16.12.30 【精短听访】英国绅士把中国寻常百姓故事写成畅销书之《北京公务员转场记》

The Foreign Office worker and two baskets of pineapples’

Jon Geldart,Executive Director with Grant Thornton International is a regular visitor toChina.  Although usually on business Jon is also a keen observer on theevery day life of people. He has published two books including ‘Notes from aBeijing Coffeeshop’.

Jon will have histhird book published soon. In this feature Jon reads part of a chapter fromthat book,  on the life of a civil servant - a worker initially with theForeign Office who eventually moved into a private company.

This tells thestory of the life of someone now living and working in Beijing - but alsolooking back at his family and of achieving successful life today.

In many wayspeople's lives reflect how the country has changed over the past thirty orforty years. Always amazing and fascinating human stories.

Track one

The story iscompiled, one of many stories that I have been able to enjoy, learning frompeople.

This one is called‘The Foreign Office worker and two baskets of pineapples’.

I was unusuallyearly

Beijing traffic cannever be so unpredictable as when there are foreign dignitaries visiting

Unusually it wasfree moving that day

The roads were notclosed as often as they might have been

we had a speedy,uninterrupted passage to the location

I had time on myhands so I wandered around the gardens

so carefully laidout among the high-rise blocks of the now fashionable Jinsong area of eastBeijing

Within easy reachof one of Beijing’s largest and most fashionable public spaces

These and eachtower house a mixture of government officials and middle class families

away from theunceasing roar of the Capital’s traffic

Li Zhu comes downfrom his apartment to greet me

“Oh welcome,welcome. No smog today!”

If you everthought that talking about the weather was a specifically British phenomena,think again!

It is nearly asubiquitous as a small talk subject  in Beijing as in Bradford, Bedford orBeckensfield in the UK.

Some say the badweather kills thousands every year around the Capital from respiratorydiseases.

You can taste iton a bad day

It otherwise stopsBeijing from being one of the World’s most liveable cities

we bemoan theconstant problems of bad air and my recent difficulties in acquiring airfilters - as we ascend the unusually well lit lift to Li Zhu’s well appointedapartment

He lives with hiswife and 17 month old son and ayi, in a spacious, well for Beijing, upper floorapartment .

The ‘ayi’translated as ‘aunt’ or ‘mother-sister’ is a nurse maid and has a veryparticular place in Chinese middle class families.

Indeed, noself-respecting working family would be without one.

Often from poorerpart of the city or surrounding regions, many ayis ‘live-in’ as a permanent‘home help’

Something as across between a nanny, a cook, cleaner or general help.

The ayi is anindispensable part of many young families’ lives

releasing theparents as they do to work or spend time on other activities 

such as the careof elderly parents

Questions

What does Jon liketo do?

What is the storycalled?

What does Jondescribe as ‘unpredictable’ in Beijing?

What is describedas a ‘specifically British phenomena’?

Who isindispensable for working families in Beijing?

Track two

We sit quietly asthe son is asleep in the next room with the ayi

Li Zhu’s wifeprepares tea and sits down quietly

Tea is served andwe pass pleasantries and gifts

We do not take ourcoats off - the heating is not turned on in Beijing each year until the 15thNovember.

The early Novemberfreeze across northern China has everyone quietly cold and grumbly

Li Zhu is happy totalk.

I was born inAnhui Province - and went to school there too.

Later I went tostudy science and technology as my degree at Wuhan University

I graduated in1998.

At the end of it Isat the government entrance exams and passed

I spent the nextthirteen years in the government foreign affairs office

Working mainly inthe neighbouring countries to China in Southeast Asia

I never dreamed Iwould end up in the Foreign Office

At that time itused to collect students from all over China, and from many different degreecourses

I was the only onefrom the science and technology discipline

They even sent meto Hong Kong for two years at one point.

It was amazing.

My parents wereteachers in the local middle school.

My two brothersare a teacher and a worker in the ‘courts of justice’

I was taught welland I studied hard - I was top of the class in middle school

My parents were soproud of me - I was good at studying and was rewarded as one of the best in mysubjects in the country

I became one ofthe youngest department leaders and division chiefs in the Foreign Ministry

Li Zhu became oneof the few global travellers in the Government of the day.

Amongst otherplaces he spent time in were the US, Germany and most of the local SoutheastAsian neighbours.

However, as he recounted,the diplomatic life had its sacrifices.

I found itimpossible to be with my parents as much as I wanted, or to start a family.

There is a choice- to serve the country or have a family

To truly serve thecountry you have to give up family

As China developsin the role as it is, it is the role of the diplomats to work hard

and tirelessly tokeep pace with the speed of change.

Li Zhu found thetime in the Foreign Office exciting as well as exacting.

After thirteenyears he wanted to have another challenge

He also wanted tohave a wider understanding of business

- so he left thedepartment to move into a state-owned consultancy working for the foreignaffairs function on large projects

and was there forthree years

Questions

Why does Jon andthe family talk quietly?

Why is it cold inthe apartment?

Working in theForeign Office, where did Li Zhu go overseas?

What was a problemof working with the Foreign Office?

Why did heeventually leave and change jobs?

获取今日课堂完整文本，请关注《英语PK台》公众微信号：英语PK台

关注主持人@京晶am774 个人微信：goingforgold2012 参与语音互动。

新浪微博：@英语PK台 @京晶am774

实用英语轻松学，就在北京外语广播英语PK台。