Michael Chugani 褚簡寧 - Culture Shock｜又中又英

2022/06/14 04:12:13 網誌分類: 生活

14 Jun

In my previous column I asked readers to suggest topics to write after a reader emailed to say I was writing too much about food and restaurants. I want to thank the many readers who emailed with diverse (very different) suggestions. The suggestions included writing about proverbs, idioms, American sports, subways (MTR) in different cities in the world, food and culture, homelessness in America, and even the upcoming 45th anniversary of the death of singer Elvis Presley. It is an exhaustive list of suggestions. The word "exhaustive" means complete and thorough. Do not confuse it with exhausted which means very tired.

I will try to write about these topics but today I will write about homelessness in the US. I briefly mentioned homelessness in my previous column, saying even though the US is a rich country it still has many homeless people. It is a timely topic because voters in California made clear in primary elections last week they want elected leaders to solve the problem of homelessness, especially in Los Angeles. The word "timely" means happening or doing something at the right time. Foreigners who visit US cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle, where there are many homeless people, get a culture shock when they see people in rags sleeping on the streets.

They wonder why there are people in rags sleeping on the streets when the US is a rich country. The expression "culture shock" means a confused feeling by people who visit a place or country they don't fully understand. The word "rags" used this way means torn and dirty clothes. There are two types of homeless people in the US. One type are people in rags who sleep on streets. They either have mental health problems or are drug users. The other type are people who have jobs but cannot afford home rents. They sleep in tents or public transport. Many US businesses such as supermarkets and restaurants want to hire staff but some homeless people choose not to work.
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在之前的文章中，我提及一位讀者傳電郵給我，說我寫得太多飲食與餐廳，我便請求各位讀者提議一下，我可以寫哪些題目？我想多謝那許多寫電郵給我的讀者，提供了各種各樣（diverse）的建議。這些建議包括：諺語、成語、美國體育運動、世界各地不同城市的地下鐵路、飲食與文化、美國的無家可歸者，甚至關於歌星艾維斯‧皮禮士利「貓王」逝世四十五周年紀念快將來到。這實在是一張非常exhaustive的建議清單——exhaustive是指全面而徹底的。不要將它與exhausted一字混淆啊，後者是解作筋疲力盡、累透了。

我會嘗試寫寫這些題目，不過今天我會先寫美國的無家者狀況。在之前的文章中，我便曾約略提及無家者狀況，說即使美國是富裕國家，卻有許多露宿者。這是個適時的（timely）題目，因為加州的選民在上星期的初選中已清晰表明，他們希望當選的領袖會着手解決露宿者問題，尤其是在洛杉磯的。Timely是指某事的發生來得及時，又或在合適的時間去做某事。當那些到訪紐約、洛杉磯和西雅圖等美國城市的外國人，見到人們衣衫襤褸地（rags）睡在路旁時，都受到很大的文化衝擊（culture shock）。

他們會思忖，為何美國是個那麼富裕的國家，卻同時有人會穿着破爛的衣服（rags）露宿街頭？習語 "culture shock" 是指人們身處一個陌生的地方或國家，並不完全理解當地文化時所產生的一種困惑、震驚的感覺。Rags在這裏是指破爛、骯髒的衣服。美國有兩類無家者：一種是衣衫襤褸（rags）露宿街頭的，他們要麼就是有精神健康問題，要麼就是吸毒者；另一種則是有工作但仍負擔不起房租的人，他們會睡在帳篷中，又或公共交通設施附近。許多美國公司如超市和餐廳也想招聘人手，但一些露宿者卻選擇不去工作。中譯：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

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Michael Chugani 褚簡寧 - Culture Shock｜又中又英

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