6 第六章（1 / 1）
（下面是受访者甲的励志故事）
I guess my reason for becoming a nurse in the first place was because my friends were nurses. As a female, particularly in the 70s’, nursing, teaching or being a secretary were main careers for women. I don’t know why I didn’t think of teaching. It was just that my friends were nurses. I did exactly the same as my friends. In the second place, my parents were so proud I was doing nursing because my mother had always wanted to be a nurse, but she hadn’t been able to finish it, because she got married. In her time, you couldn’t do nursing and got married, so I was kind of feeling something, for her. In addition, I didn’t like to start something I couldn’t finish it, so I kept on, and that was my career, because I had a big paper to say, I was a nurse, and you could get work, everybody, you know, you could always get work, and so you kept on working.
（我想，我第一份职业是护士的第一个原因，是因为我的朋友们都是护士。七十年代，护士、教师和文秘是女性的主要职业选择。我不知道我当时为什么没选教师，可能是因为我朋友们都是护士，所以我也像她们一样，作了护士。第二个原因，我的父母对我从事护理工作非常自豪。我母亲很想作护士，但她没完成（学业）就结婚了。在她那个年代，你不能结婚后还能继续作护士。因此，我感觉我是在完成母亲的心愿。第三个原因，我这个人一旦开始了什么，就不会轻而易举地中途放弃。而且，护士作为一种职业，任何人都能够很容易地找到工作。因此，你就在那个职业上一直干了下去。）
For about 5 years I worked in X Health (organization’s name) as a nursing manager，um…most of my work experience in nursing, in different areas of nursing for almost 30 years…I was so unhappy in the workplace…I was so unhappy in the work that I was doing, um…in nursing. I was working seven days a week because of the nature of nursing. I never was off duty. If I had enjoyed doing the work, it wouldn’t have been so hard but I didn’t like doing it. I just became worn out because there was something wrong with the passion.
（我在X健康公司作为护理部经理差不多有五年了，嗯……我大部分工作经验都集中在护理行业不同岗位上，大约有三十多年了……在职场上我并不开心……我对我从事的护理工作感到不开心……每周工作七天，没有放松时间。如果我很热爱护理工作，我不会感到如此痛苦，而事实上，我不热爱这份工作。我感到心力憔悴，因为我对这份职业没有激情。）
I think because my lifelong passion is [on] reading, I just want to learn, I just love to learn. I really wanted to do teaching.
When the children were younger, I was still at home, I actually tried to do a Bachelor of Arts through distance education…yes, because I wanted to do teaching, I realized that…it’s too hard to do it just from distance, because it was all…computer, it was very hard…so I went back to nursing, because it was all I knew.
（我想，因为我终身都热爱阅读，我只是想学习，我只是热爱学习。我真的很想教书。当孩子们还很小的时候，我尝试过学习文学学士的远程课程……是的，我想从事教书工作。但我意识到……远程学习太难了，因为全部要借助于电脑，很难……因此，我重返职场从事护理工作，因为那是我唯一懂的。）
I had to wait until the children were old enough, so I didn’t have to be financially responsible for them.
Now my children are all □□s, and I didn’t have that pressure, they have incomes. I guess I made the decision. I thought it was my right time.
It was very terrifying because there was so much I didn’t know, in the sense that I had made a big gamble. I left Z (a city’s name), moved out to the E Coast, and now I was going to do what I set out to do. I was terrified once I’d gone there. What if I wasn’t good any more, or what if I couldn’t do it, or what if I couldn’t finish it, you know, it was very scary, you know, coming back to university after all this time.
My brain is still working very well [laughs aloud], and I’m getting very good marks (laughs again), and I enjoy it.
（我不得不耐心等待孩子们长大，一直到我不必从经济上支持他们为止。现在我的孩子们都成人了，有了经济收入，我没有抚养他们的压力了。我想是时候做决定，该为自己做点事情的时间到了。这是很恐怖的事，因为很多事情我不知道。从这点讲，我感觉自己下了一个大的赌注，我离开Z城，移居到E岸，现在我将要去做我想做的事情。搬迁时我很害怕，如果我健康不允许，或者如果我能力不够，或者我不能完成学业，你知道，多年以后重返大学校园是很恐怖的事。（幸运的是），我的大脑运作很好（大声笑），我的成绩还不错（又笑），我很喜欢重返校园学习。）
I think part of reason (why) I need to do well and (why) I need to get good marks is due to my age. If I study part-time, and do some part-time work, I think it takes me longer time to learn…just the time is longer. I really want to do well because it’s important to me. If my academic [performance] is strong, then the future employers will overlook my age. I’m in my fifties. (That’s why) I’m a full-time student.
I feel I need to have my academic record strong, so the future employers look at this, ‘OK, this one can do it’. And then I’m hoping my life experience will be positive…um…If I once get an interview, I’m quite confident that I can talk myself into a job, but getting that interview is a hard thing, that’s what I think. I really want to work in rural areas, and I know that’s hard to get teaching there, so I’m hoping the demand is strong enough.
（我想，我之所以想学好，想拿高分，部分原因是因为我的年纪。如果我半工半读，做兼职工作，恐怕在学校学习的时间会更长……只是时间会更长。我真的很想学好，因为这对我很重要。如果我的专业成绩很强，未来的雇主就会忽略我的年龄。我今年五十多岁了，这就是（为什么）我选择作全职学生。我感觉我需要有很好的专业成绩单，未来雇主看着成绩单，会说：“OK，这个人可以胜任这份工作。”然后，我希望我的人生经历也是积极的……假如一旦我有面试的机会，我自信能够侃侃而谈，但我认为拿到面试机会很难。我很想去乡村工作，我也知道那里工作机会很少，因此我希望（那里对教师的）需求要旺盛。）
Here, I’m not going to learn everything, but learn the basic things. I don’t expect the university degree to give me everything that I may be going to learn in the workplace. That’s the point. I think that’s the point of the degree. [The university] gives you the basic things: the whole structure of that area, and skills and confidence to go on learning in my interested areas. I don’t think the university gives you a little package, so [you] use the package, expecting to know everything you need to know in the workplace. Some people are expecting the university to provide [them] everything, because they think it takes three or five years to do all the work in the university, so they think “I should know this”, “I can go and do my career successfully because I’ve been in the university”.
（在高校，我不是学包罗万象所有的知识，而是学一些基本的知识。我没指望高等教育会教我将来可能需要在工作场所学习的一切，这一点很关键。我想这是大学教育的关键点。大学教育教会你一些基本知识：你所学专业领域的整体框架，在你感兴趣领域里继续学习的技能和自信心。我并不认为高等教育会给你一个“百宝箱” — 你指望用这个“百宝箱”对职场无所不知。有些人希望高等教育能够给他们提供一切所需，因为他们认为在高校学了三到五年完成了学业，理所当然地认为“我们应该知道这个”，“我的职业发展会成功，因为我接受过高等教育”。）
Because learning is such an abstract thing, it goes to understanding ‘attitude’. It’s not only the specific thing that you’re learning, that you’re going to use in the workplace. I mean, for example, you’re going to learn [a] formula or theory, etc, that’s going to specifically help your work, but [the] integration of learning into career, to me, is really about attitude, yes, you know, um…just that learning doesn’t stop, you know, when you leave the university, you’re still going to be learning, and skills you learned about why you learn, and about knowledge you’ve taken…so when you’re in the workplace, you know about yourself, you know who you are, why you learn, you know how you learn。
（因为学习是如此抽象的一件事，它是让我们理解‘态度’。它不是你将要用到职场上某种具体东西的学习。比如，你要学习一个公式或理论，这会对你的工作特别有帮助，但要把所学的知识整合到职业发展中，对我而言，真的是和‘态度’有关。你知道，嗯……学习永不会停止，你知道，当你离开高校，你还是会学习。你学会了一些技能：为什么学习和获取知识的技能……因此，当你进入职场，你很了解自己，你知道你是谁，为何学习，怎样学习。）
……
小玥听着录音，反反复复核对了好几遍，又仔细调整排版，将word文档整理得漂漂亮亮，到了规定的时间准时用邮件发给林教授，将录音笔送到林教授助理新加波籍华裔博士Abby手里。
Abby长得很清秀，是第三代华裔，能说会道，人缘很好。听了小玥对自己提交给林教授的稿件信心不足后，Abby笑着说：“林教授看了你整理的数据，很满意。英语多练习就好了，加油！”
随后Abby又将学校的各种资源介绍给小玥，并递给小玥一张纸条：“你和华仔联系，参加他组织的Toastmaster，对提高英语口语和听力有帮助。”
华仔？
刘德华？
小玥看着纸条，有些疑惑。王祖贤不是在加拿大某高校读书吗？如果刘德华在澳洲高校，也不是不可能吧？
看着小玥疑惑的眼神，Abby恍然大悟，笑道：“华仔的真实名字叫安德森，从小跟着外交官父亲在中国生活了很多年，后来他就给自己取了这个中文名字。”
哦，原来如此。小玥笑了。
小玥对Abby道谢后，就给这个中国通的华仔打了电话，询问Toastmaster最近活动安排。
华仔普通话说得很地道，嗓音欢快醇厚。
华仔首先介绍了Toastmaster的目的和运作方式，然后热情地邀请小玥：“小玥，年底我们要参加辩论赛，每个成员都有机会参加竞争，希望你有机会代表我们去比赛！”
“啊？！我，我的英文水平哪能参加辩论赛，怕站在讲台上，听不懂，说不出来，给大家丢脸还差不多。不行，不行，我不行！我不行！我还需要慢慢提高，慢慢提高。”
“慢慢提高？你是小乌龟吗？欢迎你这只小乌龟加入我们Z大Toastmaster团队！周五下午见！哈哈 — ”华仔在电话里愉快地开了玩笑。
小玥一愣，小乌龟不是剑南哥给自己取的外号吗？哎，看来自己真的是笨笨的，连素未谋面的华仔也这样叫自己。
晚上回家，打开电脑上MSN和父母语音聊了会，刚聊完，剑南哥就发来了短信，小玥赶紧回应。
剑南大侠：恭喜啊，听说林教授对你的工作很满意
花好月圆：呵呵，拼了老命，才勉强完成呀~~
剑南大侠：哦，我倒忘了，你是小乌龟，不容易呀
花好月圆：【怒】【脸红】
剑南大侠：【龇牙】多锻炼，你看忍者神龟，动作不是挺快嘛，你也能达到那个段位
花好月圆：【一把带血的刀】
剑南大侠：女孩子生气容易长皱纹【翻白眼】
花好月圆：看在帮我找工作的份上，不与你计较。对了，你在英国做什么呀？上次你来，把我的情况弄得清清楚楚，对自己却只字不提，坏人！
剑南大侠：你没问呀
花好月圆：嗯，好吧~~那我现在问
剑南大侠：叮咚，提问时间过
花好月圆：咦？搞这么神秘，该不是从事什么不正当职业吧
剑南大侠：相处几天，你都没问我，看来，要么是你反应慢，要么是不关心你剑南哥
花好月圆：嗯，那个，好吧，请你吃KFC
小玥心想，反正你在英国，口头上说说又不用真的请客。
剑南大侠：谁说到外面吃？你不留学两年了吗？把你拿手的菜整一桌请我，我周六打飞的去吃，够给你面子了吧
花好月圆：真的假的？
剑南大侠：[一张机票图片]
花好月圆：啊？为了吃一碗面，真的飞过来
剑南大侠：苍天啊，怎么又是吃面【哭】
花好月圆：你还想吃什么？不要小看一碗面，它汇集了多种精华，荤素搭配，五味杂陈
剑南想起小时候因为帮助小玥解决了一道数学难题，小玥为了感谢他，提议要亲自给他煮一碗面。剑南将一篇作文都写完了，才终于见小玥扭扭捏捏端着面从厨房里走出来。
望着眼前的面，剑南惊呆了：说它是面吧，有些面几乎被水“融化”了；说它是面汤吧，有些面却又扭做一团，像无数块奇形怪状的小石头……这得要多大的仇恨，才能将一根根整齐的面条煮成这样？
剑南大侠：这么多年你都没学点新招数【疑惑脸】
花好月圆：人家慢嘛【翻白眼】
剑南大侠：【汗】一只心安理得懒惰的、笨笨的小乌龟【呲牙】
花好月圆：【怒】对了，你不是才回去没多久，怎么又来了？到处乱窜，不用上班吗
剑南大侠：出公差。人家优秀，哪里都需要【呲牙】
花好月圆：[一只呱呱叫的小青蛙图片]
……
两人聊了会，剑南说有事就下线了。
小玥对剑南哥说周六来悉尼的事半信半疑。剑南哥经常开玩笑，刚才上传那张机票，很有可能是他从那里下载或PS的。男孩子嘛，电脑比较好，随便捣鼓捣鼓，骗骗女孩，寻开心。剑南哥又不是第一次干这种事。而且，就算他真的来悉尼，不就是一碗面吗？酸甜苦辣，本姑娘随手拈来，还需要准备吗？
哇咔咔~~
倒是剑南哥的底细，这么多年没见面，这次如果他真的来了，倒要好好撬开他的嘴，狠挖他的老底。
知己知彼，百战不殆~~