美国：天真的特立独行

文/Diego

The United States of America,the country with the third largest area in the world,just had its 241 years’birthday last year.Compared to China,where history goes back to more than 5000 years,or the long-standing Europe,where peoples’houses are generally much older than the country of America,it is such a young country.

Perhaps it’s due to its youthful vigor,and the fact that it became so strong in such a short time,with legendary financialstability,thatpeople who grew up in America are relatively naive and romantic most of the time.It’s just like Winnie the Pooh who growing up with his pots full of honey.Also,because it’s such a young country,people generally work very hard,with endless amounts of energy.

America is a giant complex,full of dilemmas:the innocent independency.

美国，这个世界上国土面积第三大的国家，去年（2017年7月4日）刚刚度过它的第241个生日。与有着5000年历史文化的中国和一个建筑动辄有几百上千年历史的欧洲国家相比，美国是一个年轻的国家。

也许因为年轻，以及它在如此短的时间内变得非常强大，且一直处于富足状态，所以，在美国长大的人，总带着一些“不谙世事”的天真和浪漫，像蜜罐里长大而不知忧愁的维尼熊。也正是因为年轻，美国人特别勤奋，似乎有着用不完的精力和无穷的创造力。

美国是一个巨大的矛盾体：既天真又独立。

Do I Know You？

If it’s your very first time landing in America,you might be shocked at the customs already.

熟悉的陌生人

如果你是第一次到达美国的话，也许会对海关和移民工作人员Customsand immigration staffmightbehavinga friendly conversation or acting so casually that you might start wondering,“Where are all those fully armed policemen that I see on TV？”Even at the strictestimmigration department,you can stillsee workers joking and laughing with arrivals,almost mimicking a scene of a Christmas reunion.

Walking on the streets ofAmerica,ifyou happen to meet other people’s eyes,no matter if you know him or not,he is probably going to smile at you and greet you：“How are you doing？ You look very nice today!”

If you are travelling in America,and your car suddenly breaksdown,oryou cannotfind enough change,or even if you just look lost standing somewhere;often,someone will stop and ask you if you need any help.Not to mention receiving a free coffee from whoever stands in the line in front of you in the coffee shop,or getting a bunch of free samples from sales in the shopping mall,which happens all the time.之间不正式的说话内容和随意的说话方式感到震惊：“我们在电视节目里看到的那些全副武装的工作人员去哪儿了？”即使是在大家印象中极其严谨的美国入境处，你也不难看到工作人员之间互相开玩笑和轻松向来客打招呼的场景，大有欢迎自家亲戚上门的喜悦感。

走在美国街头，只要你与人四目相接，无论认识与否，对方通常都会笑脸相迎地跟你打招呼：“你好吗？今天这身真漂亮！”

如果你在美国旅行，你的车突然抛锚，或者你找不到足够的零钱，或者你只是在某个地方迷路了，总会有素不相识的美国人停下脚步，询问你是否需要帮助。至于你在咖啡厅排队等候时，被前面买单的客人“送”了一杯咖啡，或者去商场买东西时，被售货员“送”一堆免费的试用品，这些都是在生活中经常发生的场景。

Direct and Indirect

Compared to British people,Americans have completely opposite personalities.In England,before you ask any questions,you should always compose your language carefully,and apologize with respect for the fact that you are going to bother other people’s day.In America,you can throw your questions out

直白又委婉

与英国人相比，美国人的性格简直截然相反。在英国，问一个问题之前，你需要认真组织语句，用尊敬的语言对打扰对方表达歉意；而在美国，你可以直截了当地抛出自己的问题，再等待一个直截了当的回答。大多数时候问答双方都不会觉得有所冒犯。也许正因为如此，美国人自认为工作效率高，觉得英国人说话拐弯抹角；而英国人则认为美国人做事太粗鲁，不讲礼节。

有趣的是，表达如此直白的美国人有时也会显得含蓄、委婉。比directly,and expect a direct answer to it,and most of the time nobody will feel insulted.Maybe this is the reason why Americans consider themselves efficient,and view the British as beating around the bush;while British people regard Americans as rude and uncivilized.

The interesting thing is,the direct Americans can be very indirect sometimes. For instance,Americans can use endless extreme compliments to express theiradmiration to strangers,to dressing styles,to working abilities,but they will limit their expressions to very little when asked to talk about other’s shortcomings.Americans can talk about their own mistakesand problemsfora long time,but ratherkeep silentwhen they are told to accuse others.

Onethingthat’sveryimportantin American culture is:self-criticize,encourage others,see others’strong points and say it out loud.如：美国人可以用尽赞美之词表达自己对陌生人的喜爱、着装品味的欣赏、办事能力的敬佩，却会在谈及对方缺点时，只用非常概括的词语一带而过。美国人可以针对自身的缺点侃侃而谈，却会在被要求指责他人时躲闪不语。

美国文化中非常重要的亮点就是：自我批评，鼓励他人；多看到他人的长处，并大声说出来。

A Man for Yourself

It’s nice to buy some fancy deserts from the cafe around the street corner and bring them as a gift when you are invited to an American’s house party.But if you can start from scratch,from beating the egg to the final fondant,a homemade gift will often be more appreciated.In the same way,if ever an American brings yousomehomeplanted fresh flowers,or cookies that cost them a whole afternoon to bake, please do not forget to express your excitementand appreciation.Because,compared to material gifts,what Americans value more is the time and effort someone put into something.

Therefore, in a lot of wealthy American households,parents will choose not to focus on just materialthings.They believe,parentsshould work hard to provide,but that’s not enough.At the same time,parents should spend a great amount of quality

自己动手，丰衣足食

如果你被邀请去美国人家中做客，在街角咖啡店买些精美的甜点当然不错，但是如果你可以从头开始，亲自从打鸡蛋到最后添加软糖，自制的礼物通常会更受欢迎。同样，你邀请美国人来家里做客，如果对方带着自己花园种植的鲜花或者花费一下午时间精心烘焙的饼干，你一定不要忘记表达自己的兴奋和感激之情。因为与物质礼物相比，美国人更看重一个人在他们身上花费的时间和精力。

因此，在很多富裕的美国家庭中，父母们会选择不把重点放在孩子的物质投资上。相反，他们认为，父母在努力工作的同时，也应该花大量的时间和孩子在一起。父母能够为孩子提供经济条件，但是不会拱手相送，而是从孩子小时候开始，就培养他们的独立自主意识，靠自己的劳动来赚取收获。例如，即使是来自富裕家庭甚至是总统的孩子，他们上学时也只有和其他普通家庭学生一样多的基本学费，生活费和其他额外费用都需要靠自己做兼职来赚取。这种别人眼中time with their children. Also, simply handing everything over to children is not smart,as they train children to be independent from a young age,to earn with their own hands.For instance,even kids from the top wealthy families,or presidents of America,might be only given basic tuition fee for college like any other student from ordinary families.If they want to use money or get something,they need to work a part time job or find their own ways to earn them.This sort of “cheapness”is in fact the“independent American spirit”.的“抠门”，实际上是一种“独立的美国精神”。

Everyone is Unique

Frankly speaking,Americans are one of the most difficult to categorize in the whole world.The reason is each American,ever since they are born,will be told“You are you,you are special”.

To Americans,there is not a single track that works for everyone,and there is no definite right or wrong.A boy born into a poor family can be a basketball fan and if he is talented and diligent,he might become an NBA star one day.In fact,these kinds of stories happen all the time.It’s also normal for a middle class child to grow up attending the same schools his grandparents and parents went to before,graduating with the same degree and working the same job for the rest of his life.In America,all choices can be the right choice,as long as you are responsible for your own decision.

As a result,Harvard dropouts can become world leading IT company CEOs,lost teenagers who lock themselves inside their bedrooms can suddenly come up with great movies and become the most successful directors in Hollywood.In the meantime,billionaires may donate everything to charity and their children will be fine with it.Everyone lives their own life,the life of that“unique you”.

特立独行

坦率地说，我们很难给美国人一个统一、确定的描述。因为每一个美国人，从他们出生起，就会被告知：“你就是你，你是最特别的。”

对美国人来说，没有一条对每个人都适用的单一道路，任何事情也没有绝对的对或错。一个出生在贫民窟的男孩可能是一个篮球迷，如果他有天赋并且勤奋，最终成为NBA明星的故事并不少见；中产阶级家庭子承父业，全家几代人毕业于同一所名牌大学，有着同样工作的经历也属正常……在美国，所有的选择都是正确的，只要你对自己的决定负责。

于是，哈佛辍学的学生，可以成为世界领先的IT巨头；在家啃老数年的迷途青年，可以一转身开窍，成为好莱坞最成功的导演；身价上亿的老总离世时，会将全部财产捐给慈善机构，而他们的儿女并不会有一丝抱怨……每一个人，都过着自己的生活，成为那个“独一无二的自己”。

（中文仅供文意参考，请勿逐字逐句对比学习）