My parents are from Russia-I am not. I was born in America and so I never really considered myself different from the other kids until， they started making fun of me because I didn't speak English. I was four years old， and a young boy taunted me about my lack of English skills in Russian， just so that I would understand. \"I can speak English!\" I cried to my parents in Russian. The truth was that he was right...it wasn't until pre-school that I learned to speak English.

我的父母是俄國人——但我不是。我從小在美國長大，所以我從沒想過我與其他孩子有什么不同，直到他們開始因為我不會說英語而取笑我。那時我4歲，一個小男孩用俄語嘲笑我，說我英文缺乏技巧，我才明白了一切?！拔夷苷f英語！”我用俄語向父母喊道。但事實上，那男孩兒是對的……因為直到上了學(xué)前班我才開始學(xué)習(xí)說英語。

Despite my early language obstacle， I learned English fairly quickly; however， my Russian roots followed me everywhere--particularly when it came to my attire. I still have nightmares about the colorful wool tights they made me put on under everything. I only have to say that while I was not the best dressed， I was definitely the warmest.

盡管我有早期語言障礙，但我英語學(xué)得相當(dāng)快；然而，我的俄國根與我形影不離——尤其是我的穿著。我做惡夢都會夢到他們讓我在任何衣服上都套上的彩色羊毛衫。我只能說雖然我不是穿得最好的，卻是穿得最暖和的。

I wasn't the only one who was privileged to wear the Russian garb in New York. Imagine my surprise when my father picked me up from school one day wearing a traditional Russian hunting hat. They are really made for those who reside in Siberia. And then， just when I thought it was all over， the hat slowly but surely made its way to my head. How much worse could it get！

我并不是唯一有特權(quán)在紐約穿俄國服飾的人。當(dāng)有一天我爸爸戴著一頂俄國傳統(tǒng)狩獵帽來學(xué)校接我時，我當(dāng)時的驚訝程度可想而知。它們實在是為駐足在西伯利亞的人量身定做的。之后，正當(dāng)我以為這一切惡夢都結(jié)束了時，這頂帽子卻慢慢地實實地落在了我的頭上。真是糟糕透頂了！

Okay， this is how much worse it could get. Since my family already had the embarrassing winter months out of the way， they obviously couldn't ignore the summer. Summer in New York City can become unbearable， especially for girls and their hair. My mother decided it was too hot outside and decided to cut it into the style of a military man going through basic training. They don't have extreme heat problems in Russia and so the thought of putting my hair in a pony tail escaped her.

好吧，這就算是糟糕的極限了。因為我的家人已經(jīng)把這尷尬的冬季歲月拋到腦后了，但顯然他們也不會放過夏季。紐約城的夏天簡直酷熱難耐，尤其對于女孩兒和她們的長發(fā)來說。我的母親覺得外面天氣太熱，決定將頭發(fā)剪得跟正準(zhǔn)備接受基礎(chǔ)訓(xùn)練的軍人一樣。在俄國他們不會遇到極度炎熱的問題，所以我的小馬尾也沒有幸免于難。

The older I got， the easier it was to escape my Russian roots. But sometimes， living in a Russian home is enough to give it away. You see， Russian people love onions. If there's a pot on the stove， an onion will most likely be involved. Eating them is okay， but smelling like them is definitely a problem. If only I could be Italian and smell like Parmesan cheese all the time.

隨著年齡的增長，隱藏我的“俄根”也似乎越來越容易。但住在一個俄國人的家里，有時真夠?qū)⑦@事忘得一干二凈了。你知道，俄國人愛洋蔥。如果火爐上有個壺，里面一定有根洋蔥。吃洋蔥還好，但聞起來確實是個問題。要是我是個散發(fā)著意大利干酪香味的意大利人該多好啊。

As if high school wasn't bad enough， I had the added pressure of explaining to my parents the cliques. Not only did I have to introduce them to my friends， but had to explain why I wasn't friends with all the others!

高中生活似乎還沒壞到極點，我的新壓力是對父母解釋我的那個小團(tuán)伙。我不僅得把他們介紹給我的朋友，還得解釋為什么我沒有其他的朋友。

\"That's not nice. You should be friends with everyone，\" my dad would tell me. Yeah right， like it's up to me.

“那樣不好吧。你應(yīng)該和每個人交朋友?！蔽野职忠欢〞@么說。哦，好的，就像我能決定這一切似的。

Explaining to my parents the significance of the attending events with a certain clique was also a difficult task. For some reason， they just couldn't understand why I spent so much time picking out the perfect gift for my friends (or those I wanted to be my friends).

向父母解釋加入某個小團(tuán)伙參與某些事的重要性也是件很困難的任務(wù)。由于某種原因，他們就是不能理解為什么我要花那么多時間為我的朋友（或那些我想交的朋友）選最棒的禮物。

Having survived an embarrassing childhood， I was more than pleased to make my way into the wonderful world of adulthood—meaning college. That is， until I realized that I would have to do all of the \"adult\" things on my own. You see， when you live in a Russian community， learning the English language becomes unnecessary. So， it was I who had the pleasure of filling out all of my college applications and then trying to figure out how financial aid worked. Then came the internships. Try explaining to two people who escaped communism that you are working for free—it isn't fun.

熬過了那個尷尬的童年后，我滿心歡喜地進(jìn)入這個精彩的成人世界——我是指大學(xué)。這種喜悅只維持到我意識到我不得不去獨立完成所有“成年人”該做的事。你知道，當(dāng)你生活在一個俄國社區(qū)里，學(xué)習(xí)英語就變得毫無必要了。所以，我的壓力在于填寫所有的大學(xué)申請表并試著計算出多少經(jīng)濟(jì)補助才夠，然后進(jìn)入了實習(xí)期。試著向兩個脫離了共產(chǎn)主義的人解釋干活卻拿不到工錢——這可不是個玩笑。

\"You're working for free? I think they are taking advantage of you. It's not right，\" my dad said when I told him my good news.

“你為別人免費打工？我想他們是在利用你，這樣不對?！碑?dāng)我把我的好消息告訴我父親時他這么說。

It's funny how your perspective changes as you grow older. Somewhere along the way I realized something very important. I realized that I was fighting a part of me that could never be changed. Besides， I love Russian food and speaking a 2nd language has had its benefits. And I no longer smell like an onion because somewhere along the line my mom swore off cooking. Being different may seem like a sucky situation when you're young but I actually enjoying people guessing where I'm from now. And who knows， Russian hunting hats can be kind stylish.

想法如何隨著年齡而改變是件有趣的事。人生旅途的某一處，我意識到一些很重要的事。我意識到我是在和那部分永遠(yuǎn)不會改變的自己作斗爭。還有，我愛俄國美食，使用第二語言也有它的好處。我不再散發(fā)洋蔥味兒了，因為在我人生的某一站我的母親發(fā)誓不再下廚。“與別人不同”在小的時候也許是個很困窘的情況，但我現(xiàn)在確實很享受人們猜測我來自哪兒。誰又知道，俄式狩獵帽也能有幾分時髦呢。

倒譯如流

out of the wayadv.不擋道， 不恰當(dāng)， 異常， 偏僻 ，不礙事的，偏遠(yuǎn)的，不顯眼的

如：get out of the way there， please! 請讓路！

He elbowed me out of the way. 他用肘部把我擠到一邊。

能說會用

free 免費

如：call toll - free 打免費電話

All members admitted free. 所有會員免費入場。

★編輯：譚添夏