FIRST OFF

hqf.steven

First off, I want to give a sincere apology for not writing in a long
time.  For most of you I have not written since I left for Africa in late
April.  As you know, I was there for 5 months working in an orphanage.

   I worked in a nursery with abandoned babies.  Some of them were as young
as 1 day but most of them were a few months old.  There were also several
toddlers in the nursery ages 1 to 3.  My job was to take care of these
children until they could be adopted into a good home.  By "take care of" I
mean feed, burp, play with, dress, and yes - change diapers!  In fact I
probably changed over 5000 diapers during my time at the orphanage!!  It
seems too big of a number but there were over 30 babies.  Each baby is fed
and changed at least every 3 hours so...well, I'm not much of a math student
but it was a lot of diapers!  In any case, it was a busy but rewarding 5
months.

   I met some great people during my time away at the orphanage.  And made
some great friends.  One interesting thing about this experience was meeting
people from all over the world.  Every where from Austria to USA to France,
to Ireland, to Australia, to England and yes some Canadians too.  Two of my
favorite friends I met while away were from Austria, both of which were
named Anna - which is quite a coincidence because that has been my favorite
name for several years.  Some other good friends I made while away are from
America - Alicia (from I forget where) and Kelby from Texas.  Of course I
made some good Canadian friends as well - Sandra and Jodi from Calgary and
"Cat" (short for Cathy) from Vancouver.  Perhaps my best friend while away
was Joseph from Edmonton.  His family is Chinese and he can speak a little
(much better than I) but he has lived in Canada all his life.  He was the
only other boy working at the nursery most of my time there so we of course
became great friends.  It's nice to live in this modern world as the
internet makes staying in contact with new friends from around the world
quite easy - but I guess I do not have to tell you that.

   I also made quite a few South African friends who worked at the orphanage
- some were full time workers and others only weekly volunteers that lived
in the area.  Work at the orphanage was quite busy and most of the time we
worked from 6am to 6pm with one free day each week.  On my free days I would
sometimes visit with my local friends but most of the time I played with the
children living at the orphanage who were older.  You see the family that
started this orphanage 12 years ago has adopted 21 children ages 3 to 13.  
All of them live in the same house so it is indeed a busy place!  When I had
a day off I would often spend a good part of my day playing with the
children or talking with the teenagers that lived at the orphanage.  I have
taken lots of pictures and will be sure to send some to all of you in the
future with my emails.

   All in all, it was a great experience, one that I will never forget.  
Much like teaching in China and meeting all of you.  Which brings me to my
next point.  When I left China over a year ago, I had sincerely planned on
coming back to teach and visit my friends there for a few months beginning
in February of 2005.  However now that the time is at hand, I am afraid it
is no longer a possibility.  I'm very sorry.  I may not have many good
qualities; however I am an honest man.  As I think you all came to know, or
at least I hope you did.  When I left China I had sincerely planned on
coming back in February of 2005.  I was so sure that it was going to happen.
  But sometimes things don't work out the way you planned.  All of us know
this.

   As you may remember, when I finished high school over 3 and a half years
ago I did not go to University afterwards because I had wanted to pay for it
on my own, and perhaps travel as well.  So, I did.  I have been spending all
of the money I made from work on travels among other things and still did
not have enough to cover it.  Luckily I was fortunate enough to have my
parents to help me as well because I would never have had enough if it
wasn't for them.  I definitely do not regret my travels or experiences.  
Definitely not.  I will always be grateful that I have had such luck.  But I
have always been planning to go to University and am still planning too.  As
I planned I will be beginning University in September of 2005.  I have
already been accepted.  During the past few years I have slowly realized
that I will not be able to pay for University on my own, but I am still
hoping to keep working as I am now and save up what I can, perhaps even
enough for my first year.  Then I plan to have a part time job while at
University to cover some of my expenses. I am very fortunate to have such
patient parents and they will help me with the rest.  It would be selfish of
me to leave home again, instead I will stay and continue to work and save.

   I am disappointed that I will not be able to return to China this year as
I had hoped, but I am also very grateful to have at least had the
opportunity to visit there at all and meet some of the people I have met.  I
am also quite grateful to have such a great family and such great friends
here at home.  So I certainly can't complain.

   I hope my news does not disappoint any of you much.  I'm sure it won抰,
as I know you will understand.

   I look forward to any of your replies in the future.  And I will be sure
to reply much sooner than I have this past year.

hqf.steven

寻找高手！试着翻译以上的资料。

jiey

<P>First off, I want to give a sincere apology for not writing in a long
time.  For most of you I have not written since I left for Africa in late
April.  As you know, I was there for 5 months working in an orphanage.</P><P>我为自己很长时间没有写信而道歉，自从四月底我去了非洲就没有给你们中的大部分人写信。你知道的，在那里我在一家孤儿院工作了5个月。</P><P>时间有限，先翻译第一段，等有机会再帮你翻译，其他朋友也可以来帮忙</P>

jiey

<P>匆忙翻译完第二段，其他人也别只旁观阿，来交流吧</P><P>  I worked in a nursery with abandoned babies.  Some of them were as young
as 1 day but most of them were a few months old.  There were also several
toddlers in the nursery ages 1 to 3.  My job was to take care of these
children until they could be adopted into a good home.  By "take care of" I
mean feed, burp, play with, dress, and yes - change diapers!  In fact I
probably changed over 5000 diapers during my time at the orphanage!!  It
seems too big of a number but there were over 30 babies.  Each baby is fed
and changed at least every 3 hours so...well, I'm not much of a math student
but it was a lot of diapers!  In any case, it was a busy but rewarding 5
months.</P><P>我在一家收容被抛弃婴儿的托儿所工作。 这些婴儿中有些只生下来一天，大部分也只有几个月大。这里还有一些年龄1-3岁刚学会走路的孩子。我的工作是照顾这些孩子直到他们可以被一个好的家庭收养。我说的“好好照顾“指的是喂他们吃饭、喂饱、陪他们玩、给他们穿衣服，还有就是换尿布！实际上我在孤儿院的期间可能换过5000片次尿布！！看上去是一个不小的数字但是（你若知道）那里有超过30个婴儿（就不会奇怪了）。每一个孩子至少每隔3小时就要喂食、换尿布。是的，我数学学得不好但是那的确会弄出很多尿布和脏布。无论如何，那真的很忙，但是五个月的工作也很有价值</P>

hqf.steven

<P>jiey:</P><P>First off,  thank you very much!</P><P>you are kind of man !</P><P>surprised at you your english writting skill!</P><P>would you help me forever?</P>

jiey

<P>yeah, in this english corner, I will</P><P>hope you provide much more chance for us to communication.</P>

jiey

I suggest you use "first of all" instead of the word "first off "

hqf.steven

<P>[U]试着翻译一段，请斑竹斧正！
我也交了一些工作在孤儿院的南非本地朋友，他们有些是全日制的工人，有些是居住在本地的周志愿者。在孤儿院工作大部分时间是相当忙的，从早上六点到下午六点，每周仅有以天的休息日。在休息日，有时我去找本地的朋友玩，大部分时间我和孤儿院大些的小孩一起玩。你知道13年前成立的这家孤儿院以收养了21个3到13岁的孩子。所有的孩子生活在同一个房子里的确相当忙乱，当我完成一天的本职工作后，我通常和孤儿院的小朋友交谈或一起玩来度过美好时光。我已经拍了许多照片，以后我会用E-MAIL 发给大家。
[glow=255,red,2]文字[/glow][/U]</P>

jiey

<P>翻译的比我的好哦，反正我看不出什么错误。</P><P>翻译，最讲究的是信、达、雅，既要准确又要传神还要有美感</P><P>希望你以后经常来我们英语角，多多赐教</P>

hqf.steven

<P>I agree with you  instead of first of all.chinese means 首先</P>

hqf.steven

long time no talk!

jiey

<P>hope other people try to translate </P><P>If you want to talk, I suggest you select the special post for talking, that would be rather appropriate: ) </P>