连云港位于上海北面300英里左右，是一座拥有75万人口的港口城市，作为16世纪小说《西游记》中“美猴王”的故乡而名扬中国。但是，2004年的连云港看上去却截然不同：到处都充斥着灰蒙蒙的高楼、闪烁的霓虹灯和喧闹的出租车。

Foreign residents in Lianyungang were few and far between. I was told that the first English teacher arrived in 2000 and when she—a middle-aged New Zealander with white hair—walked around, bicyclists sometimes slammed into parked cars. By the time I arrived four years later, there were about ten Western teachers in the city, but we still caused a minor frenzy when we ventured into a crowd of people.

在连云港老外并不多见。我听说这里直到2000年才有外教——那个满头银发的中年新西兰女教师无论走到哪儿，都能招来不少注目。4年后我到连云港，发现这里统共有10个外教，而且我们走在人群里也会引起小小的骚动。

Usually, there were the "hellos": Young Chinese people would shout the word, accompanied by peals of laughter, as I walked in the city. Other people would tail me and ask for my phone number or address. Once, when walking through a university campus, I attracted a small mob of people who, wishing to practice their English, bombarded me with questions.

通常当我走在大街上时，年轻人会大笑着冲我喊一句“哈罗”；也有人会跟着我要电话号码或地址。有次我在大学校园里遇到一帮想练英语的学生，连珠炮似的问我一堆问题。

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