編者按： 　　“雙語視窗”欄目從2006年開辦，至今已經(jīng)走過了2年的歷程，這些由在華外國友人撰寫的小文章，以他們在華所見所聞為切入點，生動具體地反映出東西方觀念、習俗的異同，也向我們提出了一個個既有趣又值得深思的問題。欄目一再連載得益于讀者反饋中的正面回應。
　　“不識廬山真面目，只緣身在此山中”，換一個角度，從外國友人目光的折射中審視一下自己，更有助于我們全面地了解自身。同時，本欄目采用英漢對照形式，這些原汁原味的英文不僅有助于加深對作者原意的理解，也是一本學習現(xiàn)代英語的鮮活教材。
　　
　　不久前在北京舉行了一個很有意思的講座，內容是關于住在中國的老外們的心理問題。主講人是瑞典的一位心理學家，她在中國已經(jīng)工作好幾年了。講座之后，來自世界各國的聽眾就各自的問題自由發(fā)言。
　　讓我感到驚奇的第一件事就是參加這一講座的人數(shù)之多，以及主講人講話時大廳里那出奇安靜的氣氛。而形成對照的是，允許提問的時間一到，很多人都舉起了手要求發(fā)言，好像這兒的每個老外要么自己有心理問題，要么認為某個老外有心理問題。我曾在北京的一家國際診所工作過，聽說很多外國人酗酒或找其他方式來發(fā)泄心中的煩惱與不快。在診所我也見到過因發(fā)泄方式不當引起的某些后果。當然，只有極端的案例才會在醫(yī)院出現(xiàn)，你看不到老外們日常生活中的不自在。
　　使我受到震動的第二件事是所提問題的質量相當高。顯然，很多人早就對他們的困惑進行了思考與分析。參加講座的多數(shù)人是女性，我認為這是因為這里的女性也是妻子和母親，因此要關心全家的安康，并且要了解子女或配偶身上所顯示出來的令人不安的舉止。而在北京的外國男人通常很忙，投身于工作之中，他們的妻子留在家里來應付日常生活問題：孩子們在學校的表現(xiàn)還行嗎？他們結交了新朋友嗎？……妻子們常有時間與普通的北京人打交道，很多人在學中文，并學著與出租司機與售貨員聊天。做每天例行的事時，她們知道自己受到好奇眼光的注視，并且經(jīng)常受到“嘲笑”，而這些加重了她們的心理負擔。
　　我注意到的第三件事，是來自不同國家的人所提的問題迥然不同，這反映了他們硬著頭皮在中國環(huán)境中生活的能力也不同。自然，所有的問題都是用英文提問，但從不同的口音很容易區(qū)分出她來自哪里，就算聽不出來，很多人在開始發(fā)言時都會介紹自己的國籍。來自北美的老外與來自歐洲的老外所存在的問題看來就很不一樣。
　　我猜想多數(shù)中國人認為白人老外就是美國人。乘出租車與司機聊天，你就可以了解很多普通百姓在這方面所持的偏見及模式化的看法。只要我一說“你好”，用中文告訴司機我要去哪兒，他們就會用傳統(tǒng)的帶有夸張的方式來稱贊你的中文。之后，他們就會問我是不是美國人，而我說不是，這顯然使他們很失望：不知為什么，我作為一個法國女人，好像就不算是百分之百的老外。在中國人眼里，歐洲人或非洲人居何種地位？這對于理解外國人在中國的境遇和他們的感受是至關重要的。
　　但我重點想講的，正如我感覺到的，則是歐洲人與美國人的區(qū)別。歐洲人有著一種共享的文化，一種共同的基礎，在此之上又加上了特殊的層面（比如說法國文化，德國文化）。有文化的歐洲人通常對歷史、藝術、哲學很感興趣，對不同的文化和語言有好奇心，對文化上的沖突也不覺得新鮮。因為歐洲國家樂于宣稱自己國家的文化與鄰國是多么不同。對于歐洲人來說，問題是彼此的差別有多大，而差別本身并非是問題。
　　相比之下，美國人來自一個說一種語言、共享一種基礎文化的大國。你所看到的住在美國東海岸與西海岸的人們的差別，并不像不同歐洲文化之間的差別那樣大。美國是個年輕國家，歷史很短，美國文化不像歐洲文化那樣清晰，美國文化容易受外界的影響，自身不太穩(wěn)定。我認為這就是為什么在北京的美國人特別容易有心理問題的原因，他們不具有像歐洲那樣清晰、能夠抵制外來作用的文化來與中國文化抗衡，他們的社會特征不太穩(wěn)固。他們常常把自己封閉起來，在人們心目中成為美國電影里夸大了的怪人。
　　我相信，對中國人來說，要看出這些差別是很困難的，而對外國人來說，這些差別則是很明顯的。由于語言障礙及缺少接觸途徑，幾乎沒有幾個中國人真正“了解”各類的外國人。中國人需要長時間的開放，以及與外國人進行各個層面的密切接觸，才能獲得這方面的感知力。
　�。ū疚淖髡�24歲，法國姑娘，現(xiàn)在北京工作，嫁給了一位中國小伙子。本文原文是英文。）
　　
　　原文：
　　Not long ago a very interesting lecture on the psychological problems that occur among foreigners living in China was given in Beijing. The speaker was a Swedish professional psychologist who has worked here for several years. After the lecture the audience, drawn from countries all over the world, could talk freely about specific cases.
　　The first thing that astonished me was the number of people attending and the profound silence that reigned in the lecture hall while the psychologist was speaking. As soon as the question-and-answer period arrived, in contrast, many people raised their hands to talk. It seemed as if every laowai in town either had a psychological problem or knew someone with one. I had been working at an international clinic in Beijing and so had heard about the many expatriates who drink or find other ways to deal with their anguish or unhappiness in China. In the clinic I had also seen some of the results.
　　Of course, only the extreme cases turn up in medical facilities; you don’t witness the everyday uneasiness felt by many foreigners living in China. The second thing that struck me was the quality of the questions.
　　It was obvious that many people had already been pondering and analyzing their difficulties for some time. The great majority of the people at the lecture were women, but I presume that this is because such women are also wives and mothers, hence concerned about their family’s well-being and aware of worrisome behavior manifested by their children or their spouse
　　Foreign men living in Beijing are typically very busy and absorbed in their work. Their wives are left to cope with the day-to-day problems:Are the kids doing okay in school, have they formed new friendships, etc.The wives often have time to interact with ordinary Beijingers. Many study Chinese and learn to hobnob with taxi-drivers and cashiers. They know that they are watched, that they are frequently laughed at as they go about their daily routines, and this can weigh on their spirit.
　　The third thing I noted at the lecture was the huge difference in the questions coming from people of different nationalities, reflecting very different capacities to come to terms with living in a Chinese environment.Naturally the questions were all being asked in English, but accents made it easy to tell who was from where, and in any case many people identified themselves by nationality when they began to speak.The North Americans seemed to have problems rather unlike those reported by continental Europeans.
　　I gather that most Chinese assume white foreigners are Americans.Taking taxis and chatting with the drivers, one learns a lot about the many prejudices, preconceptions and stereotypes held by ordinary Chinese.
　　As soon as I say hello and tell them where I want to go in Chinese, they reply with the conventional exaggerated praise.
　　They then ask if I’m American, and my negative answer plainly disappoints them: Somehow as a Frenchwoman I don’t rate as a 100-percent foreigner. What position do Europeans or Africans occupy in Chinese eyes?This is crucial to understanding what they meet with in China and how they feel here.
　　But what I would like to focus on is the difference, as I perceive it, between Europeans and Americans. Continental Europeans have a strong shared culture, a common base onto which a more particular layer (of specifically French culture, say, or German) is added
　　Educated Europeans are usually quite interested in history, art and philosophy; they are curious about different cultures and languages.They are also used to cultural confrontation, as European countries are quick to assert how distinct their national culture is from that of their neighbors. For Europeans the question is how great the difference is; the difference is not in itself a problem.
　　Americans, in contrast, come from a big country with one language and one shared basic culture. The differences you notice between the inhabitants of the US east coast and west coast are not as big as the gap between different European cultures. The country is new, the history shorter.American culture is not as strongly defined as European cultures; it is more open to outside influences and less stable. I think that this is why Americans in Beijing are particularly prone to psychological difficulties: They do not have such a strongly defined and resistant culture to oppose to Chinese culture. Their identity is less stable. They too often withdraw into themselves and become exaggerated caricatures.
　　It is, I believe, very hard for Chinese to detect these differences, many of which are obvious to a foreign observer. Few Chinese, hampered by the language barrier and lack of access, ever actually “know” a foreigner of any kind. They will need a long period of openness and intense contact at many levels of experience to acquire this sensitivity.省略）
　　 責編：周瑾

相關熱詞搜索：也有 老外 煩心事 老外也有煩心事 市民講述與老外爲鄰煩心事 移民生活也有煩心事