作者：Viktoria Radnaeva
翻譯：潘澤彬、Luz
校對(duì)：Zuzana、Joanne
?My name is Viktoria and I was born in Siberia, Russia. I am an artist, writer and journalist. I have lived in Wuhan for the past 1.5 years and am currently finishing a master’s course in art and design at Wuhan.
我叫 Viktoria（維卡），出生于俄羅斯西伯利亞。我是一名藝術(shù)家、作家和記者，在武漢生活了一年半，目前在武漢攻讀藝術(shù)設(shè)計(jì)碩士。
I have spent in China 11 years now with all the “come-and-go”. I have many friends already married to Chinese people and raising mixed kids, living in an international society in China. Some of them used to move inside this “bubble” circle of expat’s life. They used to buy imported goods, eat in western restaurants, and spend time outside of the Chinese language environment.
來去之間，我已經(jīng)在中國度過了 11 年的光景。我有很多朋友在中國結(jié)婚，生了混血娃娃，居住在由外國人組成的社區(qū)。他們習(xí)慣在外國人的“圈子”里活動(dòng)，習(xí)慣購買進(jìn)口商品，在西餐廳吃飯，在華語圈外消遣。
But for me, the real ingredient of living in China includes the one I face on the streets. Talking with locals, listening to what bothers them or makes them simply happy. I am quite new in Wuhan and before moving here, I haven’t done a lot of research. Yeah, this city now attracts the attention of people from over the world. “Wow, is it safe there? How do people move, act, breath, eat, etc”. To be honest just her majesty Destiny brought me here. I came to study art and design.
但對(duì)我來說，在中國生活的真正意涵是面對(duì)街上的一切：與當(dāng)?shù)厝私涣鳎瑑A聽他們的煩惱或者小確幸。搬到武漢之前，沒有做太多研究，因此對(duì)武漢還很陌生。沒錯(cuò)，如今的武漢成為了全世界的焦點(diǎn)?！巴?，武漢安全嗎？人們?cè)趺闯鲂?？怎么辦事？怎么呼吸？怎么吃飯？等等”。說實(shí)話，是命運(yùn)女神將我?guī)У搅诉@里。我是來學(xué)習(xí)藝術(shù)設(shè)計(jì)的。
I have spent like 2 months altogether under the sky of Wuhan. 58 days full of cloudy and rainy weather. Drops of rain were falling on my days and nights since the first day of arrival. 98 percent of Wuhan is connected with water energy. To be honest it brings somehow inconvenience while exploring but I prefer to keep moving. I just bought more waterproof clothes.
我在武漢呆了兩個(gè)月，58 天都是陰雨連綿。到武漢第一天起，雨就沒日沒夜地下。武漢 98%的地方都與水有關(guān)。說實(shí)話，這給旅游帶來了一些不便，但我會(huì)繼續(xù)前進(jìn)。我買了許多防水面料制成的衣服。
Wuhan is a beautiful city. Here you can find more than hundreds of lakes. It has a subtropical climate and is surrounded by palm trees. Now it’s time for sakura blooming. Tiny streets in the Hankou district with colonial buildings. Abandoned buildings just next to the East lake. I love moving inside those places with the shadows of the past. Getting the feeling of physical existence in someone else’s life. I feel fulfilled bringing myself inside those half-destroyed rooms, flights of stairs. It’s like opening the chapters of an ancient story full of broken details: used napkins, dirty underwear, and socks, pinky bed-set with holes. I was sitting on the edge of what was so-called “window frame” and felt like I was filming here before. Maybe it wasn’t exactly this place, maybe some other urban or rural location in China.
武漢是一座美麗的城市，有數(shù)百個(gè)湖泊，屬于亞熱帶氣候，棕櫚環(huán)繞，現(xiàn)在正是櫻花盛開的季節(jié)。漢口區(qū)的小街上矗立著殖民時(shí)期的建筑，廢棄建筑列于東湖湖畔。我喜歡游覽經(jīng)過歲月洗禮的地方，體味別人的生活，獲得最真實(shí)的感受。進(jìn)入那些殘破的房間和樓層，我感到滿滿的成就感。這就像打開一個(gè)古老故事的章節(jié)，里面充滿了破碎的細(xì)節(jié)：用過的餐巾紙、骯臟的內(nèi)衣和襪子，有破洞的粉色床套。我坐在“窗臺(tái)”的邊緣，感覺我曾在這里拍過戲。也許不是這個(gè)地方，而是中國的其他城市或農(nóng)村的某個(gè)地方。
I love to paint and film. If I were able to create the body of Wuhan I would like to keep those old charming houses, and narrow streets just next to Changjiang bridge. If I were able to hug Wuhan as a human, I would love to hug people around me. Street sellers on the markets of Hanzheng street or the old woman who were selling handmade noodles. For me the city is not just a space with metal constructions, roads, and multiply layers of buildings. For me, city is the human who smiles, cries, and shows me lots of emotions.
我喜歡繪畫和電影。如果我有機(jī)會(huì)規(guī)劃武漢的主體，我希望保留那些迷人的老房子，以及緊挨著長(zhǎng)江大橋的小街。如果我能夠擁抱武漢，我會(huì)擁抱周圍的人：漢正街市場(chǎng)上的小販以及賣手工面的老太太。對(duì)我來說，城市不僅僅是一個(gè)由鋼鐵、街道和高樓組成的空間，而是一個(gè)笑著、哭著、擁有復(fù)雜情感的人。
“ You didn’t try 熱干面? Vika, it’s like you haven’t been kissed by Wuhan’s 口! Wait, I will bring you the bowl of famous Wuhanese noodles!”
“How does the surface crust of Wuhan taste?”
“你沒有嘗試過熱干面？維卡，這就像你沒被武漢親吻過一樣！等等，我請(qǐng)你吃武漢特有的面條！”
“這就是武漢的味道，怎么樣？”
“Slowly getting some appetite for you, Mr. Wuhan.?Might be multilayered and not easy to scratch its surface”.
“我慢慢感受到你的美味了，武漢。你的美味可能是多層次的，不容易一下就品嘗出來”
”I am slowly opening the curtains waiting for another rainy day. Suddenly rays of sun hugged me. I am quickly going down to the street. Holding a cup of my favorite latte. Coming down on the crossroads in the direction of Nanhu lake. A man in his 50’s is repairing shoes. Next to him, a vintage bicycle with the box of tools. He is smiling and singing a song about “The father mountain and The river mother”.
我慢慢拉開窗簾，等待下一個(gè)雨天。突然，陽光擁抱了我。我拿著一杯我最愛的拿鐵，快步來到街上，走過南湖方向的十字路口。一個(gè) 50 多歲的中年男人正在修鞋，旁邊停著一輛老式自行車，放著一箱工具。他面帶笑容，唱著一首關(guān)于“父親山母親河”的歌。
“How long you have been working here?”
“你在這里干多久了?”
“20 years. ?It’s my space, I have my old customers coming here to have their shoes fixed or talk to me. My wife is an accountant at the university. My son works for an IT company. ?Where are you from? Xinjiang? Your accent sounds like you are from Xinjiang!”
“20 年。這是我的天地，老顧客會(huì)來這里找我修鞋或者聊天。我妻子在一所大學(xué)做會(huì)計(jì)，兒子在一家 IT 公司工作。你是哪里人？新疆嗎？你的口音聽起來像新疆人！”
“I am from Russia, Siberia. I am a student here. New in Wuhan.”
“我來自俄羅斯西伯利亞，是一名學(xué)生。剛來武漢?！?/mark>
“Wow! You look Chinese. Are you married? My son is not married yet. We have 2 apartments in this new building!”
“哇！你看起來像中國人。你結(jié)婚了嗎？我兒子還沒有結(jié)婚。這棟新蓋的樓盤里，有兩套房是我們的！”
“I am not married yet. I am still studying and busy with my projects. Why you are so direct with this question?”
“我還沒有結(jié)婚，還在讀書，忙著做項(xiàng)目。為什么會(huì)這么直接地問我的婚姻狀況？”
“It’s a common question. I am a father and I am worried about my kid still single. Can I introduce you to my son? He is a good-looking and successful person. How much do Russian women need for the bride price? How much do we need to pay your family?”
“這是一個(gè)很平常的問題。我是一個(gè)父親，兒子還是單身，我整天為這事發(fā)愁。我能把你介紹給我兒子嗎？他長(zhǎng)相英俊，事業(yè)有成。俄羅斯結(jié)婚需要多少彩禮？我們需要給你家多少錢？”
“Uhhh! Is it true? I have heard about this tradition and even my friends were supposed to pay some bride fee to enter the family!”
“??！真的嗎？我聽說過這個(gè)傳統(tǒng)，我的朋友也需要付彩禮才能成家！”
“Yeah, the minimum we have to pay is 100 000 RMB for a bride. We are still working hard to find a decent bride for our son. Don’t worry, you will feel welcomed into our family!”
“是的，娶新娘的最低彩禮是 10 萬元。我們還在努力為兒子找一個(gè)合適的新娘。別擔(dān)心，我們一定會(huì)熱烈歡迎你嫁到我們家的！”
The practice of settling marriage through a “bride price” to be paid by the Chinese groom has grown to incredible proportions in recent years, especially in the rural areas of China. In my opinion, this practice is not doing women’s push for gender equality any favor. For example, the Chinese population has over 30 million more men than women, it’s also the number of Chinese men who will not be able to find women to marry unless they look abroad. Let’s see how my relations with Wuhan will develop and if I will get married in China sometime. For now, I am just dating the city itself and falling in love.
近年來，新郎通過支付“彩禮”來解決婚姻大事，這種形式已達(dá)到驚人的比例，尤其是在中國的農(nóng)村地區(qū)。在我看來，這種做法不利于女性爭(zhēng)取性別平等。例如，中國男性人口比女性人口多出 3000 多萬，這些中國男性不得不找外國媳婦。我和武漢的關(guān)系會(huì)如何發(fā)展，我是否會(huì)在中國結(jié)婚，拭目以待吧?，F(xiàn)在，我只想和武漢約會(huì)，愛上這座城市。
I was born in Siberia, Russia next to the world’s biggest lake Baikal. Russia is a multinational country with 180 ethnicities. It’s a very diverse, unique, and multicultural place expanding from the west to the east, from the north to the south in 11 time zones. Russia is a mix of European and Asian subcultures with the same pronunciation of the state Russian language by all ethnicities. As the destiny being born close to China, I choose to follow my oriental path. Life these days is so unpredictable and the most important thing is to keep being Human and interacting in this international society. Both in physical, and mental directions.
我出生在俄羅斯的西伯利亞，附近就是世界上最大湖泊——貝加爾湖。俄羅斯是一個(gè)多民族國家，擁有 180 個(gè)民族，文化多元且獨(dú)特，從西到東，從北到南，跨越 11 個(gè)時(shí)區(qū)。俄羅斯文化融合了歐洲和亞洲的亞文化，所有民族的官方語言都是俄語，發(fā)音相同。因?yàn)槲业募亦l(xiāng)在中國附近，所以我選擇了東方道路?，F(xiàn)在的生活是充滿未知，最重要的是與國際社會(huì)互動(dòng)，保持人性。身心都要朝著正確的方向發(fā)展。
My dream in China is to live in the fast-changing, expatriate-friendly, fast-developing reality where we all can go more deeply by scratching layer by layer and bringing more positive vibes into our life here.
我的中國夢(mèng)是生活在一個(gè)日新月異、對(duì)外國人友好、快速發(fā)展的世界中，我們可以一層一層地深入感受周遭，把更多積極的氛圍帶入生活。
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《我在中國的家》
