我和妻女們搬到了浙江

弗蘭克 ? 馮 ? 登 ? 霍夫

今年55歲的弗蘭克·馮·登·霍夫，是一名來自德國的造紙工程師。三年前，因為工作需要，他和妻子安妮特、大女兒塞爾瑪（19歲）和小女兒瑪?shù)偎?5歲）一起來到了浙江龍游。以下是弗蘭克講述的他們家的故事。

我目前就職于德國古樓集團（Felix-Schoeller）。集團在世界各地都有造紙廠，通過這些造紙廠生產(chǎn)特殊紙張。

幾年前，我們公司決定在中國尋找一家同樣生產(chǎn)特殊紙張的合作伙伴。對于一個全球性的企業(yè)來說，在中國直接建立生產(chǎn)線是非常重要的，因為只有及時為這個巨大的市場生產(chǎn)產(chǎn)品，并與客戶進行更直接的接觸，了解他們的需求，才能讓公司更好地發(fā)展起來。

在成功找到總部位于杭州的浙江萬邦漿紙集團這一合作伙伴后，古樓集團與其成立了華邦古樓新材料有限公司，并請我前往中國全面服務這個合資企業(yè)。那時我是古樓集團在德國的一家工廠的廠長，所以我先征詢了我家人的意見。

我的兒子當時在德國學習，所以他得待在那里，我的妻子和兩個女兒則希望和我一起“飛過去看看”，參觀參觀這個古老的國家。在我們的旅途開始之前，妻子和小女兒表示她們就只是想“飛過去看看”，并不想長期留在中國。我和大女兒則相反，一開始就決定要在中國生活上幾年。

在這次美麗的上海、杭州和龍游之旅的最后一天，小女兒對我的妻子說：“這里好像還不錯。”妻子則表示，她好像在做夢一般，不想按時醒來，并且不斷問自己：我們?yōu)槭裁床辉囈辉嚹兀窟@對孩子們和整個家庭來說都是一個很好的機會。

就這樣，我們四個都留了下來，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)在浙江（主要是杭州和龍游）生活了快三年。過去的近兩年，因為新冠肺炎疫情的影響沒有回過德國，也沒有離開過中國。

如此，我的工作合約已經(jīng)延長到2024年。

我們在中國、在浙江的這段時間發(fā)生了很多事情、很多故事，我想向你講述其中一些。

我喜歡黑膠唱片，不過在杭州很難找到一家黑膠唱片店。幸運的是，我還是找到了。

這就是我的“黑膠好友”金方勇的店。過去兩年半的時間里，我定期去拜訪他和他的店。他不會說英語，我不會說中文，但這不妨礙我倆交流——我們找到了一種順暢的交流方式（微信和翻譯）。他知道我喜歡的音樂，每當有新的黑膠唱片到貨的時候，他總是會給我發(fā)信息，我就會過去找他，在那里一待就是幾個小時。我們什么也不說，只是靜靜地欣賞音樂。

當2020年第一季度疫情比較嚴峻的時候，我還是在防疫政策允許的情況下照常拜訪金方勇。他總是非常歡迎我。有時候周圍一些人看著我這個“老外”不知所措的時候，他總是解釋說，“這是我的德國朋友，一切正?！?。也有一些時候，有些顧客在店里會用英語跟我交談，并為金方勇做翻譯。但大多數(shù)時候，我們不會通過語言交流——有時候友誼不需要言語，只需要相同的愛好。我非常感謝金方勇這位黑膠唱片朋友，我們的友誼當然不止于此。

我的妻子成了杭州綠城育華學校的一名德語教師，在想去德國學習、年齡在10到12歲的學生班級教德語。她感到非常高興，因為這些學生總是特別友好，通過接觸各種各樣的學科得到良好的教育——即便是在德國，也很難在同年齡段看到這樣的情況。

有一天晚上，她回家后收到了一封學生們的來信。學生們在信中說，他們真的喜歡她的教學方式，她經(jīng)常抽出時間來糾正他們的寫作、私下里邀請他們到咖啡店或家里練習德語。那天晚上，她感到開心極了。

我的大女兒對歷史一直非常感興趣，因此，在完成國際文憑大學預科課程后，她開始在寧波諾丁漢大學學習國際關系專業(yè)?！斑@就是我將來想做的事，”她說，“我現(xiàn)在理解一個重要的問題，就是所有國家都有不同的歷史和文化，你必須了解歷史，這樣你才能知道為什么” 。

小女兒瑪?shù)偎嶂杂谶\動。足球、排球、越野跑、籃球和其他所有的運動……她幾乎都會參與。在剛到中國的前幾個星期里，她問我：“爸爸，我已經(jīng)能用英語理解數(shù)學了，卻不太懂用德語去理解數(shù)學了，而德語是我的母語?！眱蓚€月后，她來到我們的公寓，用英語談論她的一天、她做了什么。我妻子則在一旁開玩笑說：“如果你愿意，你現(xiàn)在可以說德語了。”這意味著她現(xiàn)在英語說得很好。另外，她也在學習漢語。

在浙江工作近三年的時間里，我和同事們找到了一種有效的溝通方式，并且做得非常好。尊重他人的文化是非常重要的，所以我們能夠把中國和德國最好的一些方面結合在一起。我并不是公司的領導，因為我一直把自己看作是整個團隊的一員，和同事們建立了深厚友誼。

這段時間里，因為某些原因不少外國人離開了中國，只有一部分人返回。我希望這種情況在未來能再次改變。在我個人看來，每個國家都應該有外國人，這點是非常重要的，這樣我們就可以更好地相互學習和理解。只要人民和人民、國家和國家之間不斷溝通，就不會有什么壞事情發(fā)生。

在浙江，我的家人和我遇到了很多朋友，也找到了留下來的決心：即使你不會說中文，也有可能找到一種有效的溝通方式。

Living in China： Words Not the Only Way of Communication

By Frank von den Hoff

I work for the German company Felix-Schoeller which makes special paper all around the world in a number of paper mills.

A few years ago， the company decided to look for a Chinese partner for producing special paper in China. It is very important for a global player like Felix-Schoeller to have a production line based in China， so that their products could be manufactured in time for this huge market and a more direct contact could be established with the customers to understand what they really need.

After finding a partner （Welbon Pulp & Paper Group， headquartered in Hangzhou， Zhejiang province）， Felix-Schoeller set up a new joint venture and asked me to support it in China， which meant I would relocate for the new position. At this moment I was a mill manager at one of our factories in Germany. Therefore， I first asked my family about their feelings and opinions for doing this.

My son was studying in Germany at the time so he had to stay put. My wife and two daughters would travel with me to make a “fly and see” trip to China. Before we started our journey， Annette and Madita decided that they would like to tour around the ancient country but would not stay for the long term. Selma， my elder daughter， （and I myself of course） said on the other hand that she would like to stay in China for several years.

On the last day of this beautiful trip to Shanghai， Hangzhou and Longyou （a county in Zhejiang province）， Madita， my younger daughter， told her mother that “it’s not bad here at all”， and my wife seemed to be in a dream in which she didn’t want to wake up on time. She asked herself： why didn’t we try it？ After all， it’s a big chance for the children and the family.

Now here we are. The four of us have been living in Zhejiang for nearly three years. We haven’t traveled back to Germany or out of China in the past two years， mostly because of COVID-19. In fact， I have already extended my working contract to at least 2024.

There are a lot of things and stories which have happened during my time in Zhejiang and in China and I would like to tell you a few of them.

I like vinyl records and to be honest it was not easy to find such a store in Hangzhou. Fortunately， I eventually found one after some efforts.

It’s the shop of my “vinyl records” friend Jin Fangyong in Hangzhou. I have been visiting him and his shop for the past two and half year regularly. He speaks no English and I don’t speak Chinese， but we found a way to communicate with each other （WeChat and translation）. He knows the music I prefer and he always sends me messages when new vinyl records arrived. Then I would drop by his store and stay there for a few hours. Sometimes， we don’t speak， only listening to music.

When the pandemic situation in China in the first quarter of 2020 was a bit severe， I still paid visits to Jin and his store — in full compliance with the COVID-19 prevention and control rules and regulations of course， and I was always welcome. Sometimes other customers would look at me and appear confused， but he always explained that I was his German friend and everything was fine.

There are also moments when others in the store speak in English to me and translate for Jin， when we converse with each other. But most of the time we don’t communicate with words. Sometimes friendship don’t need words， only the same hobbies and interests. I would like My sincerest thanks to Jin Fangyong for being my “vinyl records” friend and even more.

My wife became a German language teacher in the Greentown Yuhua School in Hangzhou and has been teaching students aged from 10 to 12 who want to study in Germany. She feels happy about doing this because the students are always friendly and have been offered a range of subjects and extracurricular activities to get a good education. She has never seen this in Germany.

One day she came back home with a letter from the students. In the letter， her students told her that they really liked how she taught them， how she took the effort during her free time to correct their writings and invite them personally to have a coffee or our home so that they could practice speaking the German language with her. That evening she was full of happiness.

Selma， my elder daughter， has always been interested in history and she had a really good teacher in Mr Terry Stromberg. After she finished her IB （International Baccalaureate） courses， she is now pursuing the studies in international relations at the Nottingham University in Ningbo.

“This is what I want to do in the future，” she said. “Now I understand that all the countries have different histories and cultures. This is the reason why for some it is easier to get a friendship and for others it is not. You must know the history so you can imagine why.”

My younger daughter Madita is a sports enthusiast and she plays football， volleyball， basketball， and takes part in cross-country running and everything else.

In the first weeks when we first arrived in Zhejiang， she told me one day， “Dad， now I can understand mathematics in English that I didn’t understand in German previously， and this should be my home language.” Two months later， she arrived in our apartment and talked about her day， what she had done all in English. My wife told her jokingly， “You can now speak in the German language if you want to.” This means she is really good at English now; besides， she is also learning Chinese.

In the past three years during my work here in Zhejiang， together with my Chinese and German colleagues， we have found an effective means to communicate with one another. In the process， we all realize that it is crucial that we respect the other culture， and that’s why we can put the best of both worlds （Chinese and German） together. I have never considered myself as the “superior” of the company; rather， I have become a member of the team and made a lot of friends with my colleagues.

It is alleged that quite a few foreigners are leaving China for various reasons and only some are coming back. I hope that this situation changes in the future. In my personal opinion， it is very important for every country to have foreigners so that we can learn and understand each other better. As long as people and countries communicate nothing worse happens.

My family and I have found a lot of friends in China and we have also found that even if you don’t speak the language， it is still possible to find a way of communication.