by Cyndi Sweeney 译/刘佳宁
Julian sailing an Optimist. Photo: Rick Qu
小帆船手Julian驾驶OP帆船。
冰冷的风吹过快乐角公园和整个西北海湾。天气也已冷得不再适合扬帆出行，拿省皇家游艇中队（RNSYS）OP级和激光级的选手们都在准备过冬。
13岁的Julian是一名狂热的帆船运动迷。小小年纪，他已经在中国、加拿大、美国参加帆船比赛并取得多个奖牌和奖杯。他说：“这里的水况感觉和中国很相似，只是这里的水更冰冷些。”他从7岁开始参与帆船运动，现在在拿省皇家游艇中队竞赛OP级帆船。OP级是面向15岁以下青少年的单手小艇。他也划激光级帆船。他对帆船运动的热爱，既充实了他的生活，也帮助他更好地融入哈利法克斯的新环境。
“我想来加拿大。”这个小冒险家说。Julian的帆船之旅始于中国，那时候他代表福建省队参加全国联赛。 2010年对于Julian来说是丰收的一年。那年，他赢得了OP级的省冠军； 也是在那年，他们一家移民到了加拿大。
移民之前，Julian的妈妈Maria在厦门大学工作。厦大一直与圣玛丽大学有合作办学项目。一次工作机会，把他们一家从厦门带到了哈利法克斯。
“我觉得能有机会来这里工作和生活是件很幸运事情。”Maria告诉我们。她认为哈利法克斯是一个非常适合孩子成长的城市。中国过于重视对成功的追求，孩子们需要背负的压力太大了。激烈的竞争让孩子失去了童年的宝贵时光。
Maria回忆说，Julian觉得课业太重，希望赶紧来到加拿大。她说：“中国的学生们经常熬夜到凌晨才能完成作业。而这里孩子没有那种压力。”
Julian现在上八年级，觉得课业很轻松。“我在国内的同学告诉我晚上要熬到10点甚至12点完成作业。”他们不到5点不能放学，而这儿的老师不会给学生这么大压力。
然而，减少课业负担也绝不足以让任何家庭草率地做出移民的决定。移民之路困难重重，遥远的距离，全新的语言环境，陌生的生活方式…… 这些都仅仅只是移民生活的开始。
Maria说：“我们之前很担心Julian搬到新的环境不能适应。”为了帮助Julian理智的看待这次长途迁移，她建议他列出想来哈利法克斯的原因以及他可能面对的所有挑战。Maria给了Julian一次认真思考以后的机会。
“一开始，英语是我最大的挑战。”Julian现在已经可以用流利的英语交流。他说：“刚来的半个学期我什么都听不懂，也不能和其他同学交流。但我现在完全可以了！”
Julian说还是很想念国内的朋友。但幸运的是，他每年都有两次回国的机会见朋友和玩帆船。
Maria很高兴地说，Julian现在有两个家：厦门和哈利法克斯。三年半的时间，他终于克服了对他来说最大的两个挑战：说英语和交朋友。
“我认为改变环境，让孩子多看看世界是有好处的。”Maria最后说。
现在，这位小运动健将学会了用修剪自家的草坪来换取零用钱。他开玩笑地抱怨家里草坪太大。他也有更多的时间投入到自己喜欢的运动项目上。冬天的寒意虽然阻止了他在水面上航行，却是学习滑雪的最好时机。
“我现在很开心，也交了不少好朋友。”他满意地说。(完）
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Icy winds whip through Point Pleasant Park and across the bay of the Northwest Arm. Too cold for hoisting sails; Optimists and Lasers are tucked-in for a long winter’s rest at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron (RNSYS).
Julian Qu (13) is an avid novice sailor who proudly displays his medals and trophies from Chinese, Canadian, and U.S. regattas. “Being on the water here is similar to China, but the water here is colder,” says Julian. He’s been sailing since the age of seven and races Optimist sailboats at the RNSYS, single-handed dinghy’s geared for children 15 years and under. He also sails Lasers. His love for sailing has kept him busy while he settled into his new home in Halifax.
“I wanted to come to Canada,” says the adventurous teen. Julian began sailing in China and raced on the Fujian Provincial team, qualifying for Nationals. 2010 was a big year for Julian. That was the year he won an Optimist Championship for Fujian Province and the year he immigrated to Canada.
His mother, Maria Pan, was working at Xiamen University in South East China when an opportunity arose to collaborate in partnership with Saint Mary’s University.
“I consider myself fortunate to have the opportunity to come and work here,” says Pan. She credits Halifax with being a very good city to raise children. Both parents agree, the pressure for children to succeed in China is fierce, saying the competition can be too much, leaving less time for kids to be kids.
Pan recalls homework was at the top of the list of reasons for Julian wanting to immigrate to Nova Scotia. “In China, the students have to stay up to eleven or twelve o’clock to finish their homework. Nobody here his age has to do that,” says Julian’s father, Rick Qu.
Now in Grade eight, Julian says he finds life here easy compared to China. “I hear my friends are up to ten or twelve at night doing homework,” they don’t finish school until five o’clock and the teachers here are easier on the students, he says.
But less homework wasn’t enough reason to move country. Moving house is notably one of the top stresses a family can experience. Add 12,000 kilometres, a new language and a whole new way of life and it only begins to highlight the significance of immigrating.
“We were worried about him moving here,” says Pan. To help put the move into perspective she had Julian write a list of all the reasons he wanted to move to Halifax and a list of all the challenges he would face. Pan says this gave Julian the opportunity to think seriously about the hurdles ahead.
“The hardest part was the language, speaking English,” smiles the now fluent teenager. “I didn’t understand anything the first half of the year and I couldn’t really talk to other students. But now I can,” says Julian.
While he admits to missing his friends in China, he says he has been fortunate to travel back twice to visit friends and sail.
Pan says Julian now has two homes: Xiamen and Halifax. Three and half years later, both parents are confident their son is happy and has overcome his biggest challenges: language and friends.
“It’s good for children to have a change of life, a chance to move to another place in the world and experience something different,” says Pan.
For now, the active teen mows the lawn to earn pocket money, but wishes it wasn’t so large. And he has plenty of time to be active. When winter’s chill prevents him from being on the water sailing, he keeps busy learning how to snowboard.
“I’m pretty happy here,” he says quietly, “I’ve met friends, some good ones.”