apartment before passing out of dehydration.
大約30分鐘后,我渾身都沾滿了汗水和灰塵。過往急駛的卡車快把我嚇壞了,這時候我才意識到我似乎走錯了路,只會離市里越來越遠。深感挫敗,我轉身往回走??ㄜ嚀P起的灰塵讓我的喉嚨又干又癢。我急需一瓶水。我路過了一個看起來像小賣部的地方,墻上有一些褪色的可樂海報,墻邊立著一個冰柜。不過這里裝修非常簡陋,沒有門,也沒有任何標志。幾個穿著短褲和白背心的老人扇著扇子,不懷好意地盯著我。我不太敢接近這些小賣部中的任何一家,更何況我也不知道如何用中文說“水”。所以我只能繼續(xù)走,希望能在脫水昏倒之前回到我的新公寓。
When I finally made it home after about an hour (though it felt like an eternity), I guzzled a jug of water and cleaned the dust from my face, promising myself that I would never leave my house without an escort and translator. In all the months of preparing myself for China, I never once imagined I’d find myself in a situation like I just had. I had been excited, nervous about this new adventure, curious about what it would be like, but never scared. Not until that first day. As I was wiping dust from my face, I chided myself for being such an idiot and wondering how I could get back to America as fast as possible.
大約一個小時后(感覺像過了一個世紀),我終于到家了。我喝了一大壺水,把臉上的灰洗干凈了,并向自己保證,如果沒有翻譯和陪同人員,決不離開我的房間。在為來中國做準備的幾個月里,我從來沒有想到過自己會處于剛才那種情況。我一直對這次新的征程充滿期待和好奇,或許會緊張,但從來沒有害怕。直到來中國的第一天,當我擦去臉上的灰塵后,我責備自己是個笨蛋,想方設法地想要盡快回到美國。
But seeing as how I not only finished the first 6 months contract successfully but then signed another and another and now it is 12 years later, I can say despite that nightmare of a morning I quickly overcame any problems and ended up loving that dirt road and living in China.
但是看看現(xiàn)在的我,不僅在中國待滿了最初合同規(guī)定的六個月時間,而且又簽了一份又一份的合同。現(xiàn)在,12年過去了,我還在中國??梢哉f除了初到中國那天早上的噩夢經歷,我很快克服了遇到的其他問題,并且最終愛上了那條土路,愛上了在中國的生活。
What is your unique china story??
關于你獨特的中國故事是什么呢?
If you know me at all, this answer is obvious: badminton. I grew a wallflower/art kid, going to art school and hating anything physical and thought jocks were dumb. But when I moved to Xiamen at the tender age of 39 (after living in Zhejiang Province for 5 years), I made friends with an international group that played badminton twice a week. I went one night, just thinking it would be a one-time thing, but that night changed my life. Within a few months I ended up buying sports equipment (and clothing) for the first time in my life, finding a coach and began a sports journey at the age of 40 that took me from finding a romantic partner, to interviewing top professional players and starting my own YouTube channel. There have been three big passions in my life, and badminton is one of them. I would have never found it in any other city besides Xiamen.
如果你認識我的話,那么你可能已經猜到答案了——羽毛球。我從小就是一個喜歡藝術的孩子,上藝術學校,討厭一切運動,并且覺得運動員都很傻。但當我 39 歲那年搬到廈門(也就是在浙江生活了 5 年之后),我交到了一群國際朋友,他們每周打兩次羽毛球。有天晚上我加入了他們,以為可能也就僅此一次,結果那天晚上完全顛覆了我的人生。幾個月之內,我不僅第一次購買了運動裝備,還找了教練,在人生 40 歲的時候開啟了我的運動之旅。這段旅程讓我找到了伴侶,開始采訪頂級職業(yè)運動選手,并且在油管上開設了自己的頻道。我的人生中有三種激情,羽毛球就是其中之一,如果不是廈門,我是不可能做到這一切的。
Some background on her home country:
介紹一下Becky的故鄉(xiāng):
The first free public library in America was founded in my hometown in 1833. Most people think Boston had the first free public library but it didn’t open until 1858. The population of my hometown is only 6,000 people, so it is a point of town pride!
大多數(shù)人認為波士頓擁有第一個免費公共圖書館,但其實不是,它直到 1858 年才開放。美國第一個免費公共圖書館于 1833 年在我的家鄉(xiāng)建立。而我的家鄉(xiāng)人口只有 6000 人,所以這是非常了不起的一件事!
作者:Becky 翻譯:余欣陽
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