2015年1月30日金曜日

2015年1月30日金曜日 -

Wu Yifan: Some differences between Beijing and Osaka

    我叫吴一帆。我从寒冷的北京回来了。其实这些年北京的冬天也不像以前那么冷了，虽然温度还是在零下，再有很多年轻人的穿着也比以前少了，只是一件薄毛衣什么的，虽然他们还是会冻得缩着个脖子，耸着个肩膀。

My name is Wu Yifan. I just came back from visiting a very cold city, Beijing. Actually, in recent years Beijing has not felt quite as cold, although the temperature often falls below zero still. Nowadays, young people in Beijing can be seen wearing much lighter clothing than before, such as thin sweaters. They do this even though they end up shivering.

    记得我刚到日本的时候，大冬天的居然看到一个小男孩儿穿着个短裤，那时候我真不敢相信自个儿的眼睛！北京穿棉裤还来不及呢！后来我慢慢发觉北京和大阪的气候截然不同，像冬天同样的6、7度，北京在外面呆时间长的话，就开始觉得冷得刺骨，冻耳朵了；大阪再冷，也还是比较温和的空气。

During my first winter in Japan, I saw a little boy dressed in shorts; I couldn’t believe my eyes! Wearing shorts in winter!? In Beijing, students wear trousers! I soon came to realise, however, that the climate in Osaka and Beijing are not the same. Even though the temperatures may be similar, for example, six or seven degrees, in Beijing people may feel the biting cold and complain of frozen ears while in Osaka it feels comparatively mild.

    说到气候，还有一件让我不可思议的事儿。那是我在日本迎来的第一个冬天，十二月份、一二月份居然还在下雨！我迷惑地望着那蒙蒙细雨，脑海里同时浮现出来的是北京冬天一片银白色的世界，白雪皑皑，映衬着它的美、它的浪漫。不过这些年北京的初雪也往后推了，以前大概11月份左右开始下雪吧，现在晚的时候甚至要到1月底2月初春节前后，有的时候也只是飘几个雪花儿而已，雪也积得没有以前那么厚了。就说今年吧，北京很多地儿连个雪花儿的影儿都还没见着呢。

Speaking of the weather, there’s another thing about Japan’s weather that surprises me. Rain! I cannot believe that it rains during the months of December, January and February! I remember looking out at the drizzle one day and feeling puzzled and my mind flashing back to winter in Beijing; a silver-white world of snow, quite romantic! Years ago in Beijing I hated to see the snow start to fall in November but now the first snowfall comes quite late, at the end of January or even as late as February. In Beijing, it used to be common to see a thick blanket of snow covering the city but now often only a few snowflakes fall and then it’s over. Even so, when visiting Beijing this year, a light flurry of snow meant that I couldn’t see very far at all.

    不只是这些，还有让我吃惊的事儿呢。您猜是什么？我居然看到了山！那是我第一次去大阪的大学的时候，首先进入我眼帘的是一片片起伏的山峦，啊，太美了！雄伟的山脉在蓝天的映衬下，是那么壮观！这是我在北京除了专门去爬山之外，很难见到的景象！

Another thing that surprised me when I first came to Japan was the mountains. I still remember when I arrived in Osaka for the first time. The first thing I saw were the surrounding mountains. They looked spectacular set against a backdrop of a deep blue sky. In Beijing, it would be difficult to see such a beautiful sight unless you got out of the city and went hiking… it would be something of a special occasion.

毛衣máoyī：sweater：セーター
缩着个脖子、耸着个肩膀suōzhe gè bózi, sǒngzhe gè jiānbǎng：shivering：寒くて首を縮める様子
短裤duǎnkù：shorts：短パン
冷得刺骨lěng de cìgǔ：biting cold：骨を刺すように寒い
冻耳朵dòng ěrduo：frozen ears：耳が凍える
说到shuō dào：speaking of：～といえば
浮现出来的fúxiàn chūlái de：flashback：思い浮かぶ
雪花儿xuěhuār：snowflakes：雪片
吃惊Chījīng：surprised：びっくりした
壮观zhuàngguān：spectacular：壮観

 ☆Wu Yifan's blog☆