实战口语情景对话 第447期:The Big OE 海外大体验

Todd: So Mark, when I was in London I saw so many people from New Zealand and actually everywhere in the world I meet so many people from New Zealand, but you have such a small population. Is anybody still in New Zealand?
托德：马克，我在伦敦见过很多来自新西兰的人，实际上世界各地都有很多来自新西兰的人，可是你们新西兰的人口很少。现在还有人在新西兰吗？

Mark: Yeah, I think the Kiwis and Aussies that you see in London and in other parts of England and Europe, many of them are young Kiwis doing what we call 'the big OE'.
马克：是啊，我认为你在伦敦和英国或欧洲其他地方看到的那些新西兰人和澳大利亚人，有很多都是年轻的新西兰人正在进行“海外大体验”。

Todd: The big OE? What's that?
托德：海外大体验？那是什么？

Mark: 'The big overseas experience' or 'the big overseas excursion'. So, a lot of people, when they finish school or finish university, they take a year offand because New Zealand is located a long way from anywhere, instead of taking a trip from one country to another for a week, like many Europeans do, when young New Zealanders travel they tend to go backpacking a lot, get a part time job working in a pub or a restaurant in London to make more money and then they will travel for 3 or 4 months through Europe. They may go back to England and work a bit more and then see a few more countries, and then maybe after a year or so they'll start heading back towards home. That's 'the big OE'.
马克：“海外大体验”或者说“海外大考察”。有许多人在完成学业或是大学毕业之后，都会休息一年，因为新西兰离其他地方很远，所以不能像欧洲许多国家那样只用一周的时间就去其他国家旅行，一般新西兰的年轻人会选择背包旅行，在伦敦的酒吧或者餐厅找份兼职的工作赚些钱，这样他们就能在欧洲旅行三四个月。之后他们可能会回到伦敦继续工作，然后再去其他的国家旅行，大概一年之后他们会结束旅行回家。这就是“海外大体验”。

Todd: So did you do 'the big OE'?
托德：那你以前进行过“海外大体验”吗？

Mark: Sort of, yeah. After I'd finished work at…after I'd finished university I worked for a few months and yes, I did go to England. I'd applied for a job and then hadn't heard back so I started my OE and I did it for a few months and then I actually found out I'd got a job, so I cut the OE short to join the working world.
马克：类似吧。我结束了工作……我大学毕业之后工作了几个月的时间，然后我去了英国。当时我申请了一份工作但是没有收到回复，所以我就开始了“海外大体验”，我大概旅行了几个月的时间，然后找到了一份工作，所以我就结束了“海外大体验”，开始了工作。

Todd: Ok, what countries besides London are popular for Kiwis to go and visit?
托德：好，那除了伦敦以外，新西兰人还喜欢去哪个国家旅行？

Mark: Um, now…
马克：这个……

Todd: Or what cities or places?
托德：或者是哪个城市和地方？

Mark: Now I think they're getting more adventurous. Before it used to be very euro-centric, but now a lot more people are going through Asia and going to more exotic locations: maybe South America, some people travel to Africa. The old ties to England are still there; I think that's still the first location for many people: save a bit of money and then see the rest of the world.
马克：我觉得他们现在喜欢冒险。以前的旅行基本都集中在欧洲地区，但是现在越来越多人会去亚洲或者更具异国情调的地方旅行；也许是美国南部，也有一些人去非洲旅行。当然和英国的关系依然存在；我认为英国仍然是大部分人的首选，因为去那里可以存些钱，然后还可以去世界其他地方走走看看。