作者：Maria Malakhova
翻译：潘泽彬
校对：Luz、Zuzana、Joanne
My name is Maria Malakhova, I am from Siberia, Russia. I have been in Xiamen for almost 8 years.
我叫 Maria Malakhova，我来自俄罗斯西伯利亚，在厦门已经待了将近 8 年。
It was random how I learned about Xiamen. About 10 years ago my mom met a lady on a plane, they had a chat and it happened so that her daughter was studying in Xiamen University at the time. 2 years later I myself was on a plane headed to Xiamen to study Chinese in Xiamen University.
一次偶然的机会，我知道了厦门这座城市。那是大约 10 年前，我妈妈在飞机上遇到一位女士，聊天时得知她女儿当时在厦门大学读书。两年后，我自己也搭上了飞往厦门的航班，在厦门大学学习中文。
Xiamen is very different from my hometown. In my hometown half of the year is winter, In Xiamen half of the year is summer.
厦门气候与我家乡截然不同。我家一年中有半年是冬天，而厦门则有半年是夏天。
When I first arrived I felt like I’d melt. Now, after almost 8 years, I can wear jeans and a long sleeve when it’s +30, haha.
初到厦门的时候，我感觉自己快化了。如今已经待了 8 年，30 多度的天气我仍穿牛仔裤和长袖，哈哈哈。
In the very beginning it felt like another planet. I remember the shock that I was given chopsticks to eat soup. Soup! With chopsticks! 疯狂了。Also, very quickly I realized that the Chinese food I tried at home was not Chinese at all. Supermarkets were full of strange stuff that I’d never seen before and I was on a constant hunt for salty bread and any kind of cheese. Speaking of Chinese cuisine, there is one thing I regret deeply. In the very first year somebody invited me to a small hotpot place. That was the first time I tried hotpot, probably was Sichuan style because it was CRAZY spicy – my tongue went numb instantly and I cried my eyes out. So, naturally, I swore off ever, ever, ever having it again. It wasn’t until 6 years later that I tried it again when a friend had a birthday party at Hai Di Lao, and I couldn’t believe I was missing out on that goodness for so long!
刚开始，我感觉自己住在另一颗星球。他们给我一双筷子喝汤的时候，我着实震惊到了。用筷子！喝汤！而且我很快意识到，我在俄罗斯吃过的中餐一点也不“中国”。超市里有很多奇怪的东西，我从未见过，我一直在超市搜寻咸面包和各种奶酪。提到中国菜，有一件事我深感遗憾。来中国的第一年，有人邀请我吃一家小火锅店。那是我第一次品尝火锅，可能是四川风味的，简直是变态辣——舌头很快麻了，涕泗横流。所以，我发誓再也不吃火锅了，一口也不吃。6 年后，一位朋友在海底捞举办生日聚会，我才再次尝试了火锅，我简直不敢相信竟然与如此美味失散多年！
Learning Chinese was a pickle too. I’d feel like I’ve learned already some basics and can communicate the simplest things, but more often than not communication wouldn’t go smooth. Once my flip flop broke right on the street, luckily I quickly spotted a street vendor that was selling shoes. So I hopped over there, pointed to my flip flops and said I wanted to buy 拖鞋. Well, evidently I didn’t say 拖鞋, because the lady looked back at me puzzled asking “鸵谢? 没有啦! ” My jaw dropped – there was a dozen of 拖鞋 right in front of me! I repeated “我要拓写” She goes again “没有” I looked at her in utter disbelief, having no clue what was happening, then at 拖鞋 right next to us, and used my both hands to point at them while practically screaming out of desperation “有! 有妥歇! 拖鞋!” Suddenly, her eyes widen, she nods her head, “啊啊啊, 拖鞋, 拖鞋 有”.
学习中文也是一个难题。我已经学会了一些基本用语，可以进行最简单的交流，但交流并不流畅。有一次，我的拖鞋在大街上穿坏了，好在我发现了一个小摊卖拖鞋。于是我来到摊前，指着我的人字拖，说我想买拖鞋。显然我没有讲对，那位女士不解地看着我说：“鸵谢？没有啦！”我的下巴都要惊掉了—一打拖鞋就在我面前！我重复了一遍：“我要‘拓写’。”她又回道：“没有。”我难以置信地看着她，完全不懂怎么回事，然后我双手指着旁边的拖鞋，近乎绝望地大叫：“有！有‘妥歇’！拖鞋！”突然，她瞪大双眼，点点头：“啊啊啊，拖鞋，拖鞋，有。”
I didn’t even notice how Xiamen became my home. One time I went to my hometown and surprisingly soon felt like I wanted to go “home”, to Xiamen. Everything that once was so strange and exotic became so familiar and even routine that nothing can surprise me anymore. So I like to remind myself “Hey, you live in China!” and then I go out pretending to be a tourist, taking photos of everything I see and trying new food.
厦门，不知不觉就成了我的家。有一次我回到了真正的家乡，没多久我竟然想着回“家”，也就是回厦门。曾经那么陌生的异乡，如今一切都变得那么熟悉，甚至变得习以为常，没有什么能让我惊掉下巴了。所以我会经常提醒自己：“嘿，你生活在中国！”然后就假装成一个游客，拍我所见的一切，尝试各种美食。
I know so many people that came for one year or two, and stayed for 10 and more. Xiamen can be really captivating. I believe it has to do with the incredible local community and lush green nature. It’s a rather small island, so it may seem like you know almost everyone and everything, yet there is always something else to discover, amazing spots and people.
很多人原本只打算在厦门待一两年，却待了十年甚至更久。厦门真的令人神魂颠倒，因为这里有不可思议的当地社区和郁郁葱葱的大自然。厦门虽然是一个相当小的岛屿，你可能会觉得自己无所不知，但总是有事物等你发现，总有美景等你探寻，总有了不起的人等你结识。
My life pretty much can be divided into two parts – Before and After Xiamen. The After Xiamen part is far more adventurous and fulfilling and I feel so blessed for this experience.
我的人生可以分为两个阶段——来厦门前和来厦门后。来厦门后的经历更富有挑战性，也更有成就感，我非常幸运能拥有这样的经历。
My hometown is called Krasnoyarsk. It’s a city in Siberia that was built near the river and is surrounded by mountains and forests. There is an amazing national park on the city outskirts, with a beautiful forest and unusual rock formations that look magical in winter. It’s a rather cold place, in winter the temperature can drop to -40 degree Celsius. Contrary to what many believe, there is summer, but it’s definitely short though, like 2 months of good weather. As a kid I loved winter, because there was always lots of snow and we could do a lot of fun stuff like sliding down the hill or digging a tunnel in the snowdrifts.
我的故乡叫克拉斯诺亚尔斯克，位于西伯利亚，依山傍水，森林环绕。市郊坐落着一座美轮美奂的国家公园，森林茂盛峻美，岩层非同一般，冬天看起来非常奇特。这是一个严寒之地，冬天气温可达零下 40 摄氏度。许多人觉得我们这里没有夏天，但实际上是有的，不过非常短暂，只有两个月舒适的气候。小时候我喜欢冬天，因为冬天会下大雪，我们可以尽情玩耍，比如从小山上滑下来，在雪堆里挖隧道。
你相信人可以重获新生吗？我相信。我叫 Julian Quander（杰酷）。2010年，我获得了一个千载难逢的机会，将改变我的人生……
我一直对融合菜和混合菜情有独钟：味道的融合或者多种材料的混合，我感觉自己一直局限在民族文化的小小角落里。因此，为了在我比利时生活的焦糖里面加少许盐，我有了到“别处”游历的想法。
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