歡迎來到中國日報歐洲分社系列欄目《新中國人》第三期。
“新中國人”不僅有吳放和於準這樣的職場菁英,還有今天我們要認識這位全職媽媽——培養了學霸兒子上伊頓、牛津,創辦了教育機構幫助更多準學霸孩子。
她是羅子薇,全職帶娃但拒絕做“虎媽”,她認為,“新中國人”要接受優質的教育,更要有包容世界的胸懷……
有事業、有生活,怎不令人羨慕呢?
辭職帶娃 匠心培育
子薇創立的鉑會教育(Belmore Education)就在牛津,8到16歲的中國學生在這裡接受預科教育,為走進優秀的英國公立學校做準備。
原來,把自己的兒子送進名校還不算圓滿,子薇覺得,應該幫助更多的中國孩子實現夢想。
先來感受一下子薇的兒子吳比(Bill)這位學霸小鮮肉吧:
這位小哥哥可是首位考取伊頓公學國王獎學金的中國大陸學生。之後,他順利進入牛津大學,在基布爾學院學習音樂。
這樣的學霸孩子是怎麼帶出來的?原來,為了陪伴和教育兒子,子薇先後兩次放棄工作,做起了在那個年代並不多見的全職媽媽。
I did quit my job twice in my life. The first time, when I just got the news that I was pregnant, I thought I needed to quit to be a full-time mother for my baby. And the second time when I quit my job, it was for raising him as well. My son started to read very early. Every day when he read books, he wrote quite a lot of notes to ask questions. When I got home, there were many notes waiting for me. At the very beginning I thought it was a very interesting way to communicate with my son. But after some time, I thought, it's really unfair to him. That's why I just really thought I needed to quit again.
我兩次辭掉工作。第一次是我得知自己懷孕的時候,為了照顧嬰兒,我想我需要辭職來做全職母親。第二次辭職,也是為了養育孩子。我兒子很小就開始讀書。他每天讀書的時候,都會做很多筆記來提問,等我回家回答。一開始我覺得這樣的交流方式很有趣,但後來,我覺得這對他不公平。於是我再次辭去了工作。
天天和媽媽在一起,Bill並沒有被媽媽規劃人生,而是隨著媽媽“讀萬卷書,行萬里路”,牛津和伊頓,只是他們萬里路上的一站。
We didn't really intentionally prepare for him to go to Eton, but just from when he was born, I think because I love reading and his dad loves reading. So I think he was really hugely influenced by his parents. When Bill was 5, he started to read a lot of books and also from when he was very little, we started to go to all around the world, lots of traveling, so Bill’s really well-travelled.
我們並沒有刻意培養他進入伊頓公學。我和丈夫都喜愛閱讀,他從出生就深受父母影響,從五歲開始就大量閱讀。同時,我們開始在世界各處旅行,帶他去了很多地方。
Eton [ˈi:tn] n. 伊頓公學,英國最昂貴的私立學校。
I think if we say the secret – I think actually it's just to encourage the child to explore as much as he wants and let him be what he is, I think that is very important.
如果說培養孩子有什麼祕訣的話,我想便是鼓勵他儘可能多地探索世界,讓他做自己,這非常重要。
是不是一個思想超前,敢作敢為的媽媽呢?
走出家庭 探索世界 熱心公益
自己的兒子培養成人了,子薇開始把眼界轉移到外面的世界。
One of my very good friends, he said perhaps something you would like to do is a kind of charity. Oh, yes, I would love to try, especially the charity. Actually at the moment I didn't realize it was one of Prince Charles’ Foundations——The Prince’s Youth Business International.
我一個非常要好的朋友說,或許你會想要做慈善一類的工作。我當然想試試,其實當時我還沒意識到這個組織是查爾斯王子創設的——王子青年創業國際計劃。
青年創業國際計劃是一個大型的慈善組織,動員社會各界特別是工商界的力量為青年創業提供諮詢和扶助,2000年從王子慈善集團獨立出來,中國是最大的成員國之一。
剛加入時,子薇的職務是中國區的顧問,後來又成為了亞太區的顧問,這段工作經歷刷新了她對慈善的認知:
The charity work or charity kind of thinking is part of British people’s lives. It is not like in China—if someone in China did some charity, people would think “Oh, they must be very rich or they be something,” but actually in the UK, I’ve found even for average people, they just find that charity work and helping people is a part of their life. That's why I would love to be involved.
慈善工作或者說慈善思想是英國人生活的一部分。不像在中國——如果有人在中國做慈善,大家就會想“噢,他一定是有錢人或者是什麼大人物”。但是在英國,我發現即便是普通人,他們也會加入慈善組織去幫助別人,這是他們生活的一部分,也是我願意加入的原因。
帶著慈善給她的視野和胸懷,在幫助別人這條路上,她更不忘把自己的特長分享給別人——教育。
I set up Belmore Education, I really want to prepare elite Chinese families and their children to get into very prestigious top public schools in the UK. But beyond that, I just really want to use my own experience and prepare children as a whole person, to be independent in thinking, and to be really like an international citizen. But in the meantime, we also help their parents to get to know more about the world, about the history around this country as well.
我創立鉑會教育,是想培養中國菁英家庭的孩子們,使他們能夠進入英國高等私立學府學習。不過,比這更重要的,是我想用我個人的經驗來培養他們健全的人格,使他們能夠獨立思考,成為真正的國際公民。同時,我們也幫助父母們更多地瞭解世界、瞭解歷史以及瞭解這個國家(英國)。
elite [eɪˈli:t] n. 精英
public school 指英國公學,私立寄宿中學,相對應得是state school 在英國指(免費的)公立學校
為了把更多的中國菁英引入英國的上流社會,子薇加入了英國夏洛特宮廷舞會(The Queen Charlotte’s Ball)的組織機構,並引薦了多名中國淑媛。
The Queen Charlotte’s Ball was one of the very prestigious royal events in the past. And that’s a debutantes’ ball, for when a young girl is going to be 18, so it’s a big day for them to be introduced into society.
英國夏洛特宮廷舞會過去是皇室有名的社交活動,為年輕的初次進入上流社交活動的英國貴族少女舉辦。沒錯,就是大家在名著和電影中經常見到的場景。
debutante [ˈdebjutɑ:nt] n. 初進社交界的上流社會年輕女子
做為英國文化軟實力代表之一,舞會傳統後來向海外推廣,並逐年增加海外淑媛人數,逐漸成為國際社交舞會。
When I introduced the Chinese debutantes for the first time to the chairman of The Queen Charlotte’s Ball, she was really amazed about our Chinese girls and Chinese families because actually for British people, also, they found that the Chinese culture is very long-standing, dating back so many years ago. So from our perspective, it is kind of amazing to see such prestige, but also kind of like opening a new window or opening a new door.
當我第一次將中國淑媛引薦給舞會的主席時,她為中國女孩和中國家庭的風采感到非常驚訝。英國人認識了中國悠久的歷史文化,這讓中國人感到很有面子的同時,也為世界打開了一扇瞭解中國的新窗口。
自己的孩子成才不是成才,更多的中國孩子走向世界才是世界。
敞開胸懷擁抱世界
憶往昔崢嶸歲月,子薇感慨那段境遇:
The first time when I came to the UK, it was quite a long time ago, and no one in the UK would think I was a Chinese—everyone would think I was Japanese. I was really upset about it: “Why was I not Chinese, why was I so Japanese?” Later on, I found it because they said normally in local British people’s minds, they would think the Chinese look like those from the past in Chinatowns.
(我)第一次來英國是很久以前,當時沒人覺得我是中國人,大家都認為我是日本人。我真的是非常沮喪,為什麼我不能是中國人?為什麼覺得我像日本人?後來我才知道,通常在英國當地人的認知中,他們覺得中國人都應該像過去一樣生活在中國城。
子薇認為“新中國人”應該是開放且包容的世界公民,而且像她一樣的“新中國人”會越來越多。
然而,像子薇一樣的“新中國人”不僅不侷限在中國城,還幫助更多中國人走向英國更高的階層。
I think the New Chinese should have very good education, and very good thinking about the world. We cannot be narrow-minded any more as in the past, and we should be very open-minded. For the New Chinese, we are Chinese, but we are also global citizens—that’s what I think perhaps can be a part of what the New Chinese needs to be.
我想“新中國人” 必須是受過優質教育的,善於思考這個世界。我們不能像過去那樣侷限自己的思維,而是要打開。對於“ 新中國人”來說,我們是中國人,更是世界公民,這是我所認為的“新中國人”必備素質的一部分。
關注《新中國人》系列,認識更多更牛的海外中國人!
下一期,我們將推出一位修繕英國紐卡斯爾北洋水師墓的“主角”,他有著從10英鎊到1500萬鎊新華人的拼搏人生。
記者:王銘潔 張菲菲
編輯:李雪晴
實習編輯:陳月華
實習生:徐天一
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