美國布朗大學夏校體驗

劍橋學子多逸趣，笑攜書劍走天涯！夏校、實踐、支教、閱讀、旅行......成為美好暑假的一部分。今天，讓我們跟隨2021屆Sun Wenhong同學，去到美國布朗大學，感受他在那兒的夏校體驗。Summer@Brown offers high school students an experience of college life

-Academic life 學術生活

1. Fast pace in class?課堂節奏快

I took econometrics at brown, which is basically about how to apply statistical tools to solve economic problems. The teacher goes over the materials super quick in class. It is quite difficult for me to keep up with all the statistical concepts, so I had to spend 1 hour watching Khan Academy on YouTube after class every day. What a heavy burden!

我在布朗學習的是計量經濟學，這基本上是關于如何運用統計工具來解決經濟問題。老師在課堂上會超快地把材料過一遍。我很難跟上所有的統計概念，所以我每天課后不得不在YouTube上花1個小時學習可汗學院的課程。

Notable architectures around the campus

2.?Sufficient English proficiency 足夠的英語水平

I could understand most of what the teacher said. However, never get distracted! That’s when you will become confused.

我能聽懂老師說的，但是永遠不能分心，否則就會有些許吃力。

3. Make sure the right partner 確保找到合適的搭檔

Almost every course we are going to take in the future will have a final project as a vital part of the assessment. That’s why we need to make sure the cooperation between you and your partner can go smoothly. I got a Chinese partner who is studying in the?US. I couldn’t possibly believe he had got a TOFEL score of 110 because he couldn’t really speak English! Besides this, he’s super smart and was proven to be a reassuring man to work with.

我們未來要學習的每門課程幾乎都會有一個最終項目,作為評估的重要組成部分。這就是為什么我們需要確保和合作伙伴之間的合作能夠順利進行。我有一個中國搭檔，我簡直不敢相信他托福得了110分，因為我感覺他基本上不會講英語! 但除此之外，他超級聰明，和他一起合作的確是令人放心的。

-Social?life 社交生活

1. Very friendly people 人們非常友好

Brown is in Providence, the capital city of the smallest state, Rhode Island. Providence is a very beautiful city with abundant historical heritage. People here are incredibly friendly! Even way better than the people from other parts of the US (according to my Californian roommate). A police officer asked me how is my day when heading out of office. Total strangers smiled to me even when driving their cars passing by. The clerk at a supermarket would kindly teach me how to distinguish different values for coins. They are so nice!

布朗在普羅維登斯，是美國最小的州--羅得島的首府。普羅維登斯是一個非常美麗的城市，擁有豐富的歷史遺產。這里的人們非常友好，甚至比來自美國其他地區的人要好得多(根據我的加州室友的說法)。一名警官在我離開辦公室時向我問好；即使開車經過,陌生人也向我微笑；超市的店員會耐心地教我如何區分不同硬幣的幣值。他們真是太友好了!

Notable architectures around the campus

2. Lack of English ability 英語能力不足

In contrast to academic English, English used by students around me is harder to understand. They spoke very fast with the liaison. My roommate (Lawrence) couldn’t crack jokes with me because it’s pretty awkward I couldn’t get it. Cultural differences, I suppose, cause this problem. Lawrence said he could only speak simple English in front of me. Yeah, I was sad, pretty sad about this.

與學術英語相比，我周圍的學生使用的英語會更難理解，他們之間交談的語速非常快。我的室友(勞倫斯)說他不能跟我開玩笑，因為我理解不到，我猜是文化差異造成了這個問題。勞倫斯說他只能在我面前說簡單的英語，這讓我很傷心。

3. Make friends with Chinese (at least those who were originated from China)?與中國人交朋友(至少是源自中國的人)

My roommate, Lawrence, was my best friend at brown. We weren’t so best at the beginning, though. I broke the ice when I watched a TV series he mentioned inadvertently. He felt like I pay attention to his words a lot, therefore, gained a sense of satisfaction. We gradually eat out together. One day, we suddenly found a topic that we are both interested-girls. From then on, we talked a lot. He grew up in LA, California. So, he could be considered a true American. Even like this, most of his friends are Chinese-looking. Asians play with Asians. White play with white. We could, of course, chat a little bit with people from different continent but we hardly make friends. I guess it’s just felt weird.

我的室友勞倫斯是我在布朗期間最好的朋友。不過，我們一開始并不是最好的。當我認真觀看他無意中提到的電視連續劇時，我打破了僵局。他覺得我很在乎他說的話，這讓他很有滿足感。我們漸漸地開始一起出去吃飯。有一天，我們突然發現我和他之間有一個共同的感興趣的話題—女孩們。從那時起，我們談了很多。他在加州洛杉磯長大，因此，他應該可以說是一個真正的美國人。即使這樣，他的大多數朋友都是中國人。亞洲人和亞洲人玩，白人和白人玩。雖然我們可以和來自不同大陸的人聊天，但我們很難成為真正的朋友。

1. Food 食物

Even a big fan of fast food like me cannot bear burgers, French fries, and pizza all the time. Those are what the free of charge dining hall offered to us three meals a day. Food becomes tasty when I began to eat out. Ramen, Korean fried chickens on the Thayer street are very delicious. Anyway, nothing can beat the Chongqing House. Sichuan food there tasted even better than restaurants in Sichuan!

即使是像我這樣的快餐愛好者也不能忍受天天吃漢堡、炸薯條和披薩。這些就是餐廳為我們提供的免費三餐。當我開始外出就餐時，食物才變得美味可口。拉面，泰耶街上的韓國炸雞都非常美味。然而沒有什么能打敗重慶之家，那里的四川菜比四川的餐館味道更好!

2. Entertainment 娛樂

I felt I wasted quite a lot of time here playing PUBG mobile and watching TV series. 《Stranger things》are definitely worth watching. I literally fell in love with the 1980s American town lifestyle.

我在這里花了一些時間玩絕地求生和看電視劇。《怪奇物語》絕對值得一看，它讓我愛上20世紀80年代美國小鎮的生活方式。

I felt extremely lonely from time to time with or without these ways to relax. So, I went out.

不管有或沒有這些放松的方式，我時不時地都會感到非常孤獨。所以, 我會出去走走。

I didn’t take many photos in Providence. Just not in the mood. The only one time I was totally relaxed was riding a scooter around the city. Notably, I visited the tomb of H.P. Lovecraft. Anyone who likes Cthulhu Mythos should be familiar with him. (Just for the record, I am not. I checked out the place for fun) When I asked my friends if they want to come, they called my freak and warned me to be careful of the cult meeting there. It turned out there were peace and silent. And yet, I am safe and sound!

我沒有在普羅維登斯拍很多照片，可能因為沒有那種心情狀態吧。唯一一次我完全放松是騎電動車在城市穿梭。值得一提的是, 我參觀了洛夫克拉夫特的墳墓。任何喜歡克蘇魯神話的人都應該熟悉他。(我來看他的墳墓只當是好玩)當我問我的朋友, 他們想一起去嗎, 他們說我真是很奇怪，并警告我要小心那里的邪教會議。結果那里一片和平和安靜。