今天试图在新水木上注册一个账号，无意中发现老水木的账号原来可以继承过来接着用。收件箱里竟然躺着2005年3月9日的未读邮件，那时候才刚刚拿到Wash U的offer，正热火朝天地联系未来校友呢。不知道为什么从那天以后就再也没有上过水木--好像再也没能连上，于是只好在天地人大、未名和紫霞上混混了。看着那份快两年前的信有种恍若隔世的感觉，这个网络时代啊。

新水木很争气，在这个不算高峰的时候还有近两万人在线。在美国试过好几次登录或者注册天地人大、未名，都失败了，很郁闷。有次注册日月光华一路填表格形势大好，心里正狂赞美复旦的开放，临了跟我要一个@fdu.edu.cn的邮箱，说要把注册码寄给我，吐血。很受伤。

怀念我的大学，怀念bbs的年代。

下午花了两小时写了篇“学术小品”。作业嘛，本来应该是写得更规范、更学术一点，不料兴之所至，便索性不管什么主题，一路地“散”下去了。因为时间紧迫，写得很快，写完后觉得很爽。最近这段日子过得有些无味，且让我贪婪地享受这份快乐吧。

发现自己最适合的职业其实是在美国教中文或者在中国教英文--该高兴还是悲哀？突然萌生了一个愿望，想三十岁前能在巴黎安静地住一年，心无旁骛地把法语学好。眼看着大学两年用休闲时间打下的那点基础已经快要被时间的流冲蚀了，觉得甚是可惜----不免要羡慕砚秋和大旺，面临和我类似的约束条件，语言上走得比我更远更踏实，足为楷模。其实人生那么长，又何苦事事都要三十岁前做完？不如多一些更长久的规划，也许会活得更从容。

“According to the narrative in Genesis Chapter 11 of the Bible, the Tower of Babel was a tower built by a united humanity to reach the heavens. God, observing the unity of humanity in the construction, resolves to destroy the tower and confuse the previously uniform language of humanity, thereby preventing any such future efforts.”(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel)

Then how do people form mental representations of foreign concepts (concepts that are originally represented in foreign languages and then translated to one’s native language)? How are these concepts stored in memory? Are there any systematic differences that boast theoretical importance?  

These are not easy questions but let’s start with some common examples. When I was young, my mom often complained to me that she couldn’t remember names in foreign novels (translated into Chinese), a trouble that curtailed the joy of reading. The problem was that, once translated, those names lost their original meanings and often became irregular (in the reader’s language), sometime ridiculous (of course easier to remember because they are ridiculous), and all the way down to horrible. I was seemingly more gifted than her on that account. After reading a Russian novel at age ten, I thought I pretty much found the essential rules for Russian names. In other words, they have quite a lot of typicality, as compared to, say, English ones—although I thought Japanese names had the most “typicality” on the earth.

Some cultural deliberation on the translator’s part can make things look better. For example, Bill Clinton’s last name can either be translated into 克林顿 (Mainland uses this) or 柯林顿 (Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore usage), which sound the same in Chinese. But the latter character 柯 is a Chinese family name, and I believe it can be empirically tested that the latter translation makes people feel emotionally closer to him and view him a little bit more “ingroup” and less foreign-like other things equal.

But some just can’t be better no matter how hard the translator tries, because languages have their natural constraints. Let’s compare two names. (Donald) Rumsfeld is 拉姆斯菲尔德 in Chinese, and (Barbara) Streisand is 史翠珊. Don’s Chinese name is clumsily long, although it sounds fine, and has some official, authoritarian flavor which fits well with his (prior) position. However Barbara is way too luckier than him. Not only 史 is a very common Chinese family name (meaning “history”. As I argued, this makes people emotionally closer to her), 翠 (pleasantly alluring green) and 珊 (coral) both have very beautiful connotation in Chinese and the name together should cultivate people’s a priori affection for her very nicely.

Same thing the other way around. Chinese names like “Zhan Zhang”, “Hu Jintao”, “Yao Ming” (because the latter two are high-profile, they have the privilege of keeping their family name in the front after being translated into English. OK of course that’s not the reason) makes no sense in English. When the Mandarin is romantized (note: not anglicized) to pinyin, all meanings are instantly lost. A Chinese can write very scholarly essays to explain the rich connotations of these Chinese names, because of the sheer long history and cultural sedimentations of this language. But the mental representations are only carried in their original shapes, so it can be painfully hard for an American to remember a bunch of nonsense. But, if someone’s name in pinyin happens to be “chihua” (yes it’s possible, since hua 华 (hua2) is so common, meaning “China”), he might have the good fortune of being remembered as Chihuahua.

Something larger than person names. China, denoting an Asian country on the one hand, also means “porcelain” which carries an intrinsic connotation of brittleness. Dragon, the most treasured Chinese symbol personalizing heavenly peace, good harvest, benign power, among others, in English means “a mythical animal usually represented as a monstrous winged and scaly serpent or saurian with a crested head and enormous claws” or “a violent, combative, or very strict person” (Merriam-Webster). Isn’t the translation downrightly wrong? How do these woeful linguistic accidents contribute to the often unconscious misunderstanding between peoples from the two cultures?

For comparison, the Chinese translation for the “United States of America” is 美国 (mei3 guo2), literally “a beautiful country”. For the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” is 英国 (ying1 guo2), literally “a heroic country”. Some European place names appear to be even more fabulous and appealing in their Chinese translations. Examples are “Fontainebleau” –blue fountain—枫丹白露 (feng1 dan1 bai2 lu4), literally “red maple, white dew”; “Champs-Élysées”—香榭丽舍 (xiang1 xie4 li4 she4), literally “fragrantly gorgeous palace”. No wonder China has been on better terms with France than other Western countriesJ “Florence” of Italy has been translated by one famous Chinese poet into 翡冷翠 (fei2 leng3 cui4) meaning “cold green jade”—a real stroke of genius!

I find Figure 2.1 from Clark Hull’s (1920) study misleading in some ways, although it’s intelligently designed. A useful tutorial of Chinese characters would be something like this: 江(long river)河(river)湖泊(lake)海(sea)洋(ocean)溪(creek)池(pond)沼泽(swamp)游泳(swim)汗(sweat)涌(flow)泪(tears)泣津渡港湾(port)源潮(original source)汁液(organic fluid)泾渭湘潭波涛(wave)洪涝泛滥(flood)淋(shower)沐浴(bath)深(deep)浅(shallow)沙(sand)滩滨沚(bank)沉(sink)浮(float)浓(thick)淡(diluted)浇沏(pour)浸泡(soak)溶(dissolve)溢(overflow)澎湃(surge)淹没(submerge)流浪(drift)洗漱(wash)滋润(moisten)汲(draw water)溅(splash)......water is the source of human life and let's celebrate our shared experience with water.

昨晚做了一个奇异的梦，梦见仙女了……两位仙女骑着单车经过正在步行的我。背景貌似在家乡的某郊区，但马路造得颇似美国。其中一位仙女操很纯正的美式英语，引起我的好奇。美式仙女（当然了，是中国人）回眸一笑，改讲中文，邀请我去她们的修炼地小坐。推开洞门，我疑心是传说中的盘丝洞或者白骨精的apartment，有点战战兢兢。洞里挂着各种各样的道符，看不懂，但起到一种安慰人心的作用。旋即一个类似张三丰的老道飘然经过，虽然胡子不如张三丰的那么纯白，但也让我更宽了一点心。仙女嘘寒问暖，临了送了一个很fancy的手机（or blackberry? PDA?）给我，说常联系，还特别补充说是局域网的，拨和接都免费。

开心地离开盘丝洞之后就醒了，七点四十，嗯，时差终于调得差不多了。

从小做过很多情节特曲折的历险梦，但醒来便忘得一干二净，只确信如果如实重现定能让世上所有的历险记黯然失色。不过与道教中人素无瓜葛，梦见仙女等等还真是头一遭，故记之。孰能为予解梦乎……

在过去的一个学期里经历了不少意想不到的麻烦事，有大有小，一般都不可避免地导致经济和精神损失，以及智慧和经验的增长。发生一两件这样的事情时，我并不以为意，但当它们集中在短短的几个月内出现，而2006又不是我的本命年时，就令人拍案惊奇。我一惯是不记录麻烦事的。不过既然数量上已经粗具规模，自然也就具有了一定的科学价值，所以我决定打破惯例，减轻自己记忆的负担，同时也为比我更“green”的人提供一些借鉴。

这些事多数和我开始开车有关。在美国取得一张驾照是极其廉价的，$10，和国内动辄几千的学车费不可同日而语。但天下事总是公平的，我靠着吃罚单和处理意外慢慢地建立了法治观点，真正学会了开车（特别是停车）。也许还有很长的路要走。

1、八月底某星期一：车趴在楼前被罚$20。原因：为清理街道之便，星期一上午九点到十二点楼前街道禁止趴车。结论：夏天不可贪图树荫，星期天晚上就该把车趴到楼后面。

2、八月底某晚八时许：离开加油站的过程中蹭了一辆白色2001年甲壳虫，在其尾部留下一道刮痕。车主当场索赔$500，后由保险公司赔付$470。不清楚对我后来的保费产生了多少影响。James评论：万幸，甲壳虫车主还算比较讲道理。后遗症：对甲壳虫产生恐惧感。如有次在学校garage趴进仅剩的一个车位后发现左右为一红一绿两辆甲壳虫，当即毛骨悚然惊恐万状。结论：无论何时何地，千万和其他车辆保持距离，距离应和对方车的价值成正比。

3、九月某日：车趴在楼前，早上发现左后视镜（我称之为“左耳”）玻璃被撞碎，框架也被撞掉一小块。修理花费$80且不如原配。此事前几日邻居的车停在同一个位置车后窗挡风玻璃被整体性粉碎（显然是有人故意作案，和我的情况不同），现场极其惨烈。结论：夏日将去，还是不要怕麻烦和酷暑，把车趴到楼后面罢。

4、十一月初：在图书馆遗失钱包。说来话长，一件最不可能在我身上发生的事终于还是发生了。好处是，以后再也不会经历饭桌上所有人一起讨论丢钱包的痛苦而我却不知所云的尴尬场面了。再也不会因为没丢过钱包而遭人嘲笑了。只是我怀疑很少有人像我丢得那么彻底：我把所有证件银行卡信用卡所代表的那个虚拟的我全部丢掉了。最离谱的是当我焦头烂额而镇定自若地把一切搞定恢复平静之后，警察打电话说钱包找到了……此事件的特点是精神损失远远超过经济损失（仅$50，难以置信吧）

5、感恩节：再次因错误趴车被罚$20。比三个月前的被罚有进步：不在家门口，在离家300米处。结论：没划白线的地方千万别停车。（damn't，多么白痴的常识，我竟然忽略了！但如果你碰巧知道在中国很多可以趴车的地方是没有白线的，这件事就显得不那么奇怪了。）

6、十二月初：第三次因错误趴车被罚$150。这次不光在金钱上比前两次有了飞跃，距离上也再次提升：离家800米。这也是一件说来话长的事；换句话说，一般情况下是不会发生的。一个简单的版本是，我把车停在了一个私人街区，车被拖走。

7、圣诞节前的星期五：在路上爆胎。事前似有预感一般地不让朋友搭车。不幸中的万幸，因为当时我正准备上高速……如果此事发生在高速路上，后果则不堪设想。幸好又有James如神兵天降，将我从绝望中（事发地点离家约20公里）解救出来。特别感谢卫东周末带我去Walmart买新胎，教我换胎。最高兴的事是籍此机会学会了换胎，对车的构造有了更深了解。DIY是件很酷的事。直接经济损失$65。

以上七事，套用电影名字，或可称为“七宗罪”。其中尤以3、4、6、7为不可思议的小概率事件。这几个月经历的麻烦事仿佛超过了过去好多年的总和。此处尚略去小事及细节若干，自然灾害两件，及回国前后经历的或听说的，发生在我的亲人、朋友身上的若干事件。好的方面是，经历这些事件，我的肉体毫发无损，健健康康；精神越发强健，经验大增，对风险和不确定性有了深切体会。没有前六事的铺垫，最为严重的No.7若直接袭来，我很可能会手足无措方寸大乱。更何况No.7只差一点就是巨大的个人灾难！另外，我在这几个月内学习和研究上的好运气也足以抵消这“七宗罪”的总和。

金猪年将至，祝所有人好运！也祝自己否极泰来！

P.S. 回国两周以来，目睹路面上车辆之各种惊险动作和违规行为，我十分担心半年来养成的良好的驾车习惯已土崩瓦解。回美后自当倍加小心，切记切记……