【征文】一对美国外教夫妇在南京的战“疫”生活

《我的战“疫”生活》主题征文活动开展以来，陆续有越来越多的南广师生投稿参与。随着活动的深入，来自南广国际学院的两位外籍教师也按捺不住表达的冲动，撰写了他们在中国疫情期间的故事来参与征文。美国人理查德.海德勒夫妇是南广国际学院的雅思教师，他们来中国的时间不长，疫情爆发后他们选择留在中国并亲身见证了中国抗“疫”的全过程，其中的很多小故事和思考让他们印象深刻。原英国文化教育协会雅思考官戴维.莫里也是南广国际学院的教师，因为春节期间去柬埔寨度假，所以他在再次回到中国后不可避免地度过了14天的隔离生活。他也在他的征文中真实记录了这段难忘的经历。

今天小编精心制作了中英双语版的推送，读者朋友们不妨顺手练一练英语阅读理解哦，嘎嘎。

特别致谢南广国际学院的吴杨、朱怡雯两位老师，她们的翻译让外教的故事能够为更多人所了解。

A Foreigner in Nanjing

作者：Richard Helder

南广国际学院雅思教师

There is a saying often attributed to the “Ancient Chinese” in English speaking circles that goes like this: “May you live in interesting times.” It is interpreted as a curse. And despite the apocryphal origin of this phrase, it comes to my mind now as I collect my thoughts regarding my experience in China during the Coronavirus event. The film studies majors in my IELTS classes were assigned to make a short film called “A Foreigner in Nanjing.” Since that is what I literally am, I ended up getting involved with two of these student film projects. This was just before the Chinese New Year break. My students andcolleagues occasionally asked me whatmy plans were for the upcoming holiday. I answered, "I plan to get a haircut and get to know Nanjing.” I am new to CUCN and my wife and I were happy to stay put and see where we were since we only had arrived in October. Looking back, that was the best thing we could’ve done.

The last “pre-Coronavirus” activity we did was to go outside at midnight and look at all the fireworks going off in the streets. Two days later on January 27th, Nanjing required wearing masks out in public. I suddenly remembered teasing some of my students for wearing masks in my classes. It is, as they say, karma. After that, the global epidemic unfolded through social media on our phones. It was an anxious time for us as flights of all foreigners were leaving China and then stopping all together. I wondered if I too should go. In the end, thankfully, we decided to stay. But then there was another problem. Where could we get masks to wear during our trips to the grocery store every third day? I kept asking at the pharmacy near our apartment. No masks. The grocery store we go to stayed open every day during the social crisis. But there were no masks on the shelves. Finally I asked the two sisters who run the store and also work as cashiers if I could buy a mask from them personally. Of course I was using a translation app to communicate with them. They responded by reaching under the counter at the check out and giving me two masks, one for me, and one for my wife. It was like giving me gold! I wanted to pay them but they refused. This, to me, was an extraordinary act of kindness. Now I could go outside without attracting negative attention and looking like a foreigner who did not respect the local edicts concerning proper Coronavirus response. Now we could go out for walks and go to the store. That will be one of my lasting memories of these times: kindness shown to a stranger amidst a crisis. Now, sadly I’m watching my friends and family going crazy in the US over this global pandemic event. Now it seems China is actually the safest place I could be. Interesting times indeed.

And the beat goes on . . . line!

One of the biggest challenges I faced during the Coronavirus outbreak was suddenly becoming a digital teacher. Along with spending a lot of time on socialmedia, more than I ever have in my life, I had to convert to teaching in a vastly different way than I have be been accustomed to. It was an abrupt departure from classroom teaching, where I can use student body language and change the proximity of my body to bring about responses during class. I used to be a radio announcer many years ago and this felt a little like that. But how to make it interactive? So many questions. I was extremely impressed by the round the clock efforts of many of my colleagues to bring about this sea change in normal operations. The Chinese can really move mountains when they are called upon to do so! March 2nd, 2020 I became an online teacher for the first time.

Virtual Comedy

“CNY” is usually an abbreviation for “Chinese New Year”. But for me and Raisa, our first year in China is more like “CNY= Coronavirus New Year”. Anyway, I made friends with lots of people in Asia, not only on Mainland China (due to spending an inordinate amount of time on social media).

I made the digitalacquaintance of several Singaporeans, one of whom is the ever upbeat Alvin Oon. It’s refreshing to be hit with something so unapologetically un-ironic, if that’s an acceptable form of the word. I spread this musical parody to my Chinese colleagues as well as to my American and Armenian friends via social media. I also appreciated the people who were upbeat and positive during thistime. I also discovered a Chinese comedian who is a big hit now in America. His name is Ronnie Cheung. I posted this on my Facebook as well so that my American friends can see how US culture looks to Chinese people. So my time in quarantine was occupied by many funny and creative people. I will of course be glad to get back into the classroom and be closer to my students when the University sees that it is an appropriate time. So the Year of the Rat is still just beginning but it will never be forgotten. And I’m glad to be in China to dispel rumors for my American friends and to have come in contact with people in other Asian lands via social media.

一对美国外教夫妇在南京的战“疫”生活

南广国际学院雅思教师理查德.海德勒（美国）

翻译：吴杨、朱怡雯

西方世界流传着一句被认为是来源于古汉语的话，“宁为太平狗，不做乱世人”（May you live in interesting times），这实则是一个诅咒。尽管此话的来源早已不足凭信，但仍勾起了我在中国防疫“新冠病毒”期间的记忆。我的雅思课上有电影专业的学生需要拍摄以“外国人在南京（A Foreigner in Nanjing）”为主题的短片，作为一名在南京的外国人，我便参加了其中两个学生的电影项目。当时恰逢春节前，学生和同事偶然问起我的寒假计划，我便告诉他们，“打算理个头，逛逛南京”。（2019年）十月初才到南广，我和妻子都乐于暂缓脚步环顾四周，感受一番我们所在的城市。如今回头看看，那确是我们所能做的最好的事情。

和妻子漫步南京庆祝新年

我们在“新冠病毒”爆发前做的最后一件事，是在午夜漫步街头、欣赏烟花。两天后的1月27日，京出台规定要求所有人在公共场合必须佩戴口罩，倏然间我回忆起自己曾经调侃过一些在课堂上戴口罩的学生，这大概就是所谓的“因果报应”吧？从那之后，与这场全球肆虐的传染病相关的消息铺天盖地而来，手机社交软件上全是相关的报道。霎那间，无数外国人乘坐飞机离开了中国，紧接着便是所有航班宣布停飞——这对我们来说实在是一个焦虑的时刻。我也一直在踌躇是否要离开，不过谢天谢地，我们最终选择了留下。可问题也随之而来：我们每隔两天就要出去采购，这口罩问题该如何解决？我不停地询问公寓附近的药店，结果却如出一辙——售罄。在如此巨大的社会危机面前，我们常去的杂货店依然每天开放，货架上却不再有口罩的踪影。最后我找到开店的那对姐妹，问能不能私下卖我几个。我打开翻译软件试图跟她们交流，她们看完之后，伸手从结账的柜台下拿出两个口罩递过来——一个给了我，一个给了我的妻子——我们仿佛是接过了金子！我试图付钱给她们，却遭到了婉拒。于我而言，这是非同寻常的善举。有了口罩我终于可以正常出门，不再担心人们会用奇怪的眼神看过来，仿佛在斥责我们两个外国人不尊重当地应对病毒防控的举措。现在我们可以像往常一样出去散步，去店里购物。动荡生活中显现的人性和善意——这无疑将成为我对这段时光永恒的记忆。不幸的是，此刻我不得不眼看着我的家人和朋友在大洋彼岸的美国面对同样的挑战，如今看来中国似乎成了全世界最安全的地方。的确是个有意思的时代啊。

戴上口罩的合影

摇身成为网课老师

在冠状病毒爆发期间，我面临的最大挑战之一就是突然成为了一名网课老师。我这辈子都没在社交媒体上投入过这么多时间，更要命的是，我不得不以一种全新的方式来开展线上教学。我感觉自己突然脱离了课堂，再也不能使用我的肢体语言辅助教学，也没法通过增加课堂与学生的亲密感来提高他们上课的积极性。这会儿的感觉倒有点像回到多年前我担任广播播音员那时候。还有，要怎样使线上课程具有交互性呢？问题虽然很多，但我很感激努力奋战的南广国际学院的同事们，他们一直平稳有序地应对这场巨大的变化。果真是人心齐，泰山移！于是在2020年3月2日，我第一次成为了一名线上老师。

上网课的照片

虚拟喜剧

“CNY”通常是“Chinese New Year”（中国新年）的缩写，但对我和妻子Raisa而言，在中国的第一年更像是“Coronavirus New Year”（冠状病毒新年）。尽管如此，我们通过社交网络结识了很多亚洲的朋友，不仅在中国大陆，还有几位新加坡人，其中一位是永远乐观的艾尔文·恩（Alvin Oon）。若是要我说的话，这种令人耳目一新的交友方式是不可置辩的“非讽刺的”。我把自己造的这个措辞（unapologetically un-ironic）通过社交媒体传达给了我的中国同事以及美国和亚美尼亚的朋友。同时我也非常欣赏那些在疫情期间始终保持乐观和积极向上的人。

除此之外，我还发现了一位如今在美国非常火的喜剧演员，罗尼·张（Ronnie Cheung）。我将其发在了我的脸书上，以便他们瞧一瞧在中国人的心目中，美国文化究竟是怎样的。因此，我在疫情期间的自我隔离时光被许多有趣且富有创造力的人占据了。

当然待到学校认为时机合适，我也很高兴能够回到教室，走到学生当中去。尽管才过鼠年之初，但已经注定了2020是令人难忘的一年。我十分开心能够待在中国，为我的美国朋友们消除谣言，并通过社交媒体与亚洲其他国家的人建立联系。