從摩根大通副總裁到美中友好志愿者

文/本刊記者 李靜 譯/胡然

從摩根大通副總裁到美中友好志愿者

文/本刊記者 李靜 譯/胡然

“以前我從事管理工作，很多時候會要求你做很多重大決定，人會時刻處于緊張狀態(tài)；而現(xiàn)在我也做管理，不過我管的是我的學(xué)生們，我覺得更放松。我很享受這種感覺。”

JoAnn很喜歡與成都的寄宿家庭在一起

在墊江留戀

“所有美國人對中國都抱著一種困惑和費(fèi)解，不了解這個國家。20年前，我們幾乎不愿意買來自中國的東西，而現(xiàn)在在美國，很多東西都是中國制造。我對這個國家充滿了好奇，這也是我選擇來到中國當(dāng)志愿者的原因之一?！泵看翁岬街袊劦街貞c，JoAnn都有很多話說。

曾經(jīng)在美國JP摩根大通擔(dān)任副總裁的她，是一名優(yōu)秀的管理者，工作了26年，2003年退休以后，本可以與家人一起享受天倫之樂，但她卻不甘于這樣無聊而平凡的日子，希望可以做一些有意義的事情，一次偶然的機(jī)會，她看到了和平志愿隊(duì)的宣傳單，讓她萌發(fā)了成為一名志愿者的念頭?！捌鸪跷乙仓皇潜е囈辉嚨男膽B(tài)申請的。當(dāng)我看到他們‘just do it’的口號時，突然有種激情萌發(fā)，讓我深受鼓舞。我相信我應(yīng)該也能做到，讓自己的人生更有意義?！币舱菐е@樣的熱情，JoAnn開始了自己的志愿者工作。

成為志愿者后，JoAnn第一次工作的地方就被派到了湯加，一個位于太平洋西南部赤道附近的島嶼國家。一開始的確有很多不習(xí)慣的地方，相對于美國而言，湯加的確不是一個發(fā)達(dá)的國家，在這里，JoAnn甚至買不到一雙合適的鞋子，不同的生活背景讓她開始對自己最初的信念產(chǎn)生懷疑。但她仍然堅(jiān)持了下來，不能改變就一定要學(xué)會適應(yīng)。兩年后，她回到了美國。雖然在湯加工作的日子很艱苦，但JoAnn也在異國他鄉(xiāng)體會到了快樂和生活的樂趣。回來后休息了一段時間，她又一次申請志愿者工作，來到了南美的一個國家圭亞那。因?yàn)橛辛说谝淮蔚慕?jīng)驗(yàn)，JoAnn很快就適應(yīng)了這里的生活，在這里也待上了兩年。

抱著對中國的熱情，JoAnn終于如愿以償?shù)貋淼搅诉@個讓她向往，又頗感神秘的國家。“美國人對中國的北京、上海最熟悉，其他之外的城市都不太了解。當(dāng)我知道要派往重慶時，也忙著在地圖上尋找它在中國的位置，當(dāng)時只覺得這個城市挺大。”2009年9月，JoAnn和其他志愿者們一起，先到成都培訓(xùn)，再分派到重慶大學(xué)教書。這時她才近距離地接觸了這座城市，JoAnn驚奇這座城市之大，媒體怎么形容都沒有自己親眼見到的真實(shí)，JoAnn也開始喜歡上了這座城市。

JoAnn喜歡與當(dāng)?shù)嘏笥岩黄鸫蚵閷?/p>

在學(xué)生家中合影

從一個全球著名的跨國金融服務(wù)集團(tuán)副總裁到異國他鄉(xiāng)的一所大學(xué)的教師，巨大的身份轉(zhuǎn)變也讓人對她的工作心理產(chǎn)生很多疑問。“兩份工作性質(zhì)不同，肯定是不一樣的。以前我做管理工作，很多時候會要求你做很多重大決定，人會時刻處于緊張狀態(tài)；而現(xiàn)在我也做管理，不過我管的是我的學(xué)生們?！?JoAnn風(fēng)趣地回答，“現(xiàn)在我覺得更放松。我很享受這種感覺?！?/p>

JoAnn現(xiàn)在在重慶大學(xué)教大學(xué)生英語和電腦、數(shù)據(jù)編程的課程，她很喜歡給學(xué)生上課?！耙郧霸跍?，我只給30個學(xué)生上課，在這里，我要給80多個學(xué)生上課，有時候很難和每一個學(xué)生交流?！北M管這樣，JoAnn還是會試著記住每一個學(xué)生的名字和樣子，了解每一個學(xué)生的學(xué)習(xí)情況。

在這里教學(xué)，她發(fā)現(xiàn)中國學(xué)生的語言水平很高，每個人都會說很流利的英語，但她也發(fā)現(xiàn)一些農(nóng)村來的學(xué)生很害羞，不敢和她進(jìn)行口語交流。于是，JoAnn便請他們一起出來吃飯，沒有了課堂上的拘束，學(xué)生們也放下了緊張，飯桌間，大家都可以暢所欲言，拉近了彼此的距離，學(xué)生的英語又有了提高，這讓JoAnn很有成就感。

“中國的學(xué)生很努力，但課堂上的主動性不夠，他們害怕犯錯誤。但我要讓他們知道，錯誤是無可避免的，每個人都可能犯錯誤。” JoAnn對教育有自己的見解，她也經(jīng)常鼓勵學(xué)生們堅(jiān)持自己的意見，積極地和老師討論問題，增強(qiáng)學(xué)習(xí)主動性。她希望學(xué)生們能更獨(dú)立，可以應(yīng)付各種生活和學(xué)習(xí)上的難題。學(xué)生們很喜歡這位慈祥的老人，在她過生日時一起為她送上生日蛋糕，和她在重慶度過了一個難忘的生日。從學(xué)生身上，JoAnn學(xué)會了耐心，理解到了中國的傳統(tǒng)美德，孩子對父母的孝心。

雖已年過六旬，JoAnn仍然像一個精力充沛的年輕人。休息的時候她喜歡和朋友一起打麻將；她喜歡這里的食物，最喜歡中國家庭式的聚餐，一家人忙里忙外地做很多美味佳肴，JoAnn很享受這種感覺，讓她覺得像在自己家里一樣。在重慶一年多的時間，她已經(jīng)游覽了很多風(fēng)景名勝，大足石刻、萬盛黑山谷、巫山、瓷器口，她希望下一站去武隆看天坑地縫，“重慶的風(fēng)景太漂亮了，每次我去了都不想回來。”今年的圣誕節(jié)JoAnn是在重慶度過的，沒有和家人在一起，雖然有點(diǎn)孤單，但看到這里的街道也掛上了彩燈和圣誕樹，讓她很開心。

新的一年開始，JoAnn和其他在重慶的志愿者們一起在南山上度過，吃美食，賞夜景，不亦樂乎。也許不久就要回到美國，結(jié)束在中國的志愿者生活，但在重慶這一年生活、工作的點(diǎn)點(diǎn)滴滴也將跟隨著新年的鐘聲，一起歡樂地邁進(jìn)美好的2011年。

學(xué)生為JoAnn度過了在重慶的第一個生日

“All Am e ricans ho ld s a m ixed idea to China. Twen ty yea rs ago, a lm ost no one liked things m ade in China. Bu t righ t now, things a re d iffe ren t. You can find them eve rywhe re in US. I cam e he re as a vo lun tee r because I have been eage r to know this coun try.”JoAnn has a lo t to say when speaking o f China and Chongq ing.

Be fo re 2003, she wo rked in J.P. Mo rgan as the vice-p residen t. Afte r tha t, instead o f en joying fam ily b liss, she wan ted to devo te he rse lf to o the r m eaning fu l things. He r ac c iden ta l receip t o f a handou t o f Peace Co rp s insp ired he r to becom e a vo lun tee r. “At first, I just wan ted to g ive it a sho t. When I saw their slogan -'just do it', I fe lt ove rwhe lm ed and insp ired. I be lieve I can do it, I can m ake m y life m o re m eaning fu l.” It is w ith such en thusiasm tha t JoAnne em ba rked on a new pa th o f being a vo lun tee r.

JoAnn最愛她的學(xué)生們

The first p lace she se rved was the Kingdom o f Tonga, an a rchip e lago d irec tly sou th o f Weste rn Sam oa. Com pa red w ith he r own coun try, Tonga is no t a deve loped coun try whe re JoAnn was no t ac custom ed to m any things a t first. Even she cou ld no t buy a pair o f shoes suited to he r. Diffe ren t cu ltu ra l backg round s m ixed w ith o the r p rob lem s casted a doub t on he r be lie f o f m aking a d iffe rence. She, howeve r, m ade it because she he ld tha t if you cou ld no t change it, adap t you rse lf to it. Two yea rs la te r, she wen t back to Am e rica w ith m em o rab le expe rience o f Tonga. Afte r a sho rt stay a t hom e, sh e, on c e ag a in, a p p lie d fo r ano th e r vo lun tee ring job, and tha t tim e she wen t to Guyana, a Sou th Am e rican coun try. He r first expe rience in Tonga he lped he r vo lun tee ring job the re fruitfu l and she a lso se rved fo r two yea rs.

This tim e, JoAnn fina lly cam e to he r d ream ed p lace, China, a land o f wonde r. “Am e ricans don't know m any p laces in China excep t Beijing and Shanghai. Upon know ing I wou ld go to Chongq ing, I loca ted it in the m ap o f China, fee ling it was so b ig.” In Sep tem be r, 2009, JoAnn toge the r w ith o the r vo lun tee rs wen t to Chengdu first fo r training and then cam e to Chongq ing fo r teaching. Tha t was the ve ry first tim e she se t he r fee t on this land, fe lt it and began to fa ll in love w ith Chongq ing. “He r m agnificence is fa r beyond wo rd s.”

Onc e be ing the v ic e-p resid en t o f a w o rld renowned in te rna tiona l financ ia l institu tion, now she is a fo reign teache r in a unive rsity, which fo r su re has posed cha llenges to he r. “They a re d iffe ren t in som e way. As a vice p residen t, I have to m ake m any c ritica l dec isions. Tha t was in tense. And now I am still a 'm anage r', cha rg ing w ith m y studen ts. ” JoAnn said w ith a sm ile.“It is fun. I love it!”

JoAnn teaches Eng lish, Com p u ting Sc ience and Da ta Prog ramm ing in Chongq ing Un ive rsity. She loves this job. “In Tonga, I taugh t 30 studen ts, while he re I have to teach m o re than 80 studen ts. So it is d ifficu lt fo r m e to ta lk to eve ry one o f them.” Desp ite o f tha t, JoAnn still try to rem em be r he r eve ry studen t and ge t to know them.

Th rough he r teaching exp e rience, she find s tha t the ave rage Eng lish p ro fic iency o f Chinese studen ts is good, bu t som e studen ts from ru ra l a reas a re shy and se ldom ta lk to he r. To he lp them, the re fo re, she com es up w ith an idea -d ining ou t w ith them. W ithou t the d isc ip line o f the c lass, they fee l free to ta lk, which no t on ly im p roves their o ra l Eng lish bu t m o re im po rtan tly enhances their pe rsona l re la tions. JoAnn has a lways been p roud o f tha t idea.

小朋友喜歡和 JoAnn交談

“Chinese studen ts wo rk ha rd, bu t they a re no t tha t ac tive in c lass. They a re a fraid o f m aking m istakes. Bu t even Hom e r som e tim es nod s.” JoAnn has he r unde rstand ing on educa tion. She o ften encou rages he r studen ts to stick to their own ideas as long as they a re righ t, and m o re engagem en t w ith he r. She a lso ad voca tes ind ep end en t and c ritica l th inking and insp ires he r studen ts to be p rec ise and c lea r. He r studen ts love he r and he ld a b irthday pa rty in he r hono r last yea r. It was indeed a m em o rab le nigh t. From he r studen ts, she's lean t pa tience, filia l p ie ty and o the r Chinese trad itiona l m o ra lities.

In he r sixties, JoAnn is still ene rge tic, like a young wom an. She likes p laying m ah jong w ith he r friends in spa re tim e. She loves Chinese food, reunion d inne r in p a rticu la r, be cause eve ry tim e she sees fam ily m em be rs busying w ith ded ica te d ishes, cha tting and he lp ing each o the r, she fee ls m uch a t hom e. Ove r the past one yea r in Chongq ing, she has visited a lo t o f scenic spo ts, such as Dazu Rock Ca rvings, Ciq ikou and Wushan. She wan ts to go to Wu long next tim e. “The scene ry is go rgeous, and eve ry tim e I just wan t to stay the re.” She ce leb ra ted Ch ristm as a lone in Chongq ing and m issed he r fam ily so m uch, bu t she still fe lt b lessed when seeing the trees do tted w ith illum ina tions.

On New Yea r's Day, she, w ith o the r vo lun tee rs in Chongq ing, ce leb ra ted it in Nanshan Moun tain, tasting de lic ious food, ap p rec ia ting the n igh t scene and cha tting w ith them. She w ill re tu rn to Am e rica soon, bu t as the be ll rings in the New Yea r, he r eve ry m om en t he re w ill ac com pany he r in to the yea r o f 2011.

From the Vice-p residen t o f J.P. M o rgan to a US-China Friendship Vo lun teer

W ritten by Aggie Translated by Kenneth Hu