作者簡介

我父母是蘇格蘭人，而我出生在英國，卻在開曼群島長大，然后又在英國求學(xué)。我獲得考古專業(yè)學(xué)位，并且有游艇駕駛執(zhí)照。我以前曾經(jīng)在地中海和加勒比海駕駛豪華游艇。我喜歡北京，但也夢想著可以去青島和上海。

The world might be financially imploding but most of my Chinese friends aren't bothered， no matter how I try to explain the ways it could affect them. They can't see how the fallout from bad mortgages in America could possible have any impact on working in a high end restaurant or computer company in Beijing. Convincing them of how all the various businesses around the world are all interconnected is not easy. There are no clearly noticeable signs for the individual on the street of any impact to Beijing yet. Shops， bars and restaurants open and close all the time here， with new ones taking their place in a near constant cycle so quickly that it's easy to go out to buy something only to find your favorite place is gone.

這個世界可能正處于一場金融爆聚中，但無論我怎么努力解釋它對生活造成的巨大影響，我的大多數(shù)中國朋友們對此沒有絲毫不安。他們看不見美國信貸危機的“碎屑”對北京的高檔飯店以及電腦公司造成的惡果。讓他們意識到全世界所有企業(yè)的命運是休戚相關(guān)的可不是件容易的事。但大街上的行人們感覺不到任何金融危機對北京造成影響而留下的明顯跡象。這里的商店、酒吧還有餐館一直都是開開關(guān)關(guān)，在一個相對穩(wěn)定的周期鏈中不斷“辭舊迎新”，而當你出去要買東西的時候才會發(fā)現(xiàn)你最愛的地方已經(jīng)成為過去。

So， spotting anything related to the financial crisis needs some good eyes and ears and a little insider knowledge. With the Olympics over， the mad growth has slowed down a tiny bit， but you still see the forest of cranes and clouds of dust rising from the multitude of construction sites scattered around. Give it a little time though， and things might be different.

所以，準確定位任何與金融危機有關(guān)系的事物需要有敏銳的眼睛和耳朵，當然，還有那么一點圈內(nèi)知識。隨著奧運會的結(jié)束，瘋狂的增長速度開始一點點放慢腳步，但你仍然能夠看見

大量四散的建筑工地上成群的起重機和密布的塵霧。給點時間，事情會有所不同。

You don't have to look too hard in the expat community to find some repercussions though. Some people are already being squeezed， with a few thinking about cancelling their course at university as money they had banked on back home is no longer there. Those on taking a course to improve their moderate Chinese are finding it is no longer a necessity - zixue is fine. Others， already employed at international companies， have been watching with trepidation the job cuts made at their company's HQ and subsidiaries around the world.

你無需辛苦地在國外公眾身上找尋一些影響的后果。少數(shù)正考慮取消大學(xué)課程，因為寄托他們所有希望的本國存款都已蕩然無存，一些人已經(jīng)極度拮據(jù)。那些報輔導(dǎo)班學(xué)習(xí)中文的人發(fā)現(xiàn)無需這樣——自學(xué)就可以了。另外，一些受雇于國際公司的員工也已經(jīng)目睹了他們的總部以及全球子公司所采取的裁員措施帶來的恐慌。

How many large companies no longer have the financing to continue their ambitious expansion plans， crucial to their old businesses models for China? The sudden desire by staff to improve their Chinese and make themselves indispensable at work seems to be spreading - if a couple of conversations I've had lately are any indication. Yet China is one of the select few that's still showing strong growth (9%) and even though this is slowing down new jobs are still appearing.

很多大型企業(yè)都沒有財力繼續(xù)他們野心勃勃的擴展計劃，這對他們以前想在中國實施的經(jīng)濟計劃至關(guān)重要。如果說最近的談話對我有什么啟發(fā)的話not;——職員們瞬間爆發(fā)的想要學(xué)習(xí)改進中文的欲望以及工作是不可或缺的想法似乎開始蔓延。中國是少數(shù)經(jīng)濟持續(xù)強勁增長（9%）的國家，盡管也出現(xiàn)了新工作減少的現(xiàn)象。

So if you had to pick a place to ride out this storm you could do a lot worse than China and that's the conclusion a few people are coming to. Big business might be hoping for China to come running with their sovereign fund to save the day and our governments might be worried that they will， but the thinking man on the street with a little money is wondering about getting a job in China. It seems Beijing might be seeing a lot of familiar faces returning as their jobs at home disappear and the lower cost of living here， coupled with that old reliable English teaching job， and becomes irresistible.

因此，如果你必須要選擇一個地方來度過這場金融風(fēng)暴的話，中國無疑是最好的選擇，這就是一些人現(xiàn)在所得到的結(jié)論。大企業(yè)可能會寄希望于中國政府能夠動用中央財政來幫助他們轉(zhuǎn)危為安，而中國政府正在考慮是否要這樣做，但大街上貧窮但有頭腦的行人們都在思考怎樣才能在中國找到一個工作。在北京可能會看見很多熟悉的面孔，因為他們在家鄉(xiāng)的工作已經(jīng)沒有了，而且這里的生活花銷相對要低，與此同時，穩(wěn)定的英語教師工作也因此變得誘人起來。

The return to normal practice for visas will also see quite a few returnees ready to resume their old lifestyles. Perhaps we can add a new stereotype to the Beijing crowd， alongside young idealists， post-college wanderers， and washed-up drunks; the financial crisis refugee. For Joe Public， the boat to China may be the path to the Promised Land - or perhaps that investment banker down to his last few millions will be prepared to take a pay cut and earn a low seven figure salary for that Beijing job， heroic stuff indeed.

而正常的簽證慣例的回歸也使很多返回者準備繼續(xù)他們原有的生活方式。除了年輕的理想主義者、大學(xué)畢業(yè)后的待業(yè)青年、失意的酗酒者，可能我們還要給北京的人們增添一種新的生活方式——金融危機的難民。對于普通人來說，通往中國的輪船就是前往樂土的道路——或者資金銳減到幾百萬的大投行也準備減少開支，在北京賺取微薄的七位數(shù)的工資，還真是英雄的行為。

Those of us not on large expat packages wanting to travel home for the holidays have to budget a little more carefully these days to. Food prices are still high and my rent like nearly everyone elses shot up considerable for what was supposedly the mass pull of the Olympic – and didn't go down when the Olympic torch was extinguished. A fact that landlords are keen to ignore， and a conversation about this can induce a detailed explanation of how the financial crises is actually affecting them. No matter how many times I've explained that a temporary price rise should be just that it makes no difference. A mad rush around the city along the Batong line and up to Lishuiqiao on line 5 in search of a cheaper apartment ended with the realization that I could get a place for less but the hassle just wasn't worth it – and my landlord is actually a decent person who gets things fixed quickly， so too rare to risk losing.

這些日子里，我們這些在國外沒有什么家財?shù)娜讼牖丶叶燃俚脑?，就必須更仔細地安排預(yù)算。食物的價格一直高居不下，而房租就像其他人一樣由于所謂的奧運推力而瘋狂上漲，但在奧運圣火熄滅以后也沒有下跌。房東故意忽視這個事實，而且關(guān)于房租的對話也會演變成冗長而繁瑣的關(guān)于金融危機對他們造成的影響的解釋。無論我申明多少次臨時價格上調(diào)是合理的，但結(jié)果還是沒有什么任何改變。而瘋狂在八通線和5號線最北的立水橋附近尋找便宜的房子使我意識到，我完全可以找到一個更便宜的公寓，但是這種麻煩得不償失——我的房東是個非常好的人，修理房屋家電很迅速，但這樣的房東已經(jīng)很少了，所以我不想搬家。

As for me personally， when I came to China I didn't need a job and due to a certain lady ended up staying here in Beijing for far longer than I had planned. My profession is in the maritime industry which is completely useless here in lacklocked Beijing， and carries a certain stigma. When I try and explain that I trained for years， gained a number of qualifications， and captained multi million pound yachts， half the time it somehow gets turned around to， \"Oh you're a fisherman\". So I made two promises to myself when I decided to stay; one that I would not at any point teach English for a job and two， only ever work part-time.

就我個人來說，來北京時我并不需要工作，因為“某一女士”（女朋友）我留在北京的時間比計劃的要久。我的專業(yè)是海事業(yè)，這在內(nèi)陸的城市北京完全無用武之地，反而還在一定程度上成為恥辱。每當我試圖解釋這些年都做了哪些訓(xùn)練、獲得什么資格證書、成為多少艘快艇的船長，大多時候都會得到這種回答，“哦，你是漁民。”所以當我決定留下來的時候我許下兩個承諾，其中一個是我不會做任何有關(guān)英語教學(xué)的工作，第二個就是只做兼職。

Time and circumstances can be good motivators of change， however and that teaching salary is looking very enticing now. With marriage in the future looking much more likely， I need to start saving money. I'll be sending out my CV in the new year so I'm going to be breaking at least one of my promises. If nothing good comes along， well， I'll just have to hope for a miracle or I might after four long years have to be an English teacher to survive. I pity the students if that's the case.

時間和環(huán)境是促使你改變的最佳催化劑，英語教學(xué)的工資現(xiàn)在看起來非常誘人。而未來我很有可能要結(jié)婚，我必須要存錢。在新年時我會投出我的簡歷，所以我至少將要打破我的一個承諾。如果情況沒有好轉(zhuǎn)，好吧，那我只能希望奇跡發(fā)生，否則很有可能在四年后的今天我必須去做一個英語老師來謀求生存，如果出現(xiàn)這種情況我真為我的學(xué)生感到悲哀。

Notes

1. high end

這里的high 是形容詞，而end是名詞，指“末端、盡頭、極頂”，該詞組意為“高端、高層次”。而相應(yīng)的低端就是low end。

例句：The survey noted that the trend of moderate price drops in major consumer goods may prod consumers to look for higher-end products.

調(diào)查顯示我國主要消費品的價格出現(xiàn)下跌趨勢，這將刺激消費者去購買一些更為高端的產(chǎn)品。

2. ride out

意為“安然渡過， 經(jīng)受得住、頂住”。在文中指的是順利度過這場金融危機，沒有在危機中被淘汰。

例句：I don't know whether we can ride out this crisis.

我不知道我們是否能夠度過這個難關(guān)。

The small boat rode out the storm without damage.

這條小船安然渡過了風(fēng)暴而沒有受到任何損壞。

3. save the day

意為“反敗為勝、轉(zhuǎn)危為安”。 而save for a rainy day或者說save something for a rainy day 指的是“未雨綢繆、為將來做好準備”。

例句：Tom was nearly out of money when his father came and saved the day.

湯姆極度貧困的時候他父親來了，使他轉(zhuǎn)危為安。

We should save money for a rainy day.

我們要存一些錢，以備不時之用。

4. Joe Public

該詞組的英文釋義是“a generic（總名稱） name in the United States to denote a hypothetical member of society deemed a common man”，就是指平民大眾。

5. Promised Land

“應(yīng)許之地”，該詞匯來源于《圣經(jīng)》，上帝答應(yīng)給亞伯拉罕及其后裔的土地。也指“樂土、福地、希望之鄉(xiāng)”。

例句：Her ambition was always to come to America， which she thought of as a promised land.

她一向渴望來美國來，她認為這里是天堂。

6. make no difference

意為“沒有什么不同、沒有影響、沒有變化”。

例句：It make no difference to me whether you go or not.

你去不去對我都一樣。

Links

1. Financial Crisis

金融危機

在次貸風(fēng)暴持續(xù)肆虐下，華爾街仿佛在一夜之間回到了上世紀最大金融風(fēng)暴爆發(fā)時的1929年。格林斯潘清楚地指出：“這是一個百年一遇的金融危機?！薄度A爾街日報》引用一位歐洲央行官員的話說，“我們的命運掌握在美國人手里?！?但美國金融市場的命運，則仍在不確定中。當金融風(fēng)暴一發(fā)不可收拾，它所帶來的一系列后果在某種意義上改變了整個世界。而每個人的正常生活都直接或間接受到影響，隨著冬季寒流的降臨，這個世界仿佛越來越失去溫暖。中國在這場金融危機中的角色似乎也舉步維艱。

所有人每時每刻都在關(guān)注這場金融危機的發(fā)展趨勢，究竟它將走向何方？它將怎樣改變市場機制、投資理念和監(jiān)管制度以及千萬人的生活狀態(tài)？它將把這個世界業(yè)已形成的金融、經(jīng)濟、乃至國際政治格局帶向何方？我們只能拭目以待。

2. Working In China

“工”在中國

外國人在中國最常見的工作恐怕就要屬英語教師了，大多數(shù)來中國的外國人最初的第一份工作就是應(yīng)聘英語教師。沒辦法，中國教育對英語有一種“執(zhí)著而堅定”的深情。無論是大學(xué)、高中、初中都少不了外教，因為中國人說的怎么都沒有那種“洋味”，甚至一些家長也將學(xué)校是否有外教作為衡量學(xué)校英語教學(xué)的標準之一。更不用說社會上大大小小的各式英語培訓(xùn)班了。物極必反是亙古不變的真理，本來用外國人做外教確實有利于中國學(xué)生英語的提高，但盲目追求就不免有濫竽充數(shù)的現(xiàn)象。而大多數(shù)外國人也認為這個工作沒有什么含金量，只愿意在某一個時期作為過度或者偶爾兼職。

現(xiàn)在隨著社會的發(fā)展，越來越多的外國人開始學(xué)習(xí)中文，不僅提高了本身的語言素質(zhì)，也能夠?qū)⒆约赫嬲膶I(yè)學(xué)以致用。曾經(jīng)有過這樣一個關(guān)于外國人在中國工作的笑話：如果你找不到工作，除非你是啞巴，那就去教英語吧。