Thursday, January 13, 2011

Mother tongue

欢迎光顾。自我介绍一下。我老人家年近五十,现在侨居美国,一晃已经20年,弹指一挥间哪!我在中国曾经教过9年书,说实话,那是本人最得意的年华。现在我梦见最多的还是给学生上课的情景。我的桃李可谓满天下了。在我29岁的时侯,我离开了亲爱的祖国母亲,毅然只身留洋。说来也怪,我当年身无分文,靠去中餐馆洗盘子读完了硕士,居然也不觉得有多艰难。跟你们现在的80,90后比来,我们那年头的故事完全是“忆苦思甜”的好教材了!后来读博时,我已经不用在校外打工,但在实验室里做实验也是没日没夜的。然而,这换来了今天的教授职位,也没算白忙呼。因为教书育人是我的儿时的理想,我觉得自己是一个很幸运的人。

在个人的生活上,我是心比天高,只求十全十美。因为从小被老爸和哥哥安了很多难听的花名,老以为自己其貌不扬,怕嫁了丑男人生出像我一样的丑八怪。到了美国已后才发现老中和老外都没把本人归于其貌不扬的行列!谈了一堆男朋友,老中,老外,白,黄,黑,五花八门,但还没碰上一个中意的。 40多岁才看上并且嫁给了我的法国“西施”。他虽然不是十全十美的白马王子,但老爸和哥哥认为我是癞蛤蟆吃着天鹅肉了!他们很难相信我的运气。但还是邀了弟弟,弟媳一到去了法国,开开心心的把我送出了家们!

那是2005年。现在,我们的日子算是皆大欢喜了!已有了一女一男。女儿已经快四岁,男孩也快俩岁了。看看,我是教书育人的命吧!

我还有个是中文网页,http://user.qzone.qq.com/1251088105/main,用来跟不懂或者懒得读英文的亲朋好友交流。 欢迎光顾!

不能保证我天天来此一游,但如果你们有什么好消息, 建议,问题, 别忘了告我老一声,谢了。

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Dry translation:

Welcome! Allow me to introduce myself here. I am an old lady who is close to 50, and I have lived in America for almost 20 years now. The 20 years passed as a snap of fingers! I taught Biology in China prior to coming here. Honestly, that 9 year period is what I am proud about myself the most, so proud that lecturing on a stage to bunch of middle-high school students is still the most frequent dream that I have. I actually have graduates everywhere in the world from that era. At 29 and as a single, I left my dear motherland and resolutely came to America to start a new life. It may sound strange, I did not have a penny in the pocket then and finished the study for a Master Degree by washing dishes in a Chinese restaurant without feeling it was unbearably tough. Those who were born in 80's and 90's should consider this experience of mine the best materials for "remembering hardship while living large" education! Later when I was studying for Ph.D, I did not have to work outside the campus anymore. But working in the lab day and night did not seem to be easier at all. Nonetheless, it was all these years of hard work that has given me a professor position in a great University. At least, this made it all worth it. Since I'd wished to be a teacher and an educator since I was little, I consider myself lucky to have this dream come true.

Regarding my personal life, I'd got my heart set on perfection. Because I was called many names by my father and older brother, I had always thought that I was so ugly that if one day I'd married to someone who was not a perfect looking guy, my children would have been just as ugly as "the 8 eccentrics of Yangzhou" or "the scarecrow". It was only after arriving the U.S that I found out that I was not categorized as ugly by either American or Chinese standards since suddenly I became dateable. Over the years, I'd dated Chinese, Foreigners (Lao Wai, 老外), yellow, white, black, brown...truly multifarious. But none of them took my heart. It wasn't until 40 that I met and then married to my French "xishi". Although he is not "the perfect prince on the white horse", father and brothers definitely think that "the toad has gotten swan for dinner". They all came to my wedding in France and happily married me out of "the mother's home"!

That was year 2005. My life now can be called happily ever after. We have two children, one almost 4-year-old girl, Mia/Zhuzhu, and one almost 2-year-old boy, Remy/Niuniu. See, teaching and educating continue to be my destiny, right?

I also have a Chinese website, welcome to have a look there too!

2 comments:

  1. You know I think you are perfect! You are doing what you dreamed of doing, every bit of it. So am I. But I tell you, sometimes I do feel depressed. I think it is because there's not a new goal to strive for. That's why I picked up novel writing. It keeps me going.

    Love,
    Zee

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  2. Zee, our lives have turned out funny. you were born in a scientist family, but you are a writer, I was born in a writer's family, but I am a scientist. What's wrong with us? no wonder we are lost at times.

    English scared me, but I don't care about it anymore. English teachers say it does not matter and that's why we have editors, right? Getting this inhibition out of my way, you may see me post more often. Let's see...

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