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Column Writer: Jessy

Jessy， 加拿大英屬哥倫比亞大學(xué)國(guó)際教育管理碩士和美國(guó)華盛頓大學(xué)國(guó)際事務(wù)碩士。曾工作于聯(lián)合國(guó)教科文組織（巴黎總部）和美國(guó)國(guó)際戰(zhàn)略研究中心（華盛頓）。獨(dú)自周游歐洲和北美各國(guó)，并精通英，法，中文和粵語。 現(xiàn)居加拿大溫哥華市。

People like to ask me this question: how do you describe your international life?At first， I was trying to overview my different feelings to summarize.I thought of my excitement of seeing places completely new to me; I thought of the frustration when living in a foreign country without understanding a single word; I felt the process of growing up and getting stronger; and I can sense a better understanding of cultures and peoples...However， I couldn't help having an image repeatedly popping in my mind: moving， constantly moving， between cities， countries， and continents.So after all I had to give my honest answer: moving from sea to sea.But it is not just moving， a lot of time it is to start a new life.By moving I have met so many different types of people， learned different life styles， and heard of or participated in many stories.They were not always enjoyable when I was going through.However， they give me something to laugh about when I look back.Hopefully I will have enough time to share my stories with you， my dear friends， and I hope they are just in time as reference for your departure.

April 1， 2007

ARRIANO

When I was on a ferry from Bari (意大利南部的港口) to Athens (雅典)， I made friends with some high school kids from a tiny town in Italy called Arriano. One day in Athens I received an email from one of the kids called Christian， \"China (he made a cute grammatical mistake) bella (meaning cute girl). We're back in Arriano.We miss you.Where are you now?When are you coming to visit us?\"Hum...good question.Two little persons started fighting in my mind; one goes， \"No， you are running out of time， Jessy.Stick to the plan and go to Rome\"; the other goes， \"Yes， yes! It's not something you can always do.You can squeeze time\".\"But where are you gonna stay?Can you count on (指望) kids' promise?\"While they were fighting each other， I was already on my way to Arriano.

First of all， I didn't know Arriano is in the middle of nowhere.There was only one train stopping there， and only once a day.I spent 24 hours on the ferry back， waited for hours in Bari and then hours in the train.Finally， my feet touched the real ground in front of this seemingly deserted gray building， the only man-made object within my sight. Fortunately， I found a pay phone to call Christian， and he arrived with his \"ride\" to pick me up: a mini scooter (小型機(jī)動(dòng)摩托).I stared at it for a few seconds then looked at my huge backpack， went， \"I guess we'll have to make two trips. You and my backpack go for the first run\".

He insisted to squeeze all of us in at once.When we awkwardly struggled to a winding mountain road， I asked him， \"Don't tell me we have to climb over the mountain\".He smiled， \"No， much better. We just need to climb up， but not over.We live on the top\".OH HELL NO! Can I go back now?The only train for today has gone!Ok， guess sister (黑人的俗語，對(duì)女性親昵地代稱) has to work out a bit today.His scooter was too light to carry two people and my little friend (a joke from an American movie - Scar Face - indicating my huge back-pack) up the hill.So every time when we reached to a curve， I had to jump off and let him ride by himself， then after the curve I hopped on again.Imagine doing this for 20 or 30 times， right after my exhausting trip...

Thank God we made it without too much trouble except once engine failure.My friends all showed up after school， bringing more friends of theirs.Everybody was excited and screaming. So was I.I guess I was already infected by Italian loud disease.But who cares.This is in Italy!They bought beer (technically kids were not supposed to drink alcohol under the age of 19， but in this town the rules on alcohol were kind of loose)， snacks and took me to a gelato (Italian ice cream) place.We hided in a small cave (guess it was their secret camp)， eating gelato， drinking cold beer and throwing out stupid jokes.Everybody was talking and laughing loudly.My boy Christian was sitting aside， quiet with a smile.I knew that smile had spoken for himself: yeah. I brought her here.

Close to dinnertime， I went home with Alexander (my girlfriend on the ferry) to clean my sweaty body.I met her father， mother， brother and sister Emy.Guys were gentle and quieter， while girls were dominant in conversations.Emy's age is closer to mine， so automatically we became best friends.Alex's mother Lucy is a typically Italian woman: sincere， warm and open.She seemed always happy; she sang while she cooked， joked with her kids all the time， and always pushed me to eat more.She didn't speak English at all but knew more Hollywood starts than I did.She would sing some pop songs that I hadn't even heard of.She liked chatting with me very much， although we couldn't even communicate in a same language.But that was not a problem.Her daughters were always standing by.Alex was very happy and proud to take the mission as my private interpreter， and she was doing it diligently.Lucy cooked at least two types of pasta everyday， with some salad and bread aside.Italian cuisine must have fresh salad and wine whenever people sit down to eat， which is probably a wicked explanation for their natural excitement and happiness - an enormous amount of alcohol in blood， after generations， has gone into their genes.

The dinner was a private welcome event organized by my close friends.We went to the best pizza place.Guido asked me what flavour I would like.I thought we would order a couple to share， just like North Americans do.But when the pizza was served， I was a little bit disappointed because it seemed the only one and too small to share by these many people.In no time， my mistake was corrected: the entire pizza was for me!\"What about you guys? What do you eat then?\" \"Don't worry， Jessy.Everyone eats one pizza\".It was true.Everybody ate one pizza!I couldn't believe it if I didn't see it myself.Even girls could finish an entire pizza easily. Everyday in Arriano， we ate pasta， pizza or lasagna.I couldn't figure out how Italian women manage to keep their sexy figures.But apparently， they work it out very well.Later after I lived in Europe for a while， I realized that Europeans don't eat much junk food as Americans do， and that's probably why they are less likely to have over weight problems.

Since the second day， Alex and Emy drove me to every single good spot in Arriano.Sometimes it is scary when three girls hang out (玩) together， especially if their interests are alike and they like each other.We very unfortunately fell into this case.We ate way more sweets than we should (Emy had given up her plan on diet [減肥]).They introduced me to everybody they knew.I could sense eyes on me as long as I was outside the house， well...inside as well.Some people would say \"hello\" to me.It felt fantastic at the beginning， yet after a while I felt like a panda in a zoo.One day the sisters took me to the school to meet the public， which was like a nuclear bomb dropped on the ground.Crowds of kids were standing by， waiting.As soon as we showed up， they all jumped on me， shooting questions from every corner.\"Jessy\" \"Jessy\" \"Jessy\" was all over the place that I didn't know where I should turn my face.Many of them couldn't communicate in English， so they just called my name again and again with huge smiles， as to say \"Hello. Turn around and let me see your face\".They were so amazed by my eyes， \"She has beautiful Asian eyes， just like on TV.I wish I have them.\"Funny as it sounds， while Asians try to make our feature more western， westerners love our exotic look.I was surprised that they had never seen an Asian person for real， as our Chinese folks have pretty much covered every corner in the world.But I guess our predecessors probably didn't see Arriano hidden in mountains， or they didn't have a mini scooter at the time.

A girl invited me as a special guest to her birthday party at the weekend.It was a big happy party.I even doubted whether the people there ever knew about worry.Yes， they do.Lucy told me， Ever since Italy joined European Union (EU) (歐盟) and changed the currency to Euro (歐元)， Everything became a lot more expensive whereas the average income did not increase accordingly.Economic situations varied vastly among the union members， and Italy's economy was behind many others， such as Germany and France， so the county was breathing heavily to catch up.Joining EU may benefit Italy in the future， yet at the moment， it caused many negative effects.Other than the rise of price， labour market was shrinking.As a result， many people were laid off， and the life quality had noticeably dropped.\"But it doesn't help if we sigh and complain or be upset all day long， because nothing would change soon and what if nothing changes before we die?We love singing， and no one could stop us from that\". Suddenly， I understood the meaning of their passion.It's the braveness for life， and love for life.Not only I liked these people， I respected them.

揑 had to leave， as much as I hated to.Lucy gave me a picture frame she made for me， \"Promise me， my Chinese daughter， you will come back one day\".She wrote everyone's nickname at the back: Nino， Lucy， Peppe， Emy， Alex， and Jessy.I was so flattered that I was included in the family. That frame with a picture of all of us has traveled with me throughout many countries and now is standing on my nightstand.Whenever I see it， I would think of the time when I sang with Lucy， when I ate gelato with my girls， when I was shouting with friends on top of the mountain， and when I was whispering to Alex on the same bed.

My departure was as crazy as my arrival.So many goodbyes took so much time and I was late for the train.Christian was driving us (in a real car this time) like a crazy rat running to the train station， while Alex's cousin was riding his motor following us (if in a movie).We could see the train resting in the station， calling me with its long whistles and deep sound of steam release.It was about to set off.Part of me really wanted to catch it， and part of me just wished I would miss it， so that I could have a legitimate excuse to my very last piece of survived rationality.This is a too cute place to leave， and these are too beautiful people to say goodbye to.I almost cried.But I couldn't， because I saw their faces and knew once I started， I would never be able to leave them.We were yelling to the attendant while running to the platform.Christian threw my backpack into the cart when I jumped onto it.The attendant held my hand to pull me in while the train was slowly in motion.I was waving until their faces disappeared in my sight.Tears finally rolled down my face， becoming rivers running wildly.

Goodbye， Arriano， or shall I say， \"See you later Arriano\".

Jess in Time（非常及時(shí)）

—— Moving from Sea to Sea （從海搬到海）

序言

人們喜歡問我這個(gè)問題: 您怎么描述您在國(guó)外的生活?起初，我嘗試著找一個(gè)合適的概括。我想到了自己看到全新事物時(shí)興奮的感覺; 我想到了獨(dú)居陌生國(guó)家只字不懂時(shí)的無助和失落; 我能感覺到自己經(jīng)歷困難后變得更加堅(jiān)強(qiáng); 我也能感覺到自己對(duì)不同文化和人們更好的理解…… 然而，一個(gè)圖象忍不住總是跳進(jìn)我的頭腦里: 搬家，不停地搬家: 在城市間、國(guó)家間和大陸之間不停地搬家。所以最后我不得不給出誠(chéng)實(shí)的答復(fù):從海搬到海（英文中一語雙關(guān)，既有搬家的意思，也有前進(jìn)的意思；from sea to sea字面上講是從海到海，實(shí)指世界各地）。不僅僅是搬家，很多時(shí)候是重寫生活。由于搬家，我見識(shí)了各種類型的人，各種生活方式，也聽說或經(jīng)歷了許多故事。并不是所有的故事在經(jīng)歷時(shí)都是愉快的，然而過后它們卻給了我不少可以說笑的材料。我希望能有足夠的時(shí)間與您，我親愛的朋友們，分享我的故事，并希望它們能作為您起程前的及時(shí)參考。

4月7日

阿利亞諾 （Arriano）

我在從巴里(意大利南部的港口)到雅典的輪渡上，與一群來自意大利一個(gè)叫做阿利亞諾 （Arriano）的小鎮(zhèn)孩子交了朋友。 一天在雅典時(shí)，我收到了其中一個(gè)孩子Christian的E-mail， “中國(guó)(他犯了一個(gè)可愛的語法錯(cuò)誤) bella （美女）， 我們回到阿利亞諾了。 我們想念你。你現(xiàn)在在哪里？你來看我們嗎？” 嗯……好問題。 去么？ 兩個(gè)小人開始在我頭腦里打架：一個(gè)說， “不行，你沒時(shí)間了Jessy。 堅(jiān)持原計(jì)劃去到羅馬”; 另一個(gè)說， “去，去! 這不是總有的機(jī)會(huì)。 你能擠出時(shí)間” “但是你住在哪？ 你能把孩子的話當(dāng)真嗎？” 當(dāng)他倆忙著打架時(shí)，我已經(jīng)在去阿利亞諾的途中了。

首先，我不知道阿利亞諾在茫茫荒野中，每天只有一列火車經(jīng)過。 我先在輪渡上度過了24個(gè)小時(shí)，在巴里等待了幾小時(shí)后又在火車上等。 終于，我的腳接觸到了真正的地面，在這個(gè)看上去廢棄了的灰色建筑前——我的視野內(nèi)唯一的人造物。幸好我找到了公用電話打給Christian。 他開著他的“車” （一輛微型機(jī)動(dòng)摩托）來接我。 我盯著它幾秒鐘后回頭，看看我巨大的背包，說：“我猜我們得走兩趟。 你和我的背包走先。”

他堅(jiān)持把我們大家都擠上去。 當(dāng)我們笨拙地奮斗到了盤山路，我問他： “不要告訴我咱們必須翻過山去。” 他微笑著說：“不，好得多。 我們只需要往上爬，但是不用過去。 我們住在山頂。” 哦，沒門!我可以現(xiàn)在回去嗎？ 今天唯一的火車已經(jīng)走了!好吧，看來姐姐我今天得鍛煉一下了。 他的摩托太輕了，載不動(dòng)兩個(gè)人和我的“小朋友”（指的是大背包:出自一個(gè)美國(guó)電影的幽默）上山。 所以每到拐彎處，我必須跳下車讓他騎過去后再跳上車。 想象這樣反復(fù)20或30次，并且在我疲憊的旅行之后……

感謝上帝我們終于爬到了山頂，除了一次發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)故障外沒有太多的麻煩。 我的朋友們放學(xué)后都來了，帶來了更多的朋友。 大家都激動(dòng)得尖叫，我也是。 我想我已經(jīng)被意大利人的大聲病傳染了。 但是誰在乎呢: 這是在意大利!他們買了啤酒(孩子在19歲之前應(yīng)該不準(zhǔn)喝酒的，但是在這個(gè)鎮(zhèn)里對(duì)酒精的限制很寬松)，零食，并且領(lǐng)我去一個(gè)賣gelato (意大利冰淇凌)的地方。 我們?cè)谝粋€(gè)小山洞里(猜測(cè)這是他們的秘密陣營(yíng)) 邊吃冰淇凌， 喝冰啤酒， 邊講愚蠢的笑話。 大家都在大聲地談笑，只有我的小朋友Christian在一邊安靜地坐著，面帶微笑。 我知道這微笑在替他講話：耶，是我把她帶來的。

快到晚餐時(shí)間，我和亞歷山大(我在輪渡上的朋友) 回家清洗我滿是汗水的身體。 我見了她的父親、母親、兄弟和姐姐艾米。女孩子們主導(dǎo)交談，男人們則是平靜而溫柔。 艾米的年齡和我最相近，我們自然地成了最好的朋友。 亞歷克斯（亞歷山大的昵稱）的母親露西是一個(gè)典型的意大利婦女： 真誠(chéng)，熱情和開通。 她似乎總是很開心， 邊唱歌邊做飯，和孩子們開玩笑，總是逼我多吃點(diǎn)。 她不會(huì)講英語，卻比我知道更多的好萊塢明星，還會(huì)唱一些我甚至從未聽過的流行歌曲。 她非常喜歡和我聊天，雖然我們都不能用同一種語言溝通， 不過這不是問題：她的女兒們總是在一旁待命。 亞歷克斯非常開心和自豪地接受作為我私人翻譯的使命，并且一絲不茍地完成。露西每次都要做至少兩種意大利面，還有沙拉和面包作陪。新鮮的沙拉和紅酒在意大利烹調(diào)中必不可少。可能這也是他們骨子里激動(dòng)和歡樂的一種歪曲的解釋吧：血液里大量的酒精在世代傳延之后，終于滲進(jìn)了他們的基因里。

晚餐是親近的朋友們?yōu)槲医M織的內(nèi)部歡迎儀式。 我們?nèi)チ藫?jù)說是鎮(zhèn)上最棒的比薩餅店。Guido問我喜歡什么口味。 我以為我們會(huì)點(diǎn)幾個(gè)和著吃，像在北美一樣。 但是，當(dāng)比薩餅送上來的時(shí)候，我有點(diǎn)失望，因?yàn)橹挥幸粋€(gè)，而且太小，怎么和這么多人分啊？立刻，我的錯(cuò)誤就被糾正了：整個(gè)薄餅都是給我！“你們呢？你們吃什么？”“不要擔(dān)心，杰希。每個(gè)人又都會(huì)有一個(gè)。”真的。每個(gè)人都吃一個(gè)比薩!如果不是親眼看見，我一定不能相信。 連女孩子都能輕易地吃光整整一個(gè)。我在阿利亞諾的每一天都吃比薩，意大利面，或者LASSAGNA (一種意大利特有的面食)。 我搞不懂意大利婦女是怎么保持她們性感身材的。 但是顯然地，她們的辦法很好。后來，我在歐洲住過一陣子之后才明白原來歐洲人不像北美的人那樣吃很多的垃圾食品，這大概就是為什么他們不大會(huì)有體重問題的原因吧。

從第二天起，亞歷克斯和艾米開車帶我轉(zhuǎn)阿利亞諾每一個(gè)好玩的地方。有時(shí)候三個(gè)女孩一起玩是一件很恐怖的事，特別是如果她們的興趣相投又互相喜歡。 我們非常不幸地陷進(jìn)了這種情況。 我們狂吃了很多甜食(艾米已經(jīng)放棄了她的減肥計(jì)劃)。 她們把我介紹給每個(gè)她們認(rèn)識(shí)的人。只要一出門外，我時(shí)刻都可以感覺到眼睛跟著我……嗯，門里也一樣。 膽大點(diǎn)的人會(huì)對(duì)我說“你好”（英語）。起先這種感覺很好，過一段時(shí)間后我總感覺自己像動(dòng)物園里的大熊貓。 一天，姐妹倆把我?guī)У綄W(xué)校會(huì)見觀眾，這像在地面上投下了一個(gè)核彈。 成群的孩子等待著， 當(dāng)我們一出現(xiàn)，他們?nèi)继松蟻恚瑔栴}從各個(gè)角落里噴射過來。 “杰希” “杰希” “杰希”到處都是，我都不知道該向哪里轉(zhuǎn)我的臉。很多人不能用英語溝通，所以他們就面帶微笑不停的叫我的名字，好像說“你好。 轉(zhuǎn)過來讓我看看你的臉”。 他們很羨慕我的眼睛：“她有美麗的東方眼睛，就像在電視上的一樣。 我真希望我能有他們。”聽起來可笑：當(dāng)亞洲人設(shè)法西化的時(shí)候，西方人鐘愛我們不同尋常的樣子。我驚奇他們從未見過一個(gè)真正的亞洲人，因?yàn)槲覀兊闹袊?guó)同胞們差不多已經(jīng)覆蓋了世界的每個(gè)角落。 我猜想我們的前輩們大概看不到掩藏在山中的阿里亞諾，或者他們當(dāng)時(shí)沒有一輛微型摩托車。

一個(gè)女孩邀請(qǐng)我作為她周末生日聚會(huì)的特別來賓。那是一個(gè)盛大而快樂的派對(duì)。 我甚至懷疑那里的人們是否知道憂慮。他們知道的。 露西告訴我，自從意大利加入歐盟和改變貨幣成歐元后，一切東西都變得比以前貴許多，但平均收入?yún)s沒有相應(yīng)地增加。聯(lián)盟會(huì)員國(guó)的經(jīng)濟(jì)形勢(shì)相差很大，意大利的經(jīng)濟(jì)比起別的國(guó)家(例如德國(guó)或法國(guó))落后，因此氣喘吁吁的追趕著。 加入歐盟也許對(duì)意大利有長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)利益，但是在目前導(dǎo)致了許多消極作用。 除了物價(jià)上升之外，勞動(dòng)力市場(chǎng)收縮，結(jié)果許多人失業(yè)， 生活質(zhì)量明顯的下降了。 “但是整天嘆氣， 抱怨或者生氣并沒有幫助，因?yàn)槭裁炊疾粫?huì)很快改變，如果我們死之前都不變?cè)趺崔k？ 我們愛唱歌。什么人都阻止不了我們”。 突然，我理解了他們激情的含意。 那是對(duì)生活的勇敢和熱愛。現(xiàn)在我不僅喜歡這些人，我更加尊敬他們。

我必須得走了，雖然我很不想。 露西給了我一個(gè)她親手為我做的像框， “答應(yīng)我，我的中國(guó)女兒，你有一天會(huì)回來。” 她在背面寫了大家的綽號(hào)： 尼諾、露西、派派、艾米、亞歷克斯和杰希。 被包括在這個(gè)家庭里很讓我受寵若驚。 像框與我們大家的像片陪著我走過了許多國(guó)家，現(xiàn)在站立在我的床頭柜上。 每當(dāng)我看見它時(shí)，我都會(huì)想起和露西一起唱歌，和我的女孩子們一起吃gelato，和朋友們?cè)谏巾斀泻埃€有和亞歷克斯在同一張床上耳語的時(shí)刻。

我的離別像我的到來一樣瘋狂。 很多的再見花費(fèi)了很多的時(shí)間，我遲到了。Christian開車(這次是一輛真正的汽車)載著我們像一只瘋狂的老鼠沖向火車站。 亞歷克斯的表兄騎著他的摩托緊隨我們 （我感覺好像在電影里）。 我們看到火車停在站上，拉著長(zhǎng)哨放著蒸汽召喚著我。 它馬上就要起動(dòng)了。 一半的我很想趕上它，另一半的我卻希望會(huì)錯(cuò)過它，這樣我就能有一個(gè)完美的借口應(yīng)付我僅存的一線理性。 這個(gè)地方太讓人喜愛了怎么離開？這些人太美麗了怎么對(duì)他們說再見？ 我?guī)缀跻鳒I了。 但是我不能，因?yàn)槲铱匆娏怂麄兊拿婵祝抑酪坏╅_始可能就永遠(yuǎn)都離不開了。我們對(duì)列車員叫喊著跑向站臺(tái)。 Christian在我往火車上跳的時(shí)候把我的背包甩進(jìn)車廂. 列車員在火車緩慢前進(jìn)的同時(shí)拉住我的手把我拖了進(jìn)去。 我不停地?fù)]手，直到他們的面孔在我的視野中消失，淚水才滾下了我的臉龐，變成了狂奔的河流。

再見了， 阿利亞諾。或者我該說： “回頭見，阿利亞諾。”