本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛发布: 2018年7月8日 |来源: 大中报 南茜(Nacy Jin)
http://chinesenewsgroup.com/news/12663
加拿大自然公园: “大自然将继续成为所有新移民都可以从中得到慰藉的聚集处。 无论他们来自何方，有着什么样的生活方式。”
“Nature will continue to be a collective place that all newcomers can take solace in, no matter where they’ve come from or where life has taken them.”
“露营，观赏动物及野生动植物，并且有许多志愿者为你服务。对于新移民来说，这的确是很珍贵的体验自然的机会。”
And there’s a chance you can just experience the nature, camping, and see animals, wildlife, and a lot of people are volunteering for you. For newcomers it’s really precious – Park Canada.]
露营不适合我
Camping is not our meal
露营是你在加拿大最喜爱的夏季活动么？虽然再没有其他活动能够比露营更让你亲近大自然，但有些人并不愿意钻进一个小塑料帐篷在加拿大的荒郊野外过夜。
Is camping one of your favourite summer pastimes in Canada? While nothing else can bring you closer to nature than camping does, some people are reluctant to step into a small plastic tent to spend a night in Canada’s wilderness.
而我就是这些人之一。三年前，一个邻居建议我们两个家庭一起进行一次露营活动，以便能够“融入加拿大文化”。
And I am one of these people. Three years ago, a neighbour suggested that the two families together make a camping trip, as a way to “integrate into Canadian culture”.
邻居是加拿大公司的雇员，他鼓动道：“我们去吧……我的很多同事和邻居都会在夏季去森林里露营。”
“Let’s do it… Most of my colleagues and neighbours spend their summer time camping in a forest,” encouraged the neighbour, who was an employee of Corporate Canada.
虽然我们都对这类从未体验过的野营活动感到莫名的恐惧，但如果拒绝他们的邀请似乎有不溶入主流之嫌。因此，我们准备好了三天三宿野营的行装，从筷子，煤气炉到枕头和被子无所不包，而以往在酒店度假从未准备过这么多东西。
It seemed that turning down their invitation would make us “non Canadian”, though we were all daunted by this outdoor experience that we had never tried before. So we packed everything for a three nights stay in the famous camping site – from a cooking stove and chopsticks to blankets and pillows – more stuff than we ever prepared for vacations with hotel stay.
如果说度假的意义在于远离紧张和压力，那么复杂而艰巨的准备工作已经预示了不良的开始。
If vacationing meant an escape from the strain and stress, the hectic packing had already given us an unpleasant start.
在经过三个小时的车程后，我们终于抵达了阿冈昆公园(Algonquin Park)，这是安省第三大省立公园。虽然第二天的户外活动，包括钓鱼、远足和皮划艇等看似很有吸引力，但是我们在黑暗、崎岖、森林茂密的加拿大荒野里度过的第一夜却让我们感到不顺利。
After 3 hours of driving, we finally arrived at Algonquin Park, the third-largest provincial park in Ontario. While the next day’s outdoor activities -- including fishing, hiking, and canoeing seemed attractive, our first night in the dark, rugged and heavily forested Canadian wilderness proved to be challenging.
我们一家四口挤在一个小帐篷里，在崎岖不平的地面上铺了两条毯子就睡下了，这可是我们从未经历过的。帐篷之外是静谧和漆黑的野外，只有偶尔的狼嚎声打破沉寂。即便是在仲夏，在公园里过夜仍感到寒冷和潮湿。
Cramped into a small tent, my family of four threw our body over two blankets covering the rugged ground – an experience we never had before. Outside of the tent, it was quiet and pitch-dark, and the silence was only broken by the occasional cry of a wolf. Even in the mid of summer, the night in the park was cold and damp.
毫无疑问，对于像我这样对睡眠环境挑剔的人来说，入睡是极其困难的。如果更换睡眠环境，比如住在朋友家和酒店，我都会遇到睡眠障碍。我开始尝试多种不同的安眠方法，包括在脑海中想象自己躺在阳光明媚的海滩上；周围布满另人垂诞的佳肴美食；在波光粼粼的湖面上泛舟，身边是一群群翱翔的海鸥后…… 我终于渐渐进入了浅睡眠，但女儿一声喊叫突然把我惊醒。
Undoubtedly, falling into sleep was difficult to a picky sleeper like me – I have trouble sleeping at friends and hotels. After many different sleep tactics–including the use of mental imagery of lying down a sunshine beach, surrounded by mouth watering food and drink, boating in a wavy lake chased by a flock of gulls-- I finally drifted into shallow sleep, only to be awakened by my daughters washroom demand.
“妈妈，我要上厕所！”
“Mom, I got to go!”
醒来后的我意识到，我们都被困在一个小帐篷中，周围是茂密的森林，原本在家里和酒店客房里最方便的卫生间，现在远在数百英尺以外。
It dragged me back to reality – that we were all stuck in a small tent, surrounded by heavy forest, and washroom – the most convenient at home and in a hotel room -- was several hundred feet away.
我的视力在夜晚非常之差，因此上厕所也变得非常困难。费了半天劲才找到手电筒，但在返回帐篷的途中，我和女儿几乎迷了路。
As my vision turns poor at night, a washroom trip became a challenge. I scrambled for a flash light, and we were almost lost on our way back.
不用说了，接下来我整整一夜都睁着眼睛，无法入眠。
Needless to say, I spent the whole night awake, with eyes wide open.
第二天的钓鱼行动遭到蚊群的猛烈攻击。这些蚊子可谓无处不在。在行走时,蚊子会不断飞扑我的双手，让我感到似乎在灌木林中穿行。这些能刺过两层衬衣叮咬的蚊子，异常凶猛,且剧毒，它们叮着我的耳朵、眼睛甚至我的鼻子咬,即使抹了避蚊胺（DEET），但其作用也是微乎其微。
The next days’ fishing excursion was lost in a harrowing mess of mosquitoes. They were everywhere, to say the least. Swarms of these buggers were hitting my hands, and it felt like walking through a thicket of bushes. They were able to pierce right through my double shirts. These weren’t regular mosquitoes; they were ferocious piranhas, nipping at my ears, eyes and even up my nose. We did have DEET on hand but it had very little effect.
到我们返回车上时，我的舌头和我的眼皮都被咬得肿了起来。我感觉自己像是一具被绑了一枚西尼罗病毒定时炸弹的行尸走肉，随时可能病倒，发烧和胃疼。
By the time we were back in the car, my tongue had swollen along with my eyelids. I felt as if I was a walking West Nile virus time bomb, ready to fall ill any second, bringing fever and stomach pain along.
当太阳西沉，夜幕开始笼罩森林时，昨夜的经历令我们对当晚的露营再次产生了恐怖感。当我询问其他家庭成员他们是否想在野外度过另一个帐篷之夜时，他们异口同声地回答“NO！”
When the sun moved and the night started to cover the forest, the last night experience escalated into terror, I asked the rest of the family whether they wanted to experience another tent night in the wildness, and I got a unanimous answer of “No!”
尽管我们已经付了三晚的露营费，我们还是匆匆收拾起所有东西，踏上了回家路程。
We then packed everything and hurried to home – even though we paid for a 3 night deal.
在经历了露营，探索了大自然，“观赏”了野生动物,主要是蚊子后，我可以说，我再也不想下一次露营的经历了。我们属于那些无法享受露营经历所带给我们加拿大自然美景的移民么？显然是的，但不属于这些人口特征者的并非我们一家。一般来讲，中国人更喜欢参观博物馆、水族馆和文物古迹，而不是到户外探险和看野生动植物。
Now that we did the camping, explored the nature and saw wild animals – mostly mosquitoes, we can say that we will never do camping again. Are we among the immigrants who are unable to enjoy Canada’s spectacular nature by camping? Apparently we are, and we are not alone. By and large, Chinese prefer visiting museums, aquariums and historical relics, rather than exploring outdoor adventures and wildlife.
归根结底，我们到加拿大不就是为了追求更好的生活质量么？但是潮湿漆黑的夜晚，成群的蚊子，夜里上厕所的艰难，都让我们想起了过去在家乡艰苦的生活环境。尽管加拿大公园管理局努力帮助新移民接触大自然，但在我们的血液里我们就从不喜欢这种自然探险活动，真的不喜欢。
In the end, don’t we all come to Canada to pursue a better quality of living? But the damp dark night, the mosquitoes, the long trip to the washroom at night only reminds us of the past experience in our home country with tough living conditions. Despite Parks Canada’s efforts to educate newcomers about the wilderness, it is in our blood that we don’t just dislike outdoor adventures, we detest it.
露营，不适合我！
Camping, it is not our meal.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
