I am Ana Lafuente, and although my roots are in Bilbao, I was born in Madrid and I feel Madrilenian from the bottom of my heart. I studied translation and specialized in translating English, German, Italian, and sometime later I began to study Chinese. During the time I worked as a freelance translator, I took advantage of the summer vacations to travel to Shanghai to study the language well.
我叫 Ana Lafuente，雖然我的根在西班牙畢爾巴鄂，但我出生在馬德里，所以我從心底里覺得自己是馬德里人。我學(xué)的是翻譯，擅長翻譯英語、德語、意大利語，后來有一段時間我開始學(xué)習(xí)中文。我做自由翻譯的時候，利用暑期去上海好好學(xué)習(xí)中文。
I have always been very attracted to China, to its culture, history and language. Six years ago I passed a very important competitive examination in Spain. Since then I have been a civil servant, and now I manage the Spanish Tourism Office in Guangzhou, which is responsible for promoting our country as a tourist destination abroad. Although my summers in Shanghai came to an end when I joined the Civil Service, life is unpredictable and China has finally come back into my life.
我一直非常喜愛中國，喜愛中國的文化、歷史和語言。六年前，我在西班牙通過了一場非常重要的競爭性考試，成為了一名公務(wù)員，管理西班牙駐廣州總領(lǐng)事館旅游處，負責(zé)吸引更多游客來西班牙旅游。我考上公務(wù)員后，上海的夏日就離我遠去了，但生活總能帶給我出乎意料的驚喜，中國又重新進入我的生活。
I have always felt very grateful for my connection with China, because I met my husband thanks to this experience. He is Peruvian, had business with China and was preparing for his first trip. We were introduced by a mutual friend and he asked me for information about my experience in Shanghai. So began our friendship and later our love story.
我非常感激中國，感激我與中國千絲萬縷的聯(lián)系。我在中國認識了現(xiàn)在的丈夫，他是秘魯人，與中國有生意往來，當時正在準備第一次出差。我們有一個共同好友，是他介紹我們認識的。我們聊到了在上海的經(jīng)歷，這是我們友誼的開始，愛情也悄然而至。
Imagine my joy when, a few years later, a position was offered as Director of the Spanish Tourism Office in Guangzhou, China. For me it would be a great honor to become the representative of the 2nd most popular country for tourists in the world in Southern China. I had the feeling that this position was for me, and so it was!
幾年后，我來到中國，擔任西班牙駐中國廣州總領(lǐng)事館旅游處主任，你能想象我有多高興嗎？中國是世界上第二大最受歡迎的旅游目的國，我能成為西班牙在中國南方城市的旅游代表，這是一個巨大的榮譽。這個職位簡直是為我量身定做的，確實如此！
My husband and I moved to Guangzhou in 2019 and we have many experiences and anecdotes to share. In fact, you can say that our daughter is Spanish-Peruvian-Yunnanese-Cantonese, because 9 months after a fantastic trip to Yunnan starting in Lijiang and ending in Shangri-La, our baby girl was born.
2019 年，我和丈夫搬到了廣州，期間發(fā)生了許多軼事。我們的女兒可以說是西班牙、秘魯、云南、廣東“混血”，因為我們當時以麗江為起點、香格里拉為終點，開始了一場云南驚艷之旅，旅行結(jié)束 9 個月后，我們的寶貝女兒降生了。
On the work front, as soon as I started at my new position in China, I found it a bit difficult to adapt to the work culture here. It could be said that in Spain, labor relations are more horizontal, and in general, team members communicate openly and with complete trust. When I arrived here, I found a very marked work hierarchy and something very curious: nobody talks during meetings! However, the colleagues I have met in Guangzhou are very talented and we have formed a great team.
工作剛起步的時候，我發(fā)現(xiàn)有點難以適應(yīng)中國的職場文化。在西班牙，工作關(guān)系是相對橫向的，團隊成員一般會坦誠溝通，完全信任對方。但我發(fā)現(xiàn)中國職場有非常明顯的等級制度，還有一件非常奇怪的事情：開會期間沒有人說話！但是，我在廣州遇到的同事都非常有才華，我們組成了一個強大的團隊。
Another important cultural aspect is body language. I am very “gesticulative” and express myself a lot with my hands. Once, at our favorite Italian restaurant in Guangzhou, I gestured to the waiter that I wanted to order a small cup of coffee. Apparently, my gesture was so big that from that day on I always get a “tank” of espresso… I also often gesture by pointing at things, or I emphasize my words by tapping on the table. That leaves my Chinese colleagues astonished, following my fingers with their eyes without finding anything, totally lost.
另一個較大的文化差異就是身體語言。我非?！皭鄞蚴謩荨?，經(jīng)常用手勢來表達。有一次，在廣州一家我最喜愛的意大利餐廳，我向服務(wù)員打手勢說我想點一小杯咖啡。我的手勢非?？鋸?，所以服務(wù)員總給我一大“罐”濃縮咖啡……我還喜歡用手指東西，或者以敲擊桌子的方式強調(diào)我說的話。這讓中國同事們非常震驚，他們沿著我手指的方向看去，卻什么也沒發(fā)現(xiàn)，完全迷失了方向。
As a passionate tourist, I find China to be a constant adventure. In 2020 during Golden Week, my husband and I decided to travel to Zhangjiajie, the inspiration for the mountains in the movie Avatar. That trip showed us what “lots?of people”?really means! The environment is beautiful?and?unbeatable, but I recommend avoiding overcrowded destinations?during Chinese national vacations,?if you don’t want to face the 人山人海?(mountains and seas of people; large crowds).
我酷愛旅游，中國就是一場永不停歇的探險之旅。2020?年黃金周期間，我和丈夫決定去張家界旅游，張家界是電影《阿凡達》中巍峨高山的靈感來源。那次旅行讓我們感受到了什么是“人?！?！景色壯麗，無可匹敵，但是你如果不想面對人山人海，我建議中國國慶期間避開熱門旅游景點。
As for Chinese society, in my personal opinion, during my time living in Shanghai and Guangzhou, I have always encountered very friendly and warm people. A perfect example of this is, a couple of days ago it was pouring rain, and a lady on the street who I didn’t know sheltered me under her umbrella and insisted on walking me to my door. I had never had anything like this happen to me before and I was very touched!
談到中國社會，我在上海和廣州生活期間，總會遇到非常熱情友好的人。最能體現(xiàn)這點的例子是，幾天前下著大雨，街上一位素不相識的女士給我撐傘，堅持送我到家門口。我以前從來沒有遇到過這樣的事情，這深深觸動了我！
On the other hand, it could be said that many people in China’s big cities are not living so much as surviving. Especially in the big cities, there are people with very stressful jobs, such as food delivery drivers or car drivers. They are always rushing back and forth, and if they collide with each other, they don’t waste time arguing or fighting. Two motorcycles collide head-on, the riders look at each other, nod respectfully and move on. In Spain, in a situation like that, all hell would break loose! I admire their calmness and stoicism.
另一方面，可以說中國大城市的許多人不是在生活，而是在生存。有些人工作壓力山大，比如外賣騎手和出租車司機。他們總是疲于奔波，如果他們發(fā)生碰撞事故，也不會浪費時間去爭吵。兩輛摩托車迎面相撞，騎手們互相看了看，恭敬地點點頭，然后繼續(xù)前進。如果在西班牙碰上這種事，一定會爆發(fā)地獄般的沖突！我很佩服他們的冷靜和隱忍。
In particular, I feel that Guangzhou is a city dedicated to business, and although that doesn’t go much with my personality, I have fit in here very well and I am very happy with my life in China. I hope that tourism will be easier soon and that we Spaniards will be able to repay in spades the Chinese tourists who come to our country for all their kindness and generosity.
我覺得廣州是一座商業(yè)大都市，雖然這城市的氣質(zhì)與我的性格不太相符，但我已經(jīng)很好地適應(yīng)了這里，生活在中國非常幸福。我希望旅游業(yè)盡快恢復(fù)，我們西班牙人將歡迎那些來我們國家旅游的中國游客，回報他們的善意和慷慨。
轉(zhuǎn)載請注明來源：我在中國的家
