大家好。All the time when people ask what is my name, I have difficulties with providing an answer because it actually doesn’t exist. Don’t get me wrong, I have a name, but it is not an English one. That is why, to make things easier in China, I decided to adopt the Chinese name Wukong悟空. Yes, exactly, the same name as the protagonist of the famous novel “Journey to the West”, the Monkey King, but with a different surname, 但是他姓孫，而我姓陳。And Sun Wukong travelled to the West, but I did so to the East.
大家好。每次別人問我叫什么名字，我很難回答，因?yàn)檫@壓根不存在。不要誤會我的意思，其實(shí)我有名字，但不是英文名。所以為了更方便在中國生活，我給自己取了個(gè)中文名“悟空”。沒錯(cuò)，就是《西游記》的主人公孫悟空，他姓孫，而我姓陳。孫悟空“西游”，而我“東游”。
My journey to the West started back in Europe, where I did 打工 (worked) and earned some euros in one of Amsterdam’s building sites. After I went back to Ukraine, I felt bored about European life and was very excited about life in Asia (all I knew about Asia was just from books, movies and some stories). So, I found a job in China through a Ukrainian job portal online.
我的“西游記”要從歐洲講起。我在荷蘭阿姆斯特丹的一個(gè)建筑工地上打過工，賺了一些歐元?；氐綖蹩颂m后，我開始厭煩在歐洲生活，非常渴望到亞洲生活（我對亞洲的了解只是來自書本、電影和故事）。因此，我在烏克蘭的一個(gè)招聘網(wǎng)站上找到了一份在中國的工作。
Fortunately, I had enough money, that I had earned back in the Netherlands, to prepare all the visa documents and book a one-way flight ticket. And, so far, I haven’t booked the return ticket.
幸運(yùn)的是，我在荷蘭賺到了足夠多的錢，用來申請簽證，訂一張單程機(jī)票。到目前為止，我還沒有訂過回程機(jī)票。
I have lived in Beijing, Guangzhou, Dali, Kunming and Xiamen. I have travelled to Shanghai city, Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Hainan, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu provinces hitchhiking. I really love the Western part of China for its wilderness and cultural varieties which makes it the perfect place for travelling. But about a place to live, I prefer Xiamen or Dali.
我曾住在北京、廣州、大理、昆明和廈門，也曾搭順風(fēng)車去上海、新疆、西藏、青海、內(nèi)蒙古、甘肅、寧夏、陜西、四川、云南、貴州、廣西、海南、廣東、福建、浙江、江蘇等省市旅行。我真的很喜歡中國西部，那里有廣袤無垠的荒野，豐富多彩的文化，是理想的旅行目的地。但是，如果讓我選擇一個(gè)城市生活，我更喜歡廈門或者大理。
About the city that became my home – Xiamen what I like best is a combination of developing atmosphere and at the same time slow, relaxed temp of life. Of course, I can’t forget to mention the weather, seaside and mountains, food, people and authentic Minnan閩南 culture.
廈門已經(jīng)成為了我的家，這里城市快節(jié)奏的發(fā)展與人們慢節(jié)奏的生活達(dá)到完美融合，這是我最喜歡的。當(dāng)然，我一定要夸夸這里的天氣、海灘、山林、美食、人民和地道的閩南文化。
What I like most about China as a whole is that it is a huge territory of different cultures, minorities, landscapes, food and lifestyles. China is a place where people can have a happy, modern and safe life and we can choose whether to live next to the sea or the mountains, the countryside or the metropolis, cold and snowy places or warm tropical islands, all can be found here.
我喜歡中國，因?yàn)樗鶈T遼闊，擁有不同的文化、眾多的少數(shù)民族、優(yōu)美的風(fēng)景、美味的食物和多種多樣的生活方式。生活在中國，人們能感受到幸福、安全以及現(xiàn)代化，我們可以選擇住在海邊還是山上，住在農(nóng)村還是大都市，住在寒冷的雪地還是溫暖的熱帶島嶼，中國應(yīng)有盡有。
I am fascinated by technologies, infrastructure, fast developing, and the monetary system of modern China. All this enriches and simplifies the life of residents. Also I am fascinated by the Chinese characters, 漢字, Chinese medicine 中醫(yī), and culture of ancient China. Knowledge of Chinese civilization gives a very specific taste of life.
我對現(xiàn)代中國的技術(shù)、基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施、快速發(fā)展和貨幣體系非常著迷，這些都讓人民的生活更加豐富便利。我還對漢字、中醫(yī)和古代中國的文化非常感興趣。了解中國文明給生活帶來了一種獨(dú)特的韻味。
My unique China story happened 3 years ago in one of Sichuan’s Buddhist temples in the mountains next to Tibet. It was the time when God decided to save my life. One day during my first big trip around China by hitchhiking, I had a chance to stay overnight inside a Buddhist temple. The next day, when monks were busy with their lessons, I have gone for rock climbing next to the temple. I have climbed almost half of the rock and bumped into a male mountain goat. After a few minutes of staring at each other, the animal attacked me. It sounds funny – the goat attacked a human, but on the high rock where you barely can keep balance with the frightening angry king of that mountain attacking me, it wasn’t funny at all. We have started to fight. The goat used his horns to attack and I was kicking, bunching him, trying to push him down. At that moment, time slowed down, heartbeat quicken, my mind was cold and 100% concentrated. I had never had this kind of feeling before, but I guess it happens with humans when the life is in danger. Well, after 3 rounds of high altitude martial arts, the animal was gone. Nature gave me the chance to keep going on this life journey.
我講講三年前在中國的獨(dú)特經(jīng)歷。那是在四川的一個(gè)佛寺里，就在西藏旁邊的山上。那段經(jīng)歷是上帝對我的救贖。第一次搭車環(huán)游中國的時(shí)候，有一天我在一個(gè)佛寺里過夜。第二天，和尚們忙著修行的時(shí)候，我就去寺廟旁邊攀巖了。我爬到一半的時(shí)候，碰到了一只山羊。對視幾分鐘后，它攻擊了我。這聽起來很滑稽——山羊會攻擊人，但在高高的巖石上，你幾乎無法保持平衡，那只羊就像憤怒的山中之王，橫沖直撞，這一點(diǎn)都不好笑。我們進(jìn)入戰(zhàn)斗。山羊用它的角頂我，我用腳踢它，雙手抱住它，想把它撂倒。那一刻，時(shí)間仿佛變慢了，心跳得更快了，精神百分之百集中，沒有一點(diǎn)雜念。我以前從來沒有過這種感覺，但我想，當(dāng)人的生命受到威脅時(shí)，每個(gè)人都會有這種感覺。最后，經(jīng)過 3 輪高空決斗后，那只山羊消失在了我的視野。大自然給了我機(jī)會，讓我繼續(xù)我的生命旅程。
Ukraine is second largest country in Europe which has a beautiful land with mountains, sea, forests and vast open plains. Its black soil produces plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables and grains which feed not only Ukrainians but also many other European countries. Ukraine is one of the Slavic countries which has its own beautiful language and folk music. During centuries, our country has got an impact from different civilizations and cultures, but it still keeps its authentic traditions so far. For example, torch festival when we are jumping over the fire, Water-Sprinkling Monday with water fights, harvest festival, diving to the ice shell during the winter, traditional weaving of flower crowns and many others.
烏克蘭是歐洲第二大的國家，風(fēng)景秀麗，擁有山脈、海洋、森林和廣闊的平原。黑土地上能收獲許多新鮮水果、蔬菜和谷物，不僅養(yǎng)活了烏克蘭人，也養(yǎng)活了歐洲其他國家的人。烏克蘭是斯拉夫國家之一，有自己優(yōu)美的語言和民樂。幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以來，我們國家受到了不同文明和文化的影響，但至今仍保持著自己的文化傳統(tǒng)。例如，跳火的火把節(jié)、復(fù)活節(jié)后第一個(gè)周一舉行的潑水節(jié)、豐收節(jié)，冬天潛“冰”，編織傳統(tǒng)的花冠等等。
作者：陳悟空 翻譯：潘澤彬
If you would like to contribute your story, feel free to contact us.
Email: luz@mts-tech.com
Home away from home?is a collection of the unique stories written by foreigners in China and compiled by MTS. Join us on this journey of exploring 100 different stories showcasing what it truly means to live in China!《家外之家》是一本外國人在中國的獨(dú)特故事集，由外國人撰寫，精藝達(dá)公司征集匯編。歡迎外國朋友積極參與，和我們一起探尋100個(gè)不同的故事，展示生活在中國的真正意義！
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It has been?5 months?already since the “Home Away from Home” essay contest began! We appreciate all the foreign friends who have participated writing?55 unique stories?about their experience as expats in China.?On October 31st, the voting system closed, and after thorough counting of likes, reads and votes, today is the time to announce the?5 winners! Drumroll please...感謝大家?5 個(gè)月以來對《家外之家》征文比賽的關(guān)注！開賽至今，我們一共征集到了?55 篇外國人在華故事，我們非常感謝此次積極參與征文活動的外國朋友。2021 年 10 月 31 日，網(wǎng)站投票通道也已關(guān)閉。通過計(jì)算社交媒體點(diǎn)贊數(shù)、閱讀數(shù)、以及網(wǎng)站投票數(shù)，經(jīng)過激烈角逐,?5 名參賽者最終脫穎而出
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