American Hospitality

       A report consistently brought back by visitors to the US is how friendly, courteous, and helpful most Americans were to them. To be fair, this observation is also frequently made of Canada and Canadians, and should best be considered North American. There are, of course, exceptions. Small minded officials, rude waiters, and ill mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US. Yet it is an observation made so frequently that is deserves comment.

       有报道不断地被去美国的访客带回，关于大多数美国人对待他们是如何的友好，有礼貌和乐意助人。公平的说，这个情况也经常来自加拿大和加拿大人，最正确应该说是北美人。在这里，当然，也有例外。几乎没人不知道美国的小气的官员，粗鲁的服务员和没礼貌的出租车司机。然而，它是一个频繁发生的现象，值得评论。

       For a long period of time and in many parts of the country, a traveler was a welcome break in an otherwise dull existence. Dullness and loneliness were common problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another. Strangers and travelers were welcome soruces of diversion, and brought news of the outside world.

       在一段很长的时间和国家的一些地区，一个旅行者对于乏味的生活是一个受欢迎的到来。乏味和孤单是那些一般互相之间生活距离很远的家庭的普遍问题。陌生人和旅行者是受欢迎的解闷来源，并带来外面世界的新闻。

       The harsh realities of the frontier also shaped this tradition of hospitality. Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to trun except to the nearest cabin or settlement. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or merely a charitable impulse on the part of the settlers. It reflected the harshness of daily life: if you didn't take in the stranger and take care of him, there was no one else who would. And someday, remember, you might be in the same situation.

       边境上残酷的现实也促进了这个友好的传统。某人孤单旅行，如果饿了，受伤了，或病了，常常没地方可去，只有去最近的小屋或是村落。这不是旅行者的选择的问题，或仅仅是部分村民一种仁慈的冲动。它反映了日常生活的残酷性：如果你不安置这个陌生人并且照顾他，就没有其他人会做。并且某一天，记住，你可能也处在同样的境地。

       Today there are many charitable organizations which specialize in helping the weary traveler. Yet, the old tradition of hospitality to strangers is still very strong in the US, especially in the samller cities and towns away from the busy tourist trails. "I was just traveling through, got talking with this American, and pretty soon he invited me home for dinner - amazing." Such observations reported by visitors to the US are not uncommon, but are not always understood property. The casual friendliness of many Americans should be interpreted neither as superficial nor as artificial, but as the result of a historically developed cultural tradition.

       现在有一些慈善机构专门帮助疲惫的旅行者。然而，对陌生人友好的老传统在美国仍然非常强烈，尤其在远离繁忙的观光路线的小城市和城镇。“我仅仅旅行路过，正和这个美国人交谈，很快他就邀请我到家用餐 — 真不可思议。”如此的美国访客报道的现象并非罕见，但是经常不被合理理解。这种一些美国人偶然的友善不应该被视作表面上的或虚伪的，而应该作为一种历史发展的文化传统的结果。

       As is true of any developed society, in America a complex set of cultural signals, assumptions, and conventions underlies all social interrelationships. And, of course, speaking a language does not necessarily mean that someone understands social and cultural pattern. Visitors who fail to "translate" cultural meanings property often draw wrong conclusions. For example, when an American uses the word "friend", the cultural implications of the word may be quite different from those it has in the visitor's language and culture. It takes more than a brief encounter on a bus to distinguish between courteous convention and individual interest. Yet, being friendly is a virtue that many American value highly and expect from both neighbors and strangers.

       正如任何发达社会的真实情况，在美国一系列复杂的文化信息，假说和创造是所有的相互关系的基础。并且，当然，说一门语言不一定表示他懂得这门语言的社会和文化形态。访客没有合理地“翻译”文化的含义常常导致错误的结论。举个例子，当一个美国人使用单词“朋友”，这个单词代表的文化含义可能和那些访客的语言和文化中的含义相去甚远。在一辆巴士上区分礼貌习惯和个人兴趣几乎可以说是一场短暂的遭遇战。然而，对人友好是一项美德，它被美国人看得很重并且希望对邻居和陌生人都能如此。