Cristiano
有好人能帮我翻译成中文?我自己不会说那么多的汉语可是学校要我讲中文。囧

a degree, it’s much more. It’s something that changes you, that makes you grow up and, in most cases, makes you a better person. I’ve been there and I speak by experience. In my early twenties I wanted to improve my English, so I told my parents that in order to learn better I needed to live where English was spoken. My decision was between Australia and the United States, and that was a tough decision since both are interesting and beautiful countries. After a lot of thinking the winner was California, a place I always wanted to see. Needless to say I was thrilled and I couldn’t stop talking about this new adventure with my friends and family. My parents on the other hand were worried. Having watched many Hollywood action movies, a way too many I have to say, they had this idea that California was a crime ridden place full of hazards. What would I do if something awful happened to me? And what would I eat? Would I eat enough? What if I got sick? What if I lost my money? Those where some of the many worries my parents had that time. But nothing bad happened during my stay in California, I had the best time of my life, my English improved dramatically and I made lots of friends. That experience broaden my mind, my vision of life and people. I grew more mature, and I’ve changed in a way I can still see today. I am what I am also because that experience. A few years later I came to China, and that was another incredible life experience. If the United States where different and it took me some time to adjust, it was nothing compared to China. In China almost every aspect of life was so new to me that I was overwhelmed. The culture, the people, the food, the customs…, it was amazing and shocking at the same time, I was under the so called culture shock. I could speak only a few words of Chinese, I was so clumsy using chopsticks I made people laugh at me, and I was for sure not used to interact with Chinese people. In fact I was too direct, sometime too blunt, because I didn’t know better. But since I had an open mind and curiosity, I become to adapt, I travelled, start learning Chinese, enjoyed eating local food and made some Chinese friends. Learning Chinese helped me making more friends, even the one who couldn’t speak English and this helped me not to lock in the ‘expat bubble’. As time passed I adapted to China quite well. Now I can even cook some Chinese food, few months ago I did my first “松子鱼”, and according to my wife, which is Chinese by the way, it was delicious. I love Cantonese dim sum, the Nanjingese 汤包, the Fujianese ban mia版面, the Shandong sea food and much more.What I want to say is: no matter where you go, keep an open mind, be curious, explore, get to know local people and don’t close yourself in your own fellow citizen community. If I wasn’t like that, if I was always with Italians or expats, if I always cooked and ate Italian food, now I wouldn’t be here, nor I would know much about China.
Italy has his own culture and a strong peculiar character. For most foreigners it’s an amazing country, in fact many relocate there because of the good lifestyle, food and warmth of local people. For a few others it can be daunting, because they find it’s very different from their own country. It’s all personal. We Italians believe in family, and we keep strong ties with our loved ones. We live with our parents until we get married, it often happens that sons live with families up to their thirties. In Italy we have a strong food culture, and this is similar to China. We don’t adapt very fast to other cuisines.Italians can be very direct, when we show affection we are spontaneous and open. We discuss animatedly and with a lot of hand gestures, and often foreigners find this amusing. Some even think mistakenly that we are fighting when in fact we are just discussing passionately about something. I am here today to explain also my role as a teacher. I consider myself more a counselor that a teacher. I not only teach my language, I also love to teach about my culture and society. I try my best to instill in my students the right mindset to achieve their goals while in my country. I always repeat: with the right attitude abroad, many good things happen, with the wrong attitude the opposite happens. I am always happy when I find a truly interested and curious student. The one that is motivated, hard-working and willing to learn with an open mind.

May 30, 2015 2:14 AM
Comments · 21
2

一定程度上,它更是如此。这使你改变,令你成长,在大多数情况下让你变为一个更好的人。作为一个过来人,我对此有着经验。在我二十出头的时候,我想提高我的英语,所以我告诉我的父母,为了更好地学习英语,我需要到说英语的地方生活。我决定在澳大利亚和美国这两个国家之间选择一个。这是一个艰难的决定,因为这两个国家都很有趣而美丽。经过认真地考虑,最后我选择了去加州——一个我一直想去看看的地方。不用说,我自然是激动万分,不停地跟我的朋友和家人谈论这个冒险活动;相反,我的父母却很担心。在看过许多好莱坞动作片后,我只能说他们有一种想法,那就是加州是一个充满了危险和罪恶的地方。

May 30, 2015
2

That is tooooo much, maybe I'll try it in my spare time.

May 30, 2015
1

Yes, I've noticed it too, probably the website system cut them because the post was longer than the maximum amount of characters allowed

May 30, 2015
1

如果我当初不是这样做的,如果我一直和意大利人还有其他外国人在一起,如果我一直只吃意大利食物,那么现在我就不会在这里,也不可能了解中国。意大利有它自己独特的文化。大多数外国人都觉得意大利真的太好了,而事实上也确实有很多人也因为这里有好的生活方式、好吃的食物及热情的人们而搬到这里儿居住;可对于少数的一些人却不然,因为这里和他们自己国家的文化太不一样了。这当然是因人而异的。我们意大利人看重家庭,亲人之间有紧密的联系/关系。我们直到结婚才离开父母自己住,男孩子往往都会和父母一直住到三十来岁。意大利也有与中国相似的强大的饮食文化。我们不能很快地接受外来的菜系/料理。意大利人是很直接的。当我们表达感情时,会使用大量的手势,有时在外国人看来可能可笑,有时甚至有人会误以为我们在打架,而其实我们只是在特别投入地讨论着什么。再来说说我这个老师的"角色"。与其说我是个老师,倒不如说我更像是是一个辅导员。我不仅仅教意大利语,还向学生们介绍意大利的文化及社会,我尽可能地帮助他们在待在意大利的期间树立起正确的观念。我总是跟他们强调 :在外面 有个正确的态度 就会好事连连 相反 错误的态度 就会厄运不断。能见到个真正感兴趣并且有好奇心的学生——就是那些有动力的、努力的、爱学的孩子们 ,我就会很高兴 。

May 30, 2015
1

What I want to say is, no matter where you go, keep an open your mind...无论去哪,都要保持着好奇之心,去发现,去认识当地的人, 不要让自己一直只在自己的同胞圈子里。

May 30, 2015
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