家外之家 2021
Life itself drives us where we deserve to be. All you need is to have a plan, commit to your goals, prepare, be consistent and have faith. My story is one example… I went to Germany to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor but it didn’t work out because of my family financial conditions back then. I had to serve myself and I couldn’t give my 100% towards my goal so I planned to continue my studies elsewhere.生命本身會指引我們到達(dá)應(yīng)該到達(dá)的地方。你需要有所計劃，朝著你的目標(biāo)前進(jìn)，做好萬全準(zhǔn)備，堅持不懈，充滿信心。我的經(jīng)歷就是一個很好的例子...我漂洋過海來到德國，希望實現(xiàn)我的醫(yī)生夢，但由于當(dāng)時我的家庭經(jīng)濟(jì)條件，這個夢想落空了。我必須要為自己的決定負(fù)責(zé)，我當(dāng)時沒有為我的目標(biāo)付出100%的努力。我決定到另一個地方繼續(xù)學(xué)習(xí)。
家外之家 2021
I first came to China in 2015, but the journey to China started a long time ago. More than 15 years ago, when I was a little girl, I had a conversation with my dad about my future goals. He suggested that I should study the Chinese language, he said the 21st century is the “Century of China”, and the Chinese language is the “Language of the Future”. I didn’t understand him at that time, because China seemed to be very far away, and I hardly knew anything about this country. In those times, we didn’t have internet, and the only link to the world – the TV – never talked about China.我第一次來中國是在 2015 年，但我的中國故事很早就開始了。15 年前，當(dāng)時還是小女孩的我和父親一起討論我的未來。他建議我學(xué)習(xí)中文，他說21世紀(jì)是“中國的世紀(jì)”，而中文是“未來的語言”。當(dāng)時我還不理解這句話的含義，因為中國似乎很遙遠(yuǎn)，我對這個國家?guī)缀跻粺o所知。那個年代沒有互聯(lián)網(wǎng)，唯一能了解世界的渠道——電視也從未介紹過中國。
家外之家 2021
Once upon a time, there was an 18-year-old girl deciding on her undergrad major. She decided she wanted to graduate in Translation and Interpreting Studies, but what languages would she choose? That girl barely out of teenagehood was me, and I decided to come to Asia and so my second major language during university was Chinese. From acquaintances to university clerks, everyone warned me —Chinese is so very difficult, are you sure?曾經(jīng)有一個 18 歲的女孩正在選擇本科讀什么專業(yè)。她終于決定要讀口筆譯專業(yè)，她會選擇什么語言呢？那個剛剛走出青春期的女孩就是我，我決定來到亞洲，所以我在大學(xué)期間選擇中文作為我的第二外語。從朋友到大學(xué)職工，每個人都警告過我——中文非常難，你確定要學(xué)嗎？
家外之家 2021
Two and a half years before, I wasn’t expecting to come to China and live all the experiences that I am living now. Exactly two years ago, I was in a 30-hour flight coming to China, not even knowing what challenges I was going to face. It all started when graduating from high school. I was looking for a good university to study when I found about the Chinese government scholarships. I applied and as soon as I got accepted, I had to travel to China to study a one-year Chinese language course in Xiamen’s Huaqiao University.?兩年半之前，我并沒有想到會來中國，過上現(xiàn)在的生活。兩年前，我坐了 30 個小時的飛機(jī)來到中國，我甚至不知道將會面臨什么樣的挑戰(zhàn)。我的中國故事從高中畢業(yè)時開始，當(dāng)時我得知中國政府提供留學(xué)獎學(xué)金，所以我想找一所好的中國大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)。于是我申請華僑大學(xué)的留學(xué)生，一被錄取，我就前往中國，學(xué)習(xí)一年的中文課程。
家外之家 2021
My China story starts in 2007 in Hungary, where I was teaching international political economy at the Corvinus University of Budapest, and researching public economic policy issues in a think-tank. I was in a relationship for 4 years, I owned a small flat and a car, and lived in a nice environment with my beloved in the green Buda side of the capital city. So I had an ongoing academic career, close to finishing my PhD at the International Relations program, and had what we can call a normal life.我的中國故事還要從 2007 年的匈牙利講起，當(dāng)時我在布達(dá)佩斯的科維努斯大學(xué)教授國際政治經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)，還在一個智庫研究公共經(jīng)濟(jì)政策問題。當(dāng)時我正在談一段維持四年的感情，擁有一套小公寓和一輛小車，和我的女友住在樹木繁茂的布達(dá)城區(qū)。我正在進(jìn)行學(xué)術(shù)研究，即將取得國際關(guān)系博士學(xué)位，過著正常的生活。
家外之家 2021
My story in China started when I got a job offer for a company in Guangzhou. I never thought of China as a place where I would like to live, I only considered it as a place to travel sometime in my life. Surprisingly, China has turned out to be the country that has brought me the most exciting adventures and experiences in my life so far.我收到廣州一家公司offer的時候，我的中國之旅也隨之開始。我從未想過，今后我會住在中國，我只把它看作是生命中的旅居之地。但令我驚喜的是，中國帶給我的是最激動人心的冒險經(jīng)歷。
家外之家 2021
My first time in China was 18 years ago. I visited Xiamen as a tourist with my mum, my aunt and her daughters. Not many tourists came here at the time, and everything was rather cheap. We had booked 3 rooms in Mandarin Hotel but they gave us an upgrade to stay at whole Vila. Yes, we got a 5 stars vila all to ourselves! That was so beautiful, like a wonderland. An unforgettable first impression.我第一次來中國是在 18 年前。我和媽媽、姨媽和她的女兒來廈門旅游。當(dāng)時來這里的游客不多，而且東西都相當(dāng)便宜。我們在悅?cè)A酒店訂了 3 個房間，但他們給我們升級到別墅房。沒錯，我們住進(jìn)了一套五星級別墅！那里美得就像一個仙境。廈門給我留下了難忘的第一印象。
家外之家 2021
The first time I step foot on Chinese soil was in 1997 when I went to Beijing for a work trip regarding the design of a hotel there. Coming here for the first time helped to dispel a lot of the misconceptions in my head and the rumors that I heard about living here. I heard that China was so crowded absolutely everywhere, that people misbehaved, that there were no proper toilets!? Well, of course, it was all wrong.我第一次踏上中國的土地是在 1997 年，我當(dāng)時去北京出差，為一家酒店進(jìn)行設(shè)計。第一次來到這里，打消了我腦海中存在的許多誤解，那些關(guān)于在中國生活的傳言也不攻自破了。我聽說中國哪里都很擁擠，人們行為粗魯，也沒有體面的廁所！當(dāng)然，這是完全錯誤的。
家外之家 2021
After my college graduation, I met up with my high school friend, Renelyn, who was at that time working as a foreign teacher in Xiamen city. After hearing her wonderful experience here in Xiamen, I asked her the procedure on how to apply to work as ESL teacher. At that time, the qualifications required for ESL teachers weren’t that stringent, basically, the requirements were to hold a Bachelor’s degree and a TESL? certificate. I was lucky enough to pass all interviews and landed my first job as a foreign teacher in Xiamen Educational College which eventually merged with 2 other colleges and renamed into Xiamen City Vocational College.大學(xué)畢業(yè)后，我偶遇了高中同學(xué) Renelyn，她當(dāng)時在廈門做外教。她給我講了在廈門的精彩故事，然后我問她如何申請成為 ESL（以英語為第二語言） 教師。當(dāng)時，對 ESL 教師的資格要求并不嚴(yán)格，基本要求是持有學(xué)士學(xué)位和 TESL（英語作為第二外語教學(xué)） 證書。我很幸運地通過了所有的面試，在廈門教育學(xué)院找到了我的第一份工作——外教，該學(xué)院最終與其他兩所學(xué)院合并，更名為廈門城市職業(yè)學(xué)院。
家外之家 2021
My husband and I lived in Xiamen for almost ten years, but apart from colleagues or friends in groups involved in saving animals, we didn’t meet that many other foreigners. The reason is simple, we didn’t have time.?我和丈夫在廈門生活了近十年，但除了一起拯救動物的同事和朋友外，我們并沒有認(rèn)識很多外國人 。原因很簡單，我們沒時間。
