《翻越那道墙》
Climbing Over the Wall
One morning, I had to pick up my boss Nancy Carroll, an old lady with tough style at 7:00 a.m. sharp at the teachers' apartment because the TA was somehow occupied that day. The gate which was open all the time between the apartment and cafeteria was somehow closed that day. I turned around and was ready to make a detour to the cafeteria.
“Where are you going, Ming (That's what they called me at the summer camp)?” Nancy asked in surprise.
“Don't tell me we are going to climb over the wall.” I was a little scared.
“Yes. That's exactly what we are going to do.” she replied.
“That's not gonna happen. You know, I have a phobia. I fell from a wall when I was a kid and hurt myself badly. It's some sort of psychological shadow.”
“Hey! Ming, I must teach you to overcome. And you have to trust me and yourself.”
Then she climbed onto the wall and demonstrated how to switch feet and make turns.
Although the demo is detailed enough, I still did not have the courage to take a climb. I climbed onto the wall and stayed there for 4 minutes with my mind going blank.
“Ming, you can do it! Just try!” Nancy yelled to me, “Don't worry. I'll hold you down here if you fall off.”
A warm stream just flew over my heart. My parents would have complained “How can you be so timid!” under the same circumstance. With the help of Nancy, I finally made it.
Come to think of it, the core of my story is cultural difference. American ways of handling matters are sort of straight without taking any detour, which are relatively simple and effective. Chinese, however, tend to avoid the obstacles in real life experiences and invariably try to figure out roundabout solutions. This comparison reflects different thinking patterns of Chinese and American. The cause of this phenomenon can be hardly traced and it would not be sagacious to assess which thinking pattern outshines the other. But one thing is for sure, that it is, diversity makes the world more beautiful. And I sincerely hope that every culture on the planet will climb over the walls around it and join in hands together.
Cultural difference is what the summer camp is really all about. This experience would definitely be something I will never ever forget in my whole life.
———————————————————————————————————————————
翻越那道墙
一天清晨，才七点，我起了个大早绕道去外教公寓楼接南希老师，一个作风硬朗的人。外教楼和自选餐厅之间的铁门平日里都是开着的，偏偏那天给锁上了。于是，我转过身，准备折回去从自选餐厅那儿绕道过去。
“明，你去哪儿？”南希似乎有些吃惊地问道。
“别告诉我得翻过那道墙。”我禁不住开始感到有些害怕。
“ 对，那就是我们接下来要做的。”她回答道。
“那不可能！我有恐惧症。小时候，我曾经从高墙上摔下来过，而且伤得很严重，所以现在留下了心理阴影。”
“嘿，明，看来我必须教会你如何克服心理的恐惧了。现在开始，你需要相信我，更要相信你自己。”她边说边走到墙下，开始向我演示如何换脚、转身。
尽管她的演示已经够详细的了，但是我却仍旧没有勇气去翻越那道墙。我趴在那儿足足有四分钟，脑中只一片空白。
“明，不要怕，你一定行的！”南希开始大声冲我喊道，“不要怕，我就在这边，即便是你摔下来，我也一定能把你接住！”
就在那一刻，一股暖流涌过我的心头。如果换做是我的父母，一定只会责怪我：“你怎么胆子那么小！”不过正是因为南希老师，我居然成功了！
现在回过头来想想，我这个故事的核心内容就是关于文化差异。美国人处理问题的方式往往比较直接，喜欢选择简单有效的方式，而不是逃避或者拐弯。于此恰恰相反，中国人在面对困难的时候往往选择回避，或者想方设法选择折中的解决方案。这一差异反映了中国人和美国人在思考问题时的不同。导致这一现象的原因很难解释清楚，而且就此评价哪种方式更好也显得不够明智。但有一点却是可以肯定的，那就是，正是因为这些差异，才使这个世界变得更加的美好。我真心的希望世界上不同的文化都能翻越那道墙，携起手来，一起向前。
我觉得，夏令营的意义其实就是让我认识到了文化的差异。而这一次经历，也必将成为我人生中最宝贵的财富。
备注：
1.英文为去年威海Tony&Mei美式英语与艺术夏令营学员Ming的作品，作为浙大保送生的他已被美国Purdue大学录取。
2.中文为我刚才完成的翻译。
One morning, I had to pick up my boss Nancy Carroll, an old lady with tough style at 7:00 a.m. sharp at the teachers' apartment because the TA was somehow occupied that day. The gate which was open all the time between the apartment and cafeteria was somehow closed that day. I turned around and was ready to make a detour to the cafeteria.
“Where are you going, Ming (That's what they called me at the summer camp)?” Nancy asked in surprise.
“Don't tell me we are going to climb over the wall.” I was a little scared.
“Yes. That's exactly what we are going to do.” she replied.
“That's not gonna happen. You know, I have a phobia. I fell from a wall when I was a kid and hurt myself badly. It's some sort of psychological shadow.”
“Hey! Ming, I must teach you to overcome. And you have to trust me and yourself.”
Then she climbed onto the wall and demonstrated how to switch feet and make turns.
Although the demo is detailed enough, I still did not have the courage to take a climb. I climbed onto the wall and stayed there for 4 minutes with my mind going blank.
“Ming, you can do it! Just try!” Nancy yelled to me, “Don't worry. I'll hold you down here if you fall off.”
A warm stream just flew over my heart. My parents would have complained “How can you be so timid!” under the same circumstance. With the help of Nancy, I finally made it.
Come to think of it, the core of my story is cultural difference. American ways of handling matters are sort of straight without taking any detour, which are relatively simple and effective. Chinese, however, tend to avoid the obstacles in real life experiences and invariably try to figure out roundabout solutions. This comparison reflects different thinking patterns of Chinese and American. The cause of this phenomenon can be hardly traced and it would not be sagacious to assess which thinking pattern outshines the other. But one thing is for sure, that it is, diversity makes the world more beautiful. And I sincerely hope that every culture on the planet will climb over the walls around it and join in hands together.
Cultural difference is what the summer camp is really all about. This experience would definitely be something I will never ever forget in my whole life.
———————————————————————————————————————————
翻越那道墙
一天清晨，才七点，我起了个大早绕道去外教公寓楼接南希老师，一个作风硬朗的人。外教楼和自选餐厅之间的铁门平日里都是开着的，偏偏那天给锁上了。于是，我转过身，准备折回去从自选餐厅那儿绕道过去。
“明，你去哪儿？”南希似乎有些吃惊地问道。
“别告诉我得翻过那道墙。”我禁不住开始感到有些害怕。
“ 对，那就是我们接下来要做的。”她回答道。
“那不可能！我有恐惧症。小时候，我曾经从高墙上摔下来过，而且伤得很严重，所以现在留下了心理阴影。”
“嘿，明，看来我必须教会你如何克服心理的恐惧了。现在开始，你需要相信我，更要相信你自己。”她边说边走到墙下，开始向我演示如何换脚、转身。
尽管她的演示已经够详细的了，但是我却仍旧没有勇气去翻越那道墙。我趴在那儿足足有四分钟，脑中只一片空白。
“明，不要怕，你一定行的！”南希开始大声冲我喊道，“不要怕，我就在这边，即便是你摔下来，我也一定能把你接住！”
就在那一刻，一股暖流涌过我的心头。如果换做是我的父母，一定只会责怪我：“你怎么胆子那么小！”不过正是因为南希老师，我居然成功了！
现在回过头来想想，我这个故事的核心内容就是关于文化差异。美国人处理问题的方式往往比较直接，喜欢选择简单有效的方式，而不是逃避或者拐弯。于此恰恰相反，中国人在面对困难的时候往往选择回避，或者想方设法选择折中的解决方案。这一差异反映了中国人和美国人在思考问题时的不同。导致这一现象的原因很难解释清楚，而且就此评价哪种方式更好也显得不够明智。但有一点却是可以肯定的，那就是，正是因为这些差异，才使这个世界变得更加的美好。我真心的希望世界上不同的文化都能翻越那道墙，携起手来，一起向前。
我觉得，夏令营的意义其实就是让我认识到了文化的差异。而这一次经历，也必将成为我人生中最宝贵的财富。
备注：
1.英文为去年威海Tony&Mei美式英语与艺术夏令营学员Ming的作品，作为浙大保送生的他已被美国Purdue大学录取。
2.中文为我刚才完成的翻译。
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