汪佳佳
玛丽的家乡在俄罗斯西伯利亚一个小城,整个城市只有15000人。用玛丽的话说就是:“我家乡的人还没有我所读大学的人多。”在那里买一套三居室只需要20万元人民币,相当于中国中部省份一个小镇的房价。冬天特别冷,温度最低的时候会到零下四五十摄氏度。
很多小镇姑娘都会有个都市梦,玛丽在3岁的时候,她的妈妈就教她学英文,希望有一天她可以出国留学。一次偶然的机会,她来到了中国,从此爱上了这片土地。
父母都是冰上项目运动员,所以玛丽的身体素质和运动细胞就是得天独厚。喜爱跳舞和运动的玛丽,成了杭州各种活动和赛场上一道亮丽的风景线。“来中国是我做出的最棒的决定,而杭州是中国最好的。”
玛丽现在浙江大学读研二,学的是国际关系。2012年,在俄罗斯读大一的玛丽偶然来到沈阳,进行2个星期的实习。初到中国的她立即被这个美丽的国度吸引了。“中国太好了!”两个星期后,她就做出了决定:我要来中国!回国后,她立即办理休学手续,三个星期后,她背着大包小包的行李再次来到了中国。这一次,她的身份不再是实习生,而是沈阳理工大学的一名正式学生。
就这样,玛丽在中国的生活开始了。8个月后,玛丽转校到浙江科技学院继续读书。本科毕业后,玛丽又考了浙大的研究生,在这所中国著名学府之中,她找到了属于自己更广阔的空间。
学业之余,爱好广泛的玛丽一刻也闲不下来,舞蹈、运动、走秀、表演……她好像有用不完的劲。她积极参加各种校内外的活动、比赛,也会凌晨四点拉着老公起床,一起去爬宝石山、看日出。
作为一名外国友人,玛丽担任了第五届杭州国际毅行大会形象大使;参与了2014年度“梦行浙江”外国留学生中华才艺展演;获得“舞动中国”比赛团队一等奖两次、个人二等奖一次;“永恒之星”杯第十届华东地区体育舞蹈锦标赛一等奖、二等奖……
校国际文化节、35周年校庆晚会、各学院迎新晚会、啦啦操比赛、校运动会也都活跃着她的身影。除了积极参加活动之外,玛丽也非常重视自己的学习,2015年她获得了优秀留学生奖学金。
看起来文雅秀气的她,骨子里其实是个“拼命三娘”。玛丽给记者看了她最近的行程表,桐庐、广州、宁波、福建、苏州……马不停蹄,一个接一个,舞蹈表演、模特走秀……
“我得了一种什么都想做到最好的‘病。”玛丽俏皮地说:“我可以不吃饭、不睡觉、不休息,但我不能接受自己没有尽全力。”“那如果你比赛得了第二怎么办?”记者问她。“那我就会哭,呜呜呜……”玛丽双手捧着脸逗得大家都笑起来了。
还未毕业的玛丽对于未来已经有了规划,她有两个梦想:一个是做演员。为此,她在《通天密码狄仁杰》和《六条逗君》中都客串了角色;另外一个梦想是想做婚礼策划人。“想做婚礼策划人,是因为我喜欢画画,喜欢设计。”不久前刚结婚的玛丽,就自己设计了自己的婚礼。
婚礼在户外,地点是西溪湿地。玛丽一手包办了婚礼现场所有的东西,灯、鲜花、杯盘、食物等。“全都是我在网上买的!”玛丽说起这个特别骄傲。而婚禮的乐队则是玛丽的丈夫的好友们,她丈夫本来就是一名驻唱歌手。
“我去店里问婚礼仪式的价格,老板说,有5万的,有10万的,还有15万的……问我要哪种,我吓坏了,我说我要1万的!老板说没有这么便宜的!”于是玛丽决定亲自动手,最终所有的婚礼花费包括食物在内,总共只用了3万。“因为我还没想好以后要做什么,也有可能自己创业,所以花钱的地方有很多,这就需要多存点钱。”
结婚的时候,玛丽给自己的父母买好机票请他们来参加婚礼。“我参加过中国的婚礼,就是很多人过来吃饭、喝酒,婚礼中新娘要换两套衣服,然后敬酒,结束就回家。我觉得太无聊了,我觉得婚礼一定要跳舞,要玩游戏,要 have fun.”
婚礼当天非常热闹,在美丽的西溪湿地边,玛丽的父母和朋友们,度过了一个愉快的夜晚,大家跳舞、歌唱、做游戏,浪漫至极。
“我去过中国很多城市,北京、广州、三亚,但是我心中最棒的城市还是杭州。杭州太美了,生活也很方便。”玛丽对杭州的移动支付尤其赞不绝口,“我坐地铁、坐公交、吃饭、买东西,都可以用手机支付,在俄罗斯就不可以,俄罗斯人也用类似微信的聊天软件,但是不能用来付钱。”
玛丽非常喜欢旗袍,她经常穿着旗袍参加走秀,而且她生活中也有收藏旗袍的习惯,她总共拥有5件旗袍,日常出行也会穿。
在首届浙江旗袍名媛大赛上,玛丽不仅一袭旗袍参加比赛,还表演了中国舞蹈,可谓将中国风展现得淋漓尽致。
玛丽还特别喜欢杭帮菜,虽然为了保持身材她不能吃得太油,平时都是自己在家做沙拉,但遇上节日她还是会“放纵一下自己”,去外婆家餐馆大吃一顿,“外婆家的菜太好吃了!”
因为真的很喜欢,玛丽开始学着做中国菜,包饺子、包粽子,她还会在家里准备好一堆中国食物,邀请朋友来吃饭。玛丽参加过一个东阳乡味美食争霸赛,穿着美丽的古装,现场给大家做中国菜,“虽然我不会做复杂的菜,但是简单的小炒对我来说并不难。”
很多人都喜欢玛丽,因为她的漂亮、热情、积极、努力,玛丽也因此结交了许多中国朋友,这也是玛丽在中国过得开心的一个重要原因。“中国的朋友都很棒、很热情,会在我们需要时提供帮助,这让我们在这里生活完全不觉得孤独。”
日益融入中國的玛丽,朋友圈也十分接地气。前阵子朋友圈流行晒18岁照片,她也没落下,晒出一堆18岁时青春洋溢的照片,让人差点忘了她是个外国姑娘。
不过玛丽也有自己的苦恼。“我的丈夫和我交流说英语,朋友们为了方便我大多数也和我用英语交流,这几年我的汉语说得还是不太好,我真的很希望可以说一口流利的汉语。”其实在记者看来,玛丽的汉语说得很不错,采访过程中绝大多数问题用中文问她都没问题,只不过回答的时候需要中英结合,对于很多汉语口语词汇她也明白。比如记者评价她很“拼”,她表示“有很多人这么说我。”
玛丽的丈夫是委内瑞拉人,等玛丽大学毕业了,他们有可能继续留在杭州,也有可能回到她老公的家乡。但是玛丽显然更倾向于留在中国。“离毕业还有一年半的时间,这一年半的时间我给自己定的最重要的任务,就是学汉语。不管将来我在哪里定居,我都要把汉语学好。虽然学汉语真的很难,但我真的很喜欢,我一定要学会它。”
24岁的玛丽在中国已经5年。5年的时间,她把热爱变成了适应,继而变成了习惯,她甚至比很多本地人更加融入这片土地。“来中国是我做过最棒的决定,我爱中国,中国是我的家乡。”
Mary is a young woman from a small city with a population of 15,000 in Siberia, Russia. She has been in Hangzhou since 2013 and now she is in the second year of her graduate course in international relations at Zhejiang University. She jokes that the university has more people than the small city where she was born and grew up.
In 2012, Mary got an offer for a two-week internship in Shenyang, a central city in northeastern China. Back then, she was a college freshman in Russia. She liked what she experienced in the city and decided to have more of China. She came back to Shenyang three weeks later and enrolled herself at Shenyang Ligong University. Eight months later, she transferred herself to Zhejiang University of Science & Technology based in Hangzhou, capital city of Zhejiang Province. After finishing her undergraduate study at the university, she enrolled herself into a graduate course of Zhejiang University.
It is in Hangzhou that Mary started engaging herself in a wide range of extracurricular events such as dance, outdoor sports, show, and entertainment performances. In 2014, she took part in a talent show, a competition especially designed for international students in the city. She served as an ambassador for Fifth Hangzhou International Hiking in 2015. In 2015, she attained a scholarship awarded especially to international students for excellence. She has won honors from numerous competitions on the campus and beyond.
Her wedding was held in Hangzhou. She organized her own wedding, cutting down the expenses by at least 50%. Her husband, a singer from Venezuela, now works in Hangzhou. She didnt want to spend all her money on the wedding as she was determined to put away seed money for business in the future. She invited her parents over from Russia and footed the bill.
Mary has visited many cites in China, such as Beijing, Guangzhou and Sanya, but Hangzhou is her favorite. Life in the city is convenient and comfortable with all the electronic gadgets. She likes the city also because of the local cuisine. In order to keep fit, she cooks at home, but occasionally she will eat out with her husband. The food at Grandmas is simply irresistible. And she has learned to make Chinese food. She once competed in a cooking program in Dongyang, making traditional dishes.
Mary enjoys popularity in Hangzhou. She has made quite a few Chinese friends. In the eye of her friends, she is beautiful, enthusiastic, positive and hardworking. She counts this large circle of friends in China as a big reason why she feels so happy in China.
However, Mary isnt free of worries. Her Chinese is by no means proficient. She speaks English with her husband at home. Most friends speak English with her for her convenience. She wishes to improve her Chinese, though she can manage to handle most situations in Chinese. When she cant find words in Chinese, she uses some English words.
She has not made up her mind about the future. After her graduation from Zhejiang University, the couple may choose to stay in Hangzhou. Venezuela is also a possibility. Mary prefers China if it is up to her to make a choice about where to live in the future. But right now, she has 18 months to make that decision. She needs to wrap up her graduate studies in one year and a half. During this time, she wants to perfect herself in Chinese. No matter where she will live in the future, Chinese is always a top priority.
The 24-year-old Mary has spent five years in China. In the past five years, she has adapted herself well to the life here. She thinks she has a greater passion for this country than many local residents do. “Coming to China is the best decision I have ever made. I love China and China is my home,” she concludes.