《家外之家》征文29 ▏Nic: Coming here was undoubtedly the right decision- 大数跨境

首页

《家外之家》征文29 ▏Nic: Coming here was undoubtedly the right decision

精艺达翻译公司

2021-09-24

个人简介

Name : Dr. Nic Tam

姓名：谭志忠

Hometown : Johannesburg/Cape Town, South Africa

家乡：南非约翰内斯堡 / 开普敦

Occupation : Sports Science Researcher

职业：体育科学研究员

Years in China : Almost 3 years

在华居住时间：将近 3 年

How did your journey in China begin?

你的中国之旅是怎样开始的?

I always had a curiosity about living in China since my family is originally from The Guangdong Province, although it was not a priority of mine. My family left China in the early 1900s and only visited periodically so what I knew about the country were really old-fashioned and idealized stories that uncles, aunties and neighbors shared with me during family reunions and mahjong evenings. I studied in Cape Town and before coming to China I spent some time in Canada and Spain where I lead different research projects. My previous boss took up a contract to head up an innovation team in China. He spoke to me previously and I was offered a position to come work here while I was working as a visiting professor at the University of the Basque Country, in Bilbao. I came to visit Xiamen when I was offered the job and was deeply impressed. The city seemed pretty relaxed and laid back and it beat my expectations about a busy Chinese city.

在中国生活是怎样的，我一直充满好奇。我的家人来自广东省，但这并不是最重要的。我的家人在上世纪90年代初离开中国，之后偶尔才回国，所以我对中国的了解还停留在过去，而且非常理想化，家庭团聚和打麻将的时候，叔叔、阿姨和邻居才会跟我讲起中国。我在开普敦学习，来中国之前，我曾在加拿大和西班牙度过了一段时间，在那里我主导各种研究项目。我以前的老板签了一份合同，负责领导中国的一支创新团队。我在毕尔巴鄂的巴斯克大学担任客座教授时，他找我谈话，给我一份在厦门的工作机会。所以我就来到了厦门，这里给我留下了深刻的印象。这座城市似乎非常惬意悠闲，与我想象中中国都市繁忙的景象完全不同。

What do you like most about China (or Xiamen)?

你最喜欢中国（或者厦门）的什么？

Safety is amazing and I take that for granted now. Additionally, there is a lot of convenience with services such as Taobao, WaiMai, Alipay, which can be done with your phone here, it is amazing. Something that impressed me, as a sports researcher, was the fact that the Chinese population is very active, regardless their age, everyone from the ayis (aunties) dancing in the square or the elderly practicing taichi in the park to how sports practice is imbued in the education system from a very young age to university levels. It impressed me that students have to pass a certain level sports courses to continue in their educational career, even if their major is not sports-related. The sports focus here is completely diverse and more focus is on basketball, badminton, ping-pong, etc. and not the disciplines I was exposed to back home such as cricket or cycling that are popular in South Africa. Interestingly enough, I have done dragon-boat races in South Africa in the past, but I have not had the chance to try it in China yet, although the Jimei Dragon Boat races are well-known! I hope I have the chance to join next time.

生活在中国十分安全，令人震惊，以至于我现在认为这是理所当然的。另外，淘宝、外卖、支付宝等也很方便，用手机就可以轻松搞定，真是太棒了。作为一名体育研究人员，让我印象深刻的是，中国人非常活跃，从广场上跳舞的阿姨到公园里练太极的老人，从孩童时期到大学阶段，无论年龄大小，体育锻炼贯穿始终。即使他们的专业与体育无关，学生也必须通过一定水平的体育考试才能升学。体育运动的形式是多样的，主要是篮球、羽毛球、乒乓球等，而不是板球或自行车等我在南非接触过的流行项目。有趣的是，我以前在南非参加过龙舟比赛，但我在中国还没有机会尝试，集美龙舟比赛是出了名的！希望下次有机会参加。

Visiting the tea fields in Jiangxi

What fascinated you the most about living in China?

生活在中国，最吸引你的是什么?

What fascinates me currently here is the overall development of the country and how rapid things get done here. The economic development is astounding and the industry is competitive. For instance, the sports company I work for is relatively young but extremely successful and developing at an amazing pace. The other fascinating thing is that Xiamen is practically the hub of Chinese sportswear companies. Most people are unaware of the fact that sports equipment factories are located in the neighboring city of Quanzhou, so for me, coming here to apply my sports research and knowledge to the actual development of the industry was undoubtedly the right decision.

我对这个国家的整体发展情况以及快速的办事效率印象深刻。中国的经济发展取得了惊人的成就，各行各业竞争激烈。我所在的体育公司是个新兴企业，但却非常成功，而且发展速度惊人。另一个吸引我的点：厦门是中国运动服装公司的中心。很多人都不知道，运动装备厂都建在泉州附近，所以对我来说，在这里我可以把体育研究和相关知识应用到实际的发展中，来这里生活无疑是一个正确的决定。

What is your unique China story?

你在中国有什么独特的经历？

The first time that I actually participated in off-road trail running was in China. In my own experience, the unique thing that happened to me was that the distance advertised at the competition poster is never the real one, as it usually turns out to be longer! The longest distance I’ve done was 43 km and it was advertised as 42 km, and I thought it was a marathon on road but it turned out to be off-road and rough. Another time, I participated in a race near Sanming that was advertised as a 25 km run and ended up being 32 km! The organizers decided last minute that they wanted us to run next to the newly-built river promenade, making the race longer. It was a real challenge but totally worth the view and picturesque landscape. As a sports researcher and an Olympic Games fan, I look forward to the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics where China will certainly display the great infrastructure, sports equipment and hosting skills they showed in the past.

我第一次真正参加越野跑是在中国。以我个人经验而言，越野跑比赛海报上宣传的距离都不是实际距离，实际距离更长！我跑过的最长距离是43公里，而海报上说是42公里，我以为是公路马拉松，结果却是崎岖的越野跑。还有一次，我在三明附近参加了一场比赛，宣传只有25公里，结果跑了32公里！赛事组织者在最后一刻决定让我们在新建的河滨长廊旁边跑步，从而延长比赛时间。这真是一个巨大的挑战，但看到路上如画的风景时，你会感觉一切都是值得的。作为一名体育研究者和奥运迷，我期待即将到来的北京冬奥会，届时，中国一定会向世界展示先进的基础设施、体育器材和丰富的办赛经验。

One of the many trail runs I participated in

A picture of my hometown Cape Town, South Africa

作者：谭志忠翻译：潘泽彬

Warm Tips

温馨提示

Home away from home is a collection of the unique stories written by foreigners in China and compiled by Master Translations Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "MTS"), Babel Tower Translation Service Co., Ltd. and Moze (Beijing) Technology Communication Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Moze")

《家外之家》是一本外国人在中国的独特故事集，由外国人撰写，厦门精艺达翻译服务有限公司（以下简称“精艺达”）、巴别塔（深圳）翻译有限公司、墨责（北京）科技传播有限公司（以下简称“墨责”）面向全国共同征集汇编。

How can I enter?

如何加入我们？

If you would like to contribute your story

Feel free to contact us：

如果你也想分享你的故事

欢迎联系我们：

Email : luz@mts-tech.com.

邮箱：luz@mts-tech.com。

QR Code

扫码咨询