Brad Li is a junior high school student in China. He visited the US on an international exchange last year, and now he is giving a speech about his experience.
Brad Li 是中国的初中学生。他在去年的一次国际交流活动中到美国参观，现在他正在做一个关于他的经历的演讲。
Living in another country
在其他国家生活
My name is Brad Li. I'm here today to tell you about my experience as an exchange student in the United States last year.
我的名字是 Brad Li。今天我在这里给大家介绍一下我去年作为一个交换学生在美国的经历。
I must admit that at first America was a big culture shock for me.
我必须承认，第一次到美国对我来说是一个很大的文化冲击。
Many things were strange to me: the language, the food and even the school.
许多事情对我来说都很怪异：语言，食物，甚至学校。
I stayed with a host family in a small town. My host parents, Mr and Mrs Hurst, were very kind.
我的寄宿家庭是住在一个小镇上。主人家的父母，Hurst 先生和夫人都很亲切。
They organized a lot of activities for me in my spare time so that I wouldn't miss home or feel lonely.
他们在我的空闲时间里组织了大量的活动，所以我不会想家或感到孤独。
However, to a certain degree, life in the US was hard to get used to.
然而，一定程度上，在美国的生活还是很难习惯。
My main problem was with the language. I failed to understand much in the first few weeks because everyone spoke so fast.
我的主要问题是语言。前几个星期里我很多都听不明白，因为每个人都说得很快。
Though I soon managed to get used to it, I still had problems because they used a lot of idioms.
尽管我很快就设法去适应它，还是因为他们用了很多成语而产生了问题。
For example, they often say they are “under the weather” when they are ill.
例如：当他们身体不舒服时，他们常说自己是“根据天气”。
Their everyday English is very different from what we learn in China.
他们的日常英语与我们在中国学习的有很大不同。
Another difference was the food. My host family always had bread, potatoes and salad for meals.
另一个方面是食物。我的寄宿家庭总是吃面包、土豆和沙拉。
I really missed the dumplings, rice and delicious dishes from home.
我真的很想念家里的饺子、米饭和美味佳肴。
School was a big shock too. They do not require students to wear uniforms, so students can wear almost whatever they like.
学校也是一个很大的冲击。它们不要求学生穿校服，所以学生几乎可以穿任何他们喜欢的衣服。
Some students have strange hairstyles as well. Some students even have pink or purple hair!
有些学生整的奇怪的发型也是如此，有些甚至把头发染成粉红色或紫色！
Anyway, I have many great memories of that year, especially playing in the snow in winter, and playing baseball.
无论如何，当年我还是有许多美好的回忆的，尤其是冬天在雪地里玩耍，打打棒球。
At Halloween, I went to a party dressed as Harry Potter. At Thanksgiving, we had a big dinner with a huge turkey.
在万圣节，我打扮成《哈利·波特》里的一个角色；在感恩节，我们有一个大火鸡大快朵颐。
It was an exciting year, and it was a valuable education for me. Now I understand more about American culture.
这是令人激动的一年，对我来说是宝贵的教育经历。现在，我更多地了解美国文化。
My American friends asked me many questions about life in China, and this made me think about my own culture as well.
我的美国朋友问我了许多关于在中国生活的问题，这让我想起我自己的文化也是如此。
