Crossing the Sea

　　Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. The title of my speech today is "Crossing the Sea".

　　An English poet by the name of Rudyard Kipling once wrote in his poem "We and They":

　　"All the people like us are We

　　And everyone else is They

　　We live over the sea

　　While They live over the way

　　We eat pork and beef with cowhorn-handled knives

　　They who gobble their rice off a leaf

　　Are horrified out of their lives."

　　When these lines first caught my eyes, I was shocked-how could two peoples remain so isolated and ignorant of each other in the past? Today's society, of course, is an entirely different picture. Those people who used to eat with cowhorn-handled knives might be very skillful in using chopsticks, and those people who used to gobble their rice might be as well have taken to fish and chips.

　　Indeed, just take China as an example: Our modern life has been influenced by Western style of living in so many ways that it's no longer surprising to see teenagers going crazy about rock-and-roll, whole families dining out at McDonald's and even rather elderly people dressed in Apple Jeans.

　　However, these are only some expressions of the cultural changes taking place in our society today. What is really going on is a subtle but significant restructuring of the nation's mentality. Just look around.

　　How many college graduates are ready to compete aggressively for every job opportunity, whereas not long ago they were asked just to sit idle and wait for whatever was to be assigned to them by the government?

　　How many young people are now eager to seek for an independent life whereas only two decades ago they would rely totally on their parents to arrange for their future? Ask anyone who participates in today's speech contest. Who has not come with a will to fight and who has not come determined to achieve self-fulfillment in winning the game? And I'm quite certain that if Confucius had lived to see today's China, he would have been horrified to see young lovers kissing each other in public places in an unreserved expression of their passion.

　　It is therefore evident that we as descendants of an ancient Eastern civilization are already living under strong inf1uence of the Western culture. But it is not only in China that we find the incorporation of the two cultures.

　　Take the United States as an example: During the 1980s,in face of the overwhelming competition from Japan, many American companies such as the Ford began to adopt a teamwork management from their rivals, the essence of which, lay at the very core of Eastern culture.

　　Take the Chinese acupuncture as another example: This traditional treatment of diseases is finally finding its way to the West and hence the underlying notion that illness is resulted from the imbalance between Yin and Yang within the body -- an idea which would strike any Westerner as incredible in the past!

　　Ladies and Gentlemen, we live in a great epoch when the global integration of economy and the information revolution have brought cultures of the world closer than ever before. We live in a particular era when countries, East and West, find themselves in need of readjusting their traditional values. We live, at the same time, at a critical juncture of our evolution because such problems as ethnic conflicts and regional unrest are increasingly posing a threat to the peace and happiness of the whole human race. To cope with such an era and to embrace an even brighter future, we need to learn to live more harmoniously in a world community which is becoming smaller and smaller.

　　My dear fellow students, our command of the English language renders it possible for us to gain an insight into Western culture while retaining our own cultural identity.

　　Therefore, it is our sacred responsibility to promote the cultural exchanges and hence the mutual understanding between China and the rest of the world.

　　It is my happiest dream that the new generation of Chinese will not only grow up drinking Coca-Cola and watching Hollywood, but also be blessed with the far-reaching benefits of multiple cultures; benefits that our forefathers had never, ever dreamed of.

　　To end my speech, I would like to quote Rudyard Kipling again:

　　"All the people like us are We

　　And everyone else is They

　　But once you cross over the sea

　　You will end by looking on We

　　As only a sort of They"

　　Thank you.

　　译文:穿越海洋

　　女士们、先生们，晚上好。今天，我演讲的题目是:《穿越海洋》。

　　英国诗人罗得雅德?吉卜林曾写过一首诗，名叫《我们与他们》，其中写道:

　　像我们的人是我们

　　其余的人是他们

　　我们生活在海这边

　　他们生活在路那边

　　我们用牛角柄的刀叉吃猪牛肉

　　吞吃粽叶包饭的他们吓得要死。

　　第一次读到这首诗，我很震惊——过去两个民族何以如此疏离、彼此陌生?当然今日的社会呈现出完全不同的情景:那些过去吃米饭的人们也开始喜欢吃鱼和薯条。

　　的确如此，就拿中国来说，西方的生活方式已经广泛地影响了我们的现代生活，以致对于年轻人对摇滚乐着迷，全家去吃麦当劳，老年人穿苹果牌牛仔裤，大家都已习以为常。

　　然而，这不过是我们当今社会中所发生的文化变迁的表面现象而已，真正发生的却是我们的民族心理开始了微妙而又有重大意义的重建，大家只要看看周围就会清楚。

　　不久以前，大学生还只是束手空坐，等待政府给他们分配工作;如今，又有多少大学生正在做充分准备，为争取任何工作机会而激烈角逐?

　　20年前年轻人还完全依靠父母为他们安排未来，今天又有多少年轻人在急切地寻求一种独立的生活?试问今天参加演讲比赛的诸位，谁不是带着志在一搏的心情来到这里?谁不是铁下心来赢得这场比赛以实现自我?如今年轻人毫无顾忌地宣泄情感当众亲吻，我确信，倘若孔子在世，他必被吓坏。

　　很明显，我们这些东方古老文明的后裔们早已生活在西方文化的强烈影响之下，然而出现这种异质文化合流的现象不止是在中国。

　　以美国为例，20世纪80年代，面对来自日本的强大竞争压力，许多美国公司如福特公司开始采用对手的集体合作管理方式，而这种方式正是东方文化核心之精华。

　　再以中华针灸为例，这种传统的医疗方法以及这种疗法的依据——即人体阴阳失调导致疾病最终得到西方社会的承认，而在过去，西方人还认为这是无稽之谈。

　　女士们，先生们，我们恰逢一个伟大的时代:全球经济一体化、信息革命使得世界各种文化联系比以往更加紧密;

　　我们恰逢一个特殊的年代:无论是东方国家还是西方国家都意识到自身急需调整传统价值。与此同时，我们正生活在发展的关键时刻:种族冲突，地区动荡正越来越威胁着整个人类的和平与幸福。如何对待这一时代，拥抱更加灿烂的未来，我们需要学会在越来越小的世界大家庭中更加和睦地生活。

　　亲爱的同学们，我们掌握英语，得以了解西方文化，与此同时，又不失本民族的文化特征。

　　因此，促进中国与世界的文化交流与相互理解是我们神圣的责任。

　　我有一个美好的梦想，我梦想中国的年轻一代不仅仅在喝可口可乐、看好莱坞影片中成长，而且还受益于我们的父辈所从未梦想过的多元文化所带来的深远影响。

　　最后，再次以罗得雅德.吉卜林的诗作为我此次演讲的结尾:

　　像我们的人是我们

　　其余的人是他们

　　然而一旦你们穿洋越海

　　就不会再把我们

　　看做仅仅是他们。

　　谢谢。