與外國友人交流趣事

世界各地國與國、民族與民族之間由于風俗習慣和文化背景大相徑庭，差距甚遠，如果不加以溝通，必然會產生矛盾和摩擦，甚至戰爭。因此，只有通過交流、溝通才能達到相互理解、友好交往、和諧共處、共同進步的目的。

碰鼻禮

2002年，我剛開始練口語時，很想找外國人交流，哪怕和外國人相互聽懂一兩句話，簡直像炎熱夏天喝涼茶那般舒心和快樂。因此，每當星期天上午，一早就趕到杭州六公園外語角“解饞”。那天也特別，就是見不到外國人，直到11點，有一對笑容可掬的外國中年夫婦，從湖邊過來，我立即搶上前去，相互禮節性交談后，便問：你們是哪個國家來的?回答是新西蘭。新西蘭，我暗喜自己剛看過雜志上的一篇報道，接著問道：

“你們住在新西蘭南島還是北島?”

“北島，住在羅圖魯阿。”

“嗬!這可是個著名的風景名勝區，有‘彩虹泉農莊’，有數以千計的間歇泉、噴氣孔、沸騰泥塘等地熱景觀和維芒谷火山奇景。”

那女士一聽我對他們的家鄉了解如此詳細，好似萬里迢迢見到了老鄉，便問我：

“Have you ever been to Rotorua?”(你去過羅圖魯阿?)

“沒有，我是從雜志上看到的。毛利人有種碰鼻禮的風俗，是嗎?”

“是的。”說著，她伸過頭來，把手搭在我的肩上，真的要向我行碰鼻禮了，這突如其來的舉動，使我因而緊張起來。不過，我還是馬上鎮定了情緒，告誡自己，眼前這是與外國少數民族交流，可馬虎不得，于是畢恭畢敬、十分友善地也伸過頭去，與毛利人對準鼻子行碰鼻禮。可周圍的人全不知毛利人的習俗，頓時哈哈大笑起來，這笑聲使我尷尬極了，從杭州人的習俗來看此舉的確不雅。當第二次她伸過頭來再要和我行碰鼻禮時，我屈從周圍人的無知而只好作罷。

不過，我從對話中得知，他們在會見外來客人時，不握手、不鼓掌、不擁抱、不接吻，而是行碰鼻禮，他們認為人的靈氣在頭部，通過突出的鼻子可以與別人心靈溝通。碰一下鼻子，表示相互通靈通神；碰兩下，表示同呼吸共生存；碰三下，情誼越深。這使我想起了我國古書上記載鼻針一事。鼻針是我國針灸醫學中的一脈，中醫認為鼻在人體中占有很重要的位置，為人之本始也。難怪古人尊之為“鼻祖”，這同毛利人對鼻的認識有相似之處。

餐桌上的尷尬

浙江科技學院美籍教師格倫先生很熱愛中國太極拳，托人找太極拳老師，而我很想找個外籍英語老師做朋友。我們終于在外語角相識了，并商定每周六與周日在孤山空地上由我教他太極拳，他也有計劃地教我學英語，就這樣彼此親近了起來。

有個星期日，我約格倫夫婦來我家做客，熱情、直率的格倫當即答應并于當日下午2時半就來到我家。我家招待外國朋友是頭一回，心中無底，生怕鬧出笑話和誤會。現在客人已登門，來不及打聽這方面的知識，只好見機行事了。我先請他們到客廳喝茶，拿了兩本旅游雜志給他們消遣，我和妻子便進廚房準備飯菜。

下午5點半開始吃晚飯，第一道菜是清湯黃魚，格倫夫婦不斷地贊美“鮮、鮮、鮮”。第二道菜是蝦蛄，這肥鮮的蝦蛄，每只約15厘米長，因它第二對胸肢長得像長柄的鉗子，背似“盔甲”，形如螳螂，故又名螳螂蝦。格倫夫婦來自美國中部科羅拉多州，那里多高山與峽谷，從未見過此物，便詫異地問道：

“What is this?”（這是什么？）

“It is Shrimp.”（這是蝦。）

正當我考慮介紹如何吃法時，格倫已夾了一只塞進嘴里，刺得他哇哇叫痛，惹得大家哈哈大笑。我立即向他道歉，并邊介紹邊示范怎么剝殼蘸醋吃，這才使他們生平第一次嘗到蝦蛄的美味。第三道菜是每人一小碗湯圓，餡是芝麻，有點香甜。格倫又問：

“What is this?”(這是什么？)

“It is dumpling.”（這是湯圓。）

因為英語中湯圓與水餃是同一詞，得進一步說明原料和制作方法的不同才能區別湯圓和水餃。格倫先生以前雖吃過一次水餃，但印象不深，誤認為這也是水餃，便往湯圓里加醋，弄得我連聲道歉。□

When I meet Foreigners in Hangzhou

By Jiang Zhou

Communication is the only effective way to bridge the differences between different nations and peoples. Only through communication can people have friendly exchanges， harmonious coexistence and shared progress. I have this understanding from my meeting with foreigners in Hangzhou. The following two anecdotes partly explain where this understanding came from.

Nose-touching greeting

It was a Sunday morning at the English Corner at the Sixth Park on the West Lake in 2002. Around 11 o’clock， I spotted a middle-aged couple loitering along the lake and rushed over. After some small talk， I asked where they came from. New Zealand. The conversation began and went on smoothly. Somewhere in the conversation， I asked whether the Maori people indeed greeted each other by touching noses. She said yes and she put her head forward and put her hand on my shoulder. I understood she wanted to touch nose with me. The unexpected gesture made me nervous for a second. But I told myself calm down. I was in a cultural exchange moment with a foreigner who might be a Maori. So reverently and friendly， I put my head forward. Our noses touched. People burst into laughing， without any idea that it was a Maori greeting. I felt a bit awkward too， because the nose-touching looked somewhat indecent in the eye of local residents. So when she put her nose up for the second touching， I stepped back， hoping she wouldn’t see the awkwardness in my smile.

We went on to chat about the Hongi， the Maori word for this greeting. We Chinese have a similar respect to nose. In traditional Chinese medicine， nose is considered the starting part of life. And ancient Chinese coined a phrase and included the word nose in it describing the founding person or ancestor of a practice.

An embarrassing dinner

Glen， a teacher at Zhejiang University of Science and Technology， wanted to find a teacher of Taiji boxing. I wanted to study English under the guidance of a foreigner. Glen and I met at the English Corner one Sunday morning. After knowing each other better， we decided to exchange lessons.

Then one Sunday morning I invited Glen and his wife to come to dinner at my home.

The first course was yellow croaker in soup. Glen and his wife said it was delicious. The second course was mantis shrimp. The yummy creature was about 15 centimeters long， with a pair of enormous claws looking like mantis. Glen had never seen such a shrimp before， being from Colorado， a mountainous region of America. I was struggling for words to describe the proper way to eat the shrimp when Glen picked up one and put it into his mouth. Immediately the thorny part hurt his mouth. We all laughed. I apologized and found some words to explain. I said we needed to remove the shell and dip the meat in the seasoning juice before we ate it.

The third course was Tangyuan， glutinous rice balls， served in a small bowl. The rice balls were stuffed with sugar and sesame. “What’s this?” “This is dumpling.” Well， in some dictionaries， both Tangyuan and Jiaozi are called dumplings. Glen had had Jiaozi before. Mistakenly thinking it was the same thing called dumpling， he began to add some drops of vinegar to the soup. I apologized again and explained the difference. □