一位年輕的美國(guó)女性談?wù)撁绹?guó)的文化

Alissa Johnson
I am a young American female and I truly love America. I am well-traveled and educated. I have lived in Germany. Traveled in Europe, Central, and South America. After traveling, reading books, building relationships with people from all over the world - I have come to realize that America is a very special place. Based on my personal experience, my friendships with people from all over (Norway, South Africa, Germany, UK, Australia, Uruguay, etc etc), and observation - these are the reasons why I love this place.
Maggie Thatcher says Europe was created by history but America by philosophy. It's that philosophy that I love.
 
我是一名年輕的美國(guó)女性，我深深地愛著美國(guó)。我游歷過很多地方，受過良好的教育，曾在德國(guó)生活過，也游歷過歐洲、中美洲和南美洲。在旅行、閱讀和與世界各地的人們建立友誼的過程中，我逐漸認(rèn)識(shí)到美國(guó)是一個(gè)特別的地方。基于我個(gè)人的經(jīng)歷，與來自挪威、南非、德國(guó)、英國(guó)、澳大利亞、烏拉圭等國(guó)家的朋友們的交往，以及我的觀察，我總結(jié)出了我熱愛這片土地的原因。
瑪格麗特·撒切爾曾經(jīng)說過，歐洲是由歷史塑造的，而美國(guó)是由哲學(xué)塑造的。正是這種哲學(xué)精神讓我深愛著美國(guó)。
 
1) The Freedom to be who you want to be. It's so freeing. In Portland, there is a large Russian Orthodox Evangelical Christian community. They came to America to practice their religion as Russia did not allow that. They have that freedom here. You wanna be Amish? Go be Amish then. You wanna ride around on a double-decker bike? Go for it. You have the freedom to be who you are. Also, we are a very individualistic country so we value being different. Differences are celebrated not looked upon with disdain. You eat shishkabob for lunch instead of a salad? That's awesome! Cool! (It's not considered weird to have other traditions and ways of doing things)
 
成為自己想成為的人的自由。這讓人感到非常自在。在波特蘭，有一個(gè)龐大的俄羅斯東正教福音派基督教社群。他們來到美國(guó)是為了自由地實(shí)踐他們的宗教信仰，因?yàn)樵诙砹_斯這是不被允許的。在這里，他們享有這樣的自由。如果你想成為阿米什人？那就去吧。想騎雙人自行車兜風(fēng)？那就去做。你有權(quán)利成為真正的自己。此外，我們是一個(gè)非常注重個(gè)體的國(guó)家，我們珍視個(gè)性和差異。不同被看作是值得慶祝的，而不是被輕視。你午餐選擇吃烤肉而不是沙拉？那太棒了！很酷?。〒碛胁煌膫鹘y(tǒng)和做事方式并不被視為怪異）
 
2) It's gorgeous here. I've been to about 15 countries and I do enjoy other cultures buuut this is far and away the prettiest country I have ever been to. We have every landscape available - tropics, fjords, prairies, mountains, desert, beach, canyons, weird rock formations, you name it… America values nature and we have preserved our National Parks. The area of our national parks is roughly the size of Germany. We have wilderness and wildlife and we as a society have chosen to treasure and preserve it. They are preserved for people to enjoy and experience the healing power of nature. It's awesome.
 
這里的風(fēng)景美得令人窒息。我去過大約15個(gè)國(guó)家，雖然我也欣賞其他文化，但這是我見過的最美麗的國(guó)家。我們擁有各種地貌——熱帶地區(qū)、峽灣、草原、山脈、沙漠、海灘、峽谷、奇特的巖石構(gòu)造，應(yīng)有盡有……美國(guó)重視自然，我們保護(hù)了國(guó)家公園。國(guó)家公園的總面積大約相當(dāng)于德國(guó)的大小。我們擁有荒野和野生動(dòng)物，我們作為一個(gè)社會(huì)選擇了珍惜和保護(hù)它們。這些公園被保留下來，讓人們享受和體驗(yàn)自然的治愈力量，這真是太棒了。
 
3) Americans with Disabilities Act. You can't just build a public building - it has to meet code so people with disabilities can access it. That is why we have wide sidewalks, huge bathrooms in Starbucks, wheelchair ramps, elevators, and escalators. Prior to the 1970's when we didn't have this law passed - things were different. We even have laws about how long an elevator door has to be open should someone with a wheelchair need extra time to board. I love that we have restructured our whole infrastructure for the disabled. Try getting around in Europe in a wheelchair.
 
美國(guó)殘疾人法案要求公共建筑必須滿足特定的無障礙標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，以確保殘疾人能夠方便地使用。這就是為什么我們的人行道很寬敞，星巴克里有足夠大的洗手間，還有輪椅坡道、電梯和自動(dòng)扶梯等設(shè)施。在這項(xiàng)法律于1970年代通過之前，情況并非如此。我們甚至有規(guī)定電梯門必須保持開啟足夠時(shí)間，以便輪椅使用者能夠有足夠的時(shí)間進(jìn)入電梯。我非常贊賞我們?yōu)闅埣踩耸恐匦聵?gòu)建了整個(gè)基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施的做法。相比之下，在歐洲坐輪椅出行可能會(huì)遇到更多困難。
 
4) Our Entrepreneurial Spirit. I wanted to start a therapy company. So, I bought liability insurance ($100/year), made a website, purchased a business license for a few bucks, and that was basically it. A friend of mine started her own law firm with just a few hundred bucks. It wasn't hard. We have the fewest barriers to entry regarding starting businesses than any other country I've ever been to. You don't have to take special classes or past tests to start your own business. If you want to start a coffee shop, just go get a business loan and start it. If you fail, it's up to you to pick your life up. Sure you might wreck your credit and have a rough life for awhile - but go ahead and try!
 
我們的創(chuàng)業(yè)精神非常強(qiáng)烈。我想開辦一家治療公司，于是買了責(zé)任險(xiǎn)（每年100美元），制作了一個(gè)網(wǎng)站，花了一些錢辦理了營(yíng)業(yè)執(zhí)照，基本上就這么簡(jiǎn)單。我的一個(gè)朋友僅用幾百美元就開設(shè)了自己的律師事務(wù)所。在美國(guó)，創(chuàng)業(yè)的門檻比我去過的任何其他國(guó)家都要低。你不需要參加特別的課程或通過考試就能開始自己的生意。如果你想開咖啡店，只需去申請(qǐng)商業(yè)貸款,然后就可以開業(yè)。如果失敗了，你得自己重新站起來。當(dāng)然，你可能會(huì)損害自己的信用記錄，生活可能會(huì)暫時(shí)變得艱難，但還是要勇敢嘗試！
 
5) Also, we embrace failure. It's okay to fail. Better that you tried and failed than never having tried at all.
6) People are overall relaxed. You can talk to strangers on a ski lift, on the bus, or in line at the grocery store. When I've traveled to Europe - I think I weirded people out by my friendliness and smiling at people whom I don’t know.
 
我們接受失敗,失敗是可以接受的。嘗試過然后失敗，總比從未嘗試過要好。
人們總體上是放松的。你可以在滑雪纜車上、公共汽車上或在雜貨店排隊(duì)時(shí)與陌生人交談。當(dāng)我去歐洲旅行時(shí)，我覺得“我的友好舉動(dòng)”和“對(duì)不認(rèn)識(shí)的人微笑的舉動(dòng)”可能讓人覺得我有點(diǎn)古怪。
 
7) It's diverse. I work in a school and it was "multicultural day" - I looked out onto the playground and there were all kinds of kids. Kids dressed up in traditional clothing from Mexico, Japan, China, India, etc. We invite you to bring your culture to America. We think your culture is interesting. ?If you have an accent, we're gonna be curious and say "Hey, where are you from?!"? We think diversity is interesting - we like it.
 
美國(guó)非常多元化。我在一所學(xué)校工作，那天是“多元文化日”。我望向操場(chǎng)，看到孩子們穿著來自世界各地的傳統(tǒng)服裝，有墨西哥、日本、中國(guó)、印度等等。我們歡迎你把你們的文化帶到美國(guó)。我們對(duì)你的文化感到好奇。如果你有口音，我們可能會(huì)好奇地問：“嘿，你從哪里來？”我們認(rèn)為多樣性非常有趣——我們喜歡這種多元文化的氛圍。
 
8) The least classed society I'm aware of. We don't have a caste system. We don't have last names that have some sort of prefix (e.g. "von" something in German indicates special status). ?Rich and poor are often mixed (although not always). We don't have distinct accents that indicate that you're more posh than other people. We do have some classism but compared to the places I've been - it's the least. We're pretty down to earth - overall.
 
我認(rèn)為美國(guó)是我知道的最不階級(jí)化的社會(huì)。我們沒有種姓制度，沒有帶有特殊前綴的姓氏（比如德語中的“馮”表示特殊身份）。富人和窮人經(jīng)常混居在一起（雖然并不總是這樣）。我們沒有明顯的口音來區(qū)分誰比誰更高貴。雖然我們也有一些階級(jí)觀念，但與我去過的地方相比，美國(guó)是最不階級(jí)化的。我們總體上很接地氣。
 
9) American Public Education makes Americans well-rounded. In high school, we have access to track fields, basketball courts, stadiums, chess club, volunteer clubs, student council, business club, debate club, etc. Therefore, we don't focus only on academics. There are multiple aspects of being human beyond academics and our education system values that. You can learn how to sew, do woodworking, or theater in your publicly-funded local high school. Lots of extracurriculars to pick from.
 
美國(guó)公共教育使美國(guó)人全面發(fā)展。在高中，我們可以使用田徑場(chǎng)、籃球場(chǎng)、體育場(chǎng)、國(guó)際象棋俱樂部、志愿者俱樂部、學(xué)生會(huì)、商業(yè)俱樂部、辯論俱樂部等。因此，我們不僅僅關(guān)注學(xué)術(shù)。我們的教育體系重視人類除了學(xué)術(shù)之外的多個(gè)方面。你可以在公立高中學(xué)習(xí)縫紉、木工或戲劇。有很多課外活動(dòng)可供選擇。
 
10) Relaxed Fashion. Nope, you don't see a ton of three-piece suits or women in high heels. We dress in fleece, jeans, and a pair of Converse shoes. Just because we don't dress fancy doesn't mean we're not successful. You really have no idea who someone is based on how they dress. The guy in a dingy t-shirt and jeans might have invented WhatsApp and is a bazillionaire.
 
隨性的裝扮。不，你在這里不會(huì)經(jīng)常看到人們穿三件套西裝或者女性穿高跟鞋。我們更喜歡穿抓絨、牛仔褲和匡威鞋。不穿得正式并不意味著我們不成功。你真的不能僅憑穿著來判斷一個(gè)人。那個(gè)穿著舊T恤和牛仔褲的家伙，可能已經(jīng)發(fā)明了WhatsApp，是個(gè)億萬富翁。
 
11) The Outdoors! I know I already mentioned it. But, lots of us like to put a huge backpack on and fill it up with tents, sleeping bags, freeze-dried food, etc and then go live in the wilderness for awhile. It's awesome to climb mountains, fish in our streams, and build fires out in the wilderness. Our outdoors are amazing. Alaska, Colorado, Washington, Hawaii, California, Oregon, Tennessee... Sigh... Amazing! And the great outdoors are available and accessible to be used and enjoyed. You just have to pay a few bucks for a permit and you're off!
 
戶外探險(xiǎn)！我提到過這點(diǎn)，但是值得再次強(qiáng)調(diào)。我們很多人喜歡背上重重的背包，裝上帳篷、睡袋、凍干食品等等，然后去荒野中生活一段時(shí)間。攀登山峰、在溪流中垂釣、在野外生火——這些體驗(yàn)都非常棒。我們的自然風(fēng)光令人嘆為觀止：阿拉斯加、科羅拉多、華盛頓、夏威夷、加利福尼亞、俄勒岡、田納西……太神奇了！而且，這些壯麗的戶外空間都是可以接觸和享受的。你只需要支付一些費(fèi)用獲得許可證，就可以出發(fā)去探險(xiǎn)了！
 
12) Our salaries are high. Look it up. I’m always surprised at how little people are paid in other countries.
 
我們的工資水平很高。查查就知道了，我總是對(duì)其他國(guó)家人們的工資之低感到驚訝。
 
13) Volunteerism and Generosity. I know people make a big stink about our homeless population. But that is a complex issue with history behind it. Our mental institutions were closed in the 70's with the idea of integrating mentally ill people into society and putting them in group homes. Yeah, well that didn't work. Big disaster there. The mentally ill just got lost in society. But, we have a ton of non-profits helping these people.
 
志愿服務(wù)和慷慨大方。我了解人們對(duì)于無家可歸者問題有很多批評(píng)。但這是一個(gè)背后有復(fù)雜歷史的問題。我們的精神病醫(yī)院在70年代關(guān)閉，當(dāng)時(shí)的意圖是將精神病患者融入社會(huì)，并讓他們住在集體之家。不過那個(gè)辦法沒奏效，結(jié)果造成了巨大的災(zāi)難。精神病患者就這樣在社會(huì)中迷失了。但是，我們有許多非營(yíng)利組織正在協(xié)助這些人群。
 
These organizations are there to help get people back on their feet. These ARE NOT government organizations. They are started by private generous Americans who want to help. Restaurants donate their leftovers to feed the homeless. Normal Americans volunteer their time in the evening and give their financial resources to help these people. I love how it's done by your average American and we're not relying on the government to help (that said, many of the programs are government subsidized, but not all).
 
這些組織致力于幫助人們重新站穩(wěn)腳跟。這些并不是政府機(jī)構(gòu)，而是由富有愛心的美國(guó)私人發(fā)起的。他們想要伸出援手。餐館會(huì)捐出剩余的食物來幫助無家可歸的人。普通的美國(guó)人會(huì)在晚上抽出時(shí)間做志愿者，并且捐出自己的錢財(cái)來援助這些人。我喜歡這種由普通美國(guó)人自發(fā)進(jìn)行的援助方式，我們并不是完全依賴政府的幫助（盡管如此，很多這樣的項(xiàng)目還是得到了政府的補(bǔ)貼，但并非全部都是）。
 
14) Variety! You go to the store and you will be overwhelmed. There are literally 100 different coffees to pick from when buying coffee. There are hundreds of different types of potato chips. A huge sextion of cheese. And, at places like Whole Foods - there is delicious hot ethnic food beckoning to be eaten!
 
多樣性豐富！當(dāng)你走進(jìn)商店，選擇多到讓人應(yīng)接不暇。比如買咖啡時(shí)，有足足100種不同的咖啡供你挑選。薯片有數(shù)百種不同的口味。奶酪的種類也是多到驚人。而且，在Whole Foods這樣的商店里，還有各種美味的熱騰騰的異國(guó)美食在吸引你去嘗試！
 
15) Capitalism. That is why we have a huge variety of goods. That is why are goods are cheaper. It's due to are beautiful capitalistic economy.
 
資本主義。這就是我們商品種類繁多、價(jià)格低廉的原因。這一切都?xì)w功于我們出色的資本主義經(jīng)濟(jì)體系。
 
16) Honesty. We're mostly an honest bunch. You go to a place like Costa Rica and the taxi driver is going to take advantage of you, since they can. They will drive in circles around the city to drive up the cost of the taxi ride. In America, we just don't have that. We don't charge higher prices to tourists (e.g. charging $2 for a piece of pizza to a local and then charging $7 to a tourist for the same exact pizza) just because we can. It just doesn't occur to us to take advantage of others simply because we can.
 
誠(chéng)實(shí)。我們大體上是一群誠(chéng)實(shí)的人。你去像哥斯達(dá)黎加這樣的地方，出租車司機(jī)可能會(huì)占你的便宜，因?yàn)樗麄冇袡C(jī)會(huì)這么做，比如故意繞路來增加車費(fèi)。但在美國(guó)，我們不會(huì)這樣做。我們不會(huì)因?yàn)槟軌蜻@么做就對(duì)游客收更高的價(jià)格（比如向當(dāng)?shù)厝耸?美元賣一塊披薩，然后向游客收7美元賣同樣的披薩）。我們不會(huì)僅僅因?yàn)槲覀冇心芰@么做，就去利用他人。
 
17) Guns. What's so shocking about guns? Seriously? Many of my friends/family have guns and believe it or not - nobody has EVER shot anybody. EVER! Not even once! (*gasp!*) If you're responsible enough to have a gun. Then, have a gun. Go hunting. Go do target practice. Shoot at clay pigeons. Defend yourself if you encounter a grizzly in the wilderness. Whatever. However, gun laws should be regulated so that guns are not in the hands of the mentally ill. We're working on that here guys. Check out Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly's Gun Control Campaign.
 
槍支。關(guān)于槍支有什么好驚訝的？說真的，我的很多朋友和家人都有槍，不管你信不信——從來沒有人用槍傷害過別人，一次也沒有?。ㄕ痼@吧！）如果你足夠負(fù)責(zé)任，可以擁有槍支，那就擁有吧。去打獵，去做射擊練習(xí)，去打飛碟，或者在野外遇到灰熊時(shí)保護(hù)自己。怎樣都行。然而，槍支法律應(yīng)該有所管制，以確保槍支不會(huì)落入精神病患者手中。我們?cè)谶@方面正在努力，伙計(jì)們?？梢躁P(guān)注一下加比·吉福德斯和馬克·凱利的槍支控制運(yùn)動(dòng)。
 
18) You can return things to a store if you don't like it. Buy a pair of shoes and not feeling it? Give them back to the store for a full refund! This is something several non-Americans told me really surprised them about America.
 
如果你對(duì)購(gòu)買的商品不滿意，可以將其退回商店。比如買了一雙鞋，但后來覺得不合適？沒關(guān)系，你可以把它們退回商店，獲得全額退款！這是我從一些非美國(guó)人口里聽到的，他們對(duì)美國(guó)的這一做法感到非常驚訝?！?br />  
19) The Foooood!!! Ethiopian, Italian, Greek, French, Thai, Indian, Malaysian, BBQ, Chinese, Brazilian, Cuban, Jewish delis in NYC - whatever you want - we have it. And it's good! We have the best food from all over the world. Brought here by our awesome hard-working immigrants. We are grateful for the opportunity to indulge in such delicious food.
 
美食！埃塞俄比亞、意大利、希臘、法國(guó)、泰國(guó)、印度、馬來西亞、燒烤、中國(guó)、巴西、古巴、紐約的猶太熟食店——無論你想要什么——我們都有，而且味道很棒！我們擁有來自世界各地的最佳美食，由我們勤勞的移民帶來。我們感激有機(jī)會(huì)享受如此美味的食物。
 
20) You don't have to start out life rich in order to get rich. We have access to credit. You can get a loan to pay for college. You can get a loan to start a business. You can get a loan to buy a house (and then sell the house and reap an investment). We have credit available to give people a leg up. You don't have to be born into money to have access to money. Therefore the playing field is leveled out a bit. Access to money does not equal the same outcome however. Play your cards cleverly.
 
你并不需要生來就富有才能變得富有。我們能夠獲得信貸。你可以貸款去讀大學(xué)，可以貸款創(chuàng)業(yè)，也可以貸款買房（然后賣掉房子賺取投資收益）。我們有信貸資源可以幫助人們獲得一個(gè)良好的起點(diǎn)。你不必出生于富裕之家就能獲得資金。因此，競(jìng)爭(zhēng)環(huán)境在某種程度上變得更加公平。不過，能夠獲得資金并不意味著結(jié)果就會(huì)相同。所以，你需要巧妙地運(yùn)用這些資源。
 
21) Health Food and Vitamin Culture. Sorry, this might just be downright weird to some but I like it. I like seeing Americans in work-out clothes with some green smoothie drink. I like the vast sextion of vitamins in your average grocery store. Everyone hikes and does yoga. Kale salads, quinoa salads, tempeh - bring it on the life giving sustenance!
 
健康食品和維生素文化?；蛟S這對(duì)某些人來說有點(diǎn)奇怪，但我卻很喜歡。我喜歡看美國(guó)人穿著運(yùn)動(dòng)裝，手里拿著綠色蔬果汁。我也喜歡在普通超市里看到種類繁多的維生素產(chǎn)品。大家都去遠(yuǎn)足和做瑜伽。羽衣甘藍(lán)沙拉、藜麥沙拉、印尼豆豉——這些賦予生命能量的食物，盡管來吧！
 
22) Relatively Safe. When I was in Central America, I couldn't go on a little 3-mile hike unless I hired a guard with a large gun. Sure, we have our violence, but overall I feel pretty safe to walk down a dark alley alone at night (I'm female).
 
相對(duì)安全。當(dāng)我在中美洲時(shí)，我不能獨(dú)自進(jìn)行3英里的小徒步旅行，除非我雇了一個(gè)帶槍的警衛(wèi)。當(dāng)然，我們也有暴力事件，但總體上，我晚上獨(dú)自走在黑暗的小巷里感覺很安全（我是女性）。
 
23) We Give Second Chances. This might be my favorite thing about America because I needed a second chance. You can always try again. You screwed off in high school? Did drugs? Made some bad financial decisions? Got bad grades? Dropped out of high school? You can get your life on track relatively easily. Go to community college, take your life seriously for a bit, and you will be fine. You can go on to became a vascular surgeon despite mess-ups.
 
我們給予重新開始的機(jī)會(huì)。這可能是我最喜歡美國(guó)的原因之一，因?yàn)槲易约壕驮枰@樣的機(jī)會(huì)。你可以不斷嘗試。你在高中時(shí)不務(wù)正業(yè)？吸毒？做出了一些糟糕的財(cái)務(wù)決策？成績(jī)不好？甚至高中就輟學(xué)了？你仍然可以相對(duì)容易地讓自己的生活重回正軌。去社區(qū)大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)，開始認(rèn)真對(duì)待生活，你就會(huì)好起來的。你可以繼續(xù)前進(jìn)，甚至成為一名血管外科醫(yī)生，盡管曾經(jīng)犯過錯(cuò)誤。
 
23) Societal Acceptability about Mental Health. I know people in therapy. I myself have been to therapy. (Many, Most?) Americans view therapy, and medicines for depression, as a means of taking care of one’s self. It doesn’t mean a person is crazy or unstable. There isn’t a ton of social stigma attached to taking care of one’s mental health.
 
關(guān)于心理健康的社會(huì)接受度。我認(rèn)識(shí)一些正在接受心理治療的人，我自己也曾經(jīng)接受過治療。（許多、或者說大多數(shù)？）美國(guó)人把心理治療和抗抑郁藥物看作是自我照顧的一種手段。這并不意味著一個(gè)人瘋了或者不穩(wěn)定。在照顧自己的心理健康方面，并沒有太多的社會(huì)偏見。
 
I’ve had relative strangers tell me they’re in therapy for anxiety and they’re not ashamed at all. Due to this, people are just happier are have a growth mindset. It’s not often that I meet cranky people who say “that’s just my personality!” Americans have this idea that we can be better than we were yesterday. Now, this isn’t true for all of America - but it’s true on the West Coast (where I live).
 
我甚至有些相對(duì)陌生的人告訴我他們正在接受焦慮治療，而且他們對(duì)此毫不羞愧。因此，人們更加快樂，擁有成長(zhǎng)型心態(tài)。我不太遇到那些說“這就是我的個(gè)性！”的壞脾氣的人。美國(guó)人有一種觀念，那就是我們可以比昨天的自己變得更好。當(dāng)然，這并不是全美國(guó)的情況——但至少在我居住的西海岸是這樣的。
 
24) Kombucha. Aaaah, yum! Give me those probiotics!
 
康普茶。啊，美味！給我那些益生菌！