中國民航上的“洋美眉”

金發碧眼，笑靨如花，性感迷人。當一群靚麗洋妞從上海虹橋機場走出，立即吸引了過往行人的目光，她們就是東航從美、法、意等國招聘來的洋空姐。近兩年因競爭激烈，國內各大航空公司紛紛聘請洋佳麗“助陣”，這些異國女郎的出現，無疑成了中國航班上一道奪目風景線。據說她們擁有驚人的高薪，其中一些洋美眉還做了“中國媳婦”……現在讓我們走近這些神秘的“空中洋寶貝”。

做個“洋天使”不輕松

希爾曼·琳娜是一個身材窈窕的法國女孩，已在東航“飛”了兩年上海——巴黎的航線。聽她說中文，一點也不用委屈自己的耳朵。琳娜可是科班出身的“中國通”：早在1996年，她就考進巴黎大學東方語言學院中文系，一絲不茍地學完了4年本科。畢業后，她在巴黎的政府機構當過一年中文翻譯。

2002年，琳娜在巴黎一份報紙上看到了中國東方航空公司招聘洋空姐的消息，興奮極了，因為中國在她眼里是個遙不可及的神秘國度，她一直想去看看，于是就報了名。由于琳娜中文講得流利，身材姣好，形象很靚，最終從上千名應聘者中脫穎而出，成了月薪2200美金的東航洋空姐。

起初琳娜以為做空姐很神氣，收入也蠻高，還能去國外旅游，多棒!然而，上了飛機她才知道空姐的工作有多辛苦。有沒有試過在厚厚的地毯上推重達幾十公斤的柜子?有沒有試過把一整箱飯從烤箱里搬出來?有沒有試過數小時內不停地重復“彎腰——下蹲——起立”的動作?幾個小時下來，她明明已經選了大一碼的工作鞋，腳仍然腫腫地塞滿了鞋子。

當了空姐就能到處旅游?沒門!琳娜說，雖然她每天都隨飛機去巴黎，卻幾個月都擠不出時間回家去看看。從上海飛到巴黎后，除去上下客、打掃、整理食品的時間，中間只有20多分鐘休息，剛夠坐下來喝杯咖啡。回到上海后，因為早已累得腰酸背痛，也沒力氣在當地觀光。最通常的消遣是窩在賓館里做臉：因為“高空紫外線輻射強，機艙里又干燥，不注意保養，過幾年就老得滿臉皺紋了!”

比紫外線更難應付的是難纏的乘客。有一些客人在地面受了氣，便往洋空姐頭上發泄。琳娜剛工作時，遇到過一位日本乘客，拖上機的行李大概被檢查過了，衣服都露在箱子外面。他一上機，就說要白開水。琳娜沒多想，端來了一杯礦泉水。沒想到他突然用英文破口大罵：“傻女人!沒耳朵啊你?我要白開水!”琳娜被罵得直發呆，這時一位中國空姐過來勸阻：“先生，公共場合，麻煩你說話客氣點!”“罵她怎么了?我還罵你呢!”等到五大三粗的中國機長過來問：“先生，有什么不愉快嗎?”這家伙朝他看了一眼，沒事人似地用輕松的語氣說：“沒有啊。你看我像是那種很粗魯的人嗎?”

因乘客的素質不同，有時候琳娜對乘客說“請系好您的安全帶”，一些乘客卻不理不睬，她就要不厭其煩地“背誦”安全常識給客人聽；有時機艙內特別吵，一些性格粗獷的俄羅斯乘客甚至在唱歌，琳娜請對方安靜下來，他們卻狠狠地瞪這洋妞一眼。剛開始，琳娜沒少為此抹眼淚。

當然，大多數乘客還是對琳娜熱情周到的服務直豎大拇指。一些法國乘客則直言不諱地說：“我們在中國飛機上能得到琳娜小姐的服務，感到很親切，有一種回家的感覺，因為我們彼此沒有語言障礙。”尤其是一些不懂英文的法國老人和孩子，更對“本土”空姐出現在身邊感到驚喜異常!

琳娜和她的洋姐妹還人手一本工作手冊，詳細記錄了中國乘客的習慣和喜好。“比如給歐洲乘客發餐盤時，我們一般只用一只手遞，而對中國乘客這樣做就不太禮貌了；法國人吃飯喜歡光線柔和、音樂舒緩的餐廳，而中國乘客吃飯時燈光一定要明亮，還要大聲說話，所以在向中國客人發餐盒時，我們就把燈光調到最亮。”筆者要來這本小冊子，發現里面居然還有“只需禮貌地用一個頭部動作來表示問候”、“如果事先知道乘客的身份，最好以一定稱謂向乘客問候，如‘張部長’、‘周老師’”之類。據說在泰國航線的工作手冊里，“歡迎”就變成了雙手合十——對這些不同的細節，她們必須爛熟于心，真是難為這些土生土長的洋小姐了。

幽默的美國妞凱瑞

“您好，需要我為您做點什么嗎……”。一位身材高挑、長相靚麗的金發女郎站在機艙門口，用熱情的微笑，給登機的乘客鋪一條溫馨的路。她那天空一樣深邃的碧眼，忽閃忽閃地招呼著乘客，一口甜甜的洋味普通話，如春風撲面而來。女孩主動幫乘客將行李小心地放到機艙內的行李架上，輕柔地扶乘客坐好后，爾后悄悄地離去……機艙內的許多中國乘客，都用好奇的目光打量著這位異國美女。她就是東航的洋空姐凱瑞，一位來自美國芝加哥的23歲洋美眉。

因不懂中文，凱瑞被東航挑中后她和她的同伴在上海接受了為期兩個月的“突擊培訓”。第一節中文課，就讓上海老師徹底領略了美式幽默：先是一位26歲的美國空姐為自己起了一個令人吃驚的中文名字“小菜菜”；接下來輪到凱瑞起名了，因對“馬”字情有獨鐘，她“鬧”著要取名為“馬馬虎虎”。最后老師強行給她指定了中文名字：“馬認真”。

凱瑞是一個好學的女孩，上崗后她的口袋里總是裝著一個小本子和快譯通，對漢語有不理解或吃不準的地方，她就會記在本子上，下來向同事請教。她幽默地說：“中國有句古話叫‘活到老學到老’嘛。”如今，在不懈努力下，凱瑞的中文水平已經很棒了。有一次，她走在上海大街上，身邊有兩個小伙嘀咕道：“這洋妞長得真性感啊!”“謝謝夸獎，兩位也帥呆了!”猝不及防地聽到凱瑞來這么一句中文，他們知道遇上了“中國通”，窘迫地落荒而逃。

生活中的凱瑞也是個有趣的人。作為洋空姐，凱瑞小姐的確挺有錢，她的富有從“大手筆”的消費上就可以看出。本來她只和東航簽訂了一年的聘用合同，短短的一年時間，要是中國人，衣食住行就會一切從簡將就一下算了，但凱瑞不同，她首先購置了一臺立式大空調，然后又買了一臺帶烘干的高檔洗衣機和冰箱，一下花去近3萬元。在她看來，洗衣服太費時間，而沒有空調就沒有好的休息環境，會影響工作，所以，這幾樣東西必備。不過這位洋妞也有小氣的時候，她的“大氣”和“小氣”形成了強烈反差。機場離住處較遠，開始，凱瑞去上班都坐出租車。但在上海打的挺費錢，于是她就每天早起一小時乘公交車。坐了一段時間的公交，她又發現了一個“竅門”：原來中巴上了車得2元，而公共汽車才1元!從此，她便只坐公共汽車。

不僅如此，凱瑞竟還從舊貨市場“淘”來一輛二手白行車，每逢輪休的日子，就樂滋滋地騎上她的這輛“破馬”在大上海四處游逛。登東方明珠電視塔、逛徐家匯……異鄉的點滴都很精彩，她一說起這些景點來如數家珍，余味無窮。凱瑞說，她幾乎每周都要騎車去城隍廟玩，一邊嚼著冰糖葫蘆，一邊流連在琳瑯滿目的貨品間，此時此刻讓她覺得連空氣都充盈著中國文化的氣息。不過一位月入萬多元人民幣的洋空姐，竟然選擇一輛如此破舊不堪而又不上檔次的“坐騎”，不由令凱瑞的中國同事們大跌眼鏡!這位洋妞卻樂呵呵地說，挺好呀，這輛舊車很便宜，騎著又挺舒服，還能在游覽風景的同時強身健體，何樂而不為呢?!

“韓國媳婦”眼里的中國

今年24歲的韓國美女金儀雯，曾在上海交大中文系留過學。在她心目中，上海是世界上最激動人心的都市：城市面貌日新月異，高樓大廈拔地而起，在每天匯集近200萬人僅1公里長的南京路上，不但可以買到各種名牌時裝，而且還能買到西藏毛皮以及產自世界各國的華麗手飾。

留學期間她在上海認識了許多當地朋友，他們對金儀雯都很好。“在中國旅游時，我發現中國真是太大了，中國人真是太熱情了!去烏魯木齊玩，我和當地的一個維吾爾族女孩交上了朋友，她還邀請我去她家作客……”這一切，都為她選擇留在上海、進入東航當空姐埋下了溫馨伏筆。

成為東航的一名空姐后，她飛翔在中國和韓國之間，感到無比快樂。旅行開始時，韓國乘客往往以為她是中國空姐，頻頻用漢語或者英語和她打招呼：“嗨!小姐，你好!”當她微笑著用家鄉話和他們交流時，客艙里就涌動著陣陣驚喜。每當碰到初次出國遠行的韓國老太太、老先生，金儀雯總是特別細心周到地服務，“我有能力為別人做事情，感到很自豪!”

旅程結束，許多時候金儀雯都會小心翼翼攙扶著老人走到地面，此時，老人總會不舍地拉著她的手問長問短，說：“我把兒子介紹給你，做我的兒媳好嗎?”無疑，他們十分欣賞這位可愛的東航空姐。不過，這位溫柔漂亮的韓國美眉早己名花有主了，她的男友是一名帥氣的上海白領。說起兩人在萬米高空上的相識，還緣于一場驚心動魄的“歷險”：2002年5月的一天，在一架從漢城返回上海的飛機上，金儀雯和同事正面帶微笑地為乘客們服務著。突然，飛機劇烈地搖擺震蕩了幾下，燈光時隱時現。接著，客艙內哭喊聲、驚叫聲亂成一片。此時空姐們一齊動員乘客不要驚慌，因為這是受天氣突變的影響才出現這種情況，機組人員并且已經聯系好備降機場，看來飛機不會有大的問題，但乘客們越勸越亂，許多乘客甚至不聽勸阻紛紛擁向了艙門。就在這時，一名年輕男乘客挺身而出，他與空姐一起勸慰大家別慌亂，并刻意用輕松幽默的語調使大家很快安靜了下來。“脫險”后，金儀雯不由對這位頗具男兒本色的中國青年產生了好感，通過一段時間的交往，兩人的感情迅速升溫。如今，金儀雯已成了這位中國小伙的“準未婚妻”。談起男友，女孩贊不絕口，說上海男人情感細膩，很會關心人，沒有韓國男人身上那股霸道的大男子主義。“而且，他還會燒一手好菜呢!”女孩一臉甜蜜地說。

由于常年“飛”在藍天上，根本沒有時間和男友卿卿我我，作為空姐的戀人，注定要付出許多。去年的除夕夜，本是萬家團聚的時刻，男友卻陪金儀雯穿過空蕩蕩的街道走向機場。因為春節當天的航班需要金儀雯值班。這樣的別離他們每年都要經歷上百次，而一年中手牽著手體驗“最浪漫的事”的時間卻不足兩星期!金儀雯成為上海人的女友后，每當回到韓國家鄉，她都會向身邊的人“義務宣傳”中國的飛速發展和翻天覆地的變化。有一次，她和男友請一位初到上海的美國朋友吃飯，席間，美國佬怯怯地問：“有一件事可能有點冒犯，不過我還是忍不住想問問。小時候我媽媽每次讓我把盤子里的飯吃干凈時，總是說人家中國人都吃不飽，你還挑三揀四!是這樣嗎?”他的話音未落，金儀雯已笑得前仰后翻。美國朋友更加不好意思，趕緊解釋說：“我看你們每頓都點這么多菜，每頓都剩這么多。”金儀雯笑著對他說：“你對中國的認識仍停留在穿破棉襖、留大辨子的年代呢!”

Foreign Stewardesses Work for Chinese Airlines

By Xie Haiyun， Yu Lan

They are blondes with winsome smiles. They attract attention of passersby when they walk out of the airport in Shanghai. They are foreign stewardesses working for China Eastern Airlines. It Domestic airlines in recent years have hired foreign stewardesses to work on their international routes. They make the services more attractive.

It is said that they receive handsome salaries and some of them even have married Chinese. But how is their work? What their lives are really like? Here are two stories about two foreign stewardesses.

Lynne is a French girl who has worked on the Shanghai-Paris line for two years. She speaks Chinese so fluently that you think it is beautiful on your ears. Lynne is a graduate of Chinese language. She studied Chinese for four years at college in Paris and worked as a Chinese translator for a government office in Paris for a year. In 2002， she saw an ad in a newspaper that China Eastern Airlines was recruiting French girls. Excited， she applied and she was hired. She works as a stewardess with a monthly salary of 2，200 dollars.

At first Lynne thought she had landed an easy job with a good pay and opportunities to travel overseas. But she was wrong. She needed to push a food cart which weighed dozens of kilograms. She needed to move a heavy box of rice out of the stove. She needed to practice the simplest movement: bend， squat and stand up and repeat the movement for several hours in a row. After a day of hard training， she felt the feet the shoes were tight， though they were one size larger than her usual size.

Traveling? Yes， she does fly to Paris almost every day， but she sometimes cannot find time to visit her family in Paris for a few months. When she returns to Shanghai， she is often too fatigued to do sightseeing in the oriental metropolis. Her usual pastime is to stay in the hotel room and take care of her face. The ultraviolet radiation is particularly strong at high altitudes and the cabin is extremely dry. She needs to take care of her face as much as possible or， she believes， it will be full of wrinkles in a few years.

But ultraviolet radiation is not the only problem. Some passengers sometimes lose their manners. One day shortly after Lynne started working as a stewardess， she was confronted with a difficult passenger. He was angry probably because his cases had been checked， for when he was aboard， the garments still stuck out from the cases. He said he wanted a cup of plain water. Lynne brought him a bottle of mineral water. The passenger lost his temper and said rude words to her. When a colleague came over to help Lynne， the passenger spat rude words to the colleague too. Finally the captain arrived and asked politely what was going on， the passenger replied most innocently， “Nothing is wrong. Do you think I look like a rude man?”

In order to provide better services to Chinese passengers， Lynne reads the service handbook. She learns how to make passengers of different countries feel good. Lynne is popular with French passengers.

Carrie， 23， is from Chicago. Chinese passengers feel curious about the tall American girl when they hear her speak Chinese with an accent. She received a two-month crash course in Chinese when she was first hired by the Shanghai Oriental Airliner. The teacher learned about her sense of humor during the very first class. She was particular fond of 馬 (horse)， and wanted that word to be her surname. And she insisted in calling herself 馬馬虎虎 （the set phrase literally means， among other things， careless in Chinese）， the teacher finally decided to call her 馬認真 （the given name 認真 in Chinese means earnest）.

Carrie is a studious language learner. She carries a notebook and a pocket electronic translating gadget in her pocket. Whenever unsure about a Chinese word or a phrase， she will jot it down in her notebook and will ask her colleagues later. Now she speaks Chinese well. One day， she heard two young men whisper behind her that she looked quite sexy. She turned and beamed and replied in Chinese， “Thank you for your compliment; you both are very handsome too.” Taken by surprise， the two young men felt extremely embarrassed and fled.

Carrie is well paid and she is a big spender. Though she signed a short one-year contract with the airlines， she decided not to be short of comforts during her stay in Shanghai. She bought an upright air-conditioner and a washing machine with a drying function. The two large appliances cost her nearly 30，000 yuan. Her philosophy is to make her life as comfortable as possible. She does not want to waste time on laundry and she wants to sleep well. But she is most tightfisted with her transportation bill. She went to work by taxi first. Thinking taxi was too costly， she got up one hour earlier and bused to work. But since she found the bus cost her one yuan and the minibus cost her 2 yuan， she has been a happy bus rider.

Carrie has a second-hand bike and rides it for sightseeing around the city when she is off work. Among other attractions in the city， the Town God Temple is a must for her almost every weekend. She is fond of eating candied haws on a stick available there. She shops around the market in the temple. Her Chinese colleagues often tease her for her choice of a second-hand bike.

(Translated by David)