'Starting out in Kunming forced me to learn how to navigate Chinese society for myself much more deeply and quickly than I probably could have managed in Beijing,' says Mr. Crosby, who writes the South of the Clouds blog. 'There is such a critical mass of foreigners in Beijing, and there are so many bilingual Chinese, that a lot of people get by without having to take a plunge into the local society. Also the lack of available talent in Kunming allowed me to punch above my weight class, because you had these highly talented people who desperately needed someone who spoke native English to help them do things like setting up a Web site or moderating business negotiations.'
“在昆明生活讓我學會如何在中國社會中摸爬滾打,如果一開始就去北京,感受可能沒那么深,學習的速度也沒那么快?!笨肆_斯比在自己的博客South of the Clouds(云之南)上寫道,“北京的外國人那么多,會說英語的中國人也很多,所以許多老外不需要融入當地生活就能過得輕松自在。而昆明的雙語人才缺乏,令我得以發揮自身優勢,因為很多人特別需要來自英語國家的人幫他們建英文網站或在商業談判中做翻譯。”
'Once I had that grounding, however, I really benefitted from spending more time in Beijing, which woke me up to a lot of new possibilities, and sparked greater enthusiasm and ambition in me. The danger of a place like Kunming, where it is cheap and comfy, is that it is easy to grow complacent. A lot of people fall into the 'expat trap,' where you leverage your advantages as a foreigner to get by with as little work as possible, and find yourself utterly unemployable back home. '
“經歷在昆明的生活后,我覺得在北京的日子也讓我獲益良多,因為那里激發了我很多新的想法,讓我變得更富激情和斗志。昆明這樣的地方生活成本很低,也很舒適,但危險之處在于容易讓人安于現狀。許多人都陷入一個‘老外陷阱’之中,以自己是外國人為借口,什么也不做,結果發現回國后根本找不到工作?!?/FONT>
Of course, there are expats living off the beaten path all over the world. Many of them can be found blogging away on www.expat-blog.com, a clearinghouse for expat writing. I often enjoy poking around to see who is writing what from where.
當然,在異國發展的人有很多,其中不少人都在www.expat-blog.com寫博客,這是一個聚集全球外派人員的網上社區。我經常上去逛逛,看看誰又在哪個地方寫了些什么。
It was there that I found Geoff Roberts, one of the hearty souls who have become veritable specialists at living in exotic locales. A headhunter recruited Mr. Roberts to work as a Corrosion Engineer for an oil company in Tripoli, Libya, where he relocated in February. The Welshman has previously worked in Kazakhstan, Yemen and Iran, as well as throughout Europe.
在那里,我認識了喬夫•羅伯斯(Geoff Roberts),他是一個很真誠的人,去過許多遙遠的國度,是個在異國他鄉生活的專家。有家獵頭公司介紹羅伯斯去利比亞首都的黎波里的一家石油公司當防腐材料工程師,他2009年2月前往那里。這個威爾士男人以前還在哈薩克斯坦、也門、伊朗和歐洲各地工作過。
He says that he was about to decline the offer when his wife pushed him to accept; she longed for another adventure, months after repatriating from Kazakhstan back to Wales. Despite some trepidation, he has found Libya to be a surprisingly relaxed, optimistic place and Libyans easier to befriend than he had anticipated.
羅伯斯說他本來想拒絕這份工作,但妻子堅持讓他接受,因為她從哈薩克斯坦回威爾士好幾個月了,渴望新的冒險經歷。雖然利比亞的局勢有些動蕩,但他發現這個地方的生活節奏很輕松,利比亞人也很樂觀,比他想象的更好接觸和交往。
'They are really happy to see Western faces again, after all the years of sanctions,' he says. 'Where I live we have a surprising melting pot of people from all nationalities and we all get along quite well. As a guy who enjoys a beer, it can tough living someplace where it is rather hard to get one, however.'
“經過這么多年的國際制裁后,他們真的很高興又看到西方人的面孔。” 羅伯斯說,“讓我驚奇的是,我住的地方簡直是個種族大熔爐,什么國家的人都有,大家相處都很愉快。不過,作為一個喜歡喝啤酒的人,在利比亞這個很難找到啤酒的地方生活,還是有些不太習慣?!?/FONT>
After living in places with various privations, due to either oppressive governments or lack of economic opportunity, for years, Mr. Roberts has also been surprised by Libya's relative open nature.
在許多貧困國家─-無論貧困是由于政府壓迫還是缺乏經濟發展機會─-生活多年后,利比亞相對開放的環境也讓羅伯斯感到驚訝。
'It is very free out here -- no internet sites are blocked and you get access to all the Satellite TV channels,' says Mr. Roberts. 'In fact I feel far more monitored with all the CCTV cameras back in the UK.'
“這里感覺很自由,互聯網不受限制,也能看到所有的衛星電視頻道,”羅伯斯說,“事實上,我覺得英國的公共監控系統讓人感覺更壓抑?!?/FONT>
You never know where you might feel most free to be yourself.
你永遠都不會知道,哪里的生活會讓自己覺得最無拘無束。