爱华网The FirstDay of Middle School By PattyHansen
中学第一天
Mystomach tied in knots, and I could feel the sweat soaking throughmy T-shirt. My hands were clammy as I spun the face of mycombination lock. I tried and tried to remember the numbers, andevery time I thought I had it, the lock wouldn't open. Around andaround went the numbers, left, right, right, left...which way wasit supposed to go? I couldn't make it work. I gave up and startedto run down the hallway. As I ran, the hall seemed to get longerand longer...the door I trying to reach was farther away than whenI had started. I began to sweat even worse, then I could feel thetears forming. I was late, late, late for my first class on myfirst day of middle school. As I ran, people were watching me andthey were laughing...laughing...laughing...then the bell rang! Inmy dream, it was the school bell. But as I sat up in bed, Irealized that it was my alarm clock jarring me awake.
我的肚子饿扁了，我能感觉得到汗水浸透了我的圆领衫。我用汗湿的手拨动储物柜的密码锁，努力地试图想起密码，虽然每次我都以为这次的密码是对的，但就是打不开锁。我一遍又一遍地拨动着号码，左，右，右，左…到底该往哪边拨动？我只好放弃了，看来我是不可能打开锁了，我只好沿着过道跑去上课。但是我跑呀跑，过道却显得越来越长…我想进的那扇门离我开始跑的地方太远了。我的汗越流越多，然后我开始掉眼泪了。我开学第一天的第一堂课就迟到了，还不是一般的迟。在我跑动的时候，大家都看着我大笑，哈哈…哈哈，然后铃声响起。在我的梦境中，那是上课铃声响了。但是被惊醒的我发现自己其实是坐在床上，我才意识到那只是我的闹钟发出的刺耳响声。
Iwas having the dream again. I started having the dream around theend of the sixth grade, and as the start of seventh grade grewcloser, the more I had the dream. This time the dream was even morereal, because today was the first day of seventh grade.
Inmy heart, I knew I never would make it. Everything was toodifferent. School, friends - even my own body.
我又开始做这个梦了。我第一次做这个梦大概是在6年级结束的时候，随着7年级开学的日子越来越近，我就经常做这个梦。这次的梦境甚至更真实了，因为今天就是7年级的开学第一天。我十分确定，我知道自己肯定熬不过去。每件事情——学校，朋友们，甚至我的身体都大不同了。
Iwas used to walking to school, and now I had to walk six blocks tothe bus stop so that I could take the bus to and from school. Ihated buses. They made me carsick from the jiggling and the smellof the fuel.
我以前一直是走着去上学，现在我必须步行6个街区到公交车站，坐公交车去上学，然后坐车回来。我讨厌坐公交车。车上的颠簸摇晃和燃料的气味使我晕车。
Ihad to get up for school earlier than in the past, partly becauseof having to be bussed to school and partly because I had to takebetter care of myself now that I was in my preteen years. My momtold me I would have to shower every morning since my hormones werekicking in - that's why I perspired so easily.
我现在必须得早起去上学，第一，是因为要搭乘公交车；第二，是因为我现在接近青春期了，我必须要加倍照顾好自己。我妈妈要我每天早上都洗一个澡，因为我身上的荷尔蒙猛增——这就是我容易出汗的原因。
Iwas totally uncomfortable with my body. My feet didn't want torespond to my own directions, and I tripped a lot. I constantly hada sprained ankle, wet armpits and things stuck in my braces. I feltawkward, smelly, insecure and like I had bad breath on a full-timebasis.
我对我的身体极不适应。我的脚有时并不听大脑指挥，我经常被绊倒、扭伤膝盖、腋窝出汗并且有东西粘在我的牙箍上。我觉得自己动作笨拙，身体有臭味而且缺乏自信心，就好像我全天候都患有口臭一样。
Inmiddle school, I would have to learn the rules and personalities ofsix different teachers instead of just one. There would bedifferent kids in all my classes, kids I didn't even know. I hadnever made friends very easily, and now I would have to start allover again.
在中学里，我必须要去了解6个不同教师的规矩和个性，以前我只需要了解一个。在我所有的课堂上会出现不同的甚至完全不认识的学生。交朋友对我来说从来都不容易，而现在我必须要从头来过。
Iwould have to run to my locker between classes, remembering mycombination, open it, put in the books from the last class and takeout different books...and make it to the next class all within fiveminutes!
我必须要在课间跑到储物柜，记得我的开柜密码，打开柜子，将手中的课本放进去，再拿出不同的课本来…而且还要在5分钟内赶到下节课的教室！
Iwas also scared because of some stories I had heard about the firstday of middle school, like being canned by the eighth-graders.That's when a bunch of eighth-graders pick you up and put you in atrash can. I had also heard that when eighth-grade girls catch anew seventh-grader in the girls' bathroom alone, they smear herwith lipstick. Neither one of these first-day activities soundedlike something I wanted to take part in.
我还害怕其它的事，因为我听到过一些有关中学开学第一天的故事，例如被8年级的学生塞进桶里。一队8年级的学生找你麻烦，把你塞进一个垃圾桶。我还听说过8年级的女孩子们在女洗手间抓住一个新入学的7年级生，用口红在她身上涂。所有的这些“开学活动”可不是我想参加的。
Noone had ever told me that growing up was going to be so hard, soscary, so unwelcome, so...unexpected. I was the oldest kid in myfamily - in fact, in my entire neighborhood - and no one had beenthere before me, to help lead me through the challenges of middleschool.
从来没有人告诉过我，长大会是如此的烦恼，如此的令人害怕，如此的讨厌，如此的…不可预知。我是家里最大的孩子——实际上，是我整个社区内最大的——而且除了我以外，没有人在那个学校上过学，所以也没人来帮助和引导我解决上中学所带来的难题。
Iwas on my own.
我得靠我自己。
Thefirst day of school was almost everything I feared. I didn'tremember my combination. I wrote the combination on my hand, but myhand was so sweaty it came off. I was late to every class. I didn'thave enough time to finish my lunch; I had just sat down to eatwhen the bell rang to go back to class. I almost choked on mypeanut butter and jelly sandwich as I ran down the dreaded hallway.The classrooms and the teachers were a blur. I wasn't sure whatteacher went with which subject and they had all assignedhomework...on the very first day of school! I couldn't believeit.
开学的第一天是我最感到害怕的。我甚至不记得储物柜的密码。我把密码写在手上，但是手出汗太多，字迹看不到了。我上所有的课都迟到了。我甚至没有足够的时间吃完午餐，当我坐下刚准备吃饭时，上课铃响了。在我跑过令人恐惧的过道时，几乎被花生酱和果冻三明治给噎住了。教室和教师看起来都很模糊。我都不记得课堂上讲的是哪个科目，是哪个教师在讲课，反正他们都布置了家庭作业…在开学的第一天！我真不敢相信。
Butthe first day wasn't like my dream in another way. In my dream, allthe other kids had it together and I was the only one who was thenerd. In real life, I wasn't the only one who was late for classes.Everyone else was late, too. No one could remember theircombination either, except Ted Milliken, the kid who carried abriefcase to school. After most of the kids realized that everyoneelse was going through the same thing they were going through, weall started cracking up. We were bumping into each other in ourrush to get to the next class, and books were flying everywhere. Noone got canned or smeared - at least no one I knew. I still didn'tgo into the girls' bathroom alone, just in case. Yeah, there waslaughter in the hallway, but most of it was the laughter of kidssharing a common experience: complete hysteria!
但在，另一方面，开学第一天也不并像我梦境中一样。在我的梦里，所有其他的学生都处事有条有理，而我是唯一的呆子。但在现实生活中，我并不是唯一上课迟到的学生，其他孩子也迟到了。他们也记不住储物柜的密码，除了特德，他带了一个公文包来上课。在大多数孩子了解到原来每个人都有相同的经历后，我们突然大笑起来。我们在赶着上下一堂课时撞到了一起，课本散落一地。没有人被塞进垃圾桶或被涂口红——至少我认识的人没有。但我还是不敢独自去女洗手间，以防万一。是的，我们在过道中大声欢笑，但其中大部分的笑声是学生们分享着同样经历的欢笑：完全笑翻了！
Asthe weeks went by, it became easier and easier. Pretty soon I couldtwirl my combination without even looking at it. I hung posters inmy locker, and finally felt like I was at home. I learned all myteacher's names and decided who I liked the best. Friendships fromelementary school were renewed and made stronger, and new friendswere made. I learned how to change into a gym suit in front ofother girls. It never felt comfortable, but I did it - just likeeveryone else did. I don't think any of us felt verycomfortable.
一个星期过去了，学校的生活变得越来越顺手，很快地，我就不用看也能转动储物柜的密码。我将几张海报帖在储物柜里，终于感觉就像在家里一样。我记住了所有教师的名字，并且选出了自己最喜欢的一个。与小学同学的友情重新得到了加深，又结交了一些新朋友。我学会了怎么在其它女孩子面前换上运动服。从来都不是很习惯，但是我做到了——就像其他人一样。我认为大家都不怎么习惯。
Istill didn't like the bus; it did make me carsick. I even threw upon the bus once. (At least it was on the way home, not on the wayto school.) I went to dances and parties, and I started to wonderwhat it would feel like to be kissed by a boy. The school had tracktryouts, and I made the team and learned how to jump the lowhurdles. I got pretty good at it, too.
我还是不喜欢公交车，它确实使我晕车。有一次，我甚至吐在了公交车上。（幸好是在回家的途中，而不是上学的途中。）我参加了舞会和派对，而且我开始寻思着被一个男孩吻是什么感觉。学校有一个田径选拔赛，我通过选拔加入了田径队，学习障碍跨栏的技巧。我在田径队里也表现得非常好。
First semesterturned into second, and then third. Before I knew it, eighth gradewas just around the corner. I had made it through.
从第一个学期到第二个学期，然后是第三个学期。不知不觉中，8年级就快结束了。我安危无恙地过关了。
Nextyear, on the first day of school, I would be watching the newseventh-graders sweating it out just like I did - just likeeveryone does. I decided that I would feel sorry for them...butonly for the FIRST day of seventh grade. After that, it's abreeze.
下一年，在开学第一天，我肯定会看到新入学的7年级生胆战心惊地来上学，就像我以前一样——就像所有学生一样。我同情他们…但是只是在第7年级的第一天。只要那天一过关，其它就是小菜一碟。
