从摩根大通副总裁到美中友好志愿者

文/本刊记者 李静 译/胡然

从摩根大通副总裁到美中友好志愿者

文/本刊记者 李静 译/胡然

“以前我从事管理工作，很多时候会要求你做很多重大决定，人会时刻处于紧张状态；而现在我也做管理，不过我管的是我的学生们，我觉得更放松。我很享受这种感觉。”

JoAnn很喜欢与成都的寄宿家庭在一起

在垫江留恋

“所有美国人对中国都抱着一种困惑和费解，不了解这个国家。20年前，我们几乎不愿意买来自中国的东西，而现在在美国，很多东西都是中国制造。我对这个国家充满了好奇，这也是我选择来到中国当志愿者的原因之一。”每次提到中国，谈到重庆，JoAnn都有很多话说。

曾经在美国JP摩根大通担任副总裁的她，是一名优秀的管理者，工作了26年，2003年退休以后，本可以与家人一起享受天伦之乐，但她却不甘于这样无聊而平凡的日子，希望可以做一些有意义的事情，一次偶然的机会，她看到了和平志愿队的宣传单，让她萌发了成为一名志愿者的念头。“起初我也只是抱着试一试的心态申请的。当我看到他们‘just do it’的口号时，突然有种激情萌发，让我深受鼓舞。我相信我应该也能做到，让自己的人生更有意义。”也正是带着这样的热情，JoAnn开始了自己的志愿者工作。

成为志愿者后，JoAnn第一次工作的地方就被派到了汤加，一个位于太平洋西南部赤道附近的岛屿国家。一开始的确有很多不习惯的地方，相对于美国而言，汤加的确不是一个发达的国家，在这里，JoAnn甚至买不到一双合适的鞋子，不同的生活背景让她开始对自己最初的信念产生怀疑。但她仍然坚持了下来，不能改变就一定要学会适应。两年后，她回到了美国。虽然在汤加工作的日子很艰苦，但JoAnn也在异国他乡体会到了快乐和生活的乐趣。回来后休息了一段时间，她又一次申请志愿者工作，来到了南美的一个国家圭亚那。因为有了第一次的经验，JoAnn很快就适应了这里的生活，在这里也待上了两年。

抱着对中国的热情，JoAnn终于如愿以偿地来到了这个让她向往，又颇感神秘的国家。“美国人对中国的北京、上海最熟悉，其他之外的城市都不太了解。当我知道要派往重庆时，也忙着在地图上寻找它在中国的位置，当时只觉得这个城市挺大。”2009年9月，JoAnn和其他志愿者们一起，先到成都培训，再分派到重庆大学教书。这时她才近距离地接触了这座城市，JoAnn惊奇这座城市之大，媒体怎么形容都没有自己亲眼见到的真实，JoAnn也开始喜欢上了这座城市。

JoAnn喜欢与当地朋友一起打麻将

在学生家中合影

从一个全球著名的跨国金融服务集团副总裁到异国他乡的一所大学的教师，巨大的身份转变也让人对她的工作心理产生很多疑问。“两份工作性质不同，肯定是不一样的。以前我做管理工作，很多时候会要求你做很多重大决定，人会时刻处于紧张状态；而现在我也做管理，不过我管的是我的学生们。” JoAnn风趣地回答，“现在我觉得更放松。我很享受这种感觉。”

JoAnn现在在重庆大学教大学生英语和电脑、数据编程的课程，她很喜欢给学生上课。“以前在汤加，我只给30个学生上课，在这里，我要给80多个学生上课，有时候很难和每一个学生交流。”尽管这样，JoAnn还是会试着记住每一个学生的名字和样子，了解每一个学生的学习情况。

在这里教学，她发现中国学生的语言水平很高，每个人都会说很流利的英语，但她也发现一些农村来的学生很害羞，不敢和她进行口语交流。于是，JoAnn便请他们一起出来吃饭，没有了课堂上的拘束，学生们也放下了紧张，饭桌间，大家都可以畅所欲言，拉近了彼此的距离，学生的英语又有了提高，这让JoAnn很有成就感。

“中国的学生很努力，但课堂上的主动性不够，他们害怕犯错误。但我要让他们知道，错误是无可避免的，每个人都可能犯错误。” JoAnn对教育有自己的见解，她也经常鼓励学生们坚持自己的意见，积极地和老师讨论问题，增强学习主动性。她希望学生们能更独立，可以应付各种生活和学习上的难题。学生们很喜欢这位慈祥的老人，在她过生日时一起为她送上生日蛋糕，和她在重庆度过了一个难忘的生日。从学生身上，JoAnn学会了耐心，理解到了中国的传统美德，孩子对父母的孝心。

虽已年过六旬，JoAnn仍然像一个精力充沛的年轻人。休息的时候她喜欢和朋友一起打麻将；她喜欢这里的食物，最喜欢中国家庭式的聚餐，一家人忙里忙外地做很多美味佳肴，JoAnn很享受这种感觉，让她觉得像在自己家里一样。在重庆一年多的时间，她已经游览了很多风景名胜，大足石刻、万盛黑山谷、巫山、瓷器口，她希望下一站去武隆看天坑地缝，“重庆的风景太漂亮了，每次我去了都不想回来。”今年的圣诞节JoAnn是在重庆度过的，没有和家人在一起，虽然有点孤单，但看到这里的街道也挂上了彩灯和圣诞树，让她很开心。

新的一年开始，JoAnn和其他在重庆的志愿者们一起在南山上度过，吃美食，赏夜景，不亦乐乎。也许不久就要回到美国，结束在中国的志愿者生活，但在重庆这一年生活、工作的点点滴滴也将跟随着新年的钟声，一起欢乐地迈进美好的2011年。

学生为JoAnn度过了在重庆的第一个生日

“All Am e ricans ho ld s a m ixed idea to China. Twen ty yea rs ago, a lm ost no one liked things m ade in China. Bu t righ t now, things a re d iffe ren t. You can find them eve rywhe re in US. I cam e he re as a vo lun tee r because I have been eage r to know this coun try.”JoAnn has a lo t to say when speaking o f China and Chongq ing.

Be fo re 2003, she wo rked in J.P. Mo rgan as the vice-p residen t. Afte r tha t, instead o f en joying fam ily b liss, she wan ted to devo te he rse lf to o the r m eaning fu l things. He r ac c iden ta l receip t o f a handou t o f Peace Co rp s insp ired he r to becom e a vo lun tee r. “At first, I just wan ted to g ive it a sho t. When I saw their slogan -'just do it', I fe lt ove rwhe lm ed and insp ired. I be lieve I can do it, I can m ake m y life m o re m eaning fu l.” It is w ith such en thusiasm tha t JoAnne em ba rked on a new pa th o f being a vo lun tee r.

JoAnn最爱她的学生们

The first p lace she se rved was the Kingdom o f Tonga, an a rchip e lago d irec tly sou th o f Weste rn Sam oa. Com pa red w ith he r own coun try, Tonga is no t a deve loped coun try whe re JoAnn was no t ac custom ed to m any things a t first. Even she cou ld no t buy a pair o f shoes suited to he r. Diffe ren t cu ltu ra l backg round s m ixed w ith o the r p rob lem s casted a doub t on he r be lie f o f m aking a d iffe rence. She, howeve r, m ade it because she he ld tha t if you cou ld no t change it, adap t you rse lf to it. Two yea rs la te r, she wen t back to Am e rica w ith m em o rab le expe rience o f Tonga. Afte r a sho rt stay a t hom e, sh e, on c e ag a in, a p p lie d fo r ano th e r vo lun tee ring job, and tha t tim e she wen t to Guyana, a Sou th Am e rican coun try. He r first expe rience in Tonga he lped he r vo lun tee ring job the re fruitfu l and she a lso se rved fo r two yea rs.

This tim e, JoAnn fina lly cam e to he r d ream ed p lace, China, a land o f wonde r. “Am e ricans don't know m any p laces in China excep t Beijing and Shanghai. Upon know ing I wou ld go to Chongq ing, I loca ted it in the m ap o f China, fee ling it was so b ig.” In Sep tem be r, 2009, JoAnn toge the r w ith o the r vo lun tee rs wen t to Chengdu first fo r training and then cam e to Chongq ing fo r teaching. Tha t was the ve ry first tim e she se t he r fee t on this land, fe lt it and began to fa ll in love w ith Chongq ing. “He r m agnificence is fa r beyond wo rd s.”

Onc e be ing the v ic e-p resid en t o f a w o rld renowned in te rna tiona l financ ia l institu tion, now she is a fo reign teache r in a unive rsity, which fo r su re has posed cha llenges to he r. “They a re d iffe ren t in som e way. As a vice p residen t, I have to m ake m any c ritica l dec isions. Tha t was in tense. And now I am still a 'm anage r', cha rg ing w ith m y studen ts. ” JoAnn said w ith a sm ile.“It is fun. I love it!”

JoAnn teaches Eng lish, Com p u ting Sc ience and Da ta Prog ramm ing in Chongq ing Un ive rsity. She loves this job. “In Tonga, I taugh t 30 studen ts, while he re I have to teach m o re than 80 studen ts. So it is d ifficu lt fo r m e to ta lk to eve ry one o f them.” Desp ite o f tha t, JoAnn still try to rem em be r he r eve ry studen t and ge t to know them.

Th rough he r teaching exp e rience, she find s tha t the ave rage Eng lish p ro fic iency o f Chinese studen ts is good, bu t som e studen ts from ru ra l a reas a re shy and se ldom ta lk to he r. To he lp them, the re fo re, she com es up w ith an idea -d ining ou t w ith them. W ithou t the d isc ip line o f the c lass, they fee l free to ta lk, which no t on ly im p roves their o ra l Eng lish bu t m o re im po rtan tly enhances their pe rsona l re la tions. JoAnn has a lways been p roud o f tha t idea.

小朋友喜欢和 JoAnn交谈

“Chinese studen ts wo rk ha rd, bu t they a re no t tha t ac tive in c lass. They a re a fraid o f m aking m istakes. Bu t even Hom e r som e tim es nod s.” JoAnn has he r unde rstand ing on educa tion. She o ften encou rages he r studen ts to stick to their own ideas as long as they a re righ t, and m o re engagem en t w ith he r. She a lso ad voca tes ind ep end en t and c ritica l th inking and insp ires he r studen ts to be p rec ise and c lea r. He r studen ts love he r and he ld a b irthday pa rty in he r hono r last yea r. It was indeed a m em o rab le nigh t. From he r studen ts, she's lean t pa tience, filia l p ie ty and o the r Chinese trad itiona l m o ra lities.

In he r sixties, JoAnn is still ene rge tic, like a young wom an. She likes p laying m ah jong w ith he r friends in spa re tim e. She loves Chinese food, reunion d inne r in p a rticu la r, be cause eve ry tim e she sees fam ily m em be rs busying w ith ded ica te d ishes, cha tting and he lp ing each o the r, she fee ls m uch a t hom e. Ove r the past one yea r in Chongq ing, she has visited a lo t o f scenic spo ts, such as Dazu Rock Ca rvings, Ciq ikou and Wushan. She wan ts to go to Wu long next tim e. “The scene ry is go rgeous, and eve ry tim e I just wan t to stay the re.” She ce leb ra ted Ch ristm as a lone in Chongq ing and m issed he r fam ily so m uch, bu t she still fe lt b lessed when seeing the trees do tted w ith illum ina tions.

On New Yea r's Day, she, w ith o the r vo lun tee rs in Chongq ing, ce leb ra ted it in Nanshan Moun tain, tasting de lic ious food, ap p rec ia ting the n igh t scene and cha tting w ith them. She w ill re tu rn to Am e rica soon, bu t as the be ll rings in the New Yea r, he r eve ry m om en t he re w ill ac com pany he r in to the yea r o f 2011.

From the Vice-p residen t o f J.P. M o rgan to a US-China Friendship Vo lun teer

W ritten by Aggie Translated by Kenneth Hu