2017-07-30

【Aiden in English】

        My current experience with debates has been uneventful, unsuccessful, and boring. Best of all, none of it was my fault. However, the only way to completely … feel the atmosphere, competitive attitude, and torturous, hair-pulling, nail-biting stress was to enter a camp. A sleepover, a ten-day period of nothing but the debate and some stress-relieving activities.

        To be completely honest, I will say preparing for this camp has already greyed some imaginary hairs on my scalp. From scrambling for items to pack, to cramming my Latin II course to essentially twenty days, I really, really don’t think this camp is worth the rush, hassle, and three thousand dollars.

        The camp itself is situated at Rider University near Princeton, NJ. You know the college sounds great when its location is referred to through other prestigious colleges. I also strongly believe that Rider University was the cheaper camp hosting area. If the surroundings weren’t enough, the sheer number of other camps using the college was very discouraging.

        Regardless, the first day usually is an easy stroll, learning the environment, but it also is the moment of decisive action of making friends. Luckily, I joined the increasing group of teens from many cultures. This leads me to the topic of race at this camp.

        The debate is an enormous program in the eyes of Asians, generally speaking, Indian and Chinese. Therefore, it isn’t a surprise to see this camp to be not only dominated by these cultures. Furthermore, the white race in the campers was non-existent. I found this a bit shocking, as the debate is not strictly unpopular within the white culture.

        Many Chinese, however, appeared at the camp. I discovered one to be a traveler from Shanghai, which was cool. What interesting was his English, which was quite fluent and had a little accent? We quickly became friends among a much larger group of Chinese.

        At the end of the day, it was really only the beginning. Being a debate camp, I have much to learn. Setting a goal now I feel is quite important. So by the end of the camp, I want to be able to create a strong case for any debate without issue. I understand this goal takes more of my skill than what is taught at camp, but I hope the instructors can hurry me along the process.

【紅霞譯文】

        我現有辯論經歷平平，毫無成功體驗，因此聊不出啥玩藝，幸虧所有一切並非我之錯，不過要想充分感受辯論氛圍增加競爭意識，乃至飽嘗心理磨難、揪頭髮、咬指甲等各項壓力，唯一的方法就是參加夏令營，十天寄宿生涯中除了辯論及適當放鬆活動而外別無它求。

        說句大實話，光是準備這個夏令營足以叫腦袋瓜上原本帶有一定想象力的頭髮變得蒼白起來，從匆匆打理出門行頭，到基本上僅用廿天功夫突擊完成一門中級拉丁語，我切身感到犯不上豪擲三千大洋來這個夏令營自討苦吃。

        夏令營設在新澤西普林斯頓附近的瑞德大學，你知道這所大學好像挺牛，常被用來確認別的名校地理位置。我敢說瑞德營條件比較簡陋，假如周圍環境不很提氣，那麼大批借用瑞德大學校舍的夏令營肯定非常失望。

        不管怎樣，第一天要熟悉環境，一般都輕鬆閒在，但這也是結交朋友付諸行動的時刻，幸虧我所參加的小組青少年兼有多元性文化背景，以至於我能在夏令營里談論種族話題。

        在亞裔人（一般指印度人和中國人）看來，辯論可謂宏大項目，因此也就沒啥奇怪該夏令營起主導作用的遠不止這兩種文化。此外，夏令營罕見白人，委實讓我跌破眼鏡，畢竟在白人文化里辯論並不是絕對不受歡迎的。

        不過夏令營有很多華裔子弟，其中一位竟然來自上海，好酷咧。有趣的是他講英語十分流利，況且沒帶什麼口音。在華人圈裡，我倆很快結成朋友。

        今天過後才是夏令營開始，既然走近辯論擂台，我有不少東西要學，當務之急就是要制定一個目標，這樣一旦夏令營結束，自己會在任何辯論場合做到辯護有據說服有力。我明白這個目標的實現主要取決於個人技巧發揮而非夏令營灌輸的東西，但還是希望輔導員能幫我速成。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2015: 76ers Overnight Camp─Playoff(七六人隊籃球寄宿營─決賽)

2014: YMCA Camp─Stuck @ Home Day-2(基督教青年會營─第二天病休在家)