后“拮據(jù)”時(shí)代

作者簡(jiǎn)介

我父母是蘇格蘭人，而我出生在英國(guó)，卻在開(kāi)曼群島長(zhǎng)大，然后又在英國(guó)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(mèng)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(gè)世界可能正處于一場(chǎng)金融爆聚中，但無(wú)論我怎么努力解釋它對(duì)生活造成的巨大影響，我的大多數(shù)中國(guó)朋友們對(duì)此沒(méi)有絲毫不安。他們看不見(jiàn)美國(guó)信貸危機(jī)的“碎屑”對(duì)北京的高檔飯店以及電腦公司造成的惡果。讓他們意識(shí)到全世界所有企業(yè)的命運(yùn)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(jué)不到任何金融危機(jī)對(duì)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(kāi)開(kāi)關(guān)關(guān)，在一個(gè)相對(duì)穩(wěn)定的周期鏈中不斷“辭舊迎新”，而當(dāng)你出去要買東西的時(shí)候才會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)你最愛(ài)的地方已經(jīng)成為過(guò)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(zhǔn)確定位任何與金融危機(jī)有關(guān)系的事物需要有敏銳的眼睛和耳朵，當(dāng)然，還有那么一點(diǎn)圈內(nèi)知識(shí)。隨著奧運(yùn)會(huì)的結(jié)束，瘋狂的增長(zhǎng)速度開(kāi)始一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)放慢腳步，但你仍然能夠看見(jiàn)

大量四散的建筑工地上成群的起重機(jī)和密布的塵霧。給點(diǎn)時(shí)間，事情會(huì)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(wú)需辛苦地在國(guó)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?yàn)榧耐兴麄兯邢Ｍ谋緡?guó)存款都已蕩然無(wú)存，一些人已經(jīng)極度拮據(jù)。那些報(bào)輔導(dǎo)班學(xué)習(xí)中文的人發(fā)現(xiàn)無(wú)需這樣——自學(xué)就可以了。另外，一些受雇于國(guó)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(lái)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(méi)有財(cái)力繼續(xù)他們野心勃勃的擴(kuò)展計(jì)劃，這對(duì)他們以前想在中國(guó)實(shí)施的經(jīng)濟(jì)計(jì)劃至關(guān)重要。如果說(shuō)最近的談話對(duì)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(jìn)中文的欲望以及工作是不可或缺的想法似乎開(kāi)始蔓延。中國(guó)是少數(shù)經(jīng)濟(jì)持續(xù)強(qiáng)勁增長(zhǎng)（9%）的國(guó)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(gè)地方來(lái)度過(guò)這場(chǎng)金融風(fēng)暴的話，中國(guó)無(wú)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(huì)寄希望于中國(guó)政府能夠動(dòng)用中央財(cái)政來(lái)幫助他們轉(zhuǎn)危為安，而中國(guó)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(guó)找到一個(gè)工作。在北京可能會(huì)看見(jiàn)很多熟悉的面孔，因?yàn)樗麄冊(cè)诩亦l(xiāng)的工作已經(jīng)沒(méi)有了，而且這里的生活花銷相對(duì)要低，與此同時(shí)，穩(wěn)定的英語(yǔ)教師工作也因此變得誘人起來(lái)。

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(zhǔn)備繼續(xù)他們?cè)械纳罘绞健３四贻p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?cè)鎏硪环N新的生活方式——金融危機(jī)的難民。對(duì)于普通人來(lái)說(shuō)，通往中國(guó)的輪船就是前往樂(lè)土的道路——或者資金銳減到幾百萬(wàn)的大投行也準(zhǔn)備減少開(kāi)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(guó)外沒(méi)有什么家財(cái)?shù)娜讼牖丶叶燃俚脑挘捅仨毟屑?xì)地安排預(yù)算。食物的價(jià)格一直高居不下，而房租就像其他人一樣由于所謂的奧運(yùn)推力而瘋狂上漲，但在奧運(yùn)圣火熄滅以后也沒(méi)有下跌。房東故意忽視這個(gè)事實(shí)，而且關(guān)于房租的對(duì)話也會(huì)演變成冗長(zhǎng)而繁瑣的關(guān)于金融危機(jī)對(duì)他們?cè)斐傻挠绊懙慕忉尅o(wú)論我申明多少次臨時(shí)價(jià)格上調(diào)是合理的，但結(jié)果還是沒(méi)有什么任何改變。而瘋狂在八通線和5號(hào)線最北的立水橋附近尋找便宜的房子使我意識(shí)到，我完全可以找到一個(gè)更便宜的公寓，但是這種麻煩得不償失——我的房東是個(gè)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(gè)人來(lái)說(shuō)，來(lái)北京時(shí)我并不需要工作，因?yàn)椤澳骋慌俊保ㄅ笥眩┪伊粼诒本┑臅r(shí)間比計(jì)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(wú)用武之地，反而還在一定程度上成為恥辱。每當(dāng)我試圖解釋這些年都做了哪些訓(xùn)練、獲得什么資格證書(shū)、成為多少艘快艇的船長(zhǎng)，大多時(shí)候都會(huì)得到這種回答，“哦，你是漁民?！彼援?dāng)我決定留下來(lái)的時(shí)候我許下兩個(gè)承諾，其中一個(gè)是我不會(huì)做任何有關(guān)英語(yǔ)教學(xué)的工作，第二個(gè)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(shí)間和環(huán)境是促使你改變的最佳催化劑，英語(yǔ)教學(xué)的工資現(xiàn)在看起來(lái)非常誘人。而未來(lái)我很有可能要結(jié)婚，我必須要存錢。在新年時(shí)我會(huì)投出我的簡(jiǎn)歷，所以我至少將要打破我的一個(gè)承諾。如果情況沒(méi)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(gè)英語(yǔ)老師來(lái)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(guó)主要消費(fèi)品的價(jià)格出現(xiàn)下跌趨勢(shì)，這將刺激消費(fèi)者去購(gòu)買一些更為高端的產(chǎn)品。

2. ride out

意為“安然渡過(guò)， 經(jīng)受得住、頂住”。在文中指的是順利度過(guò)這場(chǎng)金融危機(jī)，沒(méi)有在危機(jī)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(guò)這個(gè)難關(guān)。

The small boat rode out the storm without damage.

這條小船安然渡過(guò)了風(fēng)暴而沒(méi)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(shuō)save something for a rainy day 指的是“未雨綢繆、為將來(lái)做好準(zhǔn)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(shí)候他父親來(lái)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(shí)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(lái)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(lè)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(lái)美國(guó)來(lái)，她認(rèn)為這里是天堂。

6. make no difference

意為“沒(méi)有什么不同、沒(méi)有影響、沒(méi)有變化”。

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

你去不去對(duì)我都一樣。

Links

1. Financial Crisis

金融危機(jī)

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(jì)最大金融風(fēng)暴爆發(fā)時(shí)的1929年。格林斯潘清楚地指出：“這是一個(gè)百年一遇的金融危機(jī)。”《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》引用一位歐洲央行官員的話說(shuō)，“我們的命運(yùn)掌握在美國(guó)人手里?！?但美國(guó)金融市場(chǎng)的命運(yùn)，則仍在不確定中。當(dāng)金融風(fēng)暴一發(fā)不可收拾，它所帶來(lái)的一系列后果在某種意義上改變了整個(gè)世界。而每個(gè)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(gè)世界仿佛越來(lái)越失去溫暖。中國(guó)在這場(chǎng)金融危機(jī)中的角色似乎也舉步維艱。

所有人每時(shí)每刻都在關(guān)注這場(chǎng)金融危機(jī)的發(fā)展趨勢(shì)，究竟它將走向何方？它將怎樣改變市場(chǎng)機(jī)制、投資理念和監(jiān)管制度以及千萬(wàn)人的生活狀態(tài)？它將把這個(gè)世界業(yè)已形成的金融、經(jīng)濟(jì)、乃至國(guó)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(guó)

外國(guó)人在中國(guó)最常見(jiàn)的工作恐怕就要屬英語(yǔ)教師了，大多數(shù)來(lái)中國(guó)的外國(guó)人最初的第一份工作就是應(yīng)聘英語(yǔ)教師。沒(méi)辦法，中國(guó)教育對(duì)英語(yǔ)有一種“執(zhí)著而堅(jiān)定”的深情。無(wú)論是大學(xué)、高中、初中都少不了外教，因?yàn)橹袊?guó)人說(shuō)的怎么都沒(méi)有那種“洋味”，甚至一些家長(zhǎng)也將學(xué)校是否有外教作為衡量學(xué)校英語(yǔ)教學(xué)的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)之一。更不用說(shuō)社會(huì)上大大小小的各式英語(yǔ)培訓(xùn)班了。物極必反是亙古不變的真理，本來(lái)用外國(guó)人做外教確實(shí)有利于中國(guó)學(xué)生英語(yǔ)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(guó)人也認(rèn)為這個(gè)工作沒(méi)有什么含金量，只愿意在某一個(gè)時(shí)期作為過(guò)度或者偶爾兼職。

現(xiàn)在隨著社會(huì)的發(fā)展，越來(lái)越多的外國(guó)人開(kāi)始學(xué)習(xí)中文，不僅提高了本身的語(yǔ)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(guò)這樣一個(gè)關(guān)于外國(guó)人在中國(guó)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(yǔ)吧。