Name : Becky Ances

姓名：Becky Ances

Country of Origin : USA

国籍：美国

Occupation : Teacher

职业：老师

Years in China : 12 years

在华居住时间：12年

How did your journey in China begin?

你的中国之旅是怎样开始的?

I remember my first full day in China at the new school I was contractually obligated to live and work at for the next 6 months. Because of jet lag I woke up really early and had hours until I met my boss, so I decided to explore the area around the campus, and maybe find the city center and places like supermarkets and restaurants in my new home in Zhejiang Province.

我还记得我第一天到中国新学校的场景，而且接下来的六个月我都必须要在中国生活和工作。因为时差的关系，我醒得很早，距离见到老板还有好几个小时，于是我决定去校园周围转转，或许能在我的新家——浙江，试着找到市中心，或是超市和餐馆。

It was a little after dawn, in August, but it was already oppressively hot and humid. My shirt was wet with sweat before I even reached the school gates. While the school was neat and orderly, outside the gate was another story. The road was just a dirt/rubble path and the buildings were half demolished. I would find out later that it was due to a revitalization program for the area, and within a few years they would have a shiny new paved road and dozens of new, handsome buildings, but at the time I thought that’s what it was always gonna look like and my new China home was more like a war zone than a livable city.

那是八月，天刚破晓不久，但已经闷热潮湿得让人难以忍受。我还没到学校门口，衬衫就被汗水湿透了。虽然学校整洁有序，但大门外却是另一番景象。校门外的道路是一条土路（石子路），周遭的建筑也是破破烂烂。后来我才知道，当时这个区域在重建，几年之后，该地就拥有崭新的道路和好几十处造型美观的建筑物。不过对于第一天到中国的我来说，我还以为破烂的场景将会是常态，我在中国的新家更像是一个战区，而非一个宜居城市。

As I walked down the road/rubble pile I saw more chicken and mangey, starved dogs than people. The people I did see, like a woman doing washing in a plastic tub, eyed me suspiciously. After a seemingly endless journey I arrived at a paved road and an intersection. I had no idea which direction the city center lay so I chose at random. I walked along the paved road, but the only cars out and about at this early hour were giant construction trucks filled with rocks and rubble. There was no sidewalk, so I hugged the side of the road as these giant trucks rumbled and roared past me.

当我走在路上（或者说瓦砾堆更合适），我看到的小鸡和饿狗比人还多。我也看到了一些人，比如有一个女人在塑料桶里洗衣服，还一边怀疑地看着我。经过一段看似没有尽头的路程，我走到了一个道路平坦的十字路口。我不知道市中心在哪个方向，于是我随便走了一条路。我沿着平坦的路向前，但天色尚早，只有装满岩石和瓦砾的工程车出动。而且因为没有人行道，所以当这些巨型卡车轰隆隆地从我身边呼啸而过时，我只能紧紧贴着路边走。

After about 30 minutes, with sweat and dust covering me, still scared of all the trucks passing dangerously close to me, I realized I had chosen the wrong direction and seemed to be heading away from the city. Defeated I turned around to walk back home. My throat was parched and scratchy from all the dust the trucks were kicking up. I wanted, no needed, a bottle of water. I passed by what maybe looked like little shops, they had some faded Coke signs on the wall, a cooler against the wall, but they were just cement buildings, with no door, no sign, and a few older guys in boxers and white tank tops fanning themselves and staring at me unkindly. I was too nervous to approach any of these little cement stores and I had no idea how to say “water” in Chinese, so I just kept walking hoping I would make it to my new apartment before passing out of dehydration.

大约30分钟后，我浑身都沾满了汗水和灰尘。过往急驶的卡车快把我吓坏了，这时候我才意识到我似乎走错了路，只会离市里越来越远。深感挫败，我转身往回走。卡车扬起的灰尘让我的喉咙又干又痒。我急需一瓶水。我路过了一个看起来像小卖部的地方，墙上有一些褪色的可乐海报，墙边立着一个冰柜。不过这里装修非常简陋，没有门，也没有任何标志。几个穿着短裤和白背心的老人扇着扇子，不怀好意地盯着我。我不太敢接近这些小卖部中的任何一家，更何况我也不知道如何用中文说“水”。所以我只能继续走，希望能在脱水昏倒之前回到我的新公寓。

When I finally made it home after about an hour (though it felt like an eternity), I guzzled a jug of water and cleaned the dust from my face, promising myself that I would never leave my house without an escort and translator. In all the months of preparing myself for China, I never once imagined I’d find myself in a situation like I just had. I had been excited, nervous about this new adventure, curious about what it would be like, but never scared. Not until that first day. As I was wiping dust from my face, I chided myself for being such an idiot and wondering how I could get back to America as fast as possible.

大约一个小时后（感觉像过了一个世纪），我终于到家了。我喝了一大壶水，把脸上的灰洗干净了，并向自己保证，如果没有翻译和陪同人员，决不离开我的房间。在为来中国做准备的几个月里，我从来没有想到过自己会处于刚才那种情况。我一直对这次新的征程充满期待和好奇，或许会紧张，但从来没有害怕。直到来中国的第一天，当我擦去脸上的灰尘后，我责备自己是个笨蛋，想方设法地想要尽快回到美国。

But seeing as how I not only finished the first 6 months contract successfully but then signed another and another and now it is 12 years later, I can say despite that nightmare of a morning I quickly overcame any problems and ended up loving that dirt road and living in China.

但是看看现在的我，不仅在中国待满了最初合同规定的六个月时间，而且又签了一份又一份的合同。现在，12年过去了，我还在中国。可以说除了初到中国那天早上的噩梦经历，我很快克服了遇到的其他问题，并且最终爱上了那条土路，爱上了在中国的生活。

What is your unique china story? 

关于你独特的中国故事是什么呢?

If you know me at all, this answer is obvious: badminton. I grew a wallflower/art kid, going to art school and hating anything physical and thought jocks were dumb. But when I moved to Xiamen at the tender age of 39 (after living in Zhejiang Province for 5 years), I made friends with an international group that played badminton twice a week. I went one night, just thinking it would be a one-time thing, but that night changed my life. Within a few months I ended up buying sports equipment (and clothing) for the first time in my life, finding a coach and began a sports journey at the age of 40 that took me from finding a romantic partner, to interviewing top professional players and starting my own YouTube channel. There have been three big passions in my life, and badminton is one of them. I would have never found it in any other city besides Xiamen.

如果你认识我的话，那么你可能已经猜到答案了——羽毛球。我从小就是一个喜欢艺术的孩子，上艺术学校，讨厌一切运动，并且觉得运动员都很傻。但当我 39 岁那年搬到厦门（也就是在浙江生活了 5 年之后），我交到了一群国际朋友，他们每周打两次羽毛球。有天晚上我加入了他们，以为可能也就仅此一次，结果那天晚上完全颠覆了我的人生。几个月之内，我不仅第一次购买了运动装备，还找了教练，在人生 40 岁的时候开启了我的运动之旅。这段旅程让我找到了伴侣，开始采访顶级职业运动选手，并且在油管上开设了自己的频道。我的人生中有三种激情，羽毛球就是其中之一，如果不是厦门，我是不可能做到这一切的。

Some background on her home country：

介绍一下Becky的故乡：

The first free public library in America was founded in my hometown in 1833. Most people think Boston had the first free public library but it didn’t open until 1858. The population of my hometown is only 6,000 people, so it is a point of town pride!

大多数人认为波士顿拥有第一个免费公共图书馆，但其实不是，它直到 1858 年才开放。美国第一个免费公共图书馆于 1833 年在我的家乡建立。而我的家乡人口只有 6000 人，所以这是非常了不起的一件事！

作者：Becky 翻译：余欣阳

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