Work and Travelers See the World!

By: Xinlei Gai and Yang Liu, 2017 Greenheart Exchange Work and Travel participants

Don’t you want to see the different parts of the world? Don’t you want to experience all the fun and all the stars in America? Let me show you our life in this amazing country. This was our life in America!

难道你不想经历不同于你现在的生活吗?去感受那些属于美国的愉快和欢乐。让我来带你走 进这个超乎你想象的国家。是的,这就是我们在美国的生活!

PART 1. WORK

  Our host organization, where we started our first job, was at a hotel. It was a very rural area surrounded by the beautiful Redwood Forest.

本博酒店是我们的第一份工作所在的地方。这是一个充满乡村气息的地方,周围被美丽的红 树林层层环绕。

We lived in cabins where there were many kinds of furniture. We usually cooked some Chinese food after work with limited and expensive ingredients.

我们就住在露营区的小木屋里,各种设施一应俱全。工作之余,我们经常会用这里有限又昂 贵的食材做中国菜吃

Our colleagues were enthusiastic and very easy‐going. More than colleagues, we became good friends and we always hung out together after work

. 我的同事们都很热情且好相处。我们不仅是同事,也是非常好的朋友,经常会在工作之余一 起出去玩。

Some adorable guys made a board with a motivational message. We still don’t know who did this, but we chose to keep it like that so that we would be full of energy when we saw it.

不知道是哪个可爱的小伙伴在板上画了这些。但是我们都选择不擦掉它。这样每天我们看到 都会充满正能量。

Working as a housekeeper was tiring, but full of fun. Every time I saw the bed I made, I was very proud of myself, from the bottom of my heart. And sometimes, other than tips, we might also find a surprise.

客房服务的工作虽然很累但也充满了乐趣。每当我看着自己铺好的床,我都会感到由衷的自

豪。有些时候,除了小费之外,我们也会发现一些惊喜。

Once we had adjusted to living here, we couldn’t wait to find a second job! Fortunately, we arranged it by working in a deli department at a supermarket. My main job there was to make sandwiches and sell baked goods. It was interesting, but also a challenge for me to remember the names of all of the different foods. I’m still working on it.

当我们渐渐习惯了这里的生活,就迫不及待的开始寻找第二份工作了。幸运的是,我们成功 在超市的熟食部门找到了工作。我在那里主要负责制作三明治和售卖熟食。记忆各种各样熟 食的名字虽然有趣,但对我来说也是一个挑战。我现在还在不断的努力。

PART 2. AMUSEMENT

One of the advantages of working in a hotel was that we had some nice benefits, such as staff meals and we had a big swimming pool that we could use. Swimming became one of our favorite pastimes in the hot summer.

在度假村酒店工作的好处之一就是我们能享受一些员工福利,例如免费的工作餐,以及一个

员工可以使用的大泳池。于是,游泳成为了这个炎炎夏日里我们最爱的消遣之一

It’s worth mentioning that we had a lot of fun on July 4th. To celebrate Independence Day, there were American flag style decorations everywhere. On that day, we hung the Chinese flag, which our teachers had given us, in front of the door. We are very proud that we are Chinese!

值得一提的是 7 月 1 日这天我们过得很开心。为了庆祝美国独立日,到处都挂满了美国国旗

样式的装饰品。在这一天,我们也将老师们送给我们的中国国旗挂在了门前,我们非常骄傲 自己是中国人。

At night, there was an amazing fireworks show. We lay on the grass watching the fireworks and celebrated the holiday with Americans. This was a precious and unforgettable memory. 到了晚上,这里有一场盛大的烟花表演。我们躺在草地上看烟花,和美国人共同庆祝他们的 节日。这是一段珍贵且难忘的回忆。

On one of our days off, our warm-hearted supervisor took us to see the rodeo, which is a symbol of American culture. It was exciting to see the cowboys show their skills, and it was an awesome chance for us to taste original American style snacks like corn dogs. I still remember that it was really cold at night. We didn’t take enough clothes to keep warm, so our supervisor gave us his only blanket; this left me deeply moved by his kindness.

在一个休息日,我们热心的经理带我们去看了象征着美国经典文化的竞技表演。看着牛仔们

展示各自的骑行技巧十分激动人心。除此之外,这还是一个品尝类似于玉米热狗之类的正宗 美国小吃的宝贵机会。我依然记得,那天晚上非常冷,我们没有带足够多的衣服保暖,我们 的经理就把他带来的唯一一个毯子给了我们。这真的让我深受感动。

Further, I had an unforgettable 20th birthday in America! I received birthday blessings in many languages, which was really interesting. I also got a birthday card from my managers. Each of them wrote down their birthday blessing and then signed it, including the president of the hotel. This was the best birthday gifts I ever received!

而且,我还在美国度过了一个难忘的 20 岁生日。生日当天我收到了来自各种语言的生日祝

福,有趣极了。不仅如此,我还收到了一张经理们送给我的生日卡片。他们每个人都在上面 写下了对我的生日祝福并且签了名,其中还包括酒店的董事长。这是我收到过的最棒的生日 礼物。

PART 2. TO BE CONTINUED

Now that the summer is over, life goes on. I believe that we will have more wonderful experiences in the future. Join us, and you will too. 现在,生活还在继续。我始终相信我们还会有更多精彩的经历。快加入我们吧,你也会有的!

Xinlei Gai & Yang Liu

盖鑫蕾 刘阳

Do you want to make your summer in America one to remember? Check out the Work and Travel page to see how you can be a part of the fun!