美式友誼

Friendship 美式友誼

Steve and Yaser first met in their chemistry class at an American university. Yaser was an inter-national student from Jordan. He was excited to get to know an American. He wanted to learn more about American culture. Yaser hoped that he and Steve would become good friends.

史帝夫和亞瑟最初是在一所美國大學的化學課裏認識的。亞瑟是從約旦來的國際學生。他很興奮能夠認識美國人，他要更多學習美國文化；亞瑟希望他和史帝夫會成爲好朋友。

At first, Steve seemed very friendly. He always greeted Yaser warmly before class. Sometimes he offered to study with Yaser. He even invited Yaser to eat lunch with him. But after the semester was over, Steve seemed more distant. The two former classmates didn't see each other very much at school. One day Yaser decided to call Steve. Steve didn't seem very interested in talking to him. Yaser was hurt by Steve's change of attitude. "Steve said we were friends," Yaser complained. "And I thought friends were friends forever."

剛開始史帝夫似乎非常友善，上課前他總是熱情地和亞瑟打招呼，有時他和亞瑟一起讀書；他甚至邀請亞瑟一起共進午餐。但是學期結束後，史帝夫似乎較冷淡了，這兩個以前的同學在學校不常碰面了。有一天，亞瑟決定打電話給史帝夫，史帝夫似乎沒有興趣和他講話，對於史帝夫態度的改變，亞瑟感到受傷害。「史帝夫曾說我們是朋友，」亞瑟抱怨，「而且我認爲一朝是朋友就永遠是朋友。」

Yaser is a little confused. He is an outsider to American culture. He doesn't understand the way Americans view friendship. Americans use the word friend in a very general way. They may call both casual acquaintances and close companions "friends." Americans have school friends, work friends, sports friends and neighborhood friends. These friendships are based on common interests. When the shared activity ends, the friendship may fade. Now Steve and Yaser are no longer classmates. Their friendship has changed.

亞瑟有點困惑了，對於美國文化，他是個局外人（外行）。他不瞭解美國人對友誼的看法。美國人把「朋友」這個字用得非常廣泛，一般的泛泛之交和親密夥伴都算是朋友。美國人的朋友包含有學校的朋友、工作的朋友、運動的朋友或是街坊鄰居。這些友誼都是建立在共同的興趣上，當共同從事的活動結束時，友誼也可能跟着消失了。現在，史帝夫和亞瑟不再是同學，他們的「友誼」也就改變了

In some cultures friendship means a strong life-long bond between two people. In these cultures friendships develop slowly, since they are built to last. American society is one of rapid change. Studies show that one out of five American families moves every year. American friendships develop quickly, and they may change just as quickly.

在一些文化裏，友誼意即兩人之間一種強烈的，一世之久的情感。在這些文化裏，友誼發展得慢，因爲要持久。但美國是個急速變遷的社會，有些研究發現每年每五個美國家庭之中，就有一個家庭搬家。美國人的友誼建立得快，但也可能改變得快。