感受埃德蒙頓之夏

今年7月，我?guī)е憬髮W(xué)的15名學(xué)生，遠(yuǎn)赴加拿大埃德蒙頓阿爾伯塔大學(xué)進(jìn)行暑期文化交流。在那里我們度過了難忘的23天。

國王式訓(xùn)練

陪學(xué)生上課是輕松有趣的。每天，任課老師米歇爾都會(huì)滿面笑容地感謝大家準(zhǔn)時(shí)前來，然后握手、擁抱。教室寬敞空曠，沒有課桌，墻沿放著兩排折疊椅，多數(shù)情況下，我們就像幼兒園小朋友一樣，圍成一圈，席地而坐。這種教學(xué)形式拉近了學(xué)生和教師的距離。

人到中年的米歇爾，嗓音低沉悅耳，肢體語言豐富。學(xué)生們的專業(yè)都不是英語，詞匯量一般，聽力一般，米歇爾總是耐心地傾聽，不時(shí)糾正語法和發(fā)音的錯(cuò)誤，并且手把手地教大家如何在發(fā)言時(shí)輔以恰到好處的重音、手勢(shì)，增強(qiáng)感染力。

主題討論后，我們跟著米歇爾做瑜珈，使身體和大腦獲得放松。她還帶領(lǐng)我們做游戲，教我們含著木塞念英語繞口令，用不同的語氣朗誦同一首情詩以表達(dá)質(zhì)問、疑惑、憤怒、幽怨等不同情感。在不時(shí)爆發(fā)的笑聲中，同學(xué)們對(duì)英語的敏感度飛速提升，詞匯量、聽力、發(fā)音都有了很大的進(jìn)步。

后來，在去麥克默里堡的車上，我們觀看了電影《國王的演講》，主人公萊昆納爾治療喬治五世的方式，竟有許多和米歇爾教給我們的方法相似，大家相對(duì)微笑:我們接受的可是國王式的訓(xùn)練呢。

除了必修的語言課程，阿爾伯塔大學(xué)還給大家安排了全方位接觸加拿大多元文化、深入當(dāng)?shù)厣畹臋C(jī)會(huì)，如參觀博物館、藝術(shù)館以及省立法院、市政大廈、堡壘公園等。夜晚，我們?cè)诼短靹?chǎng)里觀看莎士比亞戲劇;午后，我們汗如雨下地?fù)]動(dòng)著船槳，行進(jìn)在北薩斯喀徹溫河上，齊聲高唱著浙大校歌;體育館內(nèi)，我們學(xué)習(xí)冰壺運(yùn)動(dòng)的規(guī)則和技巧。每次參觀和活動(dòng)都是一場(chǎng)新奇的知識(shí)之旅，在探索、對(duì)抗、合作中，加深了對(duì)埃德蒙頓—阿爾伯塔—加拿大歷史文化的理解。

共有的家園

夏天是加拿大人盼望已久的日子，人們多半不會(huì)呆在家里，而是去歐洲、夏威夷、地中海度假，再不濟(jì)也要到班夫的溫泉里躺一躺。

驅(qū)車前往班夫的高速公路上很熱鬧，頂著小船、拉著野營帳篷的汽車穿梭不停，偶爾飄過音樂震天響的巨大房車。忽然司機(jī)放慢了車速，提醒大家，一頭黑熊正在右邊的樹林邊活動(dòng)。

班夫坐落在狂野而壯麗的落基山脈中，是加拿大第一個(gè)國家公園，湖泊、山巒、原野，無一不由冰川創(chuàng)造。最美的路易斯湖曾被《國家地理雜志》介紹為51個(gè)“一生中必須看一次”的旅游勝地之一。它四面環(huán)山，北面的山坳間矗立著一座海拔3400多米的雪山—維多利亞女王山，山上是維多利亞冰原。路易斯湖就是維多利亞冰原融雪形成的。泥濘的土路是狼、馴鹿、黑熊、人類一起踩出來的……

班夫的美是大自然鬼斧神工的極致之美，而麥克默里堡之行則讓我們進(jìn)一步體會(huì)到這種美麗的來之不易。

Suncor是一家石化公司，然而，煙囪林立、管道密布的廠區(qū)靜悄悄的，黃泥碎石鋪成的路面很窄，僅容一車行駛，整潔干凈，到處盛開著油菜花、蒲公英，粗壯的狗尾巴草隨風(fēng)搖曳。出廠區(qū)，十分鐘車程就到了寧靜的天鵝湖自然保護(hù)區(qū)。自然保護(hù)區(qū)和石油公司毗鄰而居，真是令人不可思議。

所見所聞，使我們深深感動(dòng)于加拿大人對(duì)環(huán)境保護(hù)的重視。1988年，加拿大通過了修訂后的國家公園法，將生態(tài)環(huán)境的保護(hù)放在第一優(yōu)先級(jí)，隨即產(chǎn)生了第一批國家公園以及相應(yīng)的法規(guī)和管理措施。依山傍水風(fēng)景秀麗的班夫小鎮(zhèn)嚴(yán)格控制常住人口數(shù)量，即使是百萬富翁或達(dá)官顯貴，也休想在這里購買一寸房宅。

流行中國話

加拿大是個(gè)典型的移民國家，華人尤其多。溫哥華機(jī)場(chǎng)入關(guān)處，黑頭發(fā)黑眼睛黃皮膚的工作人員一邊揮手，一邊用生硬的普通話說“游客走這邊，加拿大本國居民走那邊”，指揮著人流各自去向該去的地方。環(huán)顧前后左右，長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的隊(duì)伍中90%以上都是華人。

中國文化的影響無處不在。在西埃德蒙頓購物街上有大統(tǒng)華超市，國內(nèi)超市里有的商品，這里幾乎都能買到，比如食品，從油膩膩的鹵雞爪到香噴噴的薺菜包，以及各種各樣的調(diào)味料，應(yīng)有盡有。

還記得只有一個(gè)人表演的國際街頭表演藝人節(jié)，那位女士先模仿LADYGAGA唱了首歌，然后就拿出了會(huì)伸縮的寶劍，開始表演中國傳統(tǒng)雜技“口吞寶劍”?？粗鸢l(fā)碧眼的純老外表演中國人的江湖手藝，還是比較拙劣的那種假功夫，真說不上心里頭的滋味。參觀阿爾伯塔省立法院時(shí)，我們更為驚奇，立法院大廳內(nèi)的圓形噴泉池底部居然沉淀著不少硬幣。捐款?許愿?這可是在立法院，不是神殿或者寺廟。解說員笑瞇瞇地說:為了許愿呀。

諸如此類的中西合璧，讓我們既吃驚又好笑，隱隱還有些失望。交流發(fā)現(xiàn)，許多人都到過中國，對(duì)中國文化有濃厚的興趣，可是，他們對(duì)中國的了解很少很膚淺，他們感興趣的是中國的政治體制轉(zhuǎn)型、中國的城市化進(jìn)程、中國的貧富差距……這種關(guān)注，明顯帶有先入為主的偏見。多么希望，在中國不斷擴(kuò)大對(duì)外交流的今天，我們能夠更全面地向西方展示出一個(gè)立體的、豐滿的、有血有肉的中國形象。

于是，我手持硬幣，站在立法院大廳的圓形噴泉前，默默許愿:希望有一天，孔夫子的話在越來越國際化的同時(shí)，孔夫子的精神也能得到全世界的理解和敬意。

No!我要米飯

外國人實(shí)在不能理解米飯對(duì)于中國人的重要意義。在加拿大，我們每天徘徊在SUB和HUB的長(zhǎng)廊里，猶豫不決。在我看來，那么多家店，可供選擇的內(nèi)容都差不多，不外乎漢堡、賽百味，還有披薩!無論哪一種，最后吃到嘴里都一個(gè)味兒。

選擇比較多的是AW的漢堡，從學(xué)校給的優(yōu)惠券里撕下一張，可買一送一，有兩個(gè)漢堡，雖然味道不怎么樣，可連帶著晚飯也解決了，價(jià)格實(shí)在是實(shí)惠。

第二選擇是賽百味，號(hào)稱專賣為顧客量身定做的三明治。噱頭十足，說穿了沒什么稀奇，無非是讓顧客先在5種長(zhǎng)面包里任選一種，然后選擇肉類(我們一般選擇火腿、火雞或者吞拿魚)，接著就是選擇調(diào)味汁，最后選擇需要的蔬菜，比如洋蔥、西紅柿、包心菜、黃瓜、酸黃瓜、橄欖菜，等等。這個(gè)三明治除了面包就是蔬菜，肉并不多，而且是非油炸的，被大家認(rèn)為很健康，頗受歡迎。

披薩在加拿大很流行，就像國內(nèi)的燒餅一樣，最有名的是“PIZZA，PIZZA”，到處有它的連鎖店。茱麗老師曾經(jīng)提及披薩在加拿大的流行程度:有位老兄去歐洲旅行，不小心把護(hù)照、簽證丟了，沒法向警察證明自己的身份。他靈機(jī)一動(dòng)，哼唱起了披薩的廣告歌。后來，警察證實(shí)了這首歌確實(shí)是在加拿大很流行的廣告，就這樣，這位老兄順利踏上了返鄉(xiāng)之路……

聽起來很有趣古怪的故事。我們則想說:“no!我要米飯?！?/p>

人在國外，才最真切地體會(huì)到，鄉(xiāng)愁，其實(shí)最先從胃開始。我們的暑假交流也接近尾聲，準(zhǔn)備著返回可以吃到米飯的家鄉(xiāng)。

(本文照片由作者提供)

Twenty-Three Enjoyable Summer Days in Edmonton

By Yao Cheng

July 2012 saw me accompany a team of fifteen Zhejiang University students to take part in a summer program for cultural exchanges at University of Albert in Edmonton， the Canadian province of Alberta， Canada. The 23 days we spent there are unforgettable.

As the team leader， I sat with the 15 students in classes and went with them on tours. It was fun to watch their teacher Michelle and the students interact. The mid-aged Michelle came into classroom on time， and shook hands with and hugged everybody. We used foldable chairs arranged along the two opposite walls. However， most times， we sat on the floor in a circle， like kids in a kindergarten. This teaching and learning mode shortened the distance between teacher and students.

Michelle was an experienced English teacher. Her body language had a rich vocabulary and she spoke in a low and pleasant voice. From different majors other than English， the fifteen students did not speak English well. With a limited number of words and mediocre listening comprehension， they frequently blundered in both word usage and grammar. Michelle was patient， to explain， demonstrate， and correct.

We played games to have fun with words. We put cork in the mouth and tried to read tongue twisters. Citing an English poem， we were required to express questioning， confusion， resentment and anger respectively. We laughed and learned. The students made fast progress.

One day we took a long-haul coach to visit Fort McMurray and watched “The King’s Speech” on the way. We were pleased to find that the way we received the language training under the guidance of Michelle bore resemblance to the way the king received therapeutic training in the film. We smiled when we concluded that we were being treated like royals.

The summer program featured cultural diversity and fun. In addition to the language sessions， we were fully exposed to the Canadian culture. We visited Alberta Legislature， the town hall of Edmonton， the Fort Edmonton Park; we watched a Shakespeare play at an outdoor theater; we rowed a boat on the North Saskatchewan River in an early afternoon， chanting the school anthem of Zhejiang University in unison; we learned how to play curling stone in a stadium.

The most memorable tour we had during our stay in Edmonton was our trip to Banff， Canada’s first national park. Located in the Rocky Mountains， the park is a geographical miracle and beauty created and shaped by glaciers. Lake Louise in the park was described by National Geographic as one of the 51 sights one must see in lifetime.

If Banff is the beauty created by nature， our visit to Fort McMurray gave us an insight into the human effort needed to preserve the natural beauty. Suncor is a chemical manufacturer located in a scenic area. The giant facility abounded with chimneys and pipes， but it was quiet. The clean dirt and gravel road traversed the luxurious grassland. We traveled through the facility for ten minutes before we reached a swan habitat under the government protection. We found the juxtaposition of the preserve and the manufacturing facility incredible.

We were deeply impressed with the way Chinese is spoken in Canada. At the Vancouver Airport where we cleared through the customs， we saw quite a few Chinese people. In the shopping center of Edmonton we found a Chinese supermarket where everything we can find back home in China was available there.

We were slightly disappointed in our exchanges with people there. Many had visited China and showed a strong in interest in Chinese culture， but we were under the impression that their knowledge of China was probably skin deep and that their focus was overly narrow. They focused on political restructuring， urbanization and gap between the rich and the poor. The focus was justifiable， but the way we heard their talk sounded more or less prejudiced.

We enjoyed food in Edmonton， but we did not have rice at all there. It seems Canadians did not understand how rice was important to us. We had few food choices during our stay in Edmonton: hamburger， pizza， and sandwich. They were tasty and great， but our Chinese stomach preferred rice. When our summer program was to end， we all yearned for rice. For this reason， we missed home so much.