作者：Yolande Deane
翻譯：潘澤彬
校對：Luz、Joanne、James
My name is Yolande Deane and I come from London in the UK, I have been living in China for ten years, and I have been living in the city of Harbin for eight of those ten years, and I teach English to young learners. The northeast of China has burrowed itself into my heart, this story is about how I settled in the ice city.
我叫 Yolande Deane，來自英國倫敦，在中國生活了十年。這十年中有八年生活在哈爾濱，教小朋友英語。中國的東北已經(jīng)融進了我的心里，這個故事是關(guān)于我是如何在這座冰城定居的。
By 2012 I had five years teaching experience teaching English, I was broke and living at home with my parents. Being broke in any big city is not fun but being broke in one of the most expensive cities in the world, is beyond draining. I had credit card debt and an overdraft, in addition to monthly student loan payments, along with a dream to get to China. But how could I go to China with all that debt on my head?
2012 年，我已經(jīng)有五年的英語教學(xué)經(jīng)驗，但我破產(chǎn)了，和父母一起住。在任何大城市破產(chǎn)都難以為繼，更何況在倫敦這座生活成本高昂的城市破產(chǎn)，讓人更加心力交瘁。我的信用卡透支，每月須償還學(xué)生貸款，還夢想著去中國?？钢@些債務(wù)，我怎么可能去中國呢？
Something told me to just go, and it would all work out – so I did. On October 12th, 2012, I boarded a flight to Guilin via Hong Kong, not knowing my unconscious compass was actually heading to northeast China!
似乎有人在呼喚我：去吧，一切都會變好的——所以我來到了中國。2012 年 10 月 12日，我登上了經(jīng)香港飛往桂林的航班，當(dāng)時的我并不知道，心里的指南針會指引我往東北飛去！
I ended up staying in a beautiful old house in a small village outside Guilin city with a bunch of younger teachers from an array of countries, I was there for about a month having random lessons about teaching, which I didn’t really need, but I enjoyed my time there. The woman who organised teaching placements, told me about her friend in the small city of Siping, whose school needed a teacher. For some strange reason, her warning me about the bitterly cold winters seemed to heighten my interest.
我來到桂林郊外的一個小村莊，和一群來自不同國家的年輕教師一起，住在一棟漂亮的老房子里。我在那里呆了大概一個月，聽了幾節(jié)教師培訓(xùn)課。我并不需要上這門課，但我很享受住在那里的時光。組織教學(xué)實習(xí)的女士告訴我，她在吉林四平有位朋友，朋友的學(xué)校正在招聘一名教師。她提醒我，四平的冬天簡直是苦寒，但這卻激發(fā)了我的興趣。
“It gets how cold?” I asked, unsure of what I was hearing.
“那里的冬天會有多冷？”我問道。不確定我有沒有聽錯。
“It can drop to -25 in the winter.” I remember she giggled as she told me.
“冬天會降到零下 25 度。”她笑著告訴我。
“Wow!” I said, it sounded like respite from the southern heat I had been enduring at that point. I arrived in Siping in November 2012, the temperature was already falling, and within a few days it was snowing. I lived there for two years, and just as my contract was nearing the end date, I went to visit Harbin, the capital of the neighbouring province of Heilongjiang.
“哇！”這消息給了我一絲喘息的機會，我再也不用忍受南方的高溫了。2012 年 11 月，我抵達四平，當(dāng)時氣溫已經(jīng)下降，沒過幾天就下雪了。我在那里住了兩年，合同快到期的時候，我造訪了黑龍江的省會哈爾濱。
I remember hearing snippets of conversations about Harbin from the other teachers when I was in Guilin, I think it somehow snuck into my sub-conscious and mysteriously popped into my consciousness as it got closer to the end of my contract.
我記得在桂林時老師們聊過哈爾濱，這座城市已不知不覺地進入了我的潛意識，此時從意識深處蹦出來。
I remember arriving at Harbin station with my two colleagues just before the 2013 Chinese New Year, and it was fingertip numbing cold. I could tell Harbin was not a flashy city, but it just grabbed me in its tight north-eastern embrace, and dragged me into its intriguing history, I knew I was going to return.
2013 年春節(jié)前，我和兩位同事到達哈爾濱站。嚴(yán)寒令我的手指失去知覺。哈爾濱雖然不是一座浮華的城市，但卻把我的心緊緊抓住了，把我拽入它那值得細(xì)細(xì)品味的歷史中。這是我第一次來哈爾濱，但絕不是最后一次。
?Just before the new year we went to see the ice sculptures, which were lit up at night and looked amazing. After the new year, Walking Street (中央大街) was thronging with tourists admiring the old European style architecture and cobbled stones, reminders of the Russian influence. Sofia church, no longer a working church, but all the hallmarks of a Russian orthodox church was such a juxtaposition with typical high rise apartment buildings from the 1980’s, I knew I was going to return.
新年即將來臨，我們參觀了冰雕，這些冰雕晚上散發(fā)出炫麗的燈光，如同仙境一般。新年過后，中央大街?jǐn)D滿了游客，人們欣賞著古老的歐式建筑和鵝卵石，這些建筑宣示著，俄羅斯文化曾在這片土地開花。索菲亞教堂已失去了原來的功能，成為俄羅斯東正教的標(biāo)志性建筑，與 80 年代建成的高層公寓樓形成了鮮明的對比。我一定會再來哈爾濱的。
Return is what I did in November 2014, it was one of my happiest moments, I did not hate Siping, Siping was also full of the dongbei people warmth and massive food portions, but I needed to go to a bigger city, in which I could grow as a teacher and meet new people. I needed to go to Harbin.
2014 年 11 月，我再度來到哈爾濱，那是我最快樂的時刻。我并不討厭四平，四平也充滿了熱情的東北人和許多美食，但作為老師，我要去一個更大的城市，才能獲得成長，才能認(rèn)識新朋友。我要去哈爾濱。
This is how I have lived most of my life – I go where I am “pulled “and I trust it is heading in the general direction of where I need to be going, even if I am not always sure where that might be.
這就是我的人生道路——我總是被“拉”往我該去的地方，我相信那里是我今后要發(fā)展的大方向，但我并不是每次都清楚該往哪里走。
So why have I stayed in Harbin for eight years? A mixture of things, in terms of work I have developed my skills as a young learners ESL teacher, and I am grateful for the friends I have made, who I can rant and rave to when I am in a grumpy mood, especially if student have been driving me crazy that day! There also seems to be an honesty and a “what you see is what you get” with Harbiners, a generosity that could sometimes be lacking in a big city like London, where people are generally rushing to get somewhere. I have also started playing the ukulele, obviously I could have done that in London, but I didn’t, I did that here in Harbin, China, that means something to me. It really adds meaning to my time here.
我為什么在哈爾濱呆了八年？原因很復(fù)雜，工作上，我教小朋友英語的技能得到提升。我很感謝我的朋友們，我心情不好的時候，尤其是學(xué)生把我逼瘋的時候，可以向他們咆哮！哈爾濱人生來帶有一種誠實的品格和“所見即所得”的精神，這種坦然灑脫的個性在倫敦這樣的大城市也是缺乏的，因為倫敦人總是行色匆匆。我開始彈尤克里里，在倫敦我也可以彈，但我卻選擇在哈爾濱培養(yǎng)這項興趣，意義不言而喻。在這里的時光每天都充滿意義。
I love that Harbin has seasons, summertime is short and sharp, and spring lasts possibly a couple weeks, and if you blink you will miss autumn. However, winter here suits me, I feel like a hedgehog getting ready for hibernation. The feeling of looking up into a blue sky with the sun shining, and venturing out, into a -20 degrees December day, gives me a jolt, but a feel-good jolt.
我喜歡四季分明的哈爾濱，夏季短暫而鮮明，春季可能持續(xù)幾個星期，你一眨眼，就會錯過秋季。然而，這里的冬天更適合我，我覺得自己像一只準(zhǔn)備冬眠的刺猬。抬頭看著藍天白云，陽光普照，走出家門，進入零下 20 度的 12 月天，這種感覺讓我心頭一顫，但卻是幸福的一顫。
I would rather be in a dry Harbin in -25 degrees than a damp London at -4, I know, it’s crazy. I think I am braver because of China; I have never seen myself as an adventurous person, I don’t want to climb mountains, or bungee jump or swim with sharks, but I am braver and more adventurous in my own way now, thanks to this ice city.
我寧愿呆在零下 25 度干冷的哈爾濱，也不愿呆在零下 4 度濕冷的倫敦。中國讓我變得更加勇敢，我不是一個冒險家，我不想爬山，不想蹦極，不想與鯊魚共舞，但是我正以自己的方式詮釋勇敢的定義，以自己的行動詮釋冒險的內(nèi)涵，這要感謝這座冰城。
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