文、譯/ Kokoshko Valeriy

時(shí)光飛逝，高中畢業(yè)后我就只身一人從哈薩克斯坦來到中國(guó)，已在中國(guó)生活了五六個(gè)年頭。雖然那時(shí)我完全不會(huì)講中文，但這種對(duì)陌生語言的恐懼從未減少我想來中國(guó)的熱情?；仡櫰鹞遗c中國(guó)的第一次邂逅，無數(shù)個(gè)記憶在我的腦海中閃爍而過。畫面定格在成龍大哥打斗的場(chǎng)景，《警察故事》是我看過的第一部中國(guó)電影，也是我與中國(guó)的第一次邂逅。成龍大哥一直是我小時(shí)候的英雄，一身正氣，雖然他不像美國(guó)電影中的超級(jí)英雄有超能力，會(huì)上天入地，能夠刀槍不入……但是在我眼里，成龍大哥完全是靠自己的雙拳打出一片天地，血?dú)夥絼?，是真正的英雄。?dāng)我決定來中國(guó)學(xué)習(xí)和生活，體驗(yàn)這里的風(fēng)土人情、文化和語言，我從未想過我的人生會(huì)有巨大的改變。

I moved to China from Kazakhstan directly after I finished high school. I have been living here for fi ve to six years now and it has all gone by so quickly. I did not speak much Chinese when I moved.Nevertheless, I did not let the fear of not speaking the language to keep me from this adventure. Everything I knew about China was in fl uenced by what I saw in Chinese movies. Jackie Chan was always my favourite actor and a hero of my childhood. He did an amazing job by combining Chinese culture elements with his Kung Fu movies. When I decided to move to China to experience the culture and learn the language, I never knew that it would change my life.

初來乍到的小尷尬

Funny stories when I fi rst came to Beijing

初到北京，我不會(huì)說中文，也沒有朋友和家人，復(fù)雜困難的書本知識(shí)和不熟悉的語言環(huán)境，曾讓我非常沮喪。多虧有一群良師益友，在學(xué)習(xí)和生活各方面都給予我很大的幫助，使我能夠適應(yīng)并開始享受我的新生活。我開始學(xué)習(xí)中文，慢慢獨(dú)立。

The first time I came to Beijing, I could not understand the local language, I did not have any friends and family here. I had a hard time getting used to a new culture and different environment.Initially I was very depressed but later thanks to the group of mentors and friends, I was able to adapt and started to enjoy my new life. I begun to learn Chinese and learned how to be independent and responsible.

2014年，我在北京理工大學(xué)拿到了獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金，開始了本科學(xué)習(xí)，北京的學(xué)習(xí)和生活之旅也隨之開始。我的專業(yè)是動(dòng)力與能源工程，說實(shí)話，那些長(zhǎng)得都很像的漢字對(duì)我來說真是太難了，我還時(shí)常為此鬧了不少笑話。有一次特別尷尬的經(jīng)歷，我去一家小餐館吃飯。我非常想吃茄子，但是當(dāng)時(shí)腦袋一下短路就是記不起茄子叫什么，隱約記得有一個(gè)“子”字在后面，我絞盡腦汁去想所有帶“子”的詞語，終于想起來了。故事的后續(xù)就是，一個(gè)白人男孩，在一個(gè)中國(guó)餐廳里想點(diǎn)一份“炒孩子”。顯然，服務(wù)員被我嚇了一跳，一臉惶恐地跑去找經(jīng)理。我不知道是不是我的面相讓我看起來像是一個(gè)會(huì)吃“小孩”的人，他信以為真，用英語大喊“CLOSED!（關(guān)門?。辈盐亿s了出去。當(dāng)時(shí)我還非常不解，不知道犯了什么錯(cuò)。后來，我跟老師講了這個(gè)故事，才明白我點(diǎn)了一份“炒孩子”。但是風(fēng)雨之后終有彩虹，現(xiàn)在，我的中文已經(jīng)越來越好，與人交流已經(jīng)不成問題。語言的熟悉也讓我慢慢融入了中國(guó)這個(gè)大家庭。

In 2014, I was honored to receive the scholarship at Beijing Institute of Technology and started my Undergraduate study. My major was Power Engineering. Studying in China as international student was hard. I am not going to lie - having thousand of characters, with many almost exactly alike did not make my life easy. While learning the language, I had many funny stories due to misunderstandings. The story that comes to my mind is about my trip to a small restaurant. One day I had a craving for some fried eggplant. Unfortunately, I did not remember the right word to express my need, but I knew that it was the one that had “子”at the end. I decided that by knowing this, I could still get what I need. Thus, a big white guy went into the restaurant and asked for some “炒孩子”. Suddenly, the waitress got very scared and ran away to her manager. Her manager came out and started to scream:“CLOSED!” in English (he, probably, thought I was American) and pushed me out from the restaurant. Only when I shared this story with my teacher, I realized that I was asking for some fried children,not fried eggplants. Nevertheless, with great dif fi culties also came great rewards. With time, my Chinese became better and I started to communicate with others having less problems.

中國(guó)美食征服了我的胃

I felt in love with Chinese food

本科順利畢業(yè)之后，我仍舊不舍得離開中國(guó)，在老師的推薦下，我申請(qǐng)了北京工業(yè)大學(xué)的碩士研究生并拿到北京市獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金，繼續(xù)深造。

Moreover, I could successfully graduate. After the graduation I refused to accept an idea of leaving the country. Having recommendation letter provided by my teacher, I decided to extend my studies. Fortunately, I received another scholarship to start doing my Master's degree in Beijing University of Technology.

中國(guó)有句話，“讀萬卷書，行萬里路”。中國(guó)有著無盡的美景，利用假期時(shí)間，我去了許多城市，感受中國(guó)的大好河山。我最喜歡熱情似火的山城重慶、文化古都西安，雄奇壯美的青海……其間，最讓我激動(dòng)的是華山的長(zhǎng)空棧道，它建立在華山的峭壁之上，非常狹窄和危險(xiǎn)，站在上面，我看到的風(fēng)景令我心潮澎湃。旅行的時(shí)候，我喜歡乘高鐵勝過飛機(jī)，因?yàn)檫@使我領(lǐng)略更多秀麗風(fēng)景。旅行讓我深深體會(huì)到，在中國(guó)，不同城市有著不同的風(fēng)土人情，同時(shí)也讓我愛上了許多中國(guó)美食。

There is a well-known saying in China which states “讀萬卷書，行萬里路”. This country has endless places to go. I was happy to spend my vacation time and explore the great rivers, mountains and historical sites of China, my favourites are: — Chongqing, the worldfamous ancient capital—Xi'an, and the magnificent Qinghai. One of the craziest things I experienced in China was the Chang Kong( 長(zhǎng)空) Cliff Road, this is an extremely narrow and treacherous walkway along cliffs built on Huashan mountain, a scenic mountain in China's Shaanxi Province. The view I saw there was enough to make my heart beat out of my chest. Most of the time I tried to travel via high-speed trains, rather than planes. By doing this I could see a lot more of the country. While travelling I noticed that every city has a different style and its own traditions. I enjoyed many beautiful landscapes and felt in love with a variety of Chinese food.

我品嘗過許多中國(guó)美食，但我仍覺得這些對(duì)于中國(guó)美食來說，還都只是皮毛。就像別人談起俄羅斯的菜就只能想到羅宋湯和土豆一樣，我以前對(duì)中國(guó)食物的印象就只有蛋卷和油炸食品，我從沒想過一種食物可以包含那么多種不同的口味和佐料，竟然也如此好吃。在哈薩克斯坦也有一些中餐廳，我那時(shí)候就覺得味道還不錯(cuò)，但是來到中國(guó)之后才發(fā)現(xiàn)，原來我們國(guó)家的中餐廳里的那些中餐：牛肉、花菜、幸運(yùn)餅干等其實(shí)并不算是什么真正的中國(guó)菜。而且我非常震驚在中國(guó)原來也有茄子和豆腐（因?yàn)槲覀儑?guó)家也經(jīng)常吃）。游歷各省，我發(fā)現(xiàn)在中國(guó)，幾乎每個(gè)省的美食都有不同的特色。從前，我不曾了解中國(guó)美食分為八大菜系：魯菜、粵菜、川菜、蘇菜、浙菜、閩菜、湘菜、徽菜。我最喜歡宮保雞丁、火鍋，還有青島啤酒。甚至有一次，我還吃了一些蟲子做的菜，蟬、蝎子和一些奇奇怪怪的蟲子。

During my life in China, I tried to eat as many different dishes as possible. I still believe that I had barely scratched the surface. I was amazed at the diversity of different ingredients and unique fl avours. Backhome people tend to simplify Chinese food down to egg rolls and fried food. This is the same as believing that Russian cuisine is just borscht and perogies. Growing up, I was in love with“Chinese” food. In Kazakhstan restaurants had something for all food tastes and I thought that our “Chinese” food was not too bad.I was surprized to fi nd out that beef, broccoli and fortune cookies are not really common in China. I was shocked to see eggplant and tofu in Chinese menu. While travelling around the country, I also noticed that food change completely from province to province.Previously, I did not know about many of the regional cuisines:Shandong Cuisine, Sichuan Cuisine, Guangdong Cuisine, Fujian Cuisine, Jiangsu Cuisine, Zhejiang Cuisine, Hunan Cuisine, Anhui Cuisine,and much more that I have not explored yet. My all-time favourite dishes are 宮保雞丁, hot pot and, of course, Chinese beer.Here I also had a true “bug experience”, I tried so many: cicadas,scorpions and other mystery bugs.

令我流連忘返的中國(guó)

I was enchanted by China

無論我在中國(guó)的哪個(gè)地方，人們總是非常有禮貌且特別友好。我的老家是一個(gè)特別小的城鎮(zhèn)，在那里很難接觸到這么多人。來中國(guó)之后，我很多時(shí)候都覺得，無論我走到哪都有一些人對(duì)我感到好奇，想要與我同行。這里的人們特別愛聊天，尤其是出租車司機(jī)，我甚至覺得有些滴滴司機(jī)就是為了跟大家聊天才開車的。畢竟現(xiàn)在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)技術(shù)那么發(fā)達(dá)，人們很少會(huì)面對(duì)面地交流了。旅行途中，我發(fā)現(xiàn)在一些小城市的人很少有機(jī)會(huì)與我這樣的外國(guó)人接觸，因此，無論我說話吃飯還是走路，總會(huì)引來一片圍觀的目光。甚至還有路人想要與我合影，或者讓我抱著他們的寶寶，我非常享受這種如明星般的光環(huán)。

Wherever you go in China, you will find people are friendly and polite. Living in a small town most of my life, I found hard to get used to see so many humans around. Most of the time I have a feeling that wherever I go, half the population has also decided to join me. I noticed that people here love to talk, especially taxi drivers. I was shocked to find out that many DIDI drivers work only to chat with people they pick up. Since life today is more technologically based, they say it is harder to meet someone face-toface. While travelling across the country, I also found that there are some places where local people do not have many interactions with foreigners like me. Therefore, sometimes people stare at me while I am talking, eating or walking down the street. Many people asked me to take a photo with them, others wanted me to hold their babies.I really enjoy doing both, sometimes I feel like a super star.

中國(guó)在很多方面都是獨(dú)一無二的。在老家的時(shí)候，我習(xí)慣了使用谷歌、臉書還有一些我們國(guó)家的平臺(tái)去看一些視頻。在中國(guó)，這些平臺(tái)有很多是無法訪問的。不過現(xiàn)在我已習(xí)慣了這些，開始熟悉使用一些類似的中文軟件。特別是微信，我?guī)缀蹩梢栽谖⑿派献鋈魏问拢嚎春头窒砩钪械膭?dòng)態(tài)，發(fā)送短信和語音信息，發(fā)送文件，使用微信錢包，發(fā)紅包，甚至購(gòu)買飛機(jī)票！一個(gè)APP居然如此神通廣大，真的是讓人印象深刻。

China is unique in so many ways. Backhome I got used to use Google, Whatsapp, Facebook as well as watch many movies online on the local platforms. In China most of those platforms are forbidden. Fortunately, there is a Chinese version for some of those applications. Here We Chat is everything. It can be used to watch or share news from our life, send text and voice messages, send documents, pay for your expenses using We Chat Wallet, transfer money to your friends and relatives and even buy plane tickets! I still believe that all of the above is very impressive, especially via the single app.

空氣污染是我最不喜歡的一點(diǎn)。起初，我并沒有意識(shí)到霧霾有多么嚴(yán)重，我不關(guān)心手機(jī)上提示PM2.5爆表的消息，也從來不去戴口罩。但是現(xiàn)在，我認(rèn)識(shí)到了錯(cuò)誤，3M防護(hù)口罩相對(duì)于普通的醫(yī)用口罩真的是一個(gè)不錯(cuò)的選擇，它能更好地保護(hù)我們的呼吸道。不過令人欣慰的是，現(xiàn)在北京的霧霾天已經(jīng)越來越少了。

Another aspect of the daily life that was hard to accept is air pollution. When I just moved to China, I did not know about its pollution level. I was not aware of the special app that can show the real-time pollution situation and did not wear any masks.Fortunately, I am more educated today. Although many people tend to wear a surgical mask, I prefer to use the white 3M construction mask since this has a better protection level.Fortunately ,the number of smoggy days are decreasing.

說起來，我還是最喜歡我生活和學(xué)習(xí)的地方——北京，這座古韻和現(xiàn)代共存的城市。在這兒，你能看到許多對(duì)比：既有古老的建筑又有聳入云霄的摩天大樓。我常趕在日落之前，爬上景山俯瞰整座紫禁城，也時(shí)常會(huì)在午后和朋友去頤和園散心，去胡同里閑逛，去什剎?；Ｔ谶@樣的北京里，我總覺得自己回到了古代的中國(guó)，這里的一草一木都伴隨著悠久的歷史。

The best part of living in Beijing is living in Beijing! This is a magical city that has a combination of ancient and contemporary architecture. Here you can see a vast contrast: ancient temples right across the street from shiny skyscrapers. Sometimes I feel like I can return to ancient China at any time, where all of the surroundings remind me of its long history. This city gives me an opportunity to experience something new every day. Me and my friends enjoy walking around the Forbidden City, hiking the Great Wall of China and Buddhist temple in the mountains, exploring Beijing's hutongs and Jingshan Park.

在北京，我還經(jīng)常遇見一些不同尋常的趣事：在胡同里，我可以看見提著鳥籠閑逛的人，在公園里，我也常能在早上看見打太極鍛煉身體的老人，北京真的是一個(gè)充滿驚喜和可能性的地方。

In Beijing I could see many unusual things. This is the city where people take birds for a walk. This is a famous and very old tradition that is sill popular in Hutong. Here you can also see how elders practice Taijiquan early in the morning. The capital of China is a place full of surprises and potential.

這六年來，北京也在一點(diǎn)一滴地發(fā)生著變化：越來越多的破舊平房變成摩天大樓，越來越多的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)產(chǎn)品讓我們的生活越來越方便，越來越多的優(yōu)秀文化在這里生根發(fā)芽。而我也在這里一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)地長(zhǎng)大。

Over the past six years, Beijing has also changed a lot: more and more dilapidated bungalows have become skyscrapers, more and more Internet products have made our lives convenient, and more and more excellent cultures have taken root and sprouted here. More than anything,I also grew up here .

16歲到22歲，我青春歲月中最重要的幾年都是在這里度過，當(dāng)我剛來到這里的時(shí)候，人們都說你還太小了，該怎么照顧自己！但現(xiàn)在，我非常享受在北京度過的每一天。在這里，我學(xué)習(xí)知識(shí)，結(jié)交朋友，獲得學(xué)位，收獲愛情。我非常感激六年前那個(gè)孤身一人來到北京的自己，堅(jiān)持不懈地奮斗，慢慢融入這個(gè)高速發(fā)展的城市，讓世界因我的存在變得不一樣，相信我的努力不會(huì)白費(fèi)。

From 16 to 22 years old, the most important years of my life were spent in China. When I just moved here, many people said: “You are too young to live by yourself!” Nevertheless, I enjoyed every day I have spent here. I gained knowledge, made many friends and met my fi rst love. I am happy that I made such a life choice and moved to this wonderful country six years ago. I have been working hard to integrate into this society and sure my effort was not in vain.