VOA慢速英语2019 国际学生分享他们的寒假计划（在线收听）

International Students Share Their Winter Holiday Plans

Moving from one place to another is always an adventure. No amount of research can prepare you for the surprises you will find in the new place.

This is often the case with international students in the United States. Around major American holidays, international students often find themselves in uncharted waters, which they learn to navigate with time.

从一个地方到另一个地方总是冒险。没有大量的研究可以为您在新地方带来的惊喜做好准备。

在美国的国际学生通常是这种情况。在美国的主要假期前后，国际学生通常会发现自己身处未知的水域，他们学会了随着时间的流逝。

Come the fourth Thursday in November, many newly arrived students experience the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving for the first time.

"My first Thanksgiving was in Montana. My experience of it was fascinating," said Richmond Danso of Ghana.

11月的第四个星期四，许多新来的学生第一次体验了美国的感恩节假期。

加纳的里士满·丹索说：“我的第一个感恩节是在蒙大拿州。我的经历令人着迷。”

"The whole process of preparing the food, the merry making around it, and everything was just fascinating," he said.

Danso is a doctoral candidate in political science at Howard University in Washington, DC.

他说：“准备食物的整个过程，围绕食物的快乐制作以及一切都令人着迷。”

Danso是华盛顿特区霍华德大学的政治学博士研究生。

image.png

Other international students look at Thanksgiving as a chance to rest up. Dan Shengquan of China, a master's degree candidate at New York University, told VOA his first memory of the holiday was having a few days off from school.

"It was like end of semester day off, having time to chill," said Dan Shengquan, who admitted knowing very few people on arriving at school. "But these days," he added, "I get a chance to visit my friends' family and join their family party."

其他国际学生则将感恩节作为休息的机会。纽约大学硕士学位的中国学生丹圣泉告诉美国之音，他对假期的初次记忆是放学假。

丹生泉说：“这就像学期结束，有时间放松。”他承认认识很少的人上学。他说：“但是这些天，我有机会去拜访朋友的家人，参加他们的家庭聚会。”

Celebrating Christmas

Around Christmas, many international students do not have money to travel back to their home country, so they spend the holiday in the States. Those with extended family in the country go to stay with them for the celebrations.

"When it's Christmas, I go back to my family in New York," said Daniel Mensah of Ghana. Mensah is in his final year at The George Washington University in Washington. He is specializing in economics.

圣诞节前后，许多国际学生没有钱回国旅行，所以他们在美国度假。那些在该国有大家庭的人要和他们住在一起庆祝。

加纳的丹尼尔·门萨（Daniel Mensah）说：“圣诞节那天，我回到纽约的家人。” Mensah在华盛顿的乔治华盛顿大学学习的最后一年。他专攻经济学。

International students with no extended family in the States often celebrate Christmas with their American friends and their families. Lourds Fernando from Sri Lanka is a doctoral candidate in biology at Howard University. She told VOA she celebrates Christmas with her best friend whose family lives in Maryland.

在美国没有大家庭的国际学生经常与他们的美国朋友和家人一起庆祝圣诞节。来自斯里兰卡的Lourds Fernando是霍华德大学的生物学博士学位。她告诉VOA，她与家人住在马里兰的最好的朋友一起庆祝圣诞节。

"So I'll go there," she said. "Her family is there so I'll go for dinner or something."

她说：“所以我去那儿。” “她的家人在那里，所以我去吃晚饭之类的东西。”

Some international students who are Christian attend church services in the States. During the holiday season, they join with their church family in celebrating Christmas.

image.png

"Personally, I think it's more the family element. I have a church family here, so the excitement of spending Christmas: we go to church and we stay together," said Sally Amankwah of Ghana.

一些基督徒的国际学生在美国参加教堂礼拜。在假期期间，他们与他们的教会家庭一起庆祝圣诞节。

加纳的萨利·阿曼夸（Sally Amankwah）说：“就我个人而言，我认为这更多的是家庭因素。我在这里有一个教堂家庭，所以过圣诞节的刺激：我们去教堂，我们在一起。”

She is a masters' candidate in sociology at American University in Washington.

The act of giving gifts to adults at Christmas and even the holiday itself is foreign to some students.

她是华盛顿美国大学的社会学硕士研究生。

在圣诞节乃至假期本身向成年人赠送礼物的行为对某些学生来说是陌生的。

Selina Anosike of Nigeria is a doctoral candidate in biology at Howard University. She been living in the United States for about two years.

Anosike says she was shocked when family members living in the States gave her gifts for Christmas.

尼日利亚的Selina Anosike是霍华德大学的生物学博士学位。 她在美国生活了大约两年。

Anosike说，当住在美国的家人为圣诞节送礼物时，她感到震惊。

"I remember my first Christmas here, I really did not know anything about the gift sharing. I just realized my uncle got me a gift, my aunt got me a gift, and my cousingot me a gift, but I did not get anyone a gift," she said.

“我记得我在这里的第一个圣诞节，我真的对礼物分享一无所知。我只是意识到我叔叔给了我礼物，姨妈给了我礼物，我的小姑妈给了我礼物，但是我没有给任何人一个礼物。 礼物。”她说。

"It was a new experience for me because back home, as kids, while you're still young, your parents will get you a new outfit, new shoes, new dresses for Christmas, up until high school. But by the time you get to college, no one cares anymore," she added.

“对我来说，这是一种新的体验，因为小时候回到家时，父母会给你买一套新衣服，新鞋，圣诞节的新衣服，直到高中为止。但是到了那时， 上大学后，没人在乎了。”

A foreign observance

For some international students, Christmas is not a holiday they celebrate in their home country.

"We don't really do Christmas in China," said Bo Wang of China. He is a master's candidate in business analytics at American University.

对于某些国际学生来说，圣诞节不是他们在自己的祖国庆祝的假期。

中国的王波说：“我们真的没有在中国过圣诞节。”他是美国大学商业分析专业的硕士研究生。

Wuntha Kyaw-san of Myanmar is studying computer science at Howard University. He told VOA that the idea of celebrating Christmas is new to him.

"Since we don't actually celebrate Christmas back home, it's like a new experience, you know," he said.

缅甸的Wuntha Kyaw-san在霍华德大学学习计算机科学。他告诉美国之音说，庆祝圣诞节的想法对他来说是陌生的。

他说：“既然我们实际上并不在家中庆祝圣诞节，那就像是一种新的体验。”

During the three to four weeks break between school terms, some international students take time to explore the United States.

"Usually, I go to other places in the States, travelling with my friends," Wang said. "For this year, I plan to go to Denver to snowboard for my Christmas holiday."

在两个学期之间的三至四个星期的休息时间里，一些国际学生会花一些时间来探索美国。

王说：“通常，我会和朋友一起去美国其他地方旅行。” “今年，我计划去丹佛为圣诞节假期做单板滑雪。”

Other students do a mix of things over winter break. They spend the holiday working, meeting up with friends and having fun.

"Now (as graduate student), it's always work because, you know, research is time consuming," Lourds Fernando said, "so I rarely take break, even though it's a break for the school."

其他学生在寒假期间会做各种各样的事情。他们度过了假期，与朋友见面并玩得开心。

Lourds Fernando说：“现在（作为研究生），它总是可以工作，因为研究很耗时，所以我很少休息，即使这对学校来说是一个休息。”

Words in This Story

uncharted waters – expression new or unknown areas

navigate – v. to plan or direct the path of a ship, airplane or other form of transportation

fascinating – adj. interesting

doctoral – adj. related to completing a doctorate, the top award of a university or educational organization

uncle – n. the brother of one's father or mother or the husband of a sister of your mother or father

cousin – n. a person belonging to the same extended family

master's degree – n. a recognition given by universities or colleges for completing a high level study program

chill – v. to calm down

dress – n. a single piece of clothing that covers the body

consume – v. to use up