個人簡介:
Name :?Katherine or Katya
姓名:凱瑟琳
Country of Origin :?USA
國籍:美國
Occupation :?Educator
職業(yè):教師
Years in China :?11
在華居住時間:11 年
How did your journey in China begin?
你的中國之旅是怎樣開始的?
That is not as easy a question as it seems.
這個問題很難回答。
— In hindsight, “big” is a relative term, since we considered them big, but most of them had a population smaller than Xiamen does now. Still, I was always drawn to cities.
*?小時候是不是每次去一個新的大城市,都會說總有一天我會住在那里?
——如今看來,“大”是相對的,只是我們認為它很大,但大多數(shù)城市的人口都比現(xiàn)在的廈門少。盡管如此,我總是被這些城市所吸引。
* Was it my first time in Chinatown in New York City? Where I bought a black qipao and a Canto-pop album by Leslie Cheung (張國榮)?
— I had no clue at the time, wearing it for choir & band performances, as well as in my senior pictures, that I’d end up here. And the album? Didn’t know what language it was until years later, but I still hear songs from it in restaurants from time to time.
* 是我第一次去紐約唐人街的時候嗎?黑色的旗袍和張國榮的粵語專輯是在哪里買的?
——我穿著這件旗袍參加合唱團和樂隊,還穿著它拍畢業(yè)照。當(dāng)時我怎么都不會想到,我會來到中國。多年后我才知道這張專輯唱的是粵語,現(xiàn)在餐館里依然能聽到專輯里的歌曲。
* Was it when I first studied Mandarin?
— That was at the University of Hull in the UK during my undergraduate degree. They offered Passport Languages, where you had a once-a-week evening class. Only 4 of the 20+ people who started the class finished the year: Me, a French-Born Chinese guy, and 2 British sisters (who spoke Cantonese as a heritage language, and wanted to learn Mandarin, plus reading & writing). I still try to find that teacher online to thank her and tell her where I ended up.
* 是我第一次學(xué)普通話的時候嗎?
——那時。我正在英國赫爾大學(xué)讀本科。學(xué)校有開“語言通關(guān)”課,一周一次,都在晚間上課。剛開始有 20 多人上這門課,最后只有 4 人堅持到期末:我,一個在法國出生的中國人,還有兩個英國姐妹(她們會說粵語,想學(xué)習(xí)普通話,以及閱讀和寫作)。我仍在嘗試從網(wǎng)上搜尋當(dāng)年的老師,感謝她,告訴她我來中國了。
* Was it when I knew for certain I would be coming to China and started preparing?
— First, investigating the cities I could find schools in and settling on Xiamen. How? Through unscientific polling of every Chinese acquaintance I had in the USA. Every time Xiamen was mentioned, I’d hear: Oh, what a lovely city.” Second, practicing Mandarin again with a language partner, after 8 years of doing nothing but write 謝謝 from time to time.
* 是在我確定我會來中國并開始準(zhǔn)備的時候嗎?
——首先,我篩選出了有大學(xué)的城市,最終確定廈門。我是怎么做的?我收集了認識的每一位美國華人的意見。每次提到廈門,我都會聽到:“哇,多么有活力的城市啊?!逼浯危乙驼Z伴再次練習(xí)普通話,因為這 8 年來我啥也沒做,只是時不時練習(xí)寫漢字“謝謝”。
* Was it the first day I stepped foot in China?
— That was Shanghai, August 1, 2010. I went to the Shanghai Museum that afternoon, loved it, although was convinced the nice young man following me around to “practice English” was actually doing a tea scam. He wasn’t, he truly just wanted to practice and discovered people were less likely to run away in museums. The second day, I spent at the World Expo, almost fainting in the queue, helping many students with their summer English homework, and gaining one brilliant pen pal.
* 是我踏上中國大地的第一天嗎?
——2010 年 8 月 1 日,那時我在上海。那天下午我去了上海博物館,我很喜歡這個博物館。我遇到了一個年輕人,一直跟著我,說是要“練習(xí)英語”,但我覺得他是茶館派來的“茶托兒”。實際上他并不是“茶托兒”,他真的只是想練習(xí)英語,他還發(fā)現(xiàn)人們在博物館里跑不了(所以我不得不跟他對話)。第二天,我在世博會,排隊的時候差點暈過去,我還幫很多學(xué)生完成暑期英語作業(yè),結(jié)識了一位才華橫溢的筆友。
* Was it when I arrived in Xiamen, my home ever since?
— August 5, 2010. It was originally a temporary commitment, in case I hadn’t liked China. Here I am writing this, more than a decade later, from the same city. Clearly, I liked it.
* 是在我到達廈門并且把廈門當(dāng)成家的時候嗎?
— 2010 年 8 月 5 日,我本來只是臨時租住在廈門,因為我擔(dān)心不喜歡中國。十多年后,我在同一個城市寫下這篇文章。顯然,我愛中國。
* Was it when I made the decision to extend the temporary stay to a long-term one?
— If you’d asked me in the first year or two, I’d have said I’d move on in 2-3 years. But here I am…
* 是我決定將長期居住在廈門的時候嗎?
—如果你在頭兩年問我會不會長期居住在廈門,我會說未來兩三年會的。但十多年過去了,我還住在這里……
So, maybe the answer is in the numbers?
— 2 jobs – or –2 local cats rescued – or – 2 surgeries – or – 2 passports
— 5 years of calligraphy lessons
— 8 apartments
— 16 email newsletters (in those early years)
— 23 provincial and provincial administrative regions visited
— 37 entry stamps
— 42, the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything (if only we knew the question)
— Dozens of tourist sites hiked/photographed/toured
— 100s of cities visited
— 300-something photos of pandas taken
或許答案就藏在數(shù)字里?
——換了 2 份工作,救了 2 只當(dāng)?shù)氐呢?,做?2 次手術(shù),持有 2 本護照
——上了 5年書法課
——住了 8 間公寓
——寫了 16 份電子郵件通訊(頭幾年)
——走訪 23 個省、省級行政區(qū)
——蓋了 37 個入境印章
——42,這是生命、宇宙和一切終極問題的答案(懂的都懂)
——游覽拍攝了數(shù)十個旅游景點
——訪問了 100 多座城市
——拍攝了 300 多張熊貓照片
So, I don’t really know when or how it began, exactly, or when it will end. But it has been a wonderful journey, and very different than where I grew up. As I tell my students (and the occasional inquisitive taxi driver): Iowa (my home state) is roughly the same size as?Fujian. But the entire state has a population less than?Xiamen?(although when I moved here years ago, the populations were about the same). Which of my numbers will keep going up?
所以,我真的不知道我的中國之旅何時開始,如何開始,到底何時結(jié)束。但我清楚的是,這是一段美妙的旅程,與我的家鄉(xiāng)大不相同。我告訴我的學(xué)生(也偶爾會告訴好奇的出租車司機):愛荷華州(我的家鄉(xiāng))與福建一般大。但是全州的人口比廈門還少(即使我搬來這里好幾年了,那兒的人口還是一樣多)。未來,在我的中國故事中,哪些數(shù)字還會繼續(xù)增加呢?
作者:凱瑟琳 翻譯:潘澤彬
If you would like to contribute your story, feel free to contact us.
Email: luz@mts-tech.com