【老外看泸州（二）】作者：Charlie Eichacker

    When I teach, my students often ask me the question: “What is it like in America?” It’s not an easy question, as America is so big and so diverse. People in America come from many different countries, so many people look and even talk differently. We are a nation of immigrants. For example, the number of Americans whose first language is Spanish will probably outnumber that of Americans whose first language is English within ten years.

    This diversity has advantages. Americans grow up with an understanding of different people and appreciate new things. But it also has disadvantages: it can lead to class and race conflicts. Regardless of the positives and negatives, America is diverse. Coming to China, one of the biggest differences has been how few immigrants and foreigners there are here.

    Other differences are simpler. An average American meal usually has meat, carbohydrates (like noodles, bread, or rice), and vegetables (cooked or in salad) in every meal. But unlike Chinese cooking, we usually eat them all as separate dishes and not combined into a stir-fry like qingjiao rousi or shuizhu yu. We eat with a spoon, fork and knife and not chopsticks. Perhaps the biggest difference may be that we eat much more dairy food, like cheese and butter, and because of this Americans generally tend to be “bigger” than Chinese people.

    Another area of difference between Americans and Chinese is the family structure. America has a much more individualist society. Parents want their children to be independent. They don’t want the children to rely too much on the family and will encourage kids to get part-time jobs, traveling, and make money by themselves. When children become adults, it is uncommon for them to give money back to their parents or even live with their parents when they have kids. We view family as something called the “nuclear family”: a mom, dad, and children. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins are all just considered “relatives” or “extended family.” In other words, they are outside the immediate family.

    This idea of raising children to be independent also plays out in school. American students have more free time than Chinese students. They usually study eight hours a day, five days a week, and almost never at night or on the weekend. This is not to say American students don’t work hard, but much of their work is homework or free studying or independent assignments. In their free time, high school students are also encouraged to play sports, participate in clubs and get part-time jobs to help pay for their own living expenses, like food. Many American high school students even learn how to drive and buy used cars.

    The list es on. Americans say “thank you” a lot. They drink coffee. They walk fast. They use western medicine. They like to leave home as soon as possible. They commonly have boyfriends and girlfriends in high school America is, in a word, different. But difference isn’t bad, or od, it just is. Both of our countries are important, and I hope we can both understand each other better in the future. I know I have learned much about Chinese culture and am very excited to share it with my American friends and family. 

Charlie Eichacker
21/5/2011

    翻译：

    在我任教期间，学生们常问我这样的问题：“美国是啥样儿的？”这个问题并不简单，因为美国太大，太多样化了。美国人来自不同的国家，很多人长相甚至是说话都不一样。我们是一个移民民族。举个例子，在十年内，以西班牙语为母语的美国人的数量将会超过以英语为母语的美国人的数量。

    这种多样化有它自身的好处。美国人是伴随着对其他不同人种的理解而成长的，他们很喜欢新鲜事物。但是这种多样化也有劣势：它会导致阶级化和种族矛盾。无论多样化带来的是正面还是负面的影响，美国始终是一个多元化的国家。来到中国，最大的一个差异就是在这里，几乎没有多少移民或是外国人。

    其他不同也就比较简单了。美国人每顿饭都会吃肉、糖（如面条、面包、大米）以及蔬菜（煎过或是伴着沙拉吃），不像中国人吃饭那样，我们通常都是把这些作为单独的菜肴，而不是像弄青椒肉丝、水煮鱼一样把各种菜混合着弄来吃。我们用勺、刀、叉而不用筷子。也许最大的区别是我们吃的东西都比较营养，比如奶酪、黄油，因此，美国人总的来说比起中国人趋向于更“肥胖”。

    中国人和美国人之间不同的另一方面在于家庭结构。美国是一个更为独立的社会。父母希望孩子独立，他们不想让孩子过分依赖家庭，还会鼓励孩子们打工、旅游及靠自己赚钱。当孩子成人后，一般不会拿钱给父母用或者在自己有了孩子以后，还和父母生活在一起。我们看待家庭就像是所谓的“核心家庭”：母亲、父亲和孩子们。祖父母、姑姑、叔叔以及表姊妹都只能被看做是“亲戚”或者是“家庭的延伸”，换句话说，他们都只是这个直接的家庭的外围人员。

    把孩子培养成为独立的人的理念在学校同样受用。相较中国学生而言，美国学生具有更多的自由时间。他们一般一星期五天，每天学习八小时，几乎从来不挑灯夜战也不用周末加班加点。这并不是说美国学生学习不努力，他们的任务要么是家庭作业要么是自由学习或者完成单独的任务。高中生也被鼓励利用业余时间参加体育运动、加入俱乐部、打工承担自己的生活费用，比如吃的。许多美国高中生甚至还学驾驶、买二手车。

    还有很多例子，如：美国人常说“谢谢你”，喝咖啡，快速走路，吃西药，喜欢尽早离开家庭，高中就有男女朋友。总之，就是很不同于中国人。但是这些区别并不能说明好坏，存在即合理。我们两个国家都很重要，希望将来我们能够更好地相互理解。我已经了解了很多中国文化，非常激动地想要与我的美国朋友和家人分享。

Charlie Eichacker
21/5/2011

编辑：马庆娟

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