By Lisa Stitt 譯/張佳藝

本文作者Lisa Stitt（左）

飛機(jī)下面的海面看上去堅(jiān)硬結(jié)實(shí)。倘若我扔下一個球，說不定幾分鐘后便會彈回到我的手中。從地平線上看，海水共長天一色，蔚藍(lán)與蔚藍(lán)無縫銜接。注視著陽光下的波光粼粼，我不禁好奇數(shù)千英里下的水域里遨游著哪些生物？

The water below the plane appeared solid enough that I could bounce a ball off of its surface and have it returned to my grasp in a matter of minutes. The blue of the water met with the blue of the sky at the horizon in an almost indistinguishable line. As the water shimmered in the sunlight, I wondered what creature was swimming amidst those waters so many thousands of miles below.

阿拉斯加如幻景一般，滿山遍野的皚皚白雪繪滿機(jī)窗，將下方的西沃德掩蓋。正當(dāng)我斷定海洋浩瀚無邊界時，陸地的出現(xiàn)令我十分震驚。飛越阿拉斯加時，我目不轉(zhuǎn)睛欣賞窗外風(fēng)景；飛越日本時，我徹底淪陷于窗外美色。

And then- Alaska! Like a vision, mountains laden with snow filled my window and the city of Seward lay directly below. I was shocked to see land when I had been convinced the water extended forever. I was glued to the window as we flew over Alaska, but I was fused to the window as we flew over Japan.

飛機(jī)臨著陸時，那是我第一次俯瞰上海。身下的上海仿佛一座玩偶之城，河流貫穿山丘，加之微型房屋和樹木交叉，活脫脫一架錯綜復(fù)雜的三維模型。來華第一天，我們便享用了美味的午餐和美妙的巴士環(huán)城之旅。雖然悶熱潮濕，但上海卻是一個生機(jī)勃勃、惹人喜愛的地方。我們在中國的這個“安生教育”（AYC）團(tuán)隊(duì)約40人，成員分別來自英國、印度、南非、加拿大和美國等。我們花費(fèi)一周的時間在上海接受對外英語培訓(xùn)，同時在被送至各自寄宿學(xué)校之前享受著這段難得的團(tuán)隊(duì)合作時光。

As the plane prepared for landing, I had my first look at Shanghai - from a height that made it appear to be a city for dolls. The miniature houses and trees were intricate three-dimensional models, complete with rivers running through the hills. On our first day in China, we enjoyed a delicious lunch and a bus tour of the city. Although it’s muggy, Shanghai is quite a green, lovely place. Our Ameson Year in China (AYC) cohort is a diverse group of about 40 people from many countries around the world including the United Kingdom, India, South Africa,Canada, and America. We spent the week in Shanghai for Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) training,and enjoyed the time we had to spend as a group before being transferred to our individual host schools.

I have been placed at the Yunhe Experimental Primary School in China’s Zhejiang province. Yunhe (pronounced“Yuween-Huh”) is a county in the southwest of the province, about an hour drive from the city of Lishui.Yunhe is famous for its beautiful rice terraces and for producing wooden toys. By Chinese standards, Yunhe is a “small” city of about 125,000 people (which is still five times larger than my hometown).

我被指派到中國浙江省云和縣實(shí)驗(yàn)小學(xué)授課。云和縣位于浙江省西南部，距麗水市約一個小時車程。云和縣以其美麗的梯田和木制玩具生產(chǎn)而聞名。按照中國標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，云和縣是一座擁有約12.5萬人口的“小”縣城（盡管如此，它卻仍足有我家鄉(xiāng)的5倍大）。

AYC團(tuán)隊(duì)中的Klara被分配到云和縣的一所中學(xué)任教。美國同胞本就為數(shù)不多，而今能攜手工作，我們深感愉悅。為陪我們一道去云和縣，Ano和Sissy在我們出發(fā)前一天抵達(dá)上海。一起用過午餐后，我們四人搭出租車到火車站。這是我第一次在中國坐汽車。穿梭在擁擠的道路上，不斷躲閃來往行人，昔日印度之行的感受重回眼前。到達(dá)車站后，我詢問Ano車站是否與機(jī)場相連，她輕描淡寫地笑笑說：“不，車站如此之大，只是因?yàn)槿丝诒姸?。?/p>

Klara, an AYC cohort, has been assigned to teach at a middle school in Yunhe county and we have happily banded together as fellow Americans. To accompany us to Yunhe,arrived in Shanghai a day prior to our departure (their English names respectively are Ano and Sissy, whose use they kindly respond to). After enjoying lunch with the two of them, all four of us took a taxi to the train station. That was my first car ride in China and as we weaved and dodged through many pedestrians on the crowded roads, I experienced a strong reminiscence of India. When we reached the station I asked Ano if it was connected to an airport. She smiled and said, “No, it is this big because we have a lot of people.” What an understatement.

然而走在上海街道上，卻并不似我想象中那般擁擠。一座容納2500萬人口之多的城市，仍能給人以神清氣爽之感，這實(shí)在讓人大為驚嘆。路上行人都悠閑地踱著步，我一想到以為自己會像沙丁魚罐頭一樣擠在人行道上，便更覺訝異。孩子們玩著滑板車，父母牽著他們的手。整座城市安靜祥和，仿佛這里的人們都在度假。

Although, while walking around the streets of Shanghai,it did not feel as crowded as I imagined it would. It’s amazing that in a city of more than 25 million people, it can still feel so spacious. I was surprised to see everyone walking at such a leisurely pace, especially since I expected to be packed into the sidewalks like a tin of sardines.Mothers and fathers held the hands of their children who were often riding along on small scooters. The whole city seemed as calm as though they were all on holiday.

火車以300公里的時速疾馳，就好像在新鋪設(shè)的路面上開車一樣順暢。一座座建筑，一片片田地，一排排莊稼，皆似以一種將與地面脫離的速度飛馳而過。穿過隧道后，眼前改天換地。頃刻間漫山樹叢驟現(xiàn)，蒼翠欲滴的枝葉分外美麗。夏天，白日里有熱帶森林般的空氣，夜間則是彌漫著冰冷霧氣的樹林。隨著翡翠般的樹林越發(fā)靠近火車，大氣透視將遠(yuǎn)處山丘折射為青灰色，呼之欲出。

The train speeding along at 300 kilometers per hour felt as smooth as driving a car on the most recently paved road you can think of. Building after building, field after field, and row after row of crops sped by at a pace never experienced in a vehicle that still remained on the ground.After we rode through a tunnel, everything changed.Suddenly there were hills filled with trees whose leaves were so deep a green, there appeared nothing more beautiful in sight. They had the air of a tropical forest by summer day, and foggy cold wood by night. The atmospheric perspective turned the distant hills blue and grey as the emerald trees creeping closer to our train became ever more vivid.

最后我們抵達(dá)麗水，Ano開車送我們到云和縣。夜幕籠罩著整座縣城，即便如此，能被指派到這里已實(shí)屬幸運(yùn)。躺下歇息時，我已經(jīng)預(yù)感到如若離別之日到來，我將和這里有多難分難舍。時光荏苒，白駒過隙。雖然在飛機(jī)上我有背井離鄉(xiāng)之感，但我希望在接下來的10個月里，視中國為第二個家，享受生活中的每時每刻。（Lisa Stitt，安生教育AYC項(xiàng)目教育大使）

Eventually we arrived in Lishui and Ano drove us the remaining distance to Yunhe in her car. Night covered the city, but, even so, it wasn’t hard to see that we were lucky to be placed in this area. As I laid down to sleep I could already tell that when the time comes it will be difficult to leave. The thing about time is that it tends to run out quickly, and though I felt far from home on the plane here,I am eager to make China my home for the next 10 months and enjoy every moment I am given. (Lisa Stitt, one of the Educational Ambassadors of AYC)