Name : Umberto

姓名：孔若水

Country of Origin : Italy

国籍：意大利

Occupation : Student

职业：学生

Years in China : 3 years

在华居住时间：3年

The first time I had a Chinese friend was at the age of 6. I had two Chinese classmates who could barely speak Italian, but at that time language wasn’t as important as it is now.

我在 6 岁时交到了第一个中国朋友。那时候班上有两个几乎不会说意大利语的中国同学，不过那时候语言也没现在这么重要。

During my high school period around 16 years old, I started to work in a Chinese restaurant in the heart of Genova (my hometown) as a delivery guy, and that was funny because most of my friends were doing the same job but delivering pizza, when I was delivering fresh sushi, so I was the “Special” one.

在我读高中的时候，大约 16 岁，我为热那亚市中心（我的家乡）的一家中国餐馆送货。说起来好笑，那时候我大部分朋友也送餐，只不过他们都是送披萨，只有我是送寿司。我反而是最特殊的那一个。

2012 was when “Sushi fever” hit Italy and many Chinese restaurants (mostly people from Wenzhou) started to offer “all-you-can-eat” sushi, but that’s another story. Working with Chinese people taught me how to effectively manage my time, and also, the value of money as that was my first job.

2012年是“寿司热”席卷意大利的时候，很多中餐馆(大多是温州人开的)开始提供寿司自助，但那是后话。和中国人一起工作教会了我如何有效地管理时间，也教会了我金钱的价值，因为这是我的第一份工作。

After graduating high school, I decided to study Chinese language at university and in the final year, I worked as a salesman in a Sunglasses shop in Venice. That was a turning point in my life and a key passage that brought me to Xiamen.

高中毕业后，我决定在大学里学习中文。大四那一年，我在威尼斯一家太阳镜商店当售货员。那算得上是我人生的一个转折点，并且把我带到了厦门。

Once, a rich couple from Taiwan walked into our Shop in Venice and we started to have a conversation in Chinese. In some way we ended up talking about Chinese traditional culture while I convinced them to buy 9 pairs of branded glasses. Later this lovely couple invited me out for a dinner where they offered me a job, in Xiamen, as an interpreter, for the 98 洽谈会 (the Xiamen Exposition). That was just a dream for me, because I was already thinking about coming in China to study, and for an extreme coincidence I had already applied for Xiamen University!

有一次，一对来自台湾的富有夫妇走进我们在威尼斯的商店，我们用中文愉快地交流。我们甚至还聊到了中国传统文化，最后他们一口气买了九副品牌眼镜。之后，这对夫妇邀请我共进晚餐，并且给我介绍了一份在中国国际投资贸易洽谈会（简称 98 洽谈会）做翻译的工作。一切对我来说都像梦一样，因为当时我就打算来中国进修。而且更巧的是，我已经申请了厦门大学！

I remember when I first got here was no doubt the most exciting time of my life. I traveled from hotel to hotel in Fujian visiting many companies improving my Chinese bringing it from book level to conversation level.

我还记得我刚到厦门的时候，无疑是我人生中最有趣的时光。我辗转福建各大酒店，观摩了许多公司，大大提升了我的中文水平。我的中文不再仅仅局限于书本，而是可以与人交流的程度。

Now I’m studying Journalism at Xiamen University and sometimes it is quite hard, but I’m living with Chinese people, sharing their passion and their stories, I start to believe in this country and I’ll be part of it in some way.

现在我在厦门大学学习新闻学专业，有时候也觉得挺困难的。不过现在我和中国人生活在一起，共享喜怒哀乐，我开始觉得或许某种程度上，我也能成为中国的一份子。

A little background on his hometown：

介绍一下 Umberto 的家乡

My hometown is Genova (Genoa), situated in the north-west of Italian peninsula, facing the Mediterranean Sea. It is said to be the home of famous people such as Columbus, Paganini and more.

我的家乡是热那亚，位于意大利半岛西北部，面对地中海。据说是哥伦布、帕格尼尼等名人的故乡。

作者：孔若水 翻译：余欣阳

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