某外国人为发现自我潜力来中国，最后却意识到自己无任何潜质 [美国媒体]

-------------译者：伊安宵-审核者：龙腾翻译总管------------

SHANGHAI (China Daily Show) – A foreign traveler who arrived in Shanghai two years ago hoping to tap his latent potential spoke yesterday of the brutal realization that he was in fact almost entirely without talent.

上海（狂人日报）——一位来上海两年的外国旅行者昨日告诉本报，他来中国是想发掘出自己的潜能，但残酷的事实却证明他没什么所谓的天赋。

“As it happens just going to a country which is in the limelight doesn’t make you special” William “Bill” Hudson told China Daily Show. “Turns out I’m actually kind of a waste of space.”

威廉·“比尔”·哈德森告诉《狂人日报》，“不出所料，去一个特别的国度并不会让你特别起来。结果这证明了我其实是个无用之人。”



【Higgs’s attempts at photography (here at the Forbidden City) displayed the total lack of talent that is his forte】

【Higg 在摄影上的尝试（图为故宫），显示了他的特长就是完全没才能】

Hudson reluctantly concluded that he possessed absolutely no potential whatsoever at approximately 8:30 on Saturday morning after a set of shelves erected only minutes before collapsed – smashing an entire collection of jade Zodiac symbols Hudson had spent months sourcing from various antique markets in Yunnan Province.

哈德森在周六早上大约8：30的时候 终于不情愿地做出结论，他该死的是个完全没潜能的人。在这之前他才刚装好没几分钟就垮掉的货架，让其花费了好几个月从云南几家不同古玩市场辛苦淘来的十二生肖玉石全套收藏品摔个粉碎。

As Hudson discussed his pain at coming to terms with mediocrity friends said the realization was only a matter of time after a string of failed endeavors.

当哈德森述说着自己的平庸之痛时，他的朋友们却说他这是经历一系列失败后的幡然醒悟。

“Bill first moved to Guangxi Province to work as an ESL teacher and while the profession does play host to some very interesting and professional foreigners Bill was not one of them” Yangshuo English Corner legend Michael Watson recalled with a sympathetic smile.

"比尔最开始是到广西当非母语英语课程（ESL）教师，但这个行业更加倾向于招那些有趣且专业的外国人，比尔并不是其中之一。”阳朔英语角传奇麦克·沃森（Michael Watson）含着同情的笑容回忆道。

“He didn’t know what he was doing and just sort of read from textbooks aloud” Watson said  adding “Didn’t really matter though; the parents loved his pale febrile skin.”

“他不知道自己该做什么，于是就大声念课本内容，“沃森又补充了一句，“但也没有很大关系，学生家长们还是喜欢他苍白的肤色。”

Meanwhile Hudson said he spent many days dreamily cycling and hiking through Guangxi’s beautiful landscape of karst trails and tranquil waters.

同时哈德森说那时他整天幻想着在桂林美丽的喀斯特山水间骑行徒步。

Despite bringing a notebook and paint set on his travels however Hudson’s muse yielded nothing more interesting than a series of insipid watercolors along with banal written observations on Chinese society that even Hudson admits to being “sophomoric at best.”

尽管旅行时带着记事本和画具套装，哈德森的灵感女神却没眷顾他，心念已久的山水在他的画笔下却是平淡无奇，绘画旁注写的对中国社会的观察随笔也是毫无新意，甚至哈德森自己也承认他对中国其实是“一知半解”。

-------------译者：雨天路滑当心-审核者：龙腾翻译总管------------

The latter screeds published in a now-discontinued WordPress blog caught the attention of Beijing Normal University literary expert Kang Ma who shared Hudson’s unqualified musings on politics education and food hygiene with his 2.3 million Weibo followers.

发表在现已停用的WordPress博客上的这些冗长随笔，引起了北京师范大学文学专家马康的注意，他与其230万微博粉丝分享了哈德森对政治、教育和食品卫生等方面的不够格见解。

The resulting torrent of acrimony forced Hudson to abandon any further literary ambitions and instead attempt to go into business.

结果，铺天盖地的尖酸嘲讽迫使哈德森放弃在文学上更进一步的抱负，转而尝试经商。



【Hudson (pictured left) once believed he could make a real difference before finally coming to terms with life’s utter indifference to his hopes and dreams】

[哈德森（图左）曾相信自己能有所作为，最后却接受了生活对他的希望和梦想的漠视。]

Hudson tried his hand at translation services IT work and venture capitalism – yet failed to make a single fen.

哈德森曾尝试过翻译服务、IT工作和风险投资——但一分钱都没赚到。

Many expats suffer “potential shortage” says Beijing-based life coach Atkins Peiterman.

北京的生活教练阿特金斯·派特尔曼（Atkins Peiterman）表示，很多外籍雇员都遭受着“潜力不足”的痛苦。

Maria Chung originally from Manhattan came to China in 2002 already speaking fluent Chinese but now works as a “freelance marketer and style journalist” in Dalian. Yesterday she declined to give China Daily Show details of any recent commissions or published articles.

来自曼哈顿的钟慧冰，在2002年来到中国时就已经能说一口流利的中文，现在却在大连做一个“自由商人和时尚记者”。昨日她拒绝向《狂人日报》提供任何关于其近来佣金或已发表文章的细节。

In fact Peiterman estimates around 60 to 70 percent of foreigners working in China have absolutely no potential or unrecognized talent whatsoever.

事实上，派特尔曼估计，在中国工作的外国人大约有60%-70%是没有任何潜力或怀才不遇的人。

“People like Mr Hudson often can’t seem to figure out that despite their ability to pick themselves up and boldly move to another country like China they are still just as pointless here as they were back home” Peiterman noted. “Bill seems to have just twigged this. That’s good – it won’t aid his job prospects in the slightest but at least he knows that now.”

“像哈德森这样的人往往搞不清楚，尽管他们能重新振作起来并勇敢地搬到另一个国家（比如中国），但是他们在当地和在其家乡一样毫无意义，”派特尔曼说道，“比尔似乎才刚明白这一点。这很好——虽然这对他的就业前景没有丝毫帮助，但至少他现在知道这一点了。”

Hudson and others like him can face an uncertain future in China even after years of solid classroom experience – but experts say most will likely still remain in search of a a breakthrough.

哈德森和如他一样的人，即使拥有多年坚实的课堂经验，在中国仍然面临着不确定的未来——但专家表示，他们中的大多数可能会继续寻找突破口。

“I’ll probably stick around a few more years” said Hudson. “Maybe a decade. Just to be sure.”

哈德森这样说道。“我可能还会在中国坚持个几年。也许是十年。为了更确认一下。”

-------------译者：龙腾翻译总管-审核者：龙腾翻译总管------------

–]Stanshant 90 指标 3 天前
Serious note: As much as people take the piss having come home and enjoyed seven years of rapid career success and family happiness with my old high school sweetheart I will never regret or look down on the six years I spent in China English Corners and all. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. I miss something about it every single day. I went back last summer after nearly a decade away partly to try to draw a line and put the past in the past and it only made me realise how much I fucking love the place.

严肃提醒大家：随你们嘲笑讥讽，在享受了7年的快速事业成功和与我高中时的亲亲恋人的家庭幸福后现已回国的我，是绝不会后悔或轻视我在中国的这六年、英语角和所有的一切。我一秒都不会迟疑还会再做遍。我每天都会想念那（段时光）。在阔别十年之后，去年夏天我重返了中国，部分原因是为了划清界限，让过去的一切都真正成为过去，而这只让我意识到自己是他妈超爱这个地方。

[–]gaoshanUnited States 22 指标 3 天前
I haven’t been back in 4 years and it is getting to me. I miss certain things go back and after a while the balance between things I love and things I hate starts to slowly tip until I feel exhausted and ready to leave. I return to the US and after a year or so I start wanting to go back. The cycle never ends.

我有4年没再去那里（中国）了，而我开始有点想念那里了。我想念某些事物，重回那里，在喜爱与逐渐生厌之间的情感天平开始慢慢失衡，让我感觉精疲力尽时我便会准备离开。回到美国后，过个一年左右，我又生出想要重回那里的念头。这恶性循环永无终止。

[–]senumi 6 指标 3 天前
I wish people other than migrants understood this feeling. The way nowhere quite settles as ‘home’. The more countries I add the less and less I know.

我希望除移民之外的人们也能理解这种感情。哪儿都不如自己的“家”令人安心。去过的国家越多，我知道的就越少。

[–]jinniuUnited States 6 指标 3 天前
This makes sense for humans though for most of human history we were nomadic. I've been in China for 10 years and I think I'm ready to move on although not back "home" but to another country. China will always be a special place for me though.sure I'll be back. I've been successful here and that probably has much to do with it.

这对有些人来说是在理的，纵观大部分的人类历史，我们其实是游牧一族。我在中国待了已有10年之久，我觉得我已准备好继续前进了，虽然不是回“老家”，是去另一个国家。但是中国在我心中永远都会是个特别之地。当然我是还会再去的。毕竟我在这里做得挺成功，而这或许跟我会再去中国有挺大关系。

[–]nikatnightUnited States 3 指标 3 天前
In China the mundane can be exciting... And cheap.
But that exciting is also incredibly frustrating when it takes hours to do simple tasks or your cab driver stops to take a 30 minute shit or the bus gets so full people spill out at every stop.

在中国，很普通的事物（世俗）能很有趣......和便宜。但是那有趣的部分在连个简单的任务都要花很长时间才能做到、出租车司机停车去拉个30分钟的大号以及每一站公交车都挤满了人后神奇般地转换成失望沮丧。

[–]rickrenny 2 指标 3 天前
I’ve just returned to China after 4 years away. Instantly I’ve remembered the things that tired me of it in the first place despite yearning to come back when I was back in England. That’s the way the human mind works unfortunately!

在阔别4年之久后我刚重返了中国。我立马就记起那些一开始就让我很是倦怠的事物，尽管在我回到英国后我超渴望再回到这里。不幸的是，这就是我们人心的运作方式啊！

[–]Stanshant 67 指标 3 天前
Hot dry noodles for the most part.
I'm sure that it's partly a simple longing for my 'irresponsible twenties' but it felt like every time I left my apartment I would meet someone different and no two days were ever the same. I miss the buzz. I was a different person there I felt more myself in many ways I found who I was in true loneliness and isolation from everything I knew back home and I like that guy. I live by the sea now in a beautiful house with a wonderful wife and I mostly love myself job but I still miss getting a stinking 588 bus for half an hour to work an evening shift on the fortieth floor and meet my mates straight after for barbecue beers and the oft-derided gutter oil. The people of Wuhan are known for being coarse and aggressive and quite rural in mentality but I loved their directness and warmth. It did feel somewhat gentrified when I went back but there was plenty of 'my Wuhan' left. It also helped that about a dozen of my old mates flew in from around the world (or just took a taxi!) to make the trip a reunx. The warmth we all felt towards each other and our time together there is something I will never forget. I'm closer to those guys than almost anyone else including my high school friends who I still hang out with. They love me and they know how much I love them. It's just a bittersweet fact that we live on opposite sides of the world.

大部分原因是因为热干面。我很肯定部分原因是我单纯很想回到我那“不用负责能任性的20岁”时光，但我感觉每次自己离开公寓去外面时，我遇到的人就没重样过，两天内都只是遇到不同的人。我想念那种欢闹感。我在这是个完全不同的人，我在很多方面上都觉得自己形影单只，我发现自己身陷真正的孤独，所有的一切都与我所熟知的家乡不同，这让我有种被隔离的孤立感，而我喜欢原本的自己。我现在住在海边的一栋美丽房子里，有个好妻子，我也很喜欢我的工作；但我仍怀念我之前在40层的工作，乘辆臭气熏天的588号公交车半个小时去上夜班，下班后直接跟哥们去吃烧烤、喝啤酒和嘲讽地沟油问题。武汉人以粗俗好斗和乡下人心态而出名，但我喜爱他们的直率和热情。我回（武汉）时确实发现自己变得更高雅了，但我“武汉人的”心还在。在我十几个老哥们从世界各地飞来（或只是从出租车就能开到的距离）重聚时，也让我意识到我的“武汉根”。我们都感受到了彼此的热情，而我们相聚的时光我永不会忘。比起其他人，我跟这些哥们更亲近，包括我现在还会一起出去玩的高中朋友。他们爱我，他们也知道我有多爱他们。但现实总是苦乐参半，因为我们生活在世界的相反两端。

-------------译者：daer524-审核者：龙腾翻译总管------------

[–]mjl777 63 指标 4 天前 
The best comment was "I did not know that The Onion had a Chinese edition"

最佳评论是“我以前还真没听说过中国版洋葱新闻（指《狂人日报》）。”

（译注：洋葱新闻是美国一家提供讽刺新闻的组织。它以报道讽刺性文章为特色，文章内容涉及国内外以及当地的消息，在它的旗下还有娱乐性的报纸和网站。
洋葱新闻所提供的新闻是对时事的评论，而这些时事既有真实的也有虚构的。它以真实新闻事件为蓝本，加工杜撰假新闻。虽然故事都是假的，却绝非胡编瞎造，而是用夸张的想象表达对世界观感，是另类的社会评论，因此有不少读者追捧。它模仿了传统新闻的特点，所有新闻均以美国联合通讯社规格报道。当传统印刷媒体发行量减少，被迫裁员时，《洋葱》的销量却丝毫没有受到影响。）



[–]colorless_green_ideaUnited States 32 指标 3 天前 
Yeah I remember thinking im wasting my time in China. Got HSK6 and still felt like “what was the point? my time in China still doesnt amount to anything other than an extended vacation.” So i went back to america to start a real career and breathe clean air again

没错，我记得我当时在想，待在中国完全是在浪费时间。即使我通过了汉语六级考试，但是仍然有种感觉萦绕不去，那就是“这有什么意义呢？在中国的这段时间跟在别处度个长假有啥区别！”所以我又回到了美国，开启真正的事业、再次呼吸新鲜的空气。

[–]maybemba131 8 指标 3 天前 
Did HSK6 help with anything US career wise?

汉语6级对我们在美国的职业生涯有什么帮助吗？

[–]colorless_green_ideaUnited States 18 指标 3 天前 
I dont use chinese at all and i work in an international logistics company. I guess maybe they saw my China experience on my resume and that helped me get my foot in the door as a 10$/hr temp. But speaking chinese didnt mean i could walk into a job and get benefits and nice salary. So it was really like starting from 0 when I got back. If anybody has free time in China and doesnt feel like learning chinese use the time to learn other marketable skills like programming or something

我在一家国际物流公司工作，一点中文也不会说。我猜可能是招聘人员看到我简历里写的中国经历，才让我获得了这份时薪10美元的临时工岗位。另外，会说中文并不意味着可以帮你转正，享受各种福利和好的薪酬待遇。所以当我回去之后，基本上是从零开始。如果你们在中国有很多自由时间，又不想学中文的话，建议用这些时间来学习一技傍身，像编程啥的。

[–]kieranmullen 3 指标 3 天前 
$10/hr? Miss a zero?

10美元/小时？少写了个0吧？

[–]colorless_green_ideaUnited States 7 指标 3 天前 
Just entering the job market in 2013 with no skills $10/hr temp job was normal... i leveraged what i learned after 3 months on that job to get 30k plus salary. But thats still not much. Finally got certified in my field worked crazy OT and make much more than that now. But my main point is my chinese didnt really help at any step along that path.

2013年刚进入就业市场时又没啥特殊技能，所以临时工时薪10美元是很正常的...不过3个月后经过努力我能拿到30K+的工资了，虽然也不是那么多。再后来，考取到了我所在工作领域的资格证书，各种疯狂加班，现在赚得已经比当时多太多了。但是我想说的主要观点是中文对我的职业生涯并没有太多帮助。

[–]WhereTheHotWaterAt 9 指标 3 天前 
“HSK 6”
Geez most expats can live years and years in the guo and not be able to zhongwens beyond hsk 4
But still there are more than 1 billion Chinese speakers so learning this language is practically useless for career

“汉语六级....”
天了噜，大多数在国（中国）生活了好多年的外籍雇工的中文水平也不见得能超过汉语四级。但是说到底，有超过10亿人说中文，所以学习这门语言实际上对职业生涯毫无帮助。

[–]smasbut 5 指标 3 天前 
My buddies with better Chinese than mine say freelance translation is booming because maybe only .00000000000000000000000088% of those Chinese can write coherent and grammatically correct English and most of them don't want to work as translators.

我一个中文比我好的朋友说，现在自由翻译服务正在快速发展，因为可能只有0.00000000000000000000088%的中国人能写出流畅并且语法正确的英语，且这些人大部分都不想做翻译员。

[–]mammalian_magistrate 4 指标 3 天前 
My wife is Chinese and does translation. Her spoken English is native-level fluency but I still do a quick look over of her translation work. The translation doesn't pay much but interpretation is good money. She works over the phone with Cantonese and Mandarin speakers and makes around $30-$40/hour. Translation is about $10-$15/hour (depends on the speed she can work).

我的妻子是从事翻译工作的中国人。她的英语非常地道流利，然而我还是会对她的翻译作品做个快速检查。纯粹做翻译（笔译）赚不了很多钱，但是同声传译（口译）报酬丰厚。她通过电话与说广东话和普通话的人做翻译沟通，大概$30-$40/小时，纯翻译大概$10-$15/小时（取决于她的翻译速度）

-------------译者：梧桐pasky-审核者：龙腾翻译总管------------

[–]smasbut 1 指标 3 天前 
I think tech companies are paying well for translation. My friend just got an offer of 40k/month to translate at one of the BAT companies and he's only been freelancing for about a year. Granted this is second-hand and my buddy could be lying though I trust him.

我认为科技公司为他们的翻译需求会支付不错的报酬。我的朋友在一家网络巨头（百度、阿里巴巴、腾讯其中之一）做翻译，他每个月薪酬4万，而且他才只做了一年的自由（译者）。考虑到这是二手消息，我的朋友可能会撒谎，但我相信他的话。

[–]WhereTheHotWaterAt 2 指标 3 天前 
Totally agree. These days I see learning it as a hobby. Some people see Chinese language as this language of the future because China is growing so fast and get memed into learning it

完全同意。最近我将学习（汉语）当成一种爱好。一些人认为汉语是未来的语言，因为中国发展如此迅速，这使得他们开始效仿学习汉语。

[–]Rampaging_BunnyUnited States 0 指标 3 天前 
Yep Chinese is a hobby. Has been useless for my job search

是的，汉语是一种爱好。但对我的求职毫无用处。

[–]cmendoza48 9 指标 3 天前 
Serious/Unpopular Fact: most Americans that can’t find a job in the states with their useless liberal arts degree end up teaching English in China.
If they could find a killer job in the states they’d never go to China. This isn’t a secret many Chinese are well aware of this fact.

严肃/不受欢迎的事实：大多数美国人靠他们那没用的学位在美国找不到工作，最后只能在中国教英语。如果他们能在美国找到更好的工作的话，他们是绝不会去中国的。这不是秘密，许多中国人都清楚这个事实。

[–]takeitchillish 6 指标 3 天前 
But why China then? It is also easy to get English teachings jobs with a degree in other countries like Japan Korea Vietnam Thailand and so forth. Even Arab countries.

那么为什么（选择）中国呢？有学位的话，在日本、韩国、越南、泰国等国家都很容易找到教英语的工作。甚至在阿拉伯国家（也是如此）。

[–]cmendoza48 12 指标 3 天前 
The demand for english teachers and great english skills are a LOT higher in china than all the other countries you’ve mentioned. Chinese people will spent thousands to not have an accent when they’re speaking English it’s their desire to be a perfectionist. The amount of Chinese students studying in the UK and the US are extremely higher than Japanese and Koreans.
Therefore there are a lot more job opportunities to teach English there and the pay is higher than in other countries.

在中国，英语老师和高英语水平（的人）的需求比其他国家更大这点你已经提到了。中国人是完美主义者，他们愿意花数千元为了在说英语的时候不带口音。比起日本和韩国，有超多中国学生在英国和美国留学。因此，比起其他国家，在中国有更多机会能得到教英语的工作和更高的工资。

[–]AGuesthouseInBangkok 4 指标 3 天前 
China is where I could make the most money just for being white and speaking English.
I'd rather be in Japan Thailand or anywhere but here even Mexico but China is making me rich by singing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm."

中国是一个因为我是会说英语的白人，就可以赚最多钱的地方。我更愿意去日本、泰国或者其他地方也不愿这里，甚至去墨西哥都比这儿好，但在中国我只需唱唱《唐老先生有块地》（一首儿歌）就让我变得富有。
（翻译人员：请你滚，我们不需要只会唱儿歌的人。）

-------------译者：为非作歹2008-审核者：龙腾翻译总管------------

[–]TheGentlemanK 5 指标 3 天前 
Yeah it’s the same situation for me. At least it started that way. Could have gone to Spain or Mexico if I wanted.
Of course now China has grown on me like the creeping black layer of smog coating my innards in a warm velvety hug.

是的，我的情况也是如此，至少刚开始时是那样，只要我想，我是可以去西班牙或墨西哥的。当然现在我已经渐渐喜欢上中国了，就像那诡异的被我吸进身体里的雾霾以一种天鹅绒般温柔的拥抱方式覆在了我的内脏上？

[–]JoeridgeChua 5 指标 3 天前 
Sounds like the story is fake and meant for anti-Western propaganda.

故事听起来像是假的，本意是反西方宣传。

[–]Rillanon 1 指标 3 天前 
I find this topic interesting because it echos some of the sentiments that chinese immigrants face in the west.

我觉得这个话题很有趣，因为它呼应出了一些中国移民在面对西方国家时的情绪。

It's the problem of fitting in and the social and economic opportunities afforded to an outsider.
Is china uncrackable for non chinese? I dont think so but its different and will have different challenges.
So if you arent 100% committed im talking learn the language to native level have wife/husband here move all your family and financials here then dont have expectation that you will get anything.

这是有关融入当地环境、社会和经济机遇被供给外来人的问题。非中国人就无法融入进中国吗？我不这么认为，但确实（中国）对这些非中国人来说是陌生不同的，他们也有些挑战要去面对克服。所以在你没能百分比投入，我是指下决心学习中文这门语言达到当地人水平、和当地人结婚、将家庭和资产都转移到这里的话，你就别有这种你能得到什么的期望。

[–]SmirthChina 4 指标 3 天前 
Learning Chinese has no benefit for foreigners.

学习中文对外国人来说无益。

[–]Rillanon 1 指标 3 天前 
Its true if you believe that.

你相信的话就是真的。

[–]ChubbyMuffin479 1 指标 3 天前 
I kind of feel like doing anything more than a gap year/study abroad year in China really DOES decrease your potential back in the home country. Of course if you're one of the like 1%-5% of expats who actually work in your field that's totally different. But like in my case once I get back to the beautiful country I'm going to be sitting in accounting interviews. I highly doubt my year at BLCU or two years of English teaching will impress them lolz

我有点觉得在中国做某件事超过一年比如学习的话真的会降低你回国后的潜能。当然，如果你是那1%-5%恰好从事的是自己所在领域工作的外籍雇工中的一员，那情况就完全不一样了。但从我个人情况来说，一旦我回到自己那美丽的国家，我准备去参加会计面试。我非常怀疑自己在北京语言大学的2年教书时间会让面试人员印象深刻。哈哈。

[–]ChubbyMuffin479 1 指标 3 天前 
That said the other commenters have a good point-- when I'm in America I get bored and miss China. When I'm in China I get annoyed and miss America. Thus is life I guess.

其他评论有个好观点——那就是我在美国的时候我觉得无聊，然后开始想念中国，但当我在中国的时候，我又感到烦躁，然后我开始怀念美国。我猜这就是生活吧。