by Leah Budk

Life is comprised of change. Beginning a life abroad can be described almost entirely through that word “change”. There are big changes； stepping outside of the 1）confines of what is familiar can lead to a whole different perspective on life. Ive experienced a lot of big changes， but Ive also been noticing that Ive experienced smaller changes， as well.

a “nieuwe fiets”

The first time I came to 2）Ghent it was clearly evident that I would need to pull my twelve-year-old bike-riding skills out of the depths of my knowledge base， gain some courage and do as the locals do. It was night as we stepped out of the train station and onto the streets of Ghent for the first time together and I immediately found myself among a sea of bikes. My friend Christophe had been preparing for me to visit and bought a bike for me from a second-hand website. A couple of days after arriving we decided it was time to give the bike riding a go. The first matter of business was to lower the seat of the bike to 3）accommodate my lack of leg length. Now， you see， even with the seat as low as possible my feet only barely reached the pedals. I was 4）adamant that this would not be a problem for the days that I was there， so off we went.

That is until we came upon the 5）Gravensteen. Its a beautiful castle and it draws a lot of tourist activity， it also is a big 6）intersection for the 7）tram system. Christophe had instructed me to use caution while going across the tram track with the bike and I was trying to follow his advice. Unfortunately， I didnt do this well enough and the tram track 8）snatched up my bike tire and rendered me helplessly suspended for a few seconds until I executed what one might not deem the most graceful dismount ever. It certainly won the attention of all the passersby that happened to be enjoying the Gravensteen at that time. I picked myself up， picked my bike up， and then tried to gather all the bits of pride that remained. After that experience I was motivated to be more careful when crossing the tram tracks but apparently even the most delicate caution might not be enough. A few days later， I found myself in a similar situation in nearly the exact same location complete with all the onlookers and 9）embarrassment that came with the first experience. This is when I decided that the bike is simply too big or that perhaps I am simply just too small. Whichever way it is， a nieuwe fiets （new bike） is needed.

生活是由變化構(gòu)成的。在國外開啟一段新生活幾乎完全可以用“變化”這個詞來形容。有些變化是巨大的；邁離自己所熟悉的疆界可能會帶來整個人生觀的改變。我曾經(jīng)歷過很多重大改變，但我同樣注意到自己也曾經(jīng)歷了一些較小的改變。

“騎車”記

當我第一次來到根特市時，顯而易見的是，我必須從個人知識庫深處將自己在12歲時學到的騎自行車的技能拽出來，拿出一些勇氣，然后像當?shù)厝四菢域T車出行。當我們步出火車站并第一次一起在根特市的大街小巷里穿行時，已是夜晚時分，而我一下子便發(fā)現(xiàn)自己陷入了一片自行車的海洋。我的朋友克里斯托弗已經(jīng)為我的到訪做好了準備，在一個二手網(wǎng)站上為我買了一輛自行車。到達后過了兩天，我們決定是時候試一把騎車出行了。第一件要做的事就是要降低自行車的座椅，以遷就我腿長不足的問題。現(xiàn)在，你瞧，即便把座椅盡可能地降到最低，我的腳還是只能勉強夠到踏板。但我堅定地認為，在我待在那兒的這段時間里，這將不會造成問題，于是，我們出發(fā)了。

直到我們來到了格拉文斯丁城堡。這是一座美麗的城堡，不僅吸引了眾多旅游活動，而且還是有軌電車軌道系統(tǒng)的一個大交匯點。克里斯托弗已經(jīng)教過我，當騎自行車穿過有軌電車的軌道時要格外小心，而我也努力聽從他的建議。不幸的是，我做得還不夠好，有軌電車的軌道卡住了我的車輪，讓我束手無策地懸停了好幾秒，直到我以應(yīng)該不是史上最優(yōu)雅的姿態(tài)摔下車來。這當然引起了那時正湊巧欣賞著格拉文斯丁城堡美景的每一位游客的注意。我爬起身來，扶起我的自行車，然后努力拾回自己所剩的每一點自尊心。在這段經(jīng)歷之后，每當要穿過有軌電車的軌道時，我都提醒自己要格外小心，但很顯然，即便是最細致的小心可能也還是不夠。幾天后，我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己在差不多完全相同的地點又陷入了類似的處境，和第一次經(jīng)歷一樣，到處都是旁觀者和尷尬。直到這時，我才認定了這輛自行車確實是太大了，或者也許只是我的個子太小了。不管怎樣，我需要一輛“新自行車”！

the swear word losing its strength

Belgians are superior language learners. Its common to be walking down the street or sitting on the tram and hear an English swear word thrown in among a string of Dutch words. The preferred expression of girls between the ages of 12 and 25 is， “oh my god.” Because I had a relatively 10）conservative upbringing， these words still dont often cross my lips. I was made aware at a young age that people can be easily offended by this expression. The choice not to say this expression， in my eyes， has nothing to do with religious preference， but rather a common 11）courtesy that I take in order not to offend someone.

The strongest of English swear words， for which we Americans have many silly 12）substitutions （such as “freaking”，“flipping”， “fudge”）， is very commonly heard. When I first moved here， I always felt taken aback when I would hear young people saying this so freely in public. Likewise， sometimes from the mouth of my boyfriend comes the swear word “shit”. Although， seemingly less strong of a 13）cuss word to me than the “f” word， it still always makes me look around quickly to see what 14）catastrophe has occurred. I hate it when he says this while were in the car because my automatic reaction is to think that something is going terribly wrong.

臟話失色

比利時人精于語言學習。行走在街頭或是坐在有軌電車上聽到一連串的荷蘭語中蹦出個英語臟話是件尋常事兒。12到25歲的女孩子們愛說的是“oh my god（我的天?。?。因為我所受的教育相對保守，很少讓這些詞句脫口而出。小時候，我就被教導說，這種表達很容易冒犯他人。在我的眼里，選擇不用這樣的表達法與宗教偏好無關(guān)，而是一種為了不冒犯他人而持有的基本禮節(jié)。

在這里時常能聽到那些最沖的英語臟話，我們美國人有很多傻氣的替代說法（比如“freaking（該死）”，“flipping（可惡）”， “fudge（胡說八道）”）。當我剛搬到這里來時，每當我聽到年輕人在大庭廣眾之下如此隨意地說出這些臟話時，總是嚇一跳。同樣地，有時從我男朋友的嘴里也會蹦出“shit（混賬）”那種臟話。盡管在我看來，這詞的語氣要比那個“f”開頭的臟話輕一些，但還是總會讓我迅速四顧，看看有沒有發(fā)生什么災(zāi)禍。當我們駕車出行時，我很討厭他這么說，因為我下意識的反應(yīng)就是想到什么要命的事發(fā)生了。