作者：Helen Bondarenko
翻譯：潘澤彬
校對：Luz、Joanne、James
My name is Helen. I’m 29 years old, and I’m from Ukraine, from a small city named Zaporizhzhia. I have been living in China for more than 6 years and I bake the most delicious cakes!
我叫 Helen，今年29歲，來自烏克蘭一座叫扎波羅熱的小城市。我在中國生活了 6 年多，我做的蛋糕是世上最美味的！
But it wasn’t always like that. One day there was a turning point that allowed me to see new talents in myself and completely change my career.
但生活并不是一成不變的。一天，我迎來了人生轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)。我發(fā)現(xiàn)了自己身上的新天賦，職業(yè)生涯因此完全改變。
My mother always cooked very delicious meals, and all of my childhood is associated with memories of holidays, feasts, and weekends, when my mother cooked a lot of very tasty dishes. In the post-Soviet space, it was not possible to buy a cake in a supermarket. After all, there weren’t even any supermarkets. So my mother cooked cakes for every holiday, birthday, New Year, etc., when she wanted to treat us with something delicious. When I was little, I would try to help her, and sometimes I just watched the process! It fascinated me that mom had a lot of signature cakes, but my favorite was meringue cake. My grandmother’s signature desserts were always “cherry house cake” and “Napoleon.”
我母親做的飯菜非常好吃，童年的記憶充斥著假日、宴會和周末，那時我母親會做很多美味佳肴。后蘇聯(lián)時代，不可能在超市買到蛋糕，畢竟當(dāng)時甚至連超市都沒有。所以我母親在每個假日、生日、新年都會做蛋糕，我們大快朵頤。小時候，我會給她打下手，有時只是看著母親做蛋糕。母親拿手的蛋糕有很多，但我最愛的還是酥皮蛋糕。我祖母的招牌甜點(diǎn)是“櫻桃屋蛋糕”和“拿破侖蛋糕”。
As a teenager, I also became interested in cooking desserts. Using my mother’s cookbook, at the age of 14, I was already preparing my first profiteroles. I really enjoyed the process and the joy of family members trying my desserts. But, unfortunately, the older I got, the less time and energy I had to cook. Over time, priorities changed, and I stopped cooking altogether. School years were replaced by university years, then studying in China, work… In the blink of an eye more than 10 years flew by.
十幾歲的時候，我也開始對烘焙感興趣。我 14 歲的時候，參考母親的烘焙手冊，開始嘗試做泡芙。我真的很享受這個過程，也很享受家人品嘗我做的甜點(diǎn)時的喜悅。但遺憾的是，長大后我就越?jīng)]有時間和精力去烘焙。生活中有許多事情比烘焙更重要，我放棄了烘焙，升入大學(xué)，然后來中國留學(xué)、工作……眨眼間，已過去 10 多年。
I graduated from the Honchar Dnipropetrovsk National University, majoring in Chinese Philology, even though I had never been interested in Asian culture or China, and in general I had never planned to study this subject.
我畢業(yè)于本查爾·德尼普羅普特羅夫斯克國立大學(xué)，漢語言文字學(xué)專業(yè)，但我當(dāng)時對亞洲文化和中國并不感興趣，而且我本來并沒打算學(xué)習(xí)這個專業(yè)。
How did I end up there? Pure chance, or even fate.
我怎么會走上這條路呢？純屬機(jī)緣巧合，甚至可以說是命運(yùn)的指引。
At the age of 18, one of the criteria I had for choosing a university was “somewhere, but not in my hometown.” So I went to admissions offices in other cities: Kharkiv, Dnipro, Kyiv. I dreamed of studying journalism or international relations. Back in 2011, there was no way to submit documents online, so I had to personally go and queue for hours (sometimes at 6 o’clock in the morning!).
18 歲時，我立下了選擇高校的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)：異鄉(xiāng)。所以我拜訪了其他城市的招生辦：哈爾科夫、第聶伯羅、基輔。我夢想學(xué)習(xí)新聞學(xué)或國際關(guān)系。時間回到 2011 年，當(dāng)時無法在網(wǎng)上提交申請文件，所以我必須到現(xiàn)場申請，要排上幾個小時的隊(duì)（有時凌晨 6 點(diǎn)就得排?。?。
When I arrived at the admissions office in Dnipro, I stood in line for four hours. Finally, it was my turn, and I thought I was applying to major in journalism; imagine how disappointed I was to be told that I had been waiting at the wrong door. But I thought it would be a shame for all that time to go to waste, so I asked: “Well, what do you have here?” It turns out that it was the Department of Languages and Culture Studies (Philology). I saw “Chinese Philology” and chose it randomly.
我在第聶伯羅招生辦排了四個小時的隊(duì)。終于輪到我了，我以為申請的是新聞學(xué)專業(yè)，實(shí)際上我排錯了隊(duì)，在錯誤的門口等了四個小時，你可以想象我當(dāng)時有多沮喪。但我想，如果白白浪費(fèi)這四個小時，那也太可惜了。所以我問道：“你們這里是什么系呢？”原來是語言和文化學(xué)系（語文學(xué)）。我看到有“漢語言文字學(xué)”，二話不說就選擇了這個專業(yè)。
I actually forgot about it, until one day, they called me and invited me to study there with a scholarship! That’s how the Chinese language came into my life, and it brought four years of hard work! I had never been an excellent student, but I was very hardworking. Unfortunately, Chinese was really hard for me. The language was very challenging and I couldn’t get along with my main university teacher. But diligence is the mother of success. After graduation, I won a state scholarship for a year to study the language in China in 2015. That sounded like a dream! Such an adventure and such an achievement!
然后這件事就被我拋之九霄云外。直到有一天，招生辦給我打電話，通知我去學(xué)校報(bào)到，還給我提供獎學(xué)金！就這樣，中文進(jìn)入了我的生活，我開啟了四年苦讀生涯！我從來不會標(biāo)榜自己是個優(yōu)秀的學(xué)生，但我懂得笨鳥先飛的道理。但是，中文對我來說真的很難。學(xué)習(xí)語言非常具有挑戰(zhàn)性，我跟不上大學(xué)老師的進(jìn)度。但“勤奮”是成功之母。畢業(yè)后，我贏得了國家獎學(xué)金。2015 年，我來到中國，學(xué)習(xí)一年的中文。這一切就像做夢一樣！充滿冒險(xiǎn)，充滿成就！
Currently I have lived in China for more than six years, in Xiamen,which has become my second home! In six years, I:
? improved my Chinese;
? got a master’s degree in China in international relations;
? worked for several years as an English teacher & worked as a sales manager in a Chinese company (selling marble from China abroad);
? got married;
? gave birth to a daughter;
? and opened my own business!
我已經(jīng)在中國廈門生活了六年多，它已經(jīng)成為我的第二故鄉(xiāng)！這六年里，我
? 中文水平有所提高；
? 獲得了國際關(guān)系碩士學(xué)位；
? 做了幾年的英語老師，并在一家中國公司擔(dān)任銷售經(jīng)理（向海外推銷中國的大理石）；
? 結(jié)婚了；
? 生下了一個女兒；
? 開創(chuàng)了自己的事業(yè)！
During my studies, I never had time for hobbies. That changed when I met my husband. Thanks to him, I got the opportunity to work less, relax, and do what I like.
學(xué)習(xí)期間，我從來沒有時間做自己喜歡的事情。但我遇到我丈夫后，情況發(fā)生了改變。多虧了他，我才得以減輕工作負(fù)擔(dān)，才有時間放松，做我喜歡的事情。
So how did I start?
那么，我是如何重拾愛好的呢？
I came across an advertisement about an online confectionery school on Instagram, and childhood memories came flooding back. Around that time, I also started to think about what my talents were, and I felt kind of talentless. It seemed to me that I was good at nothing. Looking back on it now, though, that seems absurd, because by that time I had achieved a lot: I was able to speak four languages and started to learn Spanish as the fifth; completed my master’s degree in China and I was earning good money.
我在 Instagram 上看到一則關(guān)于在線甜點(diǎn)學(xué)校的廣告，童年的記憶涌上心頭。大概在那個時候，我開始思考我有什么樣的才能，但我覺得自己有些無能。我似乎什么都不擅長。不過，現(xiàn)在回想起來，這評價(jià)似乎很荒謬，因?yàn)槟菚r我已經(jīng)取得了許多成就。我能講四種語言，開始學(xué)習(xí)第五種語言——西班牙語。我在中國獲得了碩士學(xué)位，賺得盆滿缽滿。
But in my heart I felt as if I had never found myself. So I decided to start seriously learning confectionery skills! I saw in it not only an interesting hobby, but also business potential.
但在我心里，我好像從未認(rèn)清自我。因此，我決定開始認(rèn)真學(xué)習(xí)制作甜點(diǎn)！這不僅是我的興趣所在，我還看到了其中的商業(yè)價(jià)值。
Once, I organized a ladies Christmas event where I did a dessert tasting, and very quickly, people started asking me if I could make a birthday cake for them. Soon, most of the foreigners in Xiamen knew about my cakes, and 2 years later, I’m more successful than I ever would have imagined. I expanded very quickly, and now I have a team of almost 10 people. We bring joy not only to people in Xiamen, but also to people in other provinces and all over China! I now offer party balloons, flowers, desserts, an online grocery store, supplies for a coffee shop and even a cooking school!
有一次，我為女性同胞組織了一場圣誕活動，做了一道甜點(diǎn)給大家品嘗。她們問我是否可以為她們做生日蛋糕。很快，廈門的大多數(shù)外國人都知道了我會制作蛋糕。2 年后，我的成功超乎想象。生意規(guī)模擴(kuò)張得非?？?，現(xiàn)在我有一個近 10 人的團(tuán)隊(duì)。我們不僅為廈門人民帶來歡樂，也為中國各地的人們帶來歡樂！現(xiàn)在我主要出售派對氣球、鮮花、甜點(diǎn)，咖啡店的用品，開了一家網(wǎng)店，甚至開辦烘焙學(xué)校！我的目標(biāo)是讓更多人參與進(jìn)來。
China was not in my original plan, but it is now where I live, where I started my own family and business, and where many opportunities have crossed my path. Xiamen, with its remarkable scenery and loving community, is now the place I call home.
起初中國并不在我的計(jì)劃之中，但我如今卻在這里生活，在這里成家立業(yè)，在這里邂逅許多機(jī)遇。廈門，擁有絕美的風(fēng)景和充滿愛的社區(qū)，是我的家。
Now, it’s also a safe place for my mother. With the recent difficult times for every Ukrainian, she has finally found some peace here, with me and my family. I hope that one day my father and brother will also be able to come here, and that we will live our Xiamen life together! I know it will never make up for the losses of the war, but this city is definitely full of joy and beauty, comfort and opportunities!
現(xiàn)在，中國也是我母親的庇護(hù)港。最近每個烏克蘭人都遭遇了艱難困苦，我母親終于在中國找到了一絲安寧。我希望有一天我父親和弟弟也能來到這里，一起在廈門生活！我知道戰(zhàn)爭帶來的創(chuàng)傷永遠(yuǎn)無法彌補(bǔ)，但這座美麗的城市絕對充滿歡笑，帶給我們寬慰和機(jī)遇！
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