Chinese · Episode 1
A Semester on Earth
Spoken by 晓星
Earth feels heavy. Far from her Moon home, Xiaoxing begins a semester in Shanghai—and finds herself missing a roof over the sky.
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我叫晓星，今年十六岁， My name is Xiaoxing, and I'm sixteen this year,
从月亮上的望城来上海留学， I came from Wangcheng on the Moon to study in Shanghai,
一个学期以后就回家。 and I'll go home after one semester.
刚来这几天，同学总问我：“地球上这么重， These first few days, classmates keep asking me: "It's so heavy on Earth,
你走路还习惯吗？” have you gotten used to walking yet?"
还真不习惯。前几天上楼，我停了三次， I really haven't. The first few days going upstairs, I stopped three times,
感觉像背着一袋东西，可明明没带多少东西。 It felt like I was carrying a bag of stuff, but I clearly wasn't carrying much.
我是半机械人，腿里的机器部分能帮我用力。 I'm a cyborg—the machine parts in my legs can help me push.
有它们帮忙，走路就没那么吃力。 With their help, walking isn't so hard.
在月亮上，轻轻一跳就能跳得很高。到了地球， On the Moon, a light hop could send you really high. On Earth,
连上一级台阶，都要多用力。 even climbing one step takes extra effort.
我的身体会按这里的重力慢慢调整， My body will slowly adjust to the gravity here,
让腿里的机器部分多出一点力， having the machine parts in my legs put out a little more force,
不用我每走一步都去管。 so I don't have to manage every single step.
不过这也要时间，我也不能刚下飞船就到处跑。 But that takes time, and I can't go running all over right after getting off the ship.
现在走久了还是累， Walking a long time still tires me out,
只是上楼已经比刚来时容易一点了。 but going upstairs is already a little easier than when I first got here.
同学说：“那等你习惯了， Classmates say, "Once you're used to it,
就能跟我们一起出去玩了。” you can come hang out with us."
我说好，先让我把每天上学这段路走熟。 I said okay—let me get the walk to school every day down first.
上海的人多，声音也多。有时候我抬头找圆顶， Shanghai has so many people, and so much noise. Sometimes I look up for the dome,
才想起来，这里头上就是天。 only to remember that overhead here is just the sky.
我以前最想看蓝天，现在看见了， I used to want to see the blue sky more than anything. Now that I see it,
却还是会找一找家里的那个顶。 I still catch myself looking for the dome back home.
小美想看海，每次打电话都问我去了没有。 Xiaomei wants to see the sea, and every time she calls she asks if I've gone yet.
我还没去，倒是路过一片黄黄的水， I haven't gone yet. I did pass some yellowish water,
没敢拿这个回答她。 but I didn't dare give her that as an answer.
我以后想学造飞船，那些学校还在地球上， I want to study building spaceships later, and those schools are still on Earth,
所以先来这里读一个学期。 so I came here for one semester first.
晚上给家里打电话，妈妈常常还在花园， When I call home at night, Mom is often still in the garden,
哥哥在外面干活，不一定接得上。 and my brother is out working, so I might not get through.
挂了电话再看窗外，没有从小看惯的地球， After I hang up and look out the window, there's no Earth like I grew up seeing,
只有很多灯。 just lots of lights.
也挺好看。等腿不那么累了， It's pretty nice though. Once my legs aren't so tired,
我想再出去走远一点。 I want to go out and walk a little farther.