Name : Jaap Grolleman
姓名:Jaap Grolleman
Country of Origin : Netherlands
國籍:荷蘭
Occupation : Marketing Director
職業(yè):營銷總監(jiān)
Years in China : 3+ years
在華居住時間:3 年多
I’m writing this article while I have just started reading Peter Hessler’s Oracle Bones.
寫這篇文章時,我剛剛開始讀彼得·海斯勒的《甲骨文》。
Hessler writes about the students of his English class in Sichuan, a trader who he meets in Beijing, and other Chinese people in the early 00s.
海斯勒寫的是他在四川教英語時遇到的一個學(xué)生,他在北京遇到的一個商人,以及本世紀(jì)初的其他中國人。
Actually, Hessler’s book is one in a long list of books written by white men who have written about the people they’ve met in China, such as ‘Wish Lanterns’ from Alec Ash, ‘Age of Ambition’ from Evan Osnos, ‘Street of Eternal Happiness’ from Rob Schmitz, and ‘Young China’ from Zak Dychtwald.
實際上,許多白人寫過他們在中國遇到的人,比如阿修的《許愿燈》、歐逸文的《野心時代》、史明智的《長樂路》、戴三才的《年輕的中國》,《甲骨文》只是其中一本。
But Hessler’s book in particular is oozed in nostalgia and beautiful prose. And I envy him being in those places in China in that time.
但海斯勒的書中充滿著懷舊和優(yōu)美的散文。我也很羨慕他生活在那個年代,去過中國那些地方。
But then I realized there is no need for that. I have lived in China for three years now (and I hope for much longer), and in those three years I’ve lived more stories than three years normally would justify.
但后來我覺得,我沒有必要羨慕他。我在中國已經(jīng)住了三年(我希望能住得更久),在這三年里,我經(jīng)歷了許多事情,比通常情況下三年所經(jīng)歷的還要多。
Sure, Sichuan isn’t the same nowadays (I wonder if Number Ten Village of Double Dragon Township still exists), and I don’t think Beijing has many restaurants left where they cool the beers underneath a manhole cover in the road. But my 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 have equally brought fascinating peculiarities — even though they’ll be more clear in the future when looking back. And hey, maybe Hessler himself was hoping he was in China twenty years earlier as well.
當(dāng)然,如今的四川已經(jīng)不一樣了(我不知道雙龍鎮(zhèn)十號村是否還存在),而且我認(rèn)為北京已經(jīng)沒有多少餐館把啤酒放到井蓋下面冷藏了。但我在 2018 年、2019 年、2020 年和 2021 年的經(jīng)歷,同樣是迷人而特別的——將來回首時將更覺特別。而且,嘿,也許海斯勒本人也希望他二十年前就在中國。
Reading Oracle Bones reminds me of this point. And it also reminds me that you need to actively search those stories, you need to actively make China your home: Hessler made himself fluent in Chinese and documented places and people before being a paid as a journalist.
閱讀《甲骨文》讓我想起了以上這點。這本書還提醒我,你需要積極探尋這些故事,把中國作為你的家。海斯勒成為一名記者之前,勤學(xué)中文直至精通,還記錄了一些地方的人和事。
It’s worth saying this, because the opposite is much easier. In Shanghai, life as an expat is easy. Downtown comes with high salaries and you can get by just by speaking English or pointing at pictures in menus. Any service you want, from takeaway to insurance, has (overpriced) alternatives in English. You don’t need to make friends with non-English speaking Chinese people (or with Chinese people at all) and you’ll still have enough people to leave likes on your WeChat Moments. You can wear sunglasses and noise-cancelling headphones to blur out all the rest that China has to offer.
值得一提的是,我并不需要像海斯勒那樣精通中文。外國人在上海生活真的很容易。上海市區(qū)的工資很高,點菜時你只需會英語或指著菜單上的圖片就可以了。你想要的任何東西,從外賣到保險,都會提供(價格相對較高的)英語服務(wù)。你不需要和不會講英語的中國人交朋友(或者根本不需要和中國人交朋友),依然會有很多人在你的微信朋友圈點贊。你可以戴上墨鏡和降噪耳機,與中國的環(huán)境隔絕。
Learning Mandarin is hard — I’ve taken over 500 class hours learning the Chinese language at GoEast Mandarin— but it’s necessary as I don’t believe you can ever fully understand a culture if you do not speak the language — because your group of friends will be too selective, and all your knowledge about China is second-hand, as you rely on websites or books.
學(xué)習(xí)普通話很難——我在GoEast Mandarin學(xué)習(xí)了 500 多個課時——這是必要的,因為我認(rèn)為如果你不會說一種語言,你永遠(yuǎn)無法完全理解這種語言所承載的文化——從朋友口中得知的信息都是片面的,如果你過于依賴網(wǎng)站或書籍,那么你所有關(guān)于中國的知識都是二手的。
And it’s not just language. Integrating in local life takes effort. To be honest, I too still watch the Dutch news and other media from The Netherlands, because that is the culture which tethers me to the world. And I love European-style bread more than many Chinese types of breakfast. But I have made an active strife to integrate. Maybe part of it is automatic, because curiosity draws me out, but I still need to make the conscious effort to get out during the weekend.
不僅僅是語言問題,我需要努力融入當(dāng)?shù)厣?。說實話,我仍然會看荷蘭的媒體新聞,那是將我與世界聯(lián)系在一起的紐帶。而且我喜歡歐式面包,而不是中國式早餐,但我也會積極地融入中國文化。有些融入是自發(fā)的,受到好奇心驅(qū)使,不過我周末還是需要有意識地出去走走。
So now I play football with the neighbors and learned a dozen Chinese curse words. I’ve met Eva and her daughter Chloe, and I’ve taught Chloe and her friends some football lessons in the compound that I live in.
我和鄰居一起踢足球時,學(xué)會了十幾句中文罵人的話。我認(rèn)識了Eva和她的女兒Chloe,我還在我住的大院里教Chloe和她的朋友們踢足球。
And like Hessler, I taught several classes of students, albeit marketing instead of English.
和海斯勒一樣,我教過幾個班的學(xué)生,但教的是市場營銷而不是英語。
I spoke to a Chinese Muslim in Suzhou about the last mosque in Suzhou, I lived on a farm in Chongming Island, and talked myself into a Buddhist temple that was under construction. Chen proudly showed me his grapes in rural Nantong, and I spoke with factory workers in Songjiang.
我和蘇州的一位中國穆斯林談到了蘇州的最后一座清真寺。我住在崇明島的一個農(nóng)場里,說服自己進入一個正在建設(shè)的佛教寺廟。Chen自豪地向我展示了他在南通農(nóng)村種植的葡萄,我和松江的工人交談。
And I’m completely comfortable with the Chinese people in the changing room of the swimming pool. I’ve shared with them the fears of the novel virus when it surfaced in January last year. Heck, I even donated blood which now probably flows through a Chinese person.
我在游泳池更衣室不會感到不舒服,對那里的中國人完全放心。去年1月新冠疫情爆發(fā)時,我曾向他們表達我的恐懼。天哪,我甚至捐了血,我的血液可能已經(jīng)融入到某個中國人的身體里。
All in all, I can honestly say, I have made China my home.
總而言之,我可以坦率地說,我已經(jīng)把中國當(dāng)成了家。
作者:Jaap 翻譯:潘澤彬
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