雙語散文:生活在別處

編者按：本文作者Alan Paul是《吉他世界》(Guitar World)的高級編輯，同時也爲美國籃球雜誌《灌籃》(Slam)撰寫文章。

An Expat's Exotica

I always understood that living in Beijing seemed pretty wild to most people back in the U.S. On visits home I had to make a conscious decision whether to exaggerate or downplay the exoticism.

我知道，絕大多數美國人覺得住在北京好像很刺激。回到美國後，我得有意識地做個決定，對在北京生活的這段日子，是說得誇張一點好呢，還是平淡一點好。

The truth is that in a big, rapidly developing Chinese city like Beijing or Shanghai it is possible to live a fairly cushy, Western-style life if you so choose. I was intrigued by expats living further off the beaten path.

真相是，在北京或上海這種快速發展的大城市裏，只要你願意，可以過上西方的那種舒適生活。然而，有些來中國的老外不落俗套的生活方式讓我很感興趣。

During my travels, I looked for little pockets of foreigners settling in China's remote corners. In Wuhan, the capital of the central province of Hubei, I met Janie Corum and her husband Ralph, who have lived there for about six years. Ms. Corum estimates there are about 400 Americans and 4,000 resident foreigners in the city of 8.3 million, a ratio she finds attractive.

在中國各地旅行時，我喜歡去這個國家偏遠角落的一些老外小圈子探尋一下。在湖北的省會城市武漢，我遇到詹妮•克倫姆(Janie Corum)和她的丈夫拉爾夫(Ralph)，兩人已經在那裏生活了六年左右。詹妮估計，在武漢這個人口830萬的城市裏，約有400個美國人和4,000個常駐外國人，這麼小的佔比對她來說很有吸引力。

'I wanted to be some place where there is a smaller foreign community because we really wanted to understand the local culture and have Chinese friends,' says Ms. Corum, 58. 'In Beijing or Shanghai it would be too easy to be with expats all the time.'

“我希望住在一個外國人羣體較小的地方，因爲我們真的想了解當地的文化，和中國人交朋友。”58歲的詹妮說，“而在北京和上海，很容易整天跟來中國的外國人混在一起。”

They had long wanted to live overseas and finally moved to Taiwan and began studying Chinese nine years ago, with a plan to eventually move to mainland China.

克倫姆夫婦一直都想在美國之外的地方生活，九年前終於遷往臺灣，在那裏開始學習中文，並計劃最終搬到中國大陸居住。

'We began coming to China for service projects in 1993 and always wanted to return longer term,' says Ms. Corum. 'When we got to Wuhan, we felt strongly it was the right place.'

“我們倆從1993年開始就來中國做一些服務項目，一直想在這裏住久一點。”詹妮說，“到武漢後，我們有一種強烈的感覺：這裏就是適合我們生活的地方。”

They have seen a lot of changes in Wuhan, where they don't stand out as much as they once did; six years ago they were stared at everywhere they went, which is no longer the case. There was a near total absence of imported products and English signs, both of which are now more common. Yet they have always felt welcome.

他們感受到武漢這些年來的許多變化。現在，他們不再像以前那樣成爲衆人矚目的焦點。六年前，兩人去任何地方，都會引起當地人的關注，但現在人們已經對老外熟視無睹。以前，進口食品和英語路標在武漢幾乎沒有，現在變得常見多了。不過，他們還是一如既往地感受到當地人的熱情和好客。

'Many locals, especially students, love to practice speaking English with us and parents often encourage their children and grandchildren to do so. Also, because we are older the locals have usually treated us with great respect.'

“很多當地人，尤其是學生，很喜歡跟我們說話，練習英語。中國小孩的父母和長輩們往往鼓勵他們和老外說話。另外，因爲我們年紀大一點，當地人通常都很尊重我們。”

Ms. Corum is the chairman of the newly opened Central China Chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce. She says the group is pioneering the vast region for American businesses, striving to create a more comfortable environment. More foreign businesses will be coming to China's more remote corners, she notes, and she believes she is helping to pave the way.

詹妮是剛成立的中美商會華中分會(Central China Chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce)的主席，她說該組織正在推動該區域的中美商業合作，力求創造一個更良好的投資環境。她表示，越來越多的外資企業將去中國內地發展，她相信自己從事的工作有助於爲此奠定一個良好的基礎。

Another expat who is both settling roots deep in China's interior while establishing a bit of an American foothold is Noah Krieg, an earnest young American running a coffee shop called the Fifth Tone in Changsha, Hunan.

另一個熱忱的美國年輕人諾阿.克里格(Noah Krieg)也在中國紮下了根，同時他還打造了一個有點美國風格的立足點，在湖南長沙開了一家名叫“第五音”(Fifth Tone)的咖啡館。

Amongst the 68.5-million Hunanese there are only about 4,000 resident foreigners. Mr. Krieg, like some other Americans I met there, arrived as an English teacher.

在人口6850萬的湖南省，只有4,000名常駐外國人。克里格與我遇到的其他一些美國人一樣，最早是來當英語老師的。

'I wanted an American style coffee shop because there wasn't anything like it and I really thought that a lot of Chinese [college] students would enjoy the opportunity to hang out and interact in a relaxed manner,' says Mr. Krieg. 'And I wanted a place that could serve as a platform for cross culture conversation.'

“我想開一家美式風格的咖啡館，因爲這還是個空白，我覺得很多中國大學生會喜歡在這種輕鬆的環境下休閒和交友。”克里格說，“希望這裏能成爲多文化交流的一個平臺。”

To that end, every Tuesday night, the shop hosts English corners, where Chinese students can hone their language skills, guided by English teachers. The roles are reversed for the following evening's Chinese corners.

出於這一目的，咖啡館每週二晚上都會組織一個英語角，中國學生可以來這裏，在英語老師的指導下練習會話技巧；而週三晚上的漢語角則由中國人來指導老外如何說漢語。

'There are a lot of students here who are anxious to speak better English and just have opportunities to interact with foreigners and we provide the setting to do that,' says Mr. Krieg.

“這裏有很多學生希望自己的英語能說得更好，能有機會與外國人交流，而我們提供了這種環境。”克里格說道。

Jeff Crosby has experienced both sides of the expat equation, originally moving to Kunming, the capital of the Southwestern province of Yunnan, to study Chinese in a university program. He stayed there for six years, moved to Beijing for two and half years and is now back in Kunming. He says that each place has helped him acquire the skill he needed to start his own business translating documents to and from Chinese and managing artists and musicians.

傑夫•克羅斯比(Jeff Crosby)有過在中國學習和工作的雙重體驗。起初，他來到雲南昆明的一所大學學中文，在那裏生活了六年，後來去北京呆了兩年半，現在又回到昆明。他說每個地方都讓自己積累起創業所需的技能，他的公司涉及中外文互譯以及爲藝術家和音樂家安排來華演出。

'Starting out in Kunming forced me to learn how to navigate Chinese society for myself much more deeply and quickly than I probably could have managed in Beijing,' says Mr. Crosby, who writes the South of the Clouds blog. 'There is such a critical mass of foreigners in Beijing, and there are so many bilingual Chinese, that a lot of people get by without having to take a plunge into the local society. Also the lack of available talent in Kunming allowed me to punch above my weight class, because you had these highly talented people who desperately needed someone who spoke native English to help them do things like setting up a Web site or moderating business negotiations.'

“在昆明生活讓我學會如何在中國社會中摸爬滾打，如果一開始就去北京，感受可能沒那麼深，學習的速度也沒那麼快。”克羅斯比在自己的博客South of the Clouds(雲之南)上寫道，“北京的外國人那麼多，會說英語的中國人也很多，所以許多老外不需要融入當地生活就能過得輕鬆自在。而昆明的雙語人才缺乏，令我得以發揮自身優勢，因爲很多人特別需要來自英語國家的人幫他們建英文網站或在商業談判中做翻譯。”

'Once I had that grounding, however, I really benefitted from spending more time in Beijing, which woke me up to a lot of new possibilities, and sparked greater enthusiasm and ambition in me. The danger of a place like Kunming, where it is cheap and comfy, is that it is easy to grow complacent. A lot of people fall into the 'expat trap,' where you leverage your advantages as a foreigner to get by with as little work as possible, and find yourself utterly unemployable back home. '

“經歷在昆明的生活後，我覺得在北京的日子也讓我獲益良多，因爲那裏激發了我很多新的想法，讓我變得更富激情和鬥志。昆明這樣的地方生活成本很低，也很舒適，但危險之處在於容易讓人安於現狀。許多人都陷入一個‘老外陷阱’之中，以自己是外國人爲藉口，什麼也不做，結果發現回國後根本找不到工作。”

Of course, there are expats living off the beaten path all over the world. Many of them can be found blogging away on , a clearinghouse for expat writing. I often enjoy poking around to see who is writing what from where.

當然，在異國發展的人有很多，其中不少人都在寫博客，這是一個聚集全球外派人員的網上社區。我經常上去逛逛，看看誰又在哪個地方寫了些什麼。

It was there that I found Geoff Roberts, one of the hearty souls who have become veritable specialists at living in exotic locales. A headhunter recruited Mr. Roberts to work as a Corrosion Engineer for an oil company in Tripoli, Libya, where he relocated in February. The Welshman has previously worked in Kazakhstan, Yemen and Iran, as well as throughout Europe.

在那裏，我認識了喬夫•羅伯斯(Geoff Roberts)，他是一個很真誠的人，去過許多遙遠的國度，是個在異國他鄉生活的專家。有家獵頭公司介紹羅伯斯去利比亞首都的黎波里的一家石油公司當防腐材料工程師，他2009年2月前往那裏。這個威爾士男人以前還在哈薩克斯坦、也門、伊朗和歐洲各地工作過。

He says that he was about to decline the offer when his wife pushed him to accept; she longed for another adventure, months after repatriating from Kazakhstan back to Wales. Despite some trepidation, he has found Libya to be a surprisingly relaxed, optimistic place and Libyans easier to befriend than he had anticipated.

羅伯斯說他本來想拒絕這份工作，但妻子堅持讓他接受，因爲她從哈薩克斯坦回威爾士好幾個月了，渴望新的冒險經歷。雖然利比亞的局勢有些動盪，但他發現這個地方的生活節奏很輕鬆，利比亞人也很樂觀，比他想象的更好接觸和交往。

'They are really happy to see Western faces again, after all the years of sanctions,' he says. 'Where I live we have a surprising melting pot of people from all nationalities and we all get along quite well. As a guy who enjoys a beer, it can tough living someplace where it is rather hard to get one, however.'

“經過這麼多年的國際制裁後，他們真的很高興又看到西方人的面孔。” 羅伯斯說，“讓我驚奇的是，我住的地方簡直是個種族大熔爐，什麼國家的人都有，大家相處都很愉快。不過，作爲一個喜歡喝啤酒的人，在利比亞這個很難找到啤酒的地方生活，還是有些不太習慣。”

After living in places with various privations, due to either oppressive governments or lack of economic opportunity, for years, Mr. Roberts has also been surprised by Libya's relative open nature.

在許多貧困國家─－無論貧困是由於政府壓迫還是缺乏經濟發展機會─－生活多年後，利比亞相對開放的環境也讓羅伯斯感到驚訝。

'It is very free out here -- no internet sites are blocked and you get access to all the Satellite TV channels,' says Mr. Roberts. 'In fact I feel far more monitored with all the CCTV cameras back in the UK.'

“這裏感覺很自由，互聯網不受限制，也能看到所有的衛星電視頻道，”羅伯斯說，“事實上，我覺得英國的公共監控系統讓人感覺更壓抑。”

You never know where you might feel most free to be yourself.

你永遠都不會知道，哪裏的生活會讓自己覺得最無拘無束。