英國人為什么不把自己當(dāng)歐洲人

I spent a year living in an international dormitory inChina, with students from all over the world. “Birdsof a feather flock together”, as they say. Of all thevarious categorisations that could be made based onthe way people formed their groups, the mostobvious collections were:

我在中國住了一年留學(xué)生宿舍，那里有來自世界各地的學(xué)生。人們常說：“人以群分”，在各種小團(tuán)體形成的分類方式中，最明顯的分類是：

Westerners - (European and American mainly)

西方人(主要是歐美人)

East Asians - (Thailand, Korea, Japan, Vietnam)

東亞人(泰國、韓國、日本、越南)

South Asians - (India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan)

南亞人(印度、巴基斯坦、尼泊爾、不丹)

Middle-easterners/Arabic - (Iran, Yemen etc)

中東/阿拉伯人(伊朗、也門等)

Slavic/Central Asian - (Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan etc)

斯拉夫人/中亞人(俄羅斯、烏克蘭、哈薩克斯坦等)

People really do gravitate into groups based on ethnic and cultural identity. At that time, Iknew more than ever that I was a European. The way I as a Brit acted, thought was entirely intune with the Europeans I spent time with.

人們進(jìn)入一些交際圈真的是因?yàn)榉N族和文化的區(qū)別。那時(shí)我才第一次更明確地知道自己是歐洲人，作為英國人的我行為和思維方式都和身邊的歐洲人一樣。

I am definitely European.

當(dāng)然我是歐洲人。

Before this experience, I’ll admit I wasn’t hugely aware of this.

留學(xué)之前，我承認(rèn)自己沒有真正意識(shí)到這一點(diǎn)。

As to why most Brits don’t feel European, I suspect it’s because of the rather large stretch ofwater that separates us from the mainland. So Brits not identifying as European is quite astandard phenomenon, I believe.

至于為什么大多數(shù)英國人都不把自己當(dāng)歐洲人，我懷疑是因?yàn)樵谖覀兒痛箨懼g有大片水域相隔，所以我認(rèn)為英國人不把自己當(dāng)歐洲人是很正常的現(xiàn)象。

Why do the British not feel European?

為什么英國人不覺得自己是歐洲人?

I am answering the question from a purely personal view. First I regard myself as “English” notBritish. Secondly I do not feel European as Europe is “abroad”. I have been there, Germany, Austria, France, but not since 1961.

我要從很私人的角度來回答這個(gè)問題。首先我把自己看作是英格蘭人，而非英國人。其次我不認(rèn)為自己是歐洲人因?yàn)闅W洲是“外國”，我去過歐洲，到過德國、奧地利、法國，但1961年以后就再?zèng)]去過。

However the question! - Europe is other countries, other languages, other histories Interestingbut different. I do not feel any connection with these other countries, and certainly do not feelpart of any group or association of other countries.

無論怎樣，歐洲就是其他國家，說其他語言，有其他有趣但和我們不同的歷史。我不認(rèn)為和這些“其他國家”有任何關(guān)系，當(dāng)然也不覺得自己是“其他國家”任何小團(tuán)體的一部分，或跟他們有任何關(guān)系。

Living a quiet life in a rural part of England, I do not have much contact with citizens of othercountries. I do not dislike them or object to them, they simply do not impact on my life.

我在英格蘭鄉(xiāng)村過著安逸的生活，和其他國家的人沒有多少交集。我不是不喜歡他們或反對(duì)他們，只不過他們對(duì)我的生活一點(diǎn)影響都沒有。

It is the same with Europe, I know it’s there, know a reasonable amount about it, but haveabsolutely no contact with it.

對(duì)歐洲也是如此，我知道它在那兒，關(guān)于歐洲我也適當(dāng)了解一點(diǎn)，但跟它絕對(duì)一點(diǎn)關(guān)系都沒有。