无题夜话:写给2013年的春节

终于没有下笔去写2012年的总结,因为我发现,过去的两年,除了科研转型带来的困惑和与妻子家人分居亚欧大陆两端的思念之情外,实在是没有什么好写。与曾经的研究生生活相比,我的博士生涯可谓波澜不惊却跌宕起伏,风平浪静却暗潮汹涌。尽管日此,我搜藏挂肚,也难以找出值得记录的事件。或许,正如一首歌唱得好,平平淡淡才是真吧。

一如惯例,在英国这个所谓的西方国家,春节是很难找到一点感觉的。除了宿管中心因为华人学生趋多而随俗地来了一份“Happy New Year of the snake”(中文译:蛇年新年快乐)外,似乎很难找到一点过年的感觉。于我?其也不过是一个平常的周末。唯一的区别,恐怕就是我看了春晚,吃了饺子吧。更重要的是,我吃了两顿饺子:一顿速冻,一顿手工。

正当我打算就睡一觉来欢度春节之时,我收到了XY的邀请去她家包饺子。显然,我这种多年不包饺子的货色去了也基本是个打酱油的货色。大家一起行动的感觉自然是快乐的。其中充斥着各种Gossip(所谓的八卦),从老大的自行车技到双曲线之典故,从各地风俗到学术研究,此种讨论可谓是包罗万象。正如一句古语所说:有些东西,只有当你真正的失去时,才会想到其存在的价值。与我而言,当真正地与同胞在异国他乡的饭桌上海阔天空之时,却终究发现英语无论多好,于我们外国人而言,也无法达到如此闲聊的地步。毕竟除了本身语言的问题外,他还包括了文化的因素。而这,则是一个复杂,却也难有可行解的命题。

西方人是永远无法中国人的故土情节和人情冷暖的。正如办公室的Justin总是难以理解中国的春运一般。我们无法理解英国年轻Party上的酗酒行为,老外们估计也难以理解我们的聚餐文化。而正是这种文化构建出了中国社会的一种自上而下的,与西方社会迥异的社会结构和运行体制。事实上,这种人治的社会也伴随着中国这个国度度过了数千年,并也创造了贞观、万历等盛世。事实上,也是这种以”人“为本的文化背景使得国人格外重视重要的节假日。尽管人在异乡便是客,聪慧的国人也有着自己的方式来庆祝这些佳节。

西方,尤其是欧美,自文艺复兴以后便开始了独立化的征程。在西方的文化中,法高于一切和法律之前人人平等已经深入人心。西方的文化虽然也有亲情,他们却基于非常小的家庭单元——夫妻和未成年子女。他们的文化,或许是我的误解,往往寄托于“受托责任”关系,也就没有了中国般“24孝”的基础。正如一棵树木离开土地无法生存,一种文化现象在离开它所依仗的土壤之时,往往也预见了其悲惨的结局。所以在西方,我们看到了Party,我们也看到了家庭的温馨晚宴,但是我们却难以看到中国的家族式观念。

作为初来英国的华人,包括两年前的我,都会对一切都表示好奇。感觉一切都好。然而随着时间的迁移,我们会渐渐发现英国生活的无聊,人与人之间的关系之冷漠。尽管在国内,我们天天抱怨办公室政治,我们抱怨国人的素质,甚至于我们会抱怨空气质量,但当我们真正的在这里呆久了以后,我们会慢慢发现其实如果没有错中复杂的人际关系,对于国人而言,居然会有一种空落的感觉。正如Kate Fox在她的书中所写一般,英国人给人的感觉总是冷漠的。因为它们重视自己的隐私。而更进一步,这事实上是一个法治社会的基本形态。

事实上,生活在两种文化冲突的最前线,或许是幸运的,也或许是悲观的。之所以说其幸运,是因为只有在两种风格迥异文化的对冲中,我们可以进一步了解各家之所长,之所短。但是同样的,这种对冲极有可能导致迷失的发生。我们会渐渐地失去方向,与飘落在水面上的落叶般,或顺流而下,或陷于漩涡中不可自拔。如果说欧美文化对于外来文化是宽容的,那就是大错特错了。本周Economist因为朝鲜的核试验危机而开始大谈朝鲜。与以往一边倒的言论不同的是,该刊的两篇文章居然在讨论朝鲜社会改变的点点滴滴。这些点点滴滴的改变,于中国80年代初的市场经济般属星星之火,以至于Economist的文章建议欧美政府鼓励其改革。这让我想到了上世纪90年代轰动世界的一个大事件+东欧剧变。显然,西方文化更愿意接受的,是一种与自身制度相一致的国家。

西方的春节于是恰好地揭示了这种文化冲突。国人都在欢欢喜喜地过大年,而老外却如没事人般。其实这点我很羡慕香港和新加坡的同僚。因为他们的春节至少还有一些假期,而我们,则是一无所有。这正是身在异乡为客渡,难得他人行同路啊。

最后附上一首《天道》中的打油诗,聊以自慰

本是后山人,
偶做前堂客。
醉舞经阁半卷书,
坐井说天阔。
大志戏功名,
海斗量福祸。
论到囊中羞涩时,
怒指乾坤错。

Some Words for The Chinese New Year of 2010

Time has been passed over the 12:00 point and now it is the last day of the 2009 and we are welcoming the first day of the new year, according to the traditional calendar of China. Just like the westerners are caring much on the Christmas and New Year’s day, that the Chinese have paid adequate attention to this festival for thousands of years. However, the Chinese New Year is a bit different from the others. More precisely, I find no feeling that I am welcoming an important festival. Instead, I have received some unexpected gifts for my coming new year.

  1. The poor weather these days

    Such feeling may be partially due to the poor weather that most regions in southern China are suffering. It is curious that the weather of this winter is so abnormal that you can hardly judge whether you are living in spring or winter. The temperature of Suzhou yesterday has been raised to 17 degrees while it drops to 3 today. It is just like that we are drawn back from the spring to winter. So, definitely, it is very hard to keep a good mood in humid days. I am really quite interested in how the Britain overcome such influence from the weather to their moods. You should know that such humid weather is quite normal in England.

  2. Concerns on admission to graduate schools

    The application of graduate schools is also making me feel increasingly anxious. Anyway, a lesson that I learned in this process is quite similar to what Kuan told me before. That is, never try the thing before you are fully prepared and understood. The weakened economic conditions around the world is really a bad news for my application. A special funding for overseas research student has been abandoned. And there is no news now for the schools in Asia.Frankly, comparing to the different systems, for PhD programs in business school. The schools in US and Asia are definitely choices. I can hardly understand why there is no requirement for publications to the PhD students in UK and Australia. While, for candidates, it is quite a good news, since they won’t have to lead a life that is fully composed with paper writing, and they may thus have a excuse to stop reading papers. While, when graduated, I am quite worried about the employment of these students. Concerning the immigrants policy in UK, most graduates may have to come back to China. However, a PhD without papers of high quality may have to face a nightmare when applying for a teaching position.

  3. Dissertation

    The dissertation is also a terrible experience for me. Though with the skills that I have mastered in the past two years, working as a research assistant, the accomplishment of such a dissertation would not be a problem, it is becoming a problem as well. The most definite reason for this unfortunate is my timing arrangement as well as the concerns on the dissertation itself. Frankly speaking, timing is really a great problem for me, reading books, papers at the same time has been a great job, I have to spare some more time for my writing.The paper is also encountering its own difficulty. Following my research interest in the past few years, the topic of my dissertation is also about the timing patterns of the annual reports. However, to construct a paper with recognized quality, solid foundation on theory and hypothesis development is quite essential, as I have suggested to my colleagues. However, with the theory that I have mastered, considering the behavior via the timing pattern is a too superficial decision that it fails to dig into the nature of contemporary research. Obviously, the essential factor that are affecting the investors’ protection should be the earning information, while the timing patterns is only a behavior that is influenced by the similar root.

  4. My Wish for the New Year

    Anyway, things have to be dealt with regularly no matter how boring and difficult they are. Following the tradition of the Chinese New Year that I should establish my own wish for the coming year, I do wish I can be admitted to a recognized graduate school, or alternatively, be offered an accepted industrial position with average salary that I can consider my house compensation and marriage. This is of great priority.

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