艾瑞娜·博思

索菲特銀座大飯店總經(jīng)理博思的妻子，跟隨博思居住過很多國家和地區(qū)，對比較文化有著獨特的見解。

Irina Boers， wife of Maarten Boers， General Manager of Jinan Silver Plaza， has been to many countries and regions with her husband. She has unique research on comparative culture.

Part of my husband’s work is， that we have the opportunity to live and work in different parts of the world. We have lived in Switzerland， Belgium， Hong Kong and now Jinan. Wherever he gets transferred， since he is such a gentleman， I will always be happy to follow him. At every new posting my first duty is to create a warm and cozy home.

It always amazes me how different it is to live in a country or just pass through on vacation. By living in a country， it usually takes a few months’ even years， one develops a much better and deeper understanding.We stayed 6 years in Hong Kong and even now I realize I have just scratched the surface.

Sure， I sometimes miss Hong Kong. It is easy to get spoiled there， nearly everybody speaks English， it is a shopping paradise and I had to leave many dear friends behind. Dropping by in the late afternoon at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht club， where we still remain members， was always a treat. Lovely weekend sails are also dearly missed， maybe this summer in Qingdao.

Living in Jinan is again a totally new dimension. However， Shandong province also has its charm and advantages. First of all life is not as hectic and stressful. More important， the people are much more welcoming， friendly and open. It keeps amazing to me though， that when we walk through town together， it is difficult to make headway， so many people want to take a picture with us! Also， quite often we get stopped by， usually teenagers， who want to practice their English. Where are you from? How are you? People really seem to appreciate it if we take a few moments.

Another surprise is the role and position of women in society. In Europe this is always a much discussed topic， are we treated equal… Here nobody seems to talk about it much， it is just a fact. I think China should be proud of that. Unfortunately this is little known to the rest of the world.

In the next month’s we hope to further extend our knowledge and understanding of China. Although I have already seen quite a bit， Xian， Shanghai， Dongguan， Hangzhou， Chengdu， Qingdao， etc. we still have a long wish list. One of the trips we certainly want to make is to Tibet.

By now I am really looking forward to spring. All the sites I have already visited must be looking gorgeous when the blossom is out!

Another dream is to learn Mandarin. Unfortunately everything I learned in Hong Kong is rather useless here (Cantonese)， I will have to start all over again. Because of our many long staying guests， I now speak more German (We speak German in Austria) than I have in years.

In conclusion， there are still many exciting things to look forward to!

我丈夫工作的一部分，就是我們有機會在世界各地生活和工作。我們住過瑞士、比利時、香港和現(xiàn)在的濟南。無論他調(diào)動到什么地方，我都樂意跟隨著他，因為他確實非常紳士。每次調(diào)動過后我的首要任務就是營造一個溫暖舒適的家。

每次來到一個新的國家，或者是假期旅行路過一個新的地方，當?shù)夭煌娘L土人情都會讓我感嘆不已。通常在一個國家呆上幾個月甚至一年，才會對那里有比較深的了解。我們在香港住了6年，直到現(xiàn)在我對那里還只是了解個皮毛而已。

當然，我會常常想念香港。因為在那里簡直會被寵壞——幾乎每個人都會說英文，還是購物的天堂。但我不得不離開香港親愛的朋友們。現(xiàn)在想想，在一個美好的傍晚，到皇家香港游艇會（我們現(xiàn)在還是那里的會員）去拜訪一下，還是一件非常愜意的事情。同時，我們還錯過了令人向往的周末航行，也許這個夏天是去青島。

同樣，住在濟南又是一個新的開始，濟南也有很多迷人之處和有利條件。首先，這里的生活沒有那么繁忙和充滿壓力。更重要的是，這里的人們都很熱情、友好和開放。讓我感到驚訝的是，我們一起去逛街，竟然很難前行。因為有很多人要跟我們合照。而且我們時常被一些年輕人叫住，他們想練習英語口語，于是就會用英語說，你從哪里來？你好嗎？我們停下來跟他們聊幾句，他們都會非常感激。

另外一處讓我驚奇的地方就是這里的女人在社會中的地位。在歐洲，女人們常常會聚在一起抱怨說，這樣對我們公平嗎？而在這里，幾乎沒有女人談論這個話題，男女平等只是一個不爭的事實。我想中國應該為此而驕傲。遺憾的是，在其他國家人們并不重視這個問題。

在接下來的幾個月里，我們希望能夠更深更廣地了解中國。雖然我們已經(jīng)去過中國的很多地方，西安、上海、東莞、杭州、成都、青島#8943;#8943;我們?nèi)韵Ｍ^續(xù)前行，我們最想去的地方之一是西藏。

如今，我熱切盼望著春天的到來。當百花盛開的時候，那些我曾經(jīng)去過的地方一定會非常美麗迷人。

我的另一個夢想就是學普通話。我在香港學的廣東話似乎在這里用起來不太靈光，所以我又要重新開始學習了。由于我們酒店有許多長期居住的德國人，所以最近我講德語比較多（我們在奧地利是講德語的）。

總的來說，前方還有很多令人激動的事情值得期盼。