If she weren't here, she would be....

I met this student again, not in the class but on the street.

I was crossing the street when she came across me on her motorcycle. She was on her way home from some sort of party with her co-workers, and I was about to go home from work that night. Frankly I don't know her well. She is actually no one but a student of mine. The only one time when I talked to her went back to one evening in class. I just happened to have a question for her, which went "Did you ever live abroad?" I liked to ask her the question because she looks different than the average people in my class. To be more specific, I must say she just resembles most of the America-born Chinese I had ever met with while in the US. Consequently, I got a positive answer. Yes, she was there before.

cross 跨越
come across 遇見
some sort of 某種的
co-worker 同事
be about to 準備要去
happen to 剛好有機會去
average people 一般人
to be more specific 更仔細的說
frankly 坦白講
resemble 相似
consequently 最後
positive 肯定的

Now back to the street where I met her. Since she turned off her motorcycle trying to pull it over a bit to the side of the road, I realized that she was ready to have a small talk with me. I was happy to do that too, if it wasn't taking me too much time. So, the conversation began.

turn off 關掉
pull over 車開到一旁
a bit 一點點
small talk 閒聊

She was born there but for some reason she relocated to Taiwan when she was 12. I didn't ask why because I thought it would be too rude to ask some private questions. However, there must be an interesting reason behind. She must have had a terribly hard time here in the beginning. Since then, she proceeded to live her life on the island just like you and me. She went to school here, learning Chinese language from scratch. Maybe she just could already speak our language in the first place but writing could be a headache for her. Now she seems to have sorted out all the problems. She has become a full-fledged and independent woman and needs no help from anyone at all to survive in this fast-pace surrounding. Good for her, I definitely think. And I used to encounter the same problems as she did. The difference between us is that I was suffering the cultural shock in the US.

relocate 搬家
rude 無禮的
private 私人的
behind 在...之後
deal with 應付
perhaps 也許
proceed to 繼續去
from scratch 從頭開始
headache 頭痛
sort out 解決
full-fledged 羽翼豐滿的
independent 獨立的
survive 生存
fast-pace 快速步調的
surrounding 環境
definitely 一定地
encounter 遇見
suffer 受苦
culture shock 文化衝擊

After we ended our talk that night, I began to ponder something in my mind. I wondered what her life would have been like if she hadn't moved here. Did she ever regret moving down here? Would she be happier than now if she still lived in the US? Would she have a better career life, or a more harmonious relationship with people? I am not sure, but I guess she would be totally different than now.

end 結束
ponder 沉思
wonder 想知道
regret 後悔
career 事業
harmonious 和諧的
relationship 關係