第一次去美国的欧洲人是否感到震惊?(三)
2022-01-11 翻译熊 8038
正文翻译

Are Europeans shocked when they first come to the United States?

第一次去美国的欧洲人是否感到震惊?

评论翻译
Malcolm Graham
When I was in Phoenix and Tucson about 15 years ago I was surprised to see whole streets where the city had never got round to putting down a surface of any kind on some of the sidewalks. I think it was Tucson. They weren't main streets or side streets, sort of in between. It wasn't really a problem because so few people walked anywhere. There was asphalt roadway, then a kerb, then coarse sand at a much lower level. I came to understand and in some ways admire that approach — they didn't do it because it wasn't needed.
The other thing that surprised me was that many influential people wanted to get the town's bus station out of the city centre because it brought the area down. I understand that, but I don't think we would do that in Europe, because they need to be in or near the centre…
The other thing that surprised me was someone who remarked, about a public library, that it was as 'scary as any other public building’ (or words to that effect), but they were working in it. I understand that too, as the public realm in the UK has deteriorated too with the decline in social spending on mental health and housing. But it surprised me as the public realm isn't considered unsafe in (most of) Europe. I might have got the US a bit wrong here.
The other thing that surprised me was seeing a retailer of expensive art sculpture with a revolver stuck in his back jeans pocket.

大约15年前,当我在凤凰城和图森的时候,我很惊讶地看到整条街道的人行道上从来没有铺过任何东西。我想是在图森。它们不是主街或小巷,只是介于两者之间。这并不是什么大问题,因为很少有人步行去任何地方。有沥青路面,然后是路边石,然后是粗砂。我开始理解并在某种程度上欣赏这种方式——他们不这么做是因为不需要。
另一件让我惊讶的事情是,许多有影响力的人想把小镇的公交车站从市中心搬出去,因为它把这个地区搞得一团糟。我理解这一点,但我不认为我们会在欧洲这样做,因为它们需要在中心或靠近中心……
另一件让我惊讶的事情是,有人说公共图书馆“和其他任何公共建筑一样可怕”(或类似的话),但他们在里面工作(外表不是重点)。我也理解这一点,因为英国的公共领域也在恶化,在心理健康和住房方面的社会支出下降。但让我感到惊讶的地方在于,在欧洲(大多数)国家,公共领域并不被认为是不安全的。当然我可能把美国理解错了。
另一件让我吃惊的事情是看到一个卖昂贵艺术雕塑的零售商,他的牛仔裤后面的口袋里插着一把左轮手枪。

Sarita D'Mello
I remember arriving in New York (Newark), and there was a long queue at pasport/border control. When I was mid way in the queue, I needed to go to the loo. Rather than lose my place, I clenched my pelvic muscles but hopped from one foot to the next. The border control policeman kept staring at me, maybe he thought I was acting suspicious. I tried to ignore him, and when I approached the passport desk, he whispered something to the clerk. My passport and I were taken to Customs and Excise. I told them I desperately needed the loo and was escorted and watched whilst I had a pee. My luggage and bags were thoroughly checked and I was body searched. It was an experience I never want to go through again, so now I make sure that on the long walks to passport control, when I see the toilet sign I go to the loo whether I want to or not.

我记得我刚到纽约(纽瓦克),在护照/边境检查站排了很长的队。当我排到一半的时候,我需要上厕所。为了不失去我的位置,我只能憋着。那个边防警察一直盯着我看,也许他认为我的行为可疑。我试图不理睬他,当我走近护照柜台时,他对办事员耳语了几句。我和我的护照被带到海关去了。我告诉他们我非常需要上厕所,在我小便的时候,有人陪着我,看着我。我的行李和包都被彻底检查了,我还被搜身了。
这是我再也不想再经历的事情,所以现在我要确保在去护照检查处的路上,只要看到厕所标识,我就会去上厕所,不管我想不想去。

Ian Fleming
Holland has a little over 2000 sq miles of land to maintain, the U.S. has a little over 3.5 million sq miles, so maintenance of infrastructure is on a different level all together. On top of that much of the U.S. has annual winter conditions not seen in Holland since the last ice age, and summer temps rarely seen in Holland. Minneapolis for example can be as cold as -35 deg f (-37 C) and as warm as 100 deg f. (38 C) Those temperature fluctuations play hell with infrastructure.
As a green card holder I never had a problem with border guards, and as l kept nose clean my only interactions with police have been traffic violations, and in that I’ve see no difference between English police and American, police, both have the attitude “I am the dog, you are the sheep, be respectful and do what you’re told or I will hurt you”. Americans may have guns, but English police have truncheons, and know how to use them!

荷兰只有2000多平方英里的土地需要维护,美国有350多万平方英里,所以基础设施的维护是在一个不同的水平上的。最重要的是,美国大部分地区每年都有自上个冰河时代以来荷兰从未出现过的冬季天气,荷兰也很少出现美国的夏季气温。例如,明尼阿波利斯市的温度可能低至零下-37摄氏度,热至38摄氏度。这些温度波动对基础设施都会造成严重影响。
作为一名绿卡持有者,我从来没有和边境警卫有过冲突,而且我一直洁身自好,所以我和警察唯一的接触就是交通违规。我觉得英国警察和美国警察没有什么区别,两者的态度都是“我是狗,你是羊,要尊重别人,按照别人说的做,否则我会伤害你”。 美国人也许有枪,但英国警察有警棍,而且知道怎么用!

Robert Smith
You don’t say where you flew into specifically, I am curious why? You do realize that there are far more people of varying types that live in the USA than the Netherlands? Far more people, more roads, more by a longshot infrastructure to take care of. Some areas are way too far behind and others are just fine. Some areas of this country can lay down a road and never have to touch it again, others have to do yearly maintenance just to keep them drivable mostly because of weather and traffic. While I find what you say to be partially true, I have to wonder where you landed and why the security people were so rude? You do realize how many people would like to blow something up in America, right? How many people have blown something up or shot something up around here right? Yet you wonder why cops and security are a little standoffish to you? Like I said, I have to wonder where you landed and when and whether or not you were doing as you were supposed to. There is a pandemic going on, people are on edge right now everywhere. Having a little respect for that goes a long way. If only 2 things shocked you when you got here for the first time, then you didn’t go very far!

你没有具体说你在美国的哪个地方,我很好奇为什么?你是否意识到生活在美国的不同类型的人比生活在荷兰的多得多?更多的人口,更多的道路,更多的基础设施需要照顾。
有些地区远远落后,有些地区还不错。这个国家的一些地区铺设了道路以后就再也不用碰它了,而另一些地区由于天气和交通状况,需要每年进行维护,以保持道路可行驶。
虽然我发现你说的部分是对的,但我不得不怀疑你是在哪里,为什么安保人员这么粗鲁?你知道在美国有多少人想要破坏什么东西吗? 有多少人在这里破坏什么东西或者开枪打了什么东西。你想知道为什么警察和安保对你有点冷淡吗?就像我说的,我想知道你是在哪里着陆的,什么时候着陆的,还有你是否在做你应该做的事。
现在有一场流行病,人们现在都很紧张。对这一点报以尊重会有很大的帮助。当你第一次来到这里时,如果只有两件事让你震惊,那么你不会走得太远!

D Mg
The worst thing for me has to be the false friendliness and loudness. Why are these people so loud and overstated? I lived in the U.S for 2 years, but just couldn't stand it any more. Also, those high-pitched, squealing female voices and accents drove me to the brink of insanity.

对我来说,最糟糕的事情莫过于虚假的友好和吵闹。为什么这些人这么大声和夸张?我在美国住了2年,但是再也无法忍受了。而且,那些尖利刺耳的女声和口音把我逼到了疯狂的边缘。

Richard VanDyk
I think you forgot one Ronald. Did you ever visit a Walmart particularly in a retirement State like FL? EVERY Dutch person I know, no matter their age, income, or education level has the EXACT same reaction upon entering the store. They stop cold in their tracks, do a double take, point, and start stammering, “What, what IS that old person doing there” in reference to one of the many workers over 70 who look frail and can barely stand up. I wonder if these elderly workers are Republican voters proud of not living in a socialistic country with a social safety net and enjoy working at a place like that in their advanced age? Only in America. Be sure to put that on your bucket list next time Ronald.

我想你忘了一个叫罗纳德的老人。你有没有去过沃尔玛,特别是在退休的州,像佛罗里达州?我认识的每一个荷兰人,无论他们的年龄、收入或教育水平,在进入商店时都有完全相同的反应。他们愣愣地停下脚步,再仔细一瞧,指指点点,开始结结巴巴地说:“什么,那个老人在那里做什么?”他指的是许多工人中的一个70多岁的,他看起来很虚弱,几乎都站不起直了。
我想知道这些老年工人是否为没有生活在一个有社会保障的社会主义国家而感到自豪,并在他们年老时享受在这样的地方工作? 只有在美国才会发生这样的事。
罗纳德,下次记得把它写在你的遗愿清单上。

Jeremy Carmichael
The fuel (petrol) tax is supposed to take care of the roads but they steal the money to go to other projects. The cops are more often than not bullied kids that decide that they will get their revenge so they go to a short course, get a job and can’t wait to punk someone out. Not all of them are like this but most that I’ve seen are. I watched a video earlier of a Hispanic young man that followed all of the officers rules but was scared to roll his window all the way down. The cop asked why he was acting so shady and he said it was for his safety. The cop laughed at him like he has nothing to worry about and said “your safety”. Like cops don’t shoot people every day for no reason. I live in the US and don’t trust the cops. They’re on an ego power trip and think your life doesn’t matter as long as they get home to their family each night. All civilians are scumbag people that break the law. I care more about me getting home safely at night to my family. That’s human nature.

燃油税本应用于维护道路,但他们却把钱挪用到其他项目上。警察往往是受欺负的孩子,他们决定要报复,所以他们去上了短期培训,找了份工作,迫不及待地要把某人揍扁。
不是所有的都是这样的,但我见过的大多数都是这样的。我之前看了一段视频,一个西班牙裔年轻人遵守了警察的所有规定,但却害怕把车窗摇下来。警察问他为什么这么可疑,他说这是为了他的安全。
警察嘲笑他,好像他没什么可担心的,并说“你很安全”。说得就像警察不会每天无缘无故开枪一样。我住在美国,不相信警察。他们自视甚高认为只要他们每晚能回到家人身边你的生活就不重要。
所有平民都是犯了法的卑鄙小人。我更关心的是晚上能否安全回家和家人团聚。这是人类的本性。

Tracy Dungee
Well you are lucky that you didn't get injured or sick. You would be appalled at the bill you would receive from the hospital.

你很幸运,没有受伤或生病。否则你会被医院给你的账单吓坏的。

Ronald Van Bakel
Well, given I live in what some Americans call a communist country, my universal healthcare policy and my cheap travel insurance (100 euro’s per year for the entire family) would have covered that bill without any discussion. :)

考虑到我生活在一些美国人所说的共产主义国家,我的全民医保政策和廉价的旅行保险(全家每年100欧元)无需任何讨论就能支付这笔费用。/笑

Ian
The big thing which shocked me was that I saw loaded weapons lying around with the saferty OFF, any kid could have picked up those weapons and fired a shot. Amazing! This was in Ohio.

最让我震惊的是,我看到到处都是上膛的武器,没有打开安全装置,任何孩子都可以拿起这些武器并开枪。不可思议!
这是在俄亥俄州。

Karol Rembiałkowski
So true and totally related to my personal experience. First time in Netherlands, police stopped me just to tell me my rear light went off. They were really polite and wished a nice visit to the town i was in (if I remember well it was in Wageningen). Don't won't to recall my first contact with police in LA… It was like: don't move, searching my car etc. So yeah US officers should take a lesson or two from Dutch counterparts.

如此真实,与我的个人经历完全相关。第一次在荷兰,警察拦住我只是为了告诉我我的尾灯灭了。他们真的很有礼貌,希望我能好好游览一下我所在的小镇(如果我没记错的话,那是在瓦赫宁根)。
别唤醒我我在洛杉矶跟美国警察的接触了,那就好像:别动,搜查我的车等等。所以,是的,美国警官应该向荷兰警官学习一两个经验。

Heather Goddard
I can vouch for the border security at Schipol Airport as very polite, helpful and understanding.

我可以担保史基浦机场(位于荷兰阿姆斯特丹)的边境安全非常有礼貌,乐于助人,而且善解人意。

Brady Ball
The big problem with roads is the freeze thaw cycle. A professor did a study and found that the latitude at Pittsburgh, PA is the worst for that problem. I doubt that you have that much trouble in Holland with that.

道路的最大问题是冻融循环。一位教授做了一项研究,发现宾州匹兹堡的纬度在这个问题上是最糟糕的。
我怀疑你在荷兰不会有那么多麻烦。

Mark Burn
But Norway Sweden don't have any problem with potholes I remember when I lived in Norway I was surprised that the roads some of which are as far north as the north of Alaska had no potholes at all! My cousin explained that building roads even in the south of Norway was very expensive and required the foundations to go down over 2 meters ( nearly 7 feet) because otherwise the frost would cause potholes and cracking when it thawed

但是挪威和瑞典没有任何坑洼的问题。我记得我住在挪威的时候,我惊讶地发现,一些跟阿拉斯加北部一个纬度的道路根本没有坑洼!
我的亲戚解释说,即使是在挪威南部,修路也是非常昂贵的,而且地基要下到2米以上,因为如果不这样的话,冰霜在融化时会造成坑坑洼洼和裂缝。

Bill Milam
The older I get, the more I wish I lived in Europe. The Congress of this country and most state's leadership are humiliating. How we can not have national healthcare is criminal. I mean it actually is. The only people who chest thump about how great this country is hasn't been anywhere else. Maybe once, but not now. Even China has better roads and infrastructure now, by and large, than the US.

年纪越大,我越希望能住在欧洲。这个国家的国会和大多数州的领导人都很丢脸。我们不能拥有国家医疗保健是犯罪。
唯一认为这个国家有多么伟大的人从未到过其他地方。就连中国现在也有比美国更好的道路和基础设施。

Ernest Murphy
Glad you got to see and experience the real America that millions of Americans pretend not to see because everybody knows the USA is the greatest country on earth. (It actually used to be a pretty good country, believe it or not.) Making our corporate gangsters even wealthier and letting everybody have a gun are what is important now. Also do not believe the libtards who say we have a housing affordability crisis. You can buy a reasonably good tent (made in you-know-where) for fifty bucks at Walmart. As you can see on our urban sidewalks, many of us enjoy camping int the great outdoors.

很高兴楼主亲眼看过和经历过真正的美国,而这些是数百万真正的美国人假装视而不见的,就因为他们认为美国是地球上最伟大的国家。
(信不信由你,它实际上曾经是一个非常好的国家。)现在最重要的是让我们的黑帮更有钱,让每个人都有枪。
也不要相信那些说我们面临住房负担能力危机的自由主义白痴。你可以在沃尔玛花50美元买到一个不错的帐篷(在你知道的地方制造的)。正如你在城市人行道上看到的,我们很多人都喜欢在户外露营。

Nicola Stachurski
Love your humour, are you sure you aren’t an Aussie?

喜欢你的幽默,你确定你不是澳洲人?

Ernest Murphy
At one time I thought about moving to Australia, a country I admire hugely. But I didn’t. They don’t want Americans unless they are brain surgeons, rich investors or married to Australians. Vegemite and monstrously huge spiders also influenced my decision.

我曾经想过搬去澳大利亚,一个我非常羡慕的国家。但是我没有。他们不想要美国人,除非他们是脑外科医生、富有的投资者或与澳大利亚人结婚。
咸味酱和巨大的蜘蛛也影响了我的决定。

Zhen Li
It really depends on where you go.
I lived in New York, Ohio, and Indiana, areas with some of the worst pothole problems in my opinion. When I lived in New York, it just seemed that I-95 was always terrible, despite the ever-increasing tolls they’ve collected over the years.
However, roads are for the most part fine in Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, etc.

这真的取决于你去哪里。
我住在纽约、俄亥俄州和印第安纳州,在我看来,这些地区的坑洞问题最严重。当我住在纽约的时候,I-95公路似乎总是很糟糕,尽管这些年来他们收取的通行费不断增加。
然而,华盛顿、俄勒冈、加利福尼亚、蒙大拿州、科罗拉多州、怀俄明州、爱达荷州、德克萨斯州、密西西比州、阿拉巴马州和乔治亚州等地的公路大部分情况都很好。

Michael Dietel
huh? fine in california? have you actually been here?! it's like driving off road most of the time! our roads are trash.

啥?加州的很好?你真的来过这里吗?!
我们的道路是垃圾。

Zhen Li
I visited OC a couple of years ago and am going back next month. Don’t recall seeing any signs of disrepair, let alone potholes.
Now, parts of San Francisco might be a different story. I remember Oakland area was pretty bad. But then 101 all the way up to northern California was fine. That was 9 years ago. Bottom line: it depends on where you are. Cali is a big state.

我几年前去过奥克兰,下个月还会再去。不记得看到过任何年久失修的迹象,更别说坑坑洼洼了。
现在,旧金山的部分地区可能是另一番景象。我记得奥克兰地区很糟糕。但是从101一路到北加州都很好。那是9年前的事了。
底线是:这取决于你在哪里。加州是一个大州。

Michael Dietel
I grew up in OC, so I know the area well. That is a bit of a wealth bubble in the southern part, less so in the northern part bordering LA. Unless you are in particularly wealthy areas, I would stand by my observation. All the big cities are mostly falling apart infrastructurally, unless you are in specific areas. It's really bad.

我在奥克兰长大,所以我很了解这个地区。这在南部地区有点像财富泡沫,而在与洛杉矶接壤的北部地区就不那么明显了。
除非你在特别富裕的地区,否则我会坚持我的观察。所有大城市的基础设施大多都支离破碎,除非你在特定地区,否则真的很糟糕。

Alen Milakovic
All Americans behave like they are important. That’s part of the culture. Modesty is not a thing here.
So what you had is a culture shock.

所有美国人都表现得很重要,这是文化的一部分,谦逊在这里不重要。
所以你会遇到文化冲击。

Ben Andrews
We joke in snowy states, that there are two seasons: winter, and road work. It's an endless battle.

在下雪的州,我们开玩笑说只有两个季节:要么冬天,要么修路。
这是一场永无休止的战斗。

Jeff Butcher
I agree we suck but Los Angeles alone probably has more roads than the Netherlands We have over 640,000 km and 64000 km of highways alone. It takes A lot of money to maintain the roads that our government feels could be better spent on things like nuclear weapons and the coolest fighter jets money can buy.

我同意我们的道路很烂,但单是洛杉矶的公路就可能比荷兰的还多。全长64万公里,单是高速公路就有64000公里。
我们需要花很多钱来维护道路,而我们的政府认为可以把钱花在核武器和最酷的战斗机上。

David Craig
“If Dutch police officers would behave like that, they would be considered unfit for the job.” I can explain that last part. It seems that far too many police officers here are unfit for the job, but they are kept on anyway.

“如果荷兰警察也这么做,他们会被认为不适合这份工作。”
我可以解释最后一部分。这里不适合这项工作的警察似乎太多了,但他们还是被留下来了。

Charlotte Neumann
And they get ridiculously short training. In the Netherlands it isn’t all that easy to get into the police academy, even apart from the fact that you can’t get in if you’re lowly educated. Then, you train for something like 3 years.
But 3 years of training is again money that (right wing) Americans don’t want to spend.

而且他们的训练时间短得可笑。在荷兰,进入警察学院并不那么容易,如果你的教育水平低,你是无法进入的。
然后,你要训练大概3年。但是3年的培训是(右翼)美国人不想花的钱。

Malcolm Castlemaine
In fairness, it is a very large country with a considerable number of roads. Indeed, Europeans often forget that in much of America the roads came before the cities. Indeed, there are many roads built on landscapes that roads should probably not be built upon - reclaimed swampland, earthquake-prone zones, certain types of clay, etc.
With that many more roads to deal with, and with their being used so frequently.. necessarily the wear and tear is higher.
It doesn't excuse the lack of funds and effort, but it does help partially explain why quite so many roads are in constant disrepair.

公平地说,这是一个非常大的国家,有相当多的道路。事实上,欧洲人经常忘记,在美国大部分地区,道路先于城市出现。事实上,有许多道路建在原本不应该建的地方,如填海沼泽、地震易发区、某些黏土等。
有更多的道路要处理,而且它们被频繁使用。磨损必然会更高。但这并不能作为缺乏资金和努力的借口,它确实在一定程度上解释了为什么如此多的道路总是年久失修。

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