QA問答：出國時經歷的文化衝擊有哪些？_風聞

【來源龍騰網】

評論原創翻譯

回答三 

Innocent Masengo, Travel enthusiast

Location: Germany

Shock: Men eating ice cream.

This may seem petty to most people though. Born and brought up in Africa, I grew up in a predominantly patriarchal society where most of those small, sweet things are considered feminine, the same way the world treats colors. In Uganda, men do not eat lollipops, candy, ice cream, or cake. These things are for children and girls/women.

When I went to stay in Germany in 2016, I became friends with Judy, a German lady from the graduate school I was attending. She made sure I felt at home, showed me around and introduced me to German ‘things’. It was summer (September), so we would ride our bikes to the beach (this was Kiel, the sailing city). One of my biggest shocks was seeing old men munching on ice cream cones.

座標：德國

衝擊事件：男人吃冰淇淋。

但對大多數人來説，這可能顯得微不足道。我在非洲出生和長大，成長在一個父權制占主導地位的社會，在那裏，大多數小而甜的東西都被認為是女性化的，就像這個世界對待顏色一樣。在烏干達，男人不吃棒棒糖、糖果、冰淇淋或蛋糕。這些東西是兒童和女孩、婦女們吃的。

當我2016年去德國的時候，我和我就讀的研究生院的一位德國女士朱迪成為了朋友。她讓我有種賓至如歸的感覺，帶我四處參觀，給我介紹德國的“事物”。當時是夏天(9月)，所以我們會騎自行車去海灘(這是基爾，帆船之城)。我最震驚的一件事是看到老人們在大嚼冰淇淋甜筒。

In my home country, it is common to see a man and a woman at an ice cream parlor, with the woman eating ice cream while the man is just sitting there, waiting for her to finish. If they offer other snacks or drinks, the man will opt for a coke or tea. He will not touch the ice cream. The woman does not expect him to touch it, either. In fact, you can lose your girlfriend if you are seen eating those little sweet things. You are a sissy. You are immature.

在我的祖國，經常看到一男一女在冰淇淋店，女人吃冰淇淋，而男人只是坐在那裏等着她吃完。如果他們提供其他零食或飲料，男人會選擇可樂或茶。他不願碰冰淇淋。女人也不希望他碰它。事實上，如果你被人看到你吃了那些甜食，你可能會失去你的女朋友。因為這意味着你是個娘娘腔，是不成熟的。

Back to Germany. One Saturday afternoon, Judy picked me up so that we could go for our usual ride. As we rode, she suddenly stopped at a corner ice cream shop. I stopped too, as she was always the one leading the way. There were several mostly older couples eating ice cream. I tried not to make eye contact. I felt embarrassed seeing men eating ice cream. Judy ordered two cones. It happened so fast. She was ever so fast in whatever she did (like all Germans). Even while riding, I had to fight hard to keep up with her pace.

回到德國。一個星期六的下午，朱迪來接我，我們像往常一樣去兜風。我們騎車時，她突然在街角的一家冰淇淋店前停了下來。我也停了下來，因為她總是在前面領路。有幾對夫婦正在吃冰淇淋，其中大部分是年齡較大的夫婦。我儘量不做眼神交流。看到男人們吃冰淇淋，我感到很尷尬。朱迪要了兩個蛋筒。事情發生得太快了。她做任何事情都非常快(就像所有德國人一樣)。即使在騎馬的時候，我也得努力跟上她的步伐。

Judy handed me one of the cones. There I was, holding ice cream that I did not know what to do with. I looked right, then left. Men were munching. Nobody cared. Judy was busy eating hers. I started licking on mine after a couple of minutes, as it had started melting. I felt my masculinity leaving my body. With every lick, I glanced left and right. I prayed that no African would chance to pass by during that ‘torture’. Good enough — Kiel, being far north, has few Africans. After what seemed like an eternity, I finished the ice cream. Judy was impatiently looking at her watch, for she had finished hers about 10 minutes earlier.

朱迪遞給我一個蛋筒。我坐在那裏，手裏拿着我不知道該怎麼處理的冰淇淋。我左右看了看。大家都在大快朵頤，沒人在意你。朱迪則正忙着吃她的。幾分鐘後，我開始舔我的杯子，因為冰淇淋已經開始融化了。我感覺我的男子氣概離開了我的身體。每舔一下，我就左右掃視一下。我祈禱沒有一個非洲人會在這種“折磨”中碰巧經過。還好——基爾在遙遠的北方，這裏幾乎沒有非洲人。似乎經歷了一段漫長的時間，我終於吃完了冰淇淋。朱迪不耐煩地看了看錶，因為她大約十分鐘前就吃完了。

That day was, in a way, a liberating experience. We ate several other ‘ice creams’ before winter set in. And I have managed to eat several ‘ice creams’ with my wife and two kids back home without so much discomfort. Of course I get the stares from passersby. And they do bother me a little, but not as much as they would have before the German experience.

在某種程度上，那一天是一次解放的經驗。在冬天來臨之前，我們又吃了好幾種“冰淇淋”。我和妻子還有兩個孩子在家裏吃了幾塊“冰淇淋”，也沒有感到什麼不適。當然，路人會盯着我看。他們確實讓我有點煩，但不像德國經歷之前那麼煩了。