文/本杰明·大衛(wèi)·凱里（Benjamin David Ceary）

我是一個在美國農(nóng)村出生、長大的男孩。第一次接觸到電影里的中國文化時，我就被深深地震撼了。我清楚記得成龍在《警察故事》和《醉拳》這些電影中精湛的喜劇表演和精彩絕倫的武術(shù)。在這些電影中，中國被描繪成一個有著悠久歷史文化傳統(tǒng)的地方，這個國家，既有著數(shù)千年的歷史文明，也有著現(xiàn)代化社會的飛速發(fā)展。我非常想去這個陌生、神秘的地方生活，體驗?zāi)抢镓S富的文化。在我8歲那年，我去了家鄉(xiāng)的一個小型公共圖書館，開始閱讀我能讀到的有關(guān)中國的每一本書。我讀過許多朝代的故事，讀過三國，讀過孫悟空和《西游記》，讀過孔子的教誨，讀過偉大詩人的作品，讀過中國領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人的英雄事跡，看過許多有關(guān)長城、紫禁城、黃河等中國大好河山的攝影作品。我的心中充滿了對中國的熱愛，夢想著有一天我能去中國。

As a young boy growing up in rural America, my first exposure to Chinese culture was through the movies. I can remember watching Jackie Chan’s fantastic martial arts and comedic acting skills in such movies as, “Police Story,” and, “The Drunken Master.” China was depicted in those movies as a place of ancient traditions, where thousands of years of history lived side-by-side with the modern advancements of society. I wanted so much to go and live in this strange mysterious land and experience its rich culture. At the age of 8, I went to the small public library in my hometown and began reading every book I could about China. I read about the many dynasties,I read about the three kingdoms, I read about the Monkey King and the Journey to the West, I read about the teachings of Confucius, I read about the works of great poets, I read the heroic deeds of China’s leaders, and I looked at so many photo books of the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Yellow River,and so much more. My heart was filled with a love for China and I had a dream to go there one day.

2012年，小男孩的夢想實現(xiàn)了。我在河北省廊坊市的一所學(xué)校獲得了一份英語教學(xué)的工作。原本看起來不可能實現(xiàn)的夢想現(xiàn)在變成了現(xiàn)實。很多老師曾建議我去上海或北京這樣的城市生活，因為那些城市里有相對更友好的英語環(huán)境，但是，我并不想生活在一個英語友好的環(huán)境中。我想要生活的地方，是一個能讓我真正沉浸在漢語和中華文化中的地方。我希望我在中國的經(jīng)歷是一次真正的冒險。

A little boy’s dream came true when, in 2012, I was offered a job teaching English at a Chinese college in the city of Langfang,Hebei. What seemed like an impossible dream was now becoming a reality. Many teachers had advised me to travel to cities like Shanghai or Beijing because they offered a more English friendly environment, but I did not want to live in an English friendly environment. I wanted to live in a place where I could really immerse myself in the language and the culture.I wanted my time in China to be an adventure.

火炕、溫室大棚和包餃子

我在中國的經(jīng)歷是一次神奇的冒險之旅。首先，我要以食物來開始我對中國文化的介紹。中國人民以中華美食為榮，中國哪個地區(qū)的美食味道最好是我和朋友們共同的話題。我品嘗中華美食的最美好的回憶之一是有一次我去一位河北農(nóng)村的朋友家里做客。

Khan, greenhouse and making dumplings

My time in China has been an amazing adventure. My first introduction to Chinese culture came in the form of food.Chinese people are proud of their food and it is a common topic among my friends to discuss which region of China has the best taste. One of my fondest memories of eating in China happened when I visited a friend’s family in the Hebei countryside.

那一次，我和一些外教應(yīng)邀到離廊坊市區(qū)較遠的一個農(nóng)莊里玩幾天。我們搭乘公交車，沿著舊土路顛簸了兩個小時，最后看到了玉米地中央的一個金屬的公交站牌。這一站是這條公交線路上的最后一站，我們下車后，公交車就掉頭返回市區(qū)了。剩下的路程由我朋友的叔叔開車來把我們接進村子。這是一個小村莊，連通村莊內(nèi)外的一條主干道兩側(cè)有各種小商店。我朋友的父母經(jīng)營著一家小型的農(nóng)具商店，他們在商店對面有一套老式的平房。這是一個帶圍墻的庭院，后面有三個房間。他們的廚房里有一個很大的鑄鐵鍋，鍋下面生著火，鍋的周圍是用特殊的黏土和混凝土砌成的墻，將廚房里的煙和熱量送到房間里。房間里有“炕”，這是一種用泥土和稻草覆蓋的床，床下面有特殊管道，熱量就通過這個管道輸送?？吹竭@種傳統(tǒng)的炕我很是驚訝，我很好奇睡在這么硬的床上是什么感覺。它很硬，但很暖和。我舒舒服服地睡在這張古式的床上，被子裹得嚴嚴實實的。我朋友的祖母告訴我，跟軟床相比，硬床更適合人的背部。在硬床上睡了幾年，我如今很認同她的觀點。

Some foreign teachers and I had been invited to spend a few days in a remote farming village far outside the main city of Langfang. We took a bumpy two-hour ride on a public bus down old dirt roads to arrive at last at a single metal bus stop sign in the middle of a cornfield. Our stop was the last one on the line and the bus turned around a headed back to the city after dropping us off. My friend’s uncle then picked us up in his car and drove us the rest of the way into the village. It was a small village with little shops on either side of the one main road that lead both in and out of the village. My friend’s father and mother ran a little farming supply store with an old-style single-story house located across the street from the shop. Their home had a walled courtyard with three rooms in the back.Their kitchen had a big cast-iron pot with a fire underneath.Around the pot were special clay and concrete walls that fed the smoke and heat from the kitchen into the rooms. Inside the rooms, the heat was fed through special piping underneath the mud and straw-covered beds, called khans. I was amazed to see a traditional style khan and I was so curious what it would feel like to sleep on such a hard surface. It was firm, but very warm. I slept comfortably wrapped up in blankets on top of this ancient style bed. My friend’s grandmother told me that hard surfaces are better for the back than soft ones. After years of sleeping on hard surfaces, I am inclined to agree with her.

在農(nóng)村學(xué)習(xí)包餃子

有些人并不關(guān)心中國的農(nóng)村，也不愿意在那里生活。但是這一家人告訴我他們寧愿住在鄉(xiāng)下也不搬到城市中去。由于來自美國的鄉(xiāng)村，我對此感同身受，在農(nóng)場中有一種在地球上其他地方都無法找到的祥和與寧靜。這一家人種植的農(nóng)產(chǎn)品也體現(xiàn)了現(xiàn)代化農(nóng)業(yè)在中國的發(fā)展。我們是在冬季中旬做客，然而，塑料圓頂覆蓋的土堆使黃瓜和西紅柿一年四季都能生長。土堆起到溫室的隔熱作用，而塑料圓頂則允許陽光進入同時不會讓水分和熱量流出室外。我走進那些巨大的溫室，迎接我的是成百上千發(fā)育著的綠色藤蔓。這兒有像我胳膊那么粗的黃瓜和多汁的紅番茄，這些蔬菜成束地等著農(nóng)場主摘下做成晚餐。當太陽開始落山時，農(nóng)民們把用干草做成的大地毯滾到塑料溫室的頂部。他們向我解釋了這樣做的目的是在寒冷的冬夜幫助植物進行保溫。這些植物裹在稻草毯子里睡得就像我在炕上裹著毯子一樣溫暖舒適。

Some people do not really care about the country lifestyle of rural China. However, the family told me that they would rather live in the countryside than move into the city. Coming from rural American countryside, I can understand their sentiments. There is a peaceful tranquility found on a farm that cannot be found anywhere else on this earth. The family’s vegetable farm was truly a testament to ingenious Chinese engineering. Our visit was in the middle of winter, however,the plastic dome covered dirt mounds keep the cucumbers and tomatoes growing year-round. The earthen mounds served as an insulation for the greenhouse, while the plastic domes allowed sunlight in without letting the moisture and heat outside. I walked into those large greenhouses and was greeted by hundreds of growing green vines. There were cucumbers as big as my arm and juicy red tomatoes just waiting in bunches for eager farmers to pluck them for dinner. As the sun began to set, the farmers rolled large carpets made of hay over the tops of the plastic greenhouses. They explained to me how this would help to keep the warmth in during the cold of the winter nights. The plants would sleep just as warm and comfy wrapped in their blankets of straw as I would wrapped in my warm blankets on the khan.

The next morning, we were asked by my friend to join the family in making dumplings for dinner. This was my first time to make dumplings and I was very excited to see and learn how they are made. My friend’s grandmother was busy in the kitchen mixing vegetables and eggs together to make stuffing for the dumplings.She had a large metal bowl and she stirred the contents around with a pair of wooden chopsticks. My friend’s mother was busy next to the grandmother kneading, by-hand, flour and water in a bowl to make a thick sticky dough. The other foreign teachers and I gathered around watching as she kneaded the dough into a fat snake-like looking creation. She rolled it out on a wooden cutting board until the fat snake turned into a long thin doughy rope. Her hands moved swiftly and smoothly as she began cutting and rolling out pieces of dough into tiny circular pancakes. The pancakes were almost as thin as paper and fit nicely in the palm of my hand. My friend’s grandmother then took a spoonful of the mixed vegetable stuffing and placed it inside the little pancake. With several quick pinches, she had produced a perfectly shaped dumpling ready for cooking.She smiled at me and then invited me to try to make my own dumpling. I was given a doughy pancake and a spoon for the vegetable mixture. I tried to mimic her pattern, but it was much more difficult than it looked. My little dumpling had too much stuffing, so it squeezed its way out of the edges and all over my hands as I pinched. The family smiled and chuckled at me. Then they gently encouraged me to try again. My next dumpling stayed firmly shut, however, the lumpy form of my misshaped dumpling was extremely ugly. It would take me many more tries before I could make anything that looked reasonable. We all stood around the kitchen table chatting, laughing, and folding dumplings. It was delightfully delicious fun.

第二天早上，我們和這一家人一起包餃子。這是我第一次做餃子，我很興奮地觀摩和學(xué)習(xí)。我朋友的奶奶正忙著在廚房里把蔬菜和雞蛋混合在一起做餃子餡。她有一個大鐵盆，用一雙木筷攪拌里面的東西。我朋友的媽媽在奶奶旁邊用手把面粉和水放在碗里做成又厚又黏的面團。我和另一個外教在一旁看著她把面團揉成一個厚實的蛇的形狀。她在一塊木頭砧板上滾它，直到那條肥蛇變成了一條又長又細又軟的粗繩。當她開始切面團并把小面團揉成面皮時，她的手迅速而平穩(wěn)地移動著。這些面皮薄得幾乎和紙一樣，放在我的手掌里剛剛合適。然后我朋友的祖母拿了一匙拌好的蔬菜餡，放在面皮里。她迅速捏了幾下，做出了一個形狀完美的餃子，以備蒸煮。她朝我笑了笑，然后讓我試著做一個自己的餃子。她給了我一塊面皮和盛蔬菜餡勺。我試著模仿她的手法，但這比看上去困難得多。我的小餃子餡太多了，所以當我捏的時候，餃子餡就從邊上擠出來弄得滿手都是。這一家人對我笑了笑。然后他們溫柔地鼓勵我再試一次。我的下一個餃子緊緊地合著，但是那形狀是真的非常難看。在我做出任何看起來正常的餃子之前，我還需要更多的嘗試。我們都站在餐桌旁聊天、歡笑、包餃子。這真是令人愉悅而又美味的趣事。

最大的冒險：遇到我生命中的摯愛

我在中國已經(jīng)住了7年了。在那幾年里，我收集了許多故事并進行了許多冒險活動。我最大的冒險直到最近才發(fā)生。2017年，我遇到了我生命中的摯愛，一個來自東北的美麗的中國女孩。我們是由一個共同的朋友介紹的，對我來說，這是一見鐘情，雖然她愛上我需要一點時間?？缥幕s會帶來了一系列的挑戰(zhàn)。我們最大的挑戰(zhàn)是語言障礙。我的漢語口語水平仍然很差，而且從高中開始她的英語就沒有再用過。因此，我們的約會經(jīng)常要借助于智能手機，在我們找不到可以表達我們思想的詞語時，翻譯程序填補了空白。回首過去，我不知道我們是如何成功的，但經(jīng)過幾個月的會面，我們開始在一個更深層次上了解彼此。我們的心超越了文化的障礙，我們開始能夠以一種只有我們才能理解的破碎的中式英語混合體進行交流。朋友們常常在困惑中搖頭，因為我們的對話會在英語、漢語和她的東北方言之間來回跳躍，有時甚至在一句話中就夾雜了兩三種。對于一個局外人來說，我們的溝通方式似乎是一種混亂的口語。但是于我們而言，她能理解，我能理解，我們就都很高興。

Greatest Adventure: meet the love of my life

I have lived in China now for seven years. During those years,I have collected many stories and had many adventures. My greatest adventure did not happen until just recently. In 2017,I met the love of my life, a beautiful Chinese girl from the northeast. We were introduced by a mutual friend and for me,it was love at first sight, although it would take a little longer for her to fall in love with me. Cross-cultural dating brings its own set of challenges. Our biggest challenge was the language barrier. My spoken Chinese level is still poor and her superior English skills had gone unused since high school. So, our first meetings often involved smartphones with translation apps filling in the gaps when we could not find the words to speak our minds. Looking back at it, I do not know how we manage,but after months of meeting together, we began to understand each other on a much deeper level. Our hearts transcended the cultural barrier and we were began being able to communicate in a broken mix of Chinglish that only we could understand.Friends would often shake their heads in confusion as we would jump back and forth between English, Chinese, and her regional northeast dialect, sometimes even in a single sentence.What may have seemed liked a chaos of spoken language to an outsider, our little ways of communicating. She understood, I understood, and we were both happy.

在那些天里我認識到，唯一能夠讓她在糟糕的一天里高興起來的方法就是帶她去吃些辛辣的食物。我們最愛去的一個地點是一家市里非常有名的火鍋店，火鍋店的旁邊還有一家餐廳做的麻辣小龍蝦非常好吃。她很愛吃辛辣的食物，然而我卻不太能接受。這就是我們會產(chǎn)生分歧的其中一方面。越熱辣的食物她越喜愛，但對我而言，一點點辣味的香料就足以讓我流淚并且后悔為什么一開始我要去嘗試它。我經(jīng)常會帶她去她最愛的餐廳看她大快朵頤麻辣龍蝦尾，那時我就會高興地坐在她身邊享受我那一份一點辣味都沒有的烤魚。我們或許在食物辣味的程度上不能達成統(tǒng)一，但我們倆對美食都有相同程度的熱愛。如果我們一起去吃火鍋，我們就會點上一份鴛鴦鍋底，一邊是辣湯一邊是清湯。最后我倆都會心滿意足地走出餐廳。

I learned during those days that the best way to make her happy on a bad day was to give her spicy food. We had a favorite spot in the city where a popular hotpot restaurant sat next to a great place for spicy crawdads. She loves spicy food. I, however, do not. This is one area where we will always disagree. Hotter is better for her, but even a little bit of spicy sauce is enough to make me start crying and wish I never had tried a bite. I have often taken her to her favorite spot and watched as she would chow down on some extremely spicy crawdad tails. I would sit happily by her side and enjoy my non-spicy fish barbeque.We may not be able to agree on levels of spicy, but we can both agree on delicious food. If we get hotpot, then we always get the divided bowl with spicy on the one-side and non-spicy on the other. Then we both leave the hotpot restaurant with full and happy stomachs.

有時，我的未婚妻會和我爭論，她說東北菜是中國最好吃的菜，我承認東北菜確實很美味，然而我卻很難承認東北菜在中國所有菜系里面是最好吃的。但是，當我和我的未婚妻去看望她的家人時，我就親自體驗了東北風(fēng)味的食物。這段旅程是在2017年年初，那時我和她還只是處于朋友階段，也沒有開始約會。關(guān)于這段旅程我真的是緊張極了，因為這是我第一次去見她的家人和朋友。這次的見面就像是一次測試，看我是否有資格當她的男朋友。在去往她家鄉(xiāng)的火車上，緊張感使我?guī)缀跽篃o法入睡。如今回憶起這段往事，我始終無法確定在見家人和朋友這件事上我和我的未婚妻誰會感到更緊張一點。

My fiancée often argues with me that northeast style Chinese food is the best food in China. I tend to agree with her about northeast food being great, however, it is hard for me to say that it is the best when China has so many regions with so many delicious flavors. However, I would get to experience northeast style food for myself when she and I took a trip to visit her family. This trip came during the early part of 2017 when she and I were just friends and had not yet started dating. I was extremely nervous about this trip because it was the first time,I was to meet her family and friends. It was going to be a test to see if I was an acceptable candidate for being a boyfriend.I could hardly contain my nervousness as I spent a sleepless night on the train to her hometown. Looking back at it, I am still not sure whether she or I was the more nervous one about meeting her friends and family.

我原本以為我只需向我未婚妻的家人介紹自己，沒想到我?guī)缀跸蛩麄€村子里的人們自我介紹過了。那時候我才真正深刻體會到中國的家庭關(guān)系，許多中國人在生活中交流接觸甚深，就如一個群落一樣，人們被數(shù)不清的阿姨舅媽等關(guān)系連為親戚關(guān)系，一起看著她們的子女們長大。就算是沒有血緣關(guān)系的人也被稱為兄弟姐妹或者叔伯姨嬸。有一種真實的感覺是，一個村莊的人在共同撫養(yǎng)一個孩子，這一點在中國表現(xiàn)得最為明顯。

I thought I was going to be introduced to just my fiancée’s family, but it felt more like I was introduced to her entire village. It was at this moment that I really got to experience Chinese family-ties. Many Chinese people live deeply connect as a community. People are tied together by a dozen aunties that all watched their children grow up together. Non-bloodrelated friends are called brothers, sisters, aunts, or uncles.There is a real sense that it takes a village to raise a child, and nowhere is this more evident than in China.

我以為我未婚妻的母親會是我和她女兒談戀愛的最大反對者。然而，事實證明并非如此。我問我的未婚妻，怎樣稱呼她的媽媽才是正確的稱呼，她告訴我“阿姨”是正確的稱呼。然而，當她媽媽聽到我叫她阿姨時，她拒絕了，說我應(yīng)該叫她媽媽。我很驚訝，但我認為這是一個好跡象，她想讓我成為這個家庭的一員。就在那時，我意識到在中國，成為別人的男朋友是一種嚴峻的考驗。通常整個家庭都參與了這個過程和決策。這可不是兒戲，我試著以最大的尊重來對待整個考驗。我喜歡住在中國，我喜歡中國文化，并且我未婚妻的家人尊重我對他們家的愛。

I had assumed my fiancée’s mother would be the biggest opponent of my dating her daughter. However, this turned out not to be true. I had asked my fiancée, what would be the proper way to great her mom, and she told me that “aunty”was the correct term. However, when her mother heard me call her aunty, she refused it and said I should call her mom. I was surprised, but I took this as a good sign that she wanted me to be part of the family. This is when I learned that becoming someone’s boyfriend in China is a serious ordeal. Often the entire family is involved in the process and the decision making. It was not something to be trifled with and I tried to treat the whole ordeal with the utmost respect. I loved living in China, I loved the Chinese culture, and my fiancée’s family respected my love for their home.

鄉(xiāng)下的傳統(tǒng)婚禮

我們在東北的這段時間，我參加了我未婚妻最好的朋友的婚禮。這是一場在鄉(xiāng)下舉行的非常傳統(tǒng)的婚禮。新娘和新郎穿著精心設(shè)計的紅色結(jié)婚禮服，新娘的喜服上繡著金色的鳳凰和粉紅色蓮花，新郎的喜服上繡著錯綜復(fù)雜的金龍。衣服華美漂亮極了。參加婚禮的人站在外面，聚集在農(nóng)舍前的院子里。在農(nóng)家庭院的盡頭有一個巨大的高臺，紅地毯隔開了擁擠的人群。四個男人穿著傳統(tǒng)的藍色服裝抬著紅色喜慶的轎子，那里面是蒙著蓋頭的新娘，她美麗的臉龐被紅蓋頭蓋著。此時新郎站在紅地毯的起點，等待新娘的到來。轎夫們把喜轎放在地上，新娘從喜轎里走了出來。新郎牽著她的手，領(lǐng)著她穿過圍觀的人群。他們跨過一個蘋果，伴郎們用五彩禮炮向天空發(fā)射，傾瀉出五彩繽紛的彩帶。新娘和新郎走到前面，司儀、他們的父母和我穿著漂亮的粉紅色禮服的未婚妻都在那里等著他們。他們走到人群面前，新郎經(jīng)過三個步驟的儀式把面紗從新娘的臉上掀開：第一次他會稍微掀起一點，然后離手讓蓋頭重歸原位，然后第二次把蓋頭掀起一點，然后再把它放下。第三次，他終于揭開蓋頭，露出了她美麗的臉。然后他們倆給各自的父母上了茶。最后一個儀式是喝交杯酒，就是交叉把兩個人的杯子合在一起飲酒。我發(fā)現(xiàn)結(jié)婚儀式短得驚人，但卻異常美麗且充滿意義。就在那個周末，我和未婚妻向家人和朋友宣布我們打算開始正式約會，我們現(xiàn)在正式成為男女朋友了。當我觀看婚禮儀式的時候我在想，是否有一天我也能穿上那件紅色的新郎喜服，有幸揭開我心愛的人臉上的紅蓋頭呢。

我和未婚妻試穿傳統(tǒng)喜服

A traditional wedding in countryside

During our time in the northeast, I got to attend the wedding of my fiancée’s best friend. It was a very traditional wedding taking place in the countryside. The bride and groom wore ornately designed red wedding clothes. Golden phoenixs adorned the bride’s dress alongside pink lotus blossoms.The groom had intricate golden dragons crisscrossing his gown. The clothes were stunning. The wedding attendees stood outside gathered in a courtyard in front of the farmhouse belonging to the grandparents. A red carpet divided the crowd with a large raised platform at the end of the farmyard. Four men dressed in traditional blue garb carried a red bridal carriage on long polls. Inside was the veiled bride who sat hidden underneath the red draperies.The groom stood at the beginning of the red carpet waiting for his bride to arrive. The men sat the carriage down on the ground and she stepped out from the basket. The groom took her hand and lead her through the onlooking crowd.They stepped over an apple as groomsmen fired off confetti cannons overhead spilling a cascade of colorful streamers into the sky. The bride and groom made their way to the front where the master of ceremonies, their parents, and my fiancée (in a beautiful pink dress) all waited for them. The proceeded to the front and then stood before the crowd. The groom lifted the veil from her face using a three-stage ritual:he would lift a little bit, then put it back down, and then lift the veil a little higher the second time before putting it down again. On the third time, he finally lifted the veil completely to reveal her face. The two of them then served tea to their respective in-laws. The third and final ritual was the drinking of a cup of white wine and then clasping the two cups together in union. I found the marriage ceremony to be suprizingly short, but it was extremely beautiful and meaningful. That same weekend, my fiancée and I announced our intentions to both family and friends to start date. We were now officially boyfriend and girlfriend. As I watched the wedding ceremony I wondered if one day I,too, would get to wear the red gown and get the privilege of lifting the red veil from the face of my beloved.

距離我和未婚妻參加她好朋友的婚禮已經(jīng)有一年了。從那開始，我就宣布了我要娶她。我在圣誕夜向她求婚?，F(xiàn)在，我和未婚妻正忙著準備我們的婚禮。我們正在為婚禮預(yù)訂房間，準備菜單，試穿婚紗。在不久前的一天，我看著婚紗店里鏡子中的自己，身著紅色的中國傳統(tǒng)婚服，上面有金龍在胸口處舞動。再過幾個月我就要和我的夢中情人結(jié)婚了。我離我的夢想越來越近了。我記得，在美國鄉(xiāng)村長大的那個小男孩，8歲時第一次在一家中國餐館嘗試使用筷子。我記得27歲那年，他坐上一架飛機，前往古老神秘的未知國度——中國?，F(xiàn)在，他正望著33歲的自己，穿著中國傳統(tǒng)的結(jié)婚禮服。

It has been a year since my fiancée, and I attended the wedding of her best friend. Since then, I have announced my intentions to marry her. I proposed on Christmas Eve. Now, my fiancée and I are busy getting ready for our wedding. We are making reservations for the wedding party, preparing the menu, and trying on wedding clothes.The other day, I stared at my reflection in the mirror of a bridal clothing shop. I saw myself clothed in a Chinese traditional red wedding gown as golden dragons danced on my chest. Within a few short months, I will marry the girl of my dreams. However, at this moment, a deeper dream was coming true. I remembered that little boy growing up in rural America. I remembered 8-year old me trying to use chopsticks for the first time at a Chinese restaurant. I remembered a 27-year-old me getting on an airplane and traveling to unknown land of ancient mysteries. Now I was looking at a 33-year-old me clothed in a traditional Chinese wedding gown.

我的生活就是一場奇遇。我正在我兒時起就愛上的國家里生活著，經(jīng)歷著。更重要的是，我即將成為一個中國家庭的一員，一個文化的一員，一個社區(qū)的一員，而這一切都是我曾經(jīng)夢寐以求的。這是我夢想的家園。（本杰明·大衛(wèi)·凱里：1985年生于美國馬里蘭州，作家、詩人、音樂人、導(dǎo)演、藝術(shù)家，現(xiàn)任北華航天工業(yè)學(xué)院高級英語教師，2015年榮獲“河北省優(yōu)秀外國專家獎”）

My life has been an amazing adventure. I was living and experiencing the country I fell in love with when I was a boy.More than that, I was about to become a part of a family, of a culture, and of a community that I could only once dream about. This is the land of my dreams.