蝴蝶骨头

你好,我叫卢卡斯

来中国以前我很关心环境的问题。 我曾经比较严格要求自己不要买不必要的东西,打车,吃肉,因为这些事情都对环境不好。 虽然一个人不能真正地影响这些大问题解决,对我来说这态度的意思是自律. 然而,来中国几乎六个月后,我现在不能否定方便。这里的生活真方便,另外我很累, 就不想复杂地生活。我还关心环境,但不知道办法。

Before coming to China I was very concerned about environmental problems. I used to be a little bit strict to myself about buying unnecessary things, using cars, eating meat, because all these things are bad for the environment. Although one person alone can't have a large influence on the resolution of these big problems, for me this attitude has an ethical meaning for myself. But, after almost six months in China, I can't refuse convenience anymore. Life here is really convenient and I'm too tired to try living in a complicated way. I'm still concerned about environment, but I don't what to do.

最近我学习两个词语: 《动物》和《动作》。我想想: what the animal has to do with the action? 然后我查查什么是《动》: to move. 所以《动物》是一个能动作的东西。英语词语 “animal” comes from latin word “anima”, which also is related to movement (like in animation; an animated or inanimated object). If we go far in Indo-European languages, the radical ane- is related to the action of breathing. Some similar idea seems also to be present in the component 云 from 动, if we think the clouds as something related to the air.

我来说很有意思两个无关的语言用同的方法为描写一个东西

为什么东西不是北南? 为什么裤子里有一辆车? 疼是不是身体的冬天? 谈是不是话的火? 积累知识让人很累吗? 鲜东西是像鱼一样吗? 门的耳朵听见新闻吗?

在国籍上,最近我想想南艺的留学生很有意思。我们都从不同的国家来,但是几乎都是非洲人,拉丁美洲人,亚洲人还东欧人。我和同学几乎都不是从有名,富的西方国家来。虽然美国,法国,加拿大,英国都是重要的地方,可是现在那些再不是最重要。别的国家开始了共同好关系。不同的文化有更多机会互换。

虽然我们只是一些艺术学生在一个比较小学院,还是我们可能是一张很有意思的新世界的文化的照片。

In other words: though we are just normal people, without great influence in the global geopolitcs, the diversity of our nationalities is an interesting image of what could be a more igualitarian project of globalization than that one conducted by the old West.

Yesterday Brazil started not only a new year but a new hope with the official inauguration of the elected president Lula. This is not an ordinary thing. After 8 years of continuous decadence and political instability, Brazil finally has a president that cares about social justice, fight against poverty and will do something to preserve Amazon Rainforest and protect people living there (especially indigenous people).

We were a little bit worried about terrorism during the inauguration ceremony, because there are some crazy people trying to imitate the US crazy people who stormed the Capitol. But, fortunately, everything went well.

Since the context became very conservative and arid during these years, and the public budget left by the former president is chaotic, it won't be easy for Lula and the new government to do all they need to recover the country. But we already can see some important changes: ethnic minorities assuming positions on ministries, resumption of real diplomatic relations that the former government had abandoned, measures to increase the transparency of public budget and political decisions, measures for poverty alleviation and fighting against deforestation.

I'm jealous of countries able to make long term plans and chart the path for their development without (or despite) the interference of the US imperialism. I hope Brazil will reach this point one day. For now, we need to rely on governments like Lula, when they happen.

Ok, now I'm going to study Chinese.

我们出生的都是文盲。蓦然成为文盲比较不寻常。举个例子,我来中国以后。

Everyone borns illiterate. A little bit more rare is when someone suddenly becomes illiterate. For example, like me after arriving China.

纵然我学习中文,还不会懂基础事。路标,菜单,包装标签,还有手机中文的app's。更坏的,旅游的时候我的手机坏了,所以我来中国我没能用翻译 (现在我一记有新手机)。

Even though I study Chinese language, I still can't understand basic things like sings on the streets, menus at restaurants, labels on packages and Chinese apps on my phone. And even worse, my phone got broken during my trip, so in my first days I couldn't use automatic translators in a easy way (but now I already have a new one).

我很高兴有学校老师的帮助。他们都安排好的一切,所以留学生可以来真顺溜溜 (谢谢 Zhao老师,Xia 老师,Yang老师,Yiyi老师)

(也谢谢可可)

I'm glad for have received constantly help from the staff of my university. They arranged everything so the arrive of foreigner students be the smoothest possible (thank you Zhao laoshi, Xia laoshi, Yang laoshi, Yiyi laoshi).

作为一个文盲真的毫无优势,生活中常常会遇到很多难题。井且我不仅只是语言不通,更是生活中方方面面的问题,总会让我很苦恼。

There is no advantage about beign illiterate. Life becomes much harder. And, in my case, illiteracy is not only about language comprehension, but also about many aspects of local culture. Some situations can make me feel really distressed.

我用筷子用得对不对?我吃饭吃得对不对?我粗鲁吗? 一位人敲我的门,我应该说什么 (因为有时候我花了很长时间才开门)?我太形式上了吗?太不形式上了吗?我在做违法的事吗?

Am I using kuaizi properly? Am I eating properly? Am I being rude? Should I say something when someone knocks my door apparently in a rush (because sometimes I take too long to open)? Am I being too formal? Too informal? Am I doing something illegal?

不顾这些问题也这些不方便的,我的文盲有一个有意思的方面。这是就像回到了童年。每件事成为新的,即便最朴实的事。感觉都比较警觉。在我几乎总是失败的尝试中,我试一试明白都声音和形象用我的眼睛和耳朵。这是一个机缘我记得一种旧的感觉当一切都在学习时。

Despite these questions and unconveniences, there is an interesting aspect on being illiterate. It's like returning to childhood. Everything becomes new, even the simplest things. All my senses stay a little bit more alert in my almost always failed attempts to understand all the information reaching my eyes and ears. It's like a chance of recover (at least a little bit) an almost forgotten feeling from a time when everything was a way of learning.

***

Analfabeto

Todo mundo nasce analfabeto. Um pouco mais raro é se tornar analfabeto de repente. Foi o que aconteceu comigo quando cheguei à China.

Mesmo estudando o idioma, ainda não consigo entender coisas básicas como as placas nas ruas, os cardápios nos restaurantes, os rótulos das embalagens ou os aplicativos em chinês no celular. Pra piorar, meu celular quebrou antes de eu chegar aqui, então não pude usar tradutores automáticos com facilidade.

Ainda bem que tive a sorte de ser constantemente ajudado pela equipe da minha universidade, que arranjou tudo para que a chegada dos alunos estrangeiros fosse a mais suave possível (obrigado Zhao laoshi, Xia laoshi, Yang laoshi, Yiyi laoshi).

Não existe nenhuma vantagem em ser analfabeto. A vida se torna muito mais difícil. E no meu caso o analfabetismo não se reduz apenas à compreensão da língua, mas também de muitos aspectos da cultura local. Algumas situações me deixam realmente angustiado.

Será que estou usando o par de kuaizi da forma certa? Será que estou comendo do jeito certo? Será que estou sendo mal-educado? Será que devo dizer alguma coisa rapidamente quando batem à minha porta antes de abri-la (é que às vezes demoro um pouco para abrir)? Será que estou sendo muito formal? Muito informal? Será que estou fazendo algo ilegal?

Tirando as dúvidas e inconveniências, existe um aspecto interessante na experiência de ser analfabeto. É como um retorno à infância. Tudo se torna novo, até as coisas mais simples. Os cinco sentidos ficam um pouco mais aguçados nas tentativas quase sempre inúteis (por enquanto) de entender toda a informação que chega aos meus olhos e ouvidos. É uma chance de recuperar pelo menos um pouco da sensação daquela época da vida em que tudo era aprendizado.