Steve： Hey Laura， what are you doing back in China， and at a job fair no less？

Laura： Its a long story…How about you Steve？ How has life in Guangzhou been treating you？

Steve： Well， the job markets same as ever—lots of jobs， tons of competition. But who cares about all that. Tell me about the European market， and how it all compares to living and working here in China.

Laura： Not much to tell really…

Steve： ①Cmon， stop holding out on me！ Whatever it is， it cant be that bad， can it？

Laura： You have no idea. I never felt so worthless and discriminated against.

Steve： Really？ You faced a lot of racism in Italy？

Laura： I faced a lot of challenges in Italy. Racism was probably the least of my problems.

Steve： Will you stop hinting at what happened and just spill it？

Laura： Well， first off， the food was to die for. The coffee was strong and indulgent. ②The men were all very friendly and flirty， and the scenic views were out of this world！ But living and working there proved to be much harder than I had anticipated.

Steve： This is like pulling teeth…Just tell me what happened already！

Laura： OK. I got a job working for a Chinese company that produces solar panels and related equipment. And then they choose me for a position they had in Italy， probably because Im under-30 and still single with no kids.

Steve： Yeah， that probably had something to do with it…

Laura： At that time， I was making a good 20，000 Yuan per month at the companys headquarters in Shenzhen. But they offered me 20，000 US Dollars to work at their Italian base.

Steve： Woah！ Thats a nice chunk of change. ③Seems like you could start up a good nest egg with that kind of salary.

Laura： That was the plan. ④But you know what they say about plans， right？ “Man plans， God laughs.”

Steve： So I take it things didnt go according to plan？

Laura： Very perceptive Sherlock！

Steve： Alright， I deserve that.

Laura： Can I continue？

Steve： Please.

Laura： So， you know how when overseas workers come to China， their companies arrange everything for them.

Steve： Yeah， its common practice.

Laura： Well， thats not the case for Chinas outbound expats. I had to handle all my food， accommodations， visa issues， even training！ It was ridiculous.

Steve： So how did you survive not being able to communicate with anyone？

Laura： It was the hardest thing Ive ever had to do， and a truly pride-swallowing experience. Because the locals didnt trust me， it took weeks to find a landlord whod rent to me， and the only apartment I could afford was a tiny， run-down， one-bedroom flat.

Steve： Thats crazy！ Wha！ How much was the rent？

Laura： 700 Euros a month.

Steve： 700， times eight-and-a-half， thats…Thats over 6000 Yuan！ For that kind of cash， you could rent a 200-meter place with like four or five bedrooms here in Guangzhou.

Laura： （sigh） I know…Ive gotta say， it feels great to be back home. And I plan on staying here for the foreseeable future.

史蒂夫：嘿，勞拉，你回國(guó)做什么，怎么又去招聘會(huì)了？

勞拉：說(shuō)來(lái)話長(zhǎng)……你呢，史蒂夫？你在廣州的生活怎么樣？

史蒂夫：好吧，求職市場(chǎng)還是和從前一樣——職位很多但卻競(jìng)爭(zhēng)激烈。但是誰(shuí)關(guān)心那些呢。告訴我歐洲求職市場(chǎng)的情況，以及與中國(guó)相比，那里的生活和工作環(huán)境怎么樣。

勞拉：真的沒(méi)什么可說(shuō)的……

史蒂夫：來(lái)吧，別跟我隱瞞什么！不管怎樣，不可能那么糟糕，不是嗎？

勞拉：你根本無(wú)法想象。我從來(lái)沒(méi)有感到那么沒(méi)有價(jià)值、飽受歧視。

史蒂夫：真的嗎？你在意大利受到了很多種族歧視嗎？

勞拉：我在意大利要面對(duì)許多挑戰(zhàn)，種族歧視也許是我最小的一個(gè)問(wèn)題。

史蒂夫：你能別再暗示直接告訴我發(fā)生了什么嗎？

勞拉：好吧，首先，那里的食物好吃得要死，咖啡濃郁可口。那里的男人都很友好而且愛(ài)調(diào)情，景色美翻了！但是事實(shí)證明，在那里生活和工作比我預(yù)想的要困難得多。

史蒂夫：這就像拔牙那樣折磨我……你只要告訴我發(fā)生了什么事！

勞拉：好的。我在中國(guó)一家生產(chǎn)太陽(yáng)能電池板以及相關(guān)設(shè)備的公司謀得一職。他們選擇我去擔(dān)任他們?cè)谝獯罄囊粋€(gè)職務(wù)，也許是因?yàn)槲覜](méi)過(guò)30歲、還單身、沒(méi)有孩子吧。

史蒂夫：嗯，可能跟這有點(diǎn)關(guān)系……

勞拉：當(dāng)時(shí)我正在公司的深圳總部每個(gè)月賺兩萬(wàn)元。但是他們給我兩萬(wàn)美元的薪酬去意大利的分公司。

史蒂夫：哇！這真是個(gè)不錯(cuò)的轉(zhuǎn)變。有了那樣的薪酬，看起來(lái)你可以開(kāi)始存一筆不少的錢(qián)了。

勞拉：這是我的計(jì)劃。但是你知道人們?cè)趺凑f(shuō)計(jì)劃的，對(duì)吧？“計(jì)劃趕不上變化?！?/p>

史蒂夫：所以我可以理解為事情沒(méi)有按計(jì)劃進(jìn)行？

勞拉：你真的像神探夏洛克那樣思維敏捷。

史蒂夫：好吧，我確實(shí)如此。

勞拉：我能繼續(xù)嗎？

史蒂夫：請(qǐng)。

勞拉：那么，你應(yīng)該知道當(dāng)外派員工來(lái)到中國(guó)，他們的公司會(huì)給他們安排好一切。

史蒂夫：嗯，這是慣例。

勞拉：好吧，中國(guó)的外派員工卻沒(méi)有這樣的待遇。我得處理自己的食宿、簽證、甚至培訓(xùn)的事情！這太荒謬了。

史蒂夫：那么你是如何在語(yǔ)言不通的情況下在那里生存下來(lái)的？

勞拉：這是我做過(guò)的最困難的事，也真的是一個(gè)失去尊嚴(yán)的經(jīng)歷。因?yàn)楫?dāng)?shù)厝瞬恍湃挝?，我花了好幾個(gè)星期才找到一個(gè)愿意租房給我的房東，而我能負(fù)擔(dān)起的唯一一間公寓是一個(gè)狹小的、破舊的、一室的房子。

史蒂夫：太夸張啦！哇！租金多少呢？

勞拉：700歐元一個(gè)月。

史蒂夫：700再乘以8.5，那就是……那就是6000多元！這個(gè)租金你能在廣州租到一個(gè)200平方米4室或者5室的房子了。

勞拉：（嘆氣）我知道……我得說(shuō)，回家的感覺(jué)很好。未來(lái)的這段時(shí)間我會(huì)留在這里。

Smart Sentences

① Cmon， stop holding out on me！ 來(lái)吧，別跟我隱瞞什么！

hold out on sb.： refuse giving sb. information he/she wants（對(duì)某人隱瞞信息）。例如：

If you want Terry and Tom to work on the project， you cant hold out on them.

如果你想特里和湯姆為這個(gè)項(xiàng)目工作，你就不能對(duì)他們隱瞞情況。

② The men were all very friendly and flirty， and the scenic views were out of this world！ 那里的男人都很友好而且愛(ài)調(diào)情，景色美翻了！

out of this world： great and impressive（非常好的）。例如：

Look at that corner， the flowers are just out of this world！

看看那個(gè)角落，那些花實(shí)在是太漂亮了！

③ Seems like you could start up a good nest egg with that kind of salary. 有了那樣的薪酬，看起來(lái)你可以開(kāi)始存一筆不少的錢(qián)了。

a nest egg： a sum of money saved for a particular purpose（儲(chǔ)備金）。例如：

My parents have a little nest egg for a rain day.

我父母為防萬(wàn)一留了一點(diǎn)儲(chǔ)備金。

④ But you know what they say about plans， right？ “Man plans， God laughs.” 但是你知道人們?cè)趺凑f(shuō)計(jì)劃的，對(duì)吧？“計(jì)劃趕不上變化?！?/p>

Man plans， God laughs： plans usually dont work， a Yiddish proverb（計(jì)劃通常行不通，猶太人諺語(yǔ)）。例如：

None of my summer vacation plans ever worked. No wonder they say Man plans， God laughs.

我的暑假計(jì)劃從沒(méi)有實(shí)現(xiàn)的，怪不得他們說(shuō)計(jì)劃是沒(méi)用的。

I Lost 我輸了

It was at a five oclock tea. A young man came to the hostess to apologize for his lateness.

“So good of you to come， Mr. Jones， and where is your brother？”

“You see were very busy in the office and only one of us could come， so we tossed up for it.”

“How nice！ And so original， too！ And you won？”

“No，” said the young man absently， “I lost.”

五點(diǎn)鐘，下午茶的時(shí)間，一個(gè)年輕人因?yàn)檫t到向女主人致歉。

“您能來(lái)可真好，瓊斯先生，您的兄弟在哪兒呢？”

“您知道我們?cè)谵k公室里有非常忙，我們倆只能來(lái)一個(gè)，所以就擲幣來(lái)決定由誰(shuí)來(lái)?！?/p>

“太有意思了！還那么有獨(dú)創(chuàng)性！那您贏了？”

“不，”年輕人心不在焉地說(shuō)，“我輸了?！?/p>