美国布朗大学夏校体验

剑桥学子多逸趣，笑携书剑走天涯！夏校、实践、支教、阅读、旅行......成为美好暑假的一部分。今天，让我们跟随2021届Sun Wenhong同学，去到美国布朗大学，感受他在那儿的夏校体验。Summer@Brown offers high school students an experience of college life

-Academic life 学术生活

1. Fast pace in class 课堂节奏快

I took econometrics at brown, which is basically about how to apply statistical tools to solve economic problems. The teacher goes over the materials super quick in class. It is quite difficult for me to keep up with all the statistical concepts, so I had to spend 1 hour watching Khan Academy on YouTube after class every day. What a heavy burden!

我在布朗学习的是计量经济学，这基本上是关于如何运用统计工具来解决经济问题。老师在课堂上会超快地把材料过一遍。我很难跟上所有的统计概念，所以我每天课后不得不在YouTube上花1个小时学习可汗学院的课程。

Notable architectures around the campus

2. Sufficient English proficiency 足够的英语水平

I could understand most of what the teacher said. However, never get distracted! That’s when you will become confused.

我能听懂老师说的，但是永远不能分心，否则就会有些许吃力。

3. Make sure the right partner 确保找到合适的搭档

Almost every course we are going to take in the future will have a final project as a vital part of the assessment. That’s why we need to make sure the cooperation between you and your partner can go smoothly. I got a Chinese partner who is studying in the US. I couldn’t possibly believe he had got a TOFEL score of 110 because he couldn’t really speak English! Besides this, he’s super smart and was proven to be a reassuring man to work with.

我们未来要学习的每门课程几乎都会有一个最终项目,作为评估的重要组成部分。这就是为什么我们需要确保和合作伙伴之间的合作能够顺利进行。我有一个中国搭档，我简直不敢相信他托福得了110分，因为我感觉他基本上不会讲英语! 但除此之外，他超级聪明，和他一起合作的确是令人放心的。

-Social life 社交生活

1. Very friendly people 人们非常友好

Brown is in Providence, the capital city of the smallest state, Rhode Island. Providence is a very beautiful city with abundant historical heritage. People here are incredibly friendly! Even way better than the people from other parts of the US (according to my Californian roommate). A police officer asked me how is my day when heading out of office. Total strangers smiled to me even when driving their cars passing by. The clerk at a supermarket would kindly teach me how to distinguish different values for coins. They are so nice!

布朗在普罗维登斯，是美国最小的州--罗得岛的首府。普罗维登斯是一个非常美丽的城市，拥有丰富的历史遗产。这里的人们非常友好，甚至比来自美国其他地区的人要好得多(根据我的加州室友的说法)。一名警官在我离开办公室时向我问好；即使开车经过,陌生人也向我微笑；超市的店员会耐心地教我如何区分不同硬币的币值。他们真是太友好了!

Notable architectures around the campus

2. Lack of English ability 英语能力不足

In contrast to academic English, English used by students around me is harder to understand. They spoke very fast with the liaison. My roommate (Lawrence) couldn’t crack jokes with me because it’s pretty awkward I couldn’t get it. Cultural differences, I suppose, cause this problem. Lawrence said he could only speak simple English in front of me. Yeah, I was sad, pretty sad about this.

与学术英语相比，我周围的学生使用的英语会更难理解，他们之间交谈的语速非常快。我的室友(劳伦斯)说他不能跟我开玩笑，因为我理解不到，我猜是文化差异造成了这个问题。劳伦斯说他只能在我面前说简单的英语，这让我很伤心。

3. Make friends with Chinese (at least those who were originated from China) 与中国人交朋友(至少是源自中国的人)

My roommate, Lawrence, was my best friend at brown. We weren’t so best at the beginning, though. I broke the ice when I watched a TV series he mentioned inadvertently. He felt like I pay attention to his words a lot, therefore, gained a sense of satisfaction. We gradually eat out together. One day, we suddenly found a topic that we are both interested-girls. From then on, we talked a lot. He grew up in LA, California. So, he could be considered a true American. Even like this, most of his friends are Chinese-looking. Asians play with Asians. White play with white. We could, of course, chat a little bit with people from different continent but we hardly make friends. I guess it’s just felt weird.

我的室友劳伦斯是我在布朗期间最好的朋友。不过，我们一开始并不是最好的。当我认真观看他无意中提到的电视连续剧时，我打破了僵局。他觉得我很在乎他说的话，这让他很有满足感。我们渐渐地开始一起出去吃饭。有一天，我们突然发现我和他之间有一个共同的感兴趣的话题—女孩们。从那时起，我们谈了很多。他在加州洛杉矶长大，因此，他应该可以说是一个真正的美国人。即使这样，他的大多数朋友都是中国人。亚洲人和亚洲人玩，白人和白人玩。虽然我们可以和来自不同大陆的人聊天，但我们很难成为真正的朋友。

1. Food 食物

Even a big fan of fast food like me cannot bear burgers, French fries, and pizza all the time. Those are what the free of charge dining hall offered to us three meals a day. Food becomes tasty when I began to eat out. Ramen, Korean fried chickens on the Thayer street are very delicious. Anyway, nothing can beat the Chongqing House. Sichuan food there tasted even better than restaurants in Sichuan!

即使是像我这样的快餐爱好者也不能忍受天天吃汉堡、炸薯条和披萨。这些就是餐厅为我们提供的免费三餐。当我开始外出就餐时，食物才变得美味可口。拉面，泰耶街上的韩国炸鸡都非常美味。然而没有什么能打败重庆之家，那里的四川菜比四川的餐馆味道更好!

2. Entertainment 娱乐

I felt I wasted quite a lot of time here playing PUBG mobile and watching TV series. 《Stranger things》are definitely worth watching. I literally fell in love with the 1980s American town lifestyle.

我在这里花了一些时间玩绝地求生和看电视剧。《怪奇物语》绝对值得一看，它让我爱上20世纪80年代美国小镇的生活方式。

I felt extremely lonely from time to time with or without these ways to relax. So, I went out.

不管有或没有这些放松的方式，我时不时地都会感到非常孤独。所以, 我会出去走走。

I didn’t take many photos in Providence. Just not in the mood. The only one time I was totally relaxed was riding a scooter around the city. Notably, I visited the tomb of H.P. Lovecraft. Anyone who likes Cthulhu Mythos should be familiar with him. (Just for the record, I am not. I checked out the place for fun) When I asked my friends if they want to come, they called my freak and warned me to be careful of the cult meeting there. It turned out there were peace and silent. And yet, I am safe and sound!

我没有在普罗维登斯拍很多照片，可能因为没有那种心情状态吧。唯一一次我完全放松是骑电动车在城市穿梭。值得一提的是, 我参观了洛夫克拉夫特的坟墓。任何喜欢克苏鲁神话的人都应该熟悉他。(我来看他的坟墓只当是好玩)当我问我的朋友, 他们想一起去吗, 他们说我真是很奇怪，并警告我要小心那里的邪教会议。结果那里一片和平和安静。