A Temporary Home Away from Home远方的家

珍妮弗·布拉格

For more than 20 years I have been traveling the world， preferring often to spend a year or two in different countries rather than to just visit as a tourist. It has become a big part of my identity as an adult and shaped how I see the world and myself.

My first taste of this amazing life was when I was 19 years old. I was selected among a small group of college classmates to spend a year abroad. This was long before people could travel the world vicariously1 through social media like Facebook， Instagram and Weibo. In order to see a place， you had to go there and experience it firsthand.

I was raised in a middle-class family and couldn’t afford to travel around the world the way I wished I could. My only exposure to the world outside was through letters I wrote to pen-pals from over a dozen countries as a kid， and from television. One thing I loved on television growing up were the hilarious2 British comedies that aired every Saturday night on my local public television station. So when I got the chance to apply for a study abroad program， I chose London. （Plus， I spoke the language.）

Junior Year Abroad， or JYA， is a program that allows American college students to study in another country during their junior year， usually through his or her own university or through a university that has a study-abroad program. JYA has been around for nearly 100 years.

In 1921， a young professor at the University of Delaware named Raymond W. Kirkbride proposed the idea of sending students to study in another country. Kirkbride was a World War I veteran and saw the ugly side of humanity through war. Yet he spent time in France during the war and enjoyed the people and culture. Later， as a professor， he thought that sending students to other countries would help promote cross-cultural understanding. So， in 1923， Kirkbride organized a trip for eight juniors from the University of Delaware to sail to France. Today， the JYA program is offered to thousands of students across the United States and around the world.

Living abroad can be exciting， scary and challenging. I thought it would be easier because I spoke the language， but I relished3 the little differences between the British and American culture and language. Instead of ground beef they called it “mince”. Instead of garbage they called it “rubbish”. Once， at Christmas， I went to a supermarket and asked if they had egg nog4. Egg nog is a very creamy drink seasoned with5 nutmeg and is delicious and traditional to drink in some American families. The man at the supermarket told me he had never heard of it， and I was really surprised！

I also learned that in England， they spell words differently than in the U.S. In British spelling， they put a “u” in words like favor to make it “favor” and an “s” in words like analyze to make it “analyze”. I was able to adapt quickly to this new way of writing since I was submitting papers all the time for my classes.

Academically， I got to take classes that weren’t offered at my college back home. I took a film class and was introduced to the “classics”6 with works by Alfred Hitchcock7 and Orson Welles8. I had a course in sociology and learned about the native people of Papua New Guinea9.

But there were also challenges that year too. One of my classes was called “Europe Since 1870”. In the U.S.， I would have expected an introductory history class， but in England， I was supposed to have already known the history; now was the time to analyze it. That meant I not only had to learn the history as I went along， but also I had to try to write a paper explaining why certain events happened as they did. Once， a teaching assistant who did not take kindly to my misunderstanding of an assignment berated me in front of a fellow student. I remember going back to my student house and crying afterwards for being so stupid. Of course， I know now that I was thrown into the deep end10， in a completely different and far more challenging environment， and it was natural that I wouldn’t understand everything easily. Despite this， I don’t regret anything about my time in London. Even through painful experiences， we learn to grow.

Sometimes the difficult times made me sad and homesick. But luckily that was outweighed11 by the amazing experience I had getting to know people from all over the world. I met dozens of interesting people from places like France， Greece and Germany in Europe， to Rwanda， Palestine and Australia. Learning how to make friends with people from different cultures and backgrounds was really fun， and these new friends helped put a face to the countries they represented12.

Academically， because there are so many differences between the British and American grading systems， my overall grades were adjusted upwards to account for the degree of difficulty in acclimating to the British educational structure. In the end， I did pretty well， considering I was like a fish out of water13 in a totally new learning environment.

As I finished the academic year， I was torn inside about leaving London after such a transformative experience. I learned so much about myself as a young woman and an American. When I returned to my college for my final year， friends and professors saw a new me. I had more maturity and self-awareness than before. It was difficult at first to adjust back to American college life， almost like I hadn’t had the most amazing year of my life and I was simply back for my senior year. But I know， inside， this was just the beginning of a future of world travel and a love of different people and cultures.

我用了20多年的时间周游世界。我更喜欢去到不同的国家，在那里住上一两年，而不是仅仅当个观光客，走马观花。这成为我长大后个性的一个重要部分，也塑造了我认识世界与自我的方式。

19岁时，我第一次尝试了这种奇妙的生活方式。上大学时，我从一小拨同学中脱颖而出，被选到海外交流学习一年。那时候，人们还没法通过像脸书、照片墙和微博这样的社交媒体遍览世界。要想看看外面的世界，你必须去亲自前往，亲身体验。

我生长在一个中产阶级家庭，家里的条件不允许我像希望的那样周游世界。我了解外面世界的唯一渠道就是从小和世界各地的笔友通信。除此之外，就是通过电视。从小到大，我一直很喜欢每周六晚上本地公共电视台播放的非常搞笑的英国喜剧。所以，当有机会申请海外学习交流时，我选择了伦敦（也是因为语言相通）。

大三海外学习计划是一个海外交流学习项目。美国大学生可以通过自己所在大学或别的大学的海外留学项目，在大三的时候到另外一个国家交流学习。海外学习计划已经运营了近百年。

1921年，特拉华大学的年轻教授雷蒙德·W.柯克布赖德提出把学生送到别的国家学习的想法。柯克布赖德是一位一战老兵，曾亲眼见过战争中人性的丑恶。不过，战时他曾在法国逗留，非常喜欢那里的人们和文化。后来，作为一名教授，他认为让学生到别的国家学习生活能够促进不同文化的相互理解。因此，在1923年，柯克布赖德组织了8名特拉华大学的大三学生乘船到法国游学。时至今日，海外学习计划仍在为世界各地数千名大学生提供海外学习机会。

在异国生活既令人兴奋，又充满了慌乱与挑战。我觉得语言相通令我的海外生活变得更轻松，不过我也喜欢品味英美文化和语言上的小差异。英国人把碎牛肉（ground beef）叫作mince，把垃圾（garbage）叫作rubbish。有一次，在圣诞节的时候，我去超市问店员有没有蛋奶酒卖。蛋奶酒是一种用肉豆蔻调制的奶油味浓郁的酒，是美国家庭传统酒饮。但是英国超市的店员告诉我，他从未听说过这种酒，这实在出乎我的意料！

我还了解到，英式英语的单词拼写与美国也略有不同。在英式英语中，像favor这样的单词会被插入一个u变成favour，又或者像analyze中的z会换成s。因为我一直负责提交同学们的论文，所以很快就适应了这些拼写上的差异。

在学业方面，我会选修一些在美国母校没有开设的课程。我选了一门电影赏析课，通过阿尔弗雷德·希区柯克和奥逊·威尔斯的作品中了解到“经典好莱坞电影”。我还选了一门社会学课程，了解了巴布亚新几内亚原住民的生活。

这一年的海外交流中也遇到一些挑战。我有一门课程叫作“1870年后的欧洲”。如果是在美国，应该会上一门入门级的历史课;但在英国，人人都以为我早就了解这段历史，现在就需要做些分析。这就意味着我不仅要学习这些历史事件的内容，还要试着去写论文解释为什么这些历史事件会发生。有一次，有位助教对我没搞清作业是什么很不满，当着另一个同学的面训斥了我。我还记得后来我回到宿舍，为自己的愚蠢而大哭。当然，现在我已经意识到那时我陷入了困境。在一个完全不同且更富挑战性的环境中，不能轻易理解所有事物也属正常。尽管如此，我一点儿也不后悔来伦敦交流学习。磨难使人成长。

有时，遇到困难让我情绪低落，思念家乡。但幸运的是，我结识了来自世界各地的人，这些奇妙的经历冲淡了我的负面情绪。我遇到了许多有趣的人，他们有的来自法国、希腊、德国等欧洲国家，也有的来自卢旺达、巴勒斯坦和澳大利亚。学着与不同文化背景的人交朋友实在非常有意思，而且，与这些新朋友交往也帮助我了解了他们所代表的国家。

在学业方面，因为英美的分数评价体系迥异，我的总分有所上调是考虑到我因适应英国教育机制而增加的学习难度。就一个在全新的学习环境中摸爬滚打的新人而言，我最后的成绩还是很不错的。

在经历了这样的“变形之旅”、完成一学年的学习后，对离开伦敦我心里很是纠结。这段经历让我对自己有了更多的认识，无论是作为一名年轻女性，还是一个美国人。当我回到原来的大学继续读大四时，朋友和老师都看到了一个全新的“我”：比以前更加成熟，也更加自知。刚回来的时候，我还有点难以调整回美国大学的生活节奏——仿佛我没有刚刚度过奇妙的一年，而只是放暑假回來继续读大四。但我心里很清楚，这段经历对我未来到世界各地旅行、喜爱不同的人和不同文化来说，才仅仅是一个开始。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖选手）