WHAT

Growing Up In A Small Town

Teaches You About Life

小镇成长教会我的人生哲理

When I was two years old, my family moved from Cincinnati to a little town in northeast Ohio called Cortland. The realization that people only really knew Ohio for the three C’s – Cleveland, Cincinnati, or Columbus (not Cortland!) – came quickly when I decided to go to school in central Pennsylvania. The truth is, I never considered myself “Midwestern” until I left Ohio. You’d think that people would realize that we were neighboring states, but the people at my “East Coast” school thought of Ohio as a whole different world. Half of my peers didn’t even realize I lived a mere three and a half hours away. “Do you have to fly home? Do you live on a farm? Is there even anything in Ohio worth seeing?” The questions are never-ending. I was a unicorn in their eyes, a novelty. Or, on second thought, maybe just a country hick. Don’t even get me started on the “pop” versus “soda” debate…

当我两岁时，我们一家从辛辛那提出发，搬到了俄亥俄州东北部一个名叫科特兰的小镇。后来我到宾夕法尼亚州中部上大学时，很快就发现，人们提起俄亥俄州，似乎只知道“三个C”——克利夫兰、辛辛那提和哥伦布，根本没人听说过科特兰。说实话，在离开俄亥俄之前，我从来没觉得自己是什么“中西部人”。按理说，大家应该知道宾州和俄亥俄是邻州，但在我那所“东海岸”学校里，很多人却把俄亥俄看成另一个世界。甚至有一半同学都不知道我家离学校其实只有三个半小时车程。“你回家要坐飞机吗？”“你家是不是住在农场里？”“俄亥俄州真的有什么值得看的地方吗？”类似的问题层出不穷。在他们眼里，我像一只独角兽一样稀奇。再仔细想想，也许他们只是把我当成了一个乡巴佬。至于“pop”与“soda”到底哪个才是汽水正确叫法的争论，那就更别提了……

neighboring /ˈneɪbərɪŋ/ adj.邻近的

think of A as B 认为A是B

As I grow older, I’m more and more thankful for my small town roots. Sure, my friends and I loved to complain about how bored we were in the middle of nowhere, but as I finish up my junior year of college, I’m convinced that it took leaving our small town to realize how much we actually did love it and what exactly we loved about it.

随着年龄增长，我越来越感激自己的小镇出身。没错，小时候我和朋友们总抱怨这里太无聊、太偏僻，仿佛什么都没有。但当我即将结束大学三年级时，我越来越确信：正是因为离开了家乡，我才真正意识到自己有多么热爱那个地方，也终于明白了自己究竟喜欢它的哪些地方。

We grew up amongst corn fields, spent summers by Mosquito Lake, and learned to ride our bike on the hill with the rest of the kids in the neighborhood. We played kick ball and Red Rover in the empty lot down the street, caught snapping turtles in the creek and snakes in the shared vegetable garden behind the fence, and spent many an afternoon exploring the woods behind our houses. We counted the days until the county fair, prayed for snow days (inside out pj’s and ice cubes in the toilet, anyone?), we’re forced into corn hole competitions by our dads, never viewed burnt out headlights as anything other than padiddles, and have all run a red light at some point at one of the five stoplights in town. I might be showing my affinity toward the midwest lifestyle, but all of these things taught have taught me important life lessons.

我们在玉米地间长大，在蚊湖边度过一个又一个夏天，和邻居家的孩子们一起在山坡上学骑自行车。我们会在街角的空地上玩踢球游戏和突破人链游戏，会在小溪里抓鳄龟，在篱笆后的公共菜园里抓蛇，还会花上整个下午去探索屋后的小树林。我们掰着手指数离郡集市还有多少天；祈盼停课的雪天（睡衣反穿、往马桶里扔冰块，有人也这样吗？）；会被爸爸们拉去参加沙包投掷比赛；看到汽车有个前灯坏掉时，第一反应不是担心，而是喊一句“Padiddle”；而且几乎每个人都曾在镇上那仅有的五个红绿灯中的某一个路口闯过红灯。也许我确实有些偏爱中西部的生活方式，但这些经历都教会了我许多重要的人生道理。

* Red Rover 突破人链游戏

* snapping turtle /ˈsnæpɪŋ ˌtɜːtl/ n. 鳄龟

For one, the pace of life isn’t anxiety provoking and people really value connecting to each other. That means that you do more than just talk to your next door neighbors – in a lot of cases, they’re truly an extension of your family. So much of this lifestyle revolves around being outside and knowing the ins and outs of the town, being present and mindful of your surroundings is a critical part of the culture. The gift of being able to grow up slowly is another invaluable treasure that I was given by my small town. Sure, there will always be a little bit of “keeping up with the Jones’,” or rather the “advanced” girls, but I never felt pressure to rush through my childhood or to act older than I was – heck, I was still playing with American Girldolls in middle school!

首先，这里的生活节奏不会让人感到焦虑，人们也真正重视人与人之间的联系。这意味着你和邻居之间的关系不仅仅是点头之交——很多时候，他们真的就像你家人的延伸一样亲近。这种生活方式很大程度上围绕着户外活动展开。熟悉镇上的每一条街道、每一个角落，留意并感受身边的环境，是这里文化中非常重要的一部分。而能够慢慢长大、不被催促着成熟，则是小镇送给我另一份无比珍贵的礼物。当然，这里也会有一点“与别人攀比”的现象，或者说想和那些“高级的”女孩保持同步。但我从未感受到必须赶快长大、必须表现得比实际年龄更成熟的压力。说真的，我初中还在玩“美国女孩”娃娃呢！

* affinity /əˈfɪnəti/ n.喜爱

As I move through my college years, I look forward to the visits to my little hometown.A huge perk has been the memories that I made with the people that I was lucky enough to know, and maybe wouldn’t have if our school district didn’t have just one building for each the elementary, middle, and high schools. There were no more than 130 kids in my public school graduating class and we had known each other since kindergarten. My life would be so different without the midwestern friendliness and hospitality that I’ve been exposed to through the years and which has acted as my compass growing up. I am grateful for the experience that I had growing up and know that wherever my next adventure takes me, I can trust my small town roots to lead me in the right direction.

在大学时光不断向前推进的同时，我也越来越期待每一次回到那个小小的家乡。小镇带给我的最大财富之一，就是那些与身边人共同创造的回忆。如果不是因为我们学区的小学、初中和高中各只有一所学校，我或许根本不会认识这些人。我的公立校毕业班总共只有不到130个孩子，而我们中的大多数人从幼儿园开始就已经彼此相识。这些年来，中西部地区特有的友善与热情一直陪伴着我，并在成长过程中像指南针一样为我指引方向。如果没有这些经历，我的人生一定会截然不同。我由衷感激自己拥有这样一段成长经历。无论未来的冒险会把我带向何方，我都相信，小镇赋予我的根基会继续引领我走向正确的方向。