在美国，五月是被称为亚裔和太平洋地区移民的月份，官方名称为“亚州和太平洋岛屿传统月”。一九七八年，美国总统卡特签署了一份参众两院共同的决议案，宣布五月的前十天作为庆贺亚洲移民和太平洋岛屿移民所带给美国的传统的日期。后来，原来的十天就被延伸到整个五月。

之所以选五月为亚裔月是因为第一位日本移民是在一八四三年五月七日到美国的，也是因为由大量中国移民艰辛建造贯穿美国大陆的铁路是在一八六九年五月完工的。

在五月，整个美国的各大城市都有很多庆祝亚裔文化和食品的庆祝会。上个礼拜六，我全家和朋友们参加了在达拉斯市中心举办的亚裔庆祝会。我们欣赏了由菲律宾、斯里兰卡、印度和越南舞蹈。在熙熙攘攘人群中，与我们交谈的人们来自很多不同的国家，包括从中国来的。我们还品尝了亚洲不同地方的美味。庆祝会是在城市公园里进行，那里挤满了从二十六个国家来的人。年轻人随着鼓声的节奏翩翩起舞，而老年人却微笑地坐在树荫底下欣赏。很多人都穿上他们五彩缤纷的民族盛装，以红色、金色、黄色、紫色和绿色为主，还配有很多珠子和其他装饰品。这些民族服装真是鲜艳夺目。

如果天气不是那么的热，人没有那么拥挤的话，我们一定会待久一点。在庆祝会上几个小时以后，我们决定找一家餐厅，可以吃点东西，也可以凉快一些。我们早就告诉了我们的朋友，我们所喜爱的餐厅，就是称为“意大利细面仓库”的意大利餐厅。于是，我们就从“亚洲”走到了“意大利”。里面的冷气真是舒服，我们终于逃脱了炎热的太阳。

在餐厅里，我们由我们所喜爱的服务员布诺洛来为我们服务。（我们喜欢他不仅是因为他工作很努力，而且他幽默，讨人喜欢。）如果你很快地把一杯水喝完了，他就立刻给你换一个大杯子送上一大杯子水；如果你又很快地把这一大杯水喝了，他就会给你送上一个更大杯子的水。我们的日本朋友觉得这实在太搞笑了。而我的女儿竟然得到了一大罐（通常是服务员给客人倒水的那个大罐）健怡可乐。

May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month in the United States. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed a joint resolution declaring the first 10 days of May to be a time of honoring the heritage of people from the Asian-Pacific rim. Later the 10 days were extended to include the entire month of May.

May was chosen because the first immigrants from Japan came to America on May 7, 1843. It also was in May of 1869 when the transcontinental railroad was finished through the hard work of many Chinese immigrants.

In May, all across America’s major cities, there are festivals celebrating the culture and foods of Asian countries and their people. Last Saturday, my family and friends, attended such a festival in downtown Dallas. We watched the traditional dances of the Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, and Vietnam. We talked with people from all kinds of places and countries, including China. We also tasted of many different types of food from across Asia. The city park, where the festival was held, was full of people from at least 26 nations. Young people were dancing to the pounding of drums, and the elders were sitting, under what shade could be found, watching everything with pleasant smiles. Many of the people were in their native costumes or dresses. The dresses were beautiful and bright colors of red, gold, yellow, purple and green. The costumes had many beads and decorations attached to them. All of them were quite beautiful.

It would have been nice if we could have stayed longer but it was very hot and very crowded. After a couple of hours we decided to find a restaurant in which to eat and to cool off. We had told our friends about a place which we love to visit called the Spaghetti Warehouse. It is an Italian restaurant. So, from Asia to Italy we “took a trip.” It was nice to enter the cool air of the building and escape the heat of the hot sun.

We were able to have our favorite waiter, Bruno, serve us. (We like him because he not only works hard but is very pleasant and funny.) If he serves you a glass of water, and you drink it quickly, he will bring you more water in a larger container. If you also drink this he will bring an even larger container. Our Japanese friends thought this was very funny. My daughter was given a serving pitcher for her Diet Coke.

总而言之，我们那一天过的非常快乐。我很高兴，遇见了很多人，经历了很多新鲜事物。我总是对人类不同文化和不同语言感到惊讶和好奇。然而，当我与更多的人真正地接触了以后，我发觉，我们之间相同之处远远超过我们的分歧。

讨论问题

• 1. 你觉得这篇文章里有哪些地方很特别？

  2. 你对了解其他国家文化的那些方面感兴趣？

  3. 你觉得对外国人的什么是最难了解的？

  4. 你对作者所说的，人们“之间相同之处远远超过我们的分歧”，有什么看法？

Overall, we greatly enjoyed the day. It makes me happy to meet new people and experience new things. I am always amazed by the diversity of mankind’s cultures and languages. Yet, the more I learn about other people the more I realize that we are truly more alike than we are different.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• 1. What is something interesting from this article?

  2. What do you like about learning about another culture?

  3. What do you think is the most difficult thing about getting to know someone from another culture?

  4. What are your thoughts on the author's comment that the more he learns about other cultures, the more they are alike than different?