High Life

18 品 From the editor Pursuing the Chinese dream I recently had the privilege of interviewing Americanwriter and journalistPeterHessler,whovoicedhis thoughts about the US and pointed out issues he finds to be somewhat troublesome in our modern era. Having lived in California’s Silicon Valley for 11 years from 1995 to 2006, I too share the views of Hessler and agreewith all of his comments. Thinking back to the timewhen I firstmoved to theUS, I was not your stereotypical happy Californian child enjoying the California sunshine or watching American football. In school, I was made fun of for using colored pencils from the Japanese brand Muji, which had a container resembling a toilet paper roll. I tried to explain to my classmates that Japanese colored pencils have the prettiest pastel shades and apply themselves to paper evenly and smoothly, but they didn’t seem to care about quality or aesthetics. They just insisted that the packaging looked weird. In college, I strived academically and received a grant from my American university to study in France. After I finished my exchange program and returned to the US, I was greeted with hostility by the San Francisco airport immigration office. Several officers threatened to take away my residency due to the fact that I stayed overseas for too long, even if I had documents proving that I was a student the entire time. Dreading the numerous unpleasant experiences that had taken place in a country that gave me the best education possible, I left the US for good, coming back to Macau and pursuing the Chinese dream. Although China is a developing country and has its problems, I could not be more proud of the men and women from our country who are open-minded and strive every day to better their lives and the lives of people around them. After all, it is the positive spirit that matters. Irene Sam Editor-in-Chief 逐梦中国 最 近， 我有幸采访了美国作家和记者何伟（Peter Hessler），他发表了自己对美国的看法，并指出在 他眼中当今时代所存在的问题。1995至2006年在加州硅 谷生活了11年的我，对他的见解及评论深有同感。 回想初到美国之时，相比那种享受加州阳光或美式橄 榄球的典型的加州儿童，我显得有些格格不入。在学校， 我因为使用日本品牌无印良品的彩色铅笔而被同学嘲笑， 装彩笔的盒子有点像卫生纸卷。我试着向同学解释，日本 彩色铅笔有最漂亮的柔和色调，质地均匀平滑，但他们似 乎并不关心质量或美观，而是坚持认为这种包装看起来很 奇怪。 大学期间，我努力学习并从我的美国大学获得了赴法 留学的资助。在完成交换项目并返回美国时，旧金山机场 移民局对我产生了敌意。由于我在海外居留过长，几位官 员威胁要取消我的绿卡，即使我有文件证明在法国我一直 是名学生。 美国虽然给了我最好的教育，但由于种种不愉快的经 历，我最终选择离开，并回到澳门，追逐我的中国梦。尽 管中国尚属发展中国家，亦存在各种问题，但看到自己国 家的人民有着开明的思想和开放的心态，每天努力改善自 己以及周围人的生活，自豪之感便油然而生。毕竟，拥有 积极进取的精神是何等重要。 沈爱莲 主编 编者寄语