你是旅行者还是旅游者?_大学英语阅读

你是旅行者还是旅游者?

In contrast, travelers interact much more with the people and places found at their travel destinations. They enjoy not only the main sights, but also the back streets and hidden neighborhoods in and around their destinations. They observe the local culture and inhabitants, and seek to understand them. And in the process, they share information about their own culture.

When I first visited Paris at the age of 28, I was strictly in tourist mode. I traveled with several friends. We spent three days in Paris. While there, we partook of all the standard tourist activities—we rode the Bateaux Mouches, visited the Latin Quarter, climbed up to the gallery of Notre-Dame—I’ve got plenty of pictures to show for the trip.

As we dragged our bags through the 9th arrondissement looking for our hotel, I noticed that the people on the streets did not look like what I considered a French person to be. They were Arabs, or more precisely, North Africans. And they were everywhere! I vaguely wondered why they were there, but immediately became caught up in keeping up with my friends and trying to find the hotel.

I always had an interest in the French language. At that time, France represented a language for me, not a people. Certainly not a mix of peoples! My fantasy of moving to a French-speaking country was fueled by my visit, but my sense of Paris’ cultural diversity was not yet awakened. It was only after I sought a job in France that I began to learn more about the history and culture of the country. I remembered our trek through the 9tharrondissement, and began to realize that France’s population is as diverse as that of the United States.