[and I have commentary in brackets like these]
小林：爸爸，有朋友请我参加平安夜舞会，今天晚上我就不回家了。
Little Lin [pronounced: Leen]: Baba, my friend invited me to celebrate a Christmas Eve Ball, so tonight I won't becoming home.
[Christmas Eve in China is a KAY-RAZY time. Imagine a carnival on steroids, all up and down the streets. All kinds of street food, balloons, flowers, and one BILLION of your closest friends all jammed together on the streets and sidewalks.]
爸爸：什么？一晚上不回家？这些洋节有什么好？我真是不明白你们这些年轻人。
Baba [means Dad; but I like the 'flavor' of Baba better]: What?! You won't come home tonight? What is good about these foreign holidays? I really don't understand you young people.
[in China the age-gap between generations is enormous. I've heard that every five years is considered a new generation, especially among the younger crowds. Students who graduated five years ago can hardly make sense of college students today, their worldviews and experiences are so far apart.]
小林：我也说不清楚，只要是节我就过，反正就是高兴，可以乘机放松放松。
LL: I'm not too clear about it either, only I like to celebrate these holidays, they're really fun, and I want to seize the chance to relax a little bit!
爸爸：放松？那为什么过春节，中秋节没见你这么高兴？传统节日不也挺热闹吗？
BB: Relax?! Why doesn't celebrating Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival make you happy? Traditional holidays aren't lively enough?
[Spring Festival, usually in February and based on a lunar calendar, and Mid-Autumn Festival, also lunar, are traditional Chinese holidays.]
小林：传统节日也不错，不过，传统节日净讲究“团圆”，全家人在一起不是吃饭就是看电视，没什么意思。
LL: Traditional holidays aren't bad, but, traditional holidays merely focus on "family reunion", getting the whole family together to eat food or watch T.V.
[This is really quite true. When my wife and I visited a friends home for Spring Festival pretty much all we did was eat food and watch T.V. For Spring Festival there is the obligatory house cleaning and a few other small things, but not much else.]
爸爸：什么节你不也一样玩吗？再说，一家人团圆有什么不好？
BB: Are there any holidays that are not equally as fun? Besides, what's so bad about family reunions?
[Family is huge in China. It can be a huge insult to dislike family reunions, not to mention a turning from literally thousands of years of history]
小林：可能洋节更接近年轻人的性格吧，向干什么就干什么，什么规矩都没有，什么情人节，圣诞节，万圣节，都浪漫，都刺激啊！
LL: Maybe foreign holidays are more close to young people's disposition? If we want to do something, we do it, and there's no rules. Valentines Day, Christmas, Halloween, they're all romantic and stimulating!
[Word choice here was a little tricky, the last word in particular. It really literally "stimulating", but I think the idea conveyed is exciting. And, there's a very strong "foreign/Chinese" aspect at play through the whole dialogue, as in Chinese culture in general. The older people defending the traditions and the younger people accepting...well, pretty much anything, and often without much consideration. As he says, if we want to do something, we do it, and there's no rules! I've never heard of a holiday anywhere that had NO rules. Ridiculous!]
爸爸：这倒也是，洋节的过法和传统节日的过法还真不一样，连商场的气氛都不一样。
BB: I see your point. Foreign holiday celebrations and traditional holiday celebrations are very different, even the atmosphere in the markets is different.
[Here Baba is conceding a point, that there is something to those foreign holidays.]
小林：是啊，您在看看报纸，电视，广播，能不吸引人吗？
LL: Yeah! When you read the paper, watch T.V. and listen to radio broadcasts, you can't help but be influenced, can you?
[It is interesting to note that, although the Little Lin is incredibly rebellious throughout the dialogue, he continues to address Baba with the more respectful term, nin 您, rather than the casual ni 你.]
爸爸：热闹是热闹，不过，你知道这些洋节是怎么来的吗？
BB: Excitement is excitement, however, do you know where these foreign holidays come from?
[A little Chinese grammar: the first five characters are an admission of something, agreeing that it's true, but indicating that you have some reservation. You can see it's followed by 'however'... The more direct translation comes out a little wooden, but I thought you might enjoy a little 'Chinese flavor'.]
小林：不知道，我也不想知道，我就想好好玩儿玩儿，还有情人节，母亲节什么的，大家都过，我也凑凑热闹。就好像没有情人也可以过情人节一样，我管它是情人节还是愚人节呢，过节就是给自己找一个快乐的理由。
LL: I don't know. And I don't wanna know! I just want to have fun, and Valentines Day, Mother's Day, etc., I celebrate them all, and join in all the fun! Even if I don't have a girlfriend I can still celebrate Valentines Day. Whether it's Valentines Day, April Fools Day, they all give me a reason to look for happiness!
[Here our little friend shows a little more color. Not only does he not know where the holidays come from, he doesn't care. And we see again, nothing matters but having fun.]
爸爸：其实，咱中国也有情人节啊，还不止一个呢，三月三，七月七不都是吗？我觉得那洋情人节就不怎么样，咱中国活里头“情人”就不是个好词，我还看见，2月14日那天，有个饭店门口竟然立了块牌子，写着“非情人莫入”，也太过分了!
BB: Actually, Our China also has Valentines day, and not only one! March 3rd, July 7th, both are, aren't they? I think that foreign Valentines Day is not even worth talking about. In Our China lives "lover" is not a good word. AND! On February 14th, quite to my surprise, I saw a restaurant with a sign on it's door, that read "No Lover No Enter"! So uncalled for!
[I really got a kick out of translating this one. A few notes:
1. As foreign teachers talking with students, or just when you talk with anyone in English, unless they are pretty good with their English skills, will say Our China, which is a direct translation from the Chinese. It's an aspect of Chinese culture that is a little far removed from "Our American" lives. But it's Chinese culture. They find a healthy sense of identity in the group. So they use the plural.
2. And yes, China does have two Valentines Days. The first one is on March 3rd, the second on July 7th. And the dates aren't random either. In Chinese the months don't have names, they're just in order by number. So March is sanyue 三月, literally Three Month, and July is the same, qiyue 七月, Seven Month. So the date comes out 3.3 and 7.7. Chinese culture is particularly bonkers about numbers. Eight is also a very 'lucky' number. That's why the Beijing Olympics started on 8.8.2008 at 8:08pm. Pretty cool, huh? If you're bored you can learn more about the two different Valentines Days here and here.
3. I made the sign on the restaurant door a little Chinglishy, just because I can see it happening like that. Call it translators prerogative. It's also how the Chinese comes out, very very directly. But it wouldn't sound like that to Chinese ears.
4. "Lover" was also a funny translation. It's not uncommon for students to talk about their 'lover'. It's far far too late to try and correct the issue, though we attempt it from time to time with friends, explaining that 'lover' is usually used when referring to the woman a man or woman is sleeping with other than the man or woman's spouse. Then they go, "OH!!!!!". Yeah. And, one time Emily got an email from someone at the company asking if she could take her 'lover's' passport to the office for something. We got a kick out of that. And, yes, she is my lover, my only lover. Emily and I also thought it was funny that Baba says it's not a good word in China. But people use it here ALL THE TIME. All the time. Though, perhaps not among the older folks. I need to talk with them more, and find out.]
小林：哎呀，您那么认真干吗呀！我倒觉得节是越多越好，传统节咱也过，那是属于咱们全家的，外国节，我也过，那是属于我自己的，您看怎么样啊？
LL: Aiya! Why do you care about this so much?! I admit, celebrations are getting better and better -- traditional holidays we all celebrate, they're for the whole family; foreign holidays I also celebrate, they're for myself. OK?
[Aiya! - a very common expression, usually of exasperation. And more sass from Little Lin. He gives into Baba's pressure to include the traditional holidays in his effort at 'self-expression'. And he ends it with a question that is polite in form, but shows his frustration. It comes out more literally, 'How do you see that?', but it's basically saying, "see, I give in a little, so get off my back!", and he again uses the more polite nin, 您]
I hope you have enjoyed this tour through a Chinese text and culture today. If you have questions, please refer to my Contact Me page on this blog... :p
What textbook is that from? If my books had dialogues like that, I might be a bit more 认真 (diligent) about my study...
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