金发碧眼，笑靥如花，性感迷人。当一群靓丽洋妞从上海虹桥机场走出，立即吸引了过往行人的目光，她们就是东航从美、法、意等国招聘来的洋空姐。近两年因竞争激烈，国内各大航空公司纷纷聘请洋佳丽“助阵”，这些异国女郎的出现，无疑成了中国航班上一道夺目风景线。据说她们拥有惊人的高薪，其中一些洋美眉还做了“中国媳妇”……现在让我们走近这些神秘的“空中洋宝贝”。
　　
　　做个“洋天使”不轻松
　　
　　希尔曼·琳娜是一个身材窈窕的法国女孩，已在东航“飞”了两年上海——巴黎的航线。听她说中文，一点也不用委屈自己的耳朵。琳娜可是科班出身的“中国通”：早在1996年，她就考进巴黎大学东方语言学院中文系，一丝不苟地学完了4年本科。毕业后，她在巴黎的政府机构当过一年中文翻译。
　　2002年，琳娜在巴黎一份报纸上看到了中国东方航空公司招聘洋空姐的消息，兴奋极了，因为中国在她眼里是个遥不可及的神秘国度，她一直想去看看，于是就报了名。由于琳娜中文讲得流利，身材姣好，形象很靓，最终从上千名应聘者中脱颖而出，成了月薪2200美金的东航洋空姐。
　　起初琳娜以为做空姐很神气，收入也蛮高，还能去国外旅游，多棒!然而，上了飞机她才知道空姐的工作有多辛苦。有没有试过在厚厚的地毯上推重达几十公斤的柜子?有没有试过把一整箱饭从烤箱里搬出来?有没有试过数小时内不停地重复“弯腰——下蹲——起立”的动作?几个小时下来，她明明已经选了大一码的工作鞋，脚仍然肿肿地塞满了鞋子。
　　当了空姐就能到处旅游?没门!琳娜说，虽然她每天都随飞机去巴黎，却几个月都挤不出时间回家去看看。从上海飞到巴黎后，除去上下客、打扫、整理食品的时间，中间只有20多分钟休息，刚够坐下来喝杯咖啡。回到上海后，因为早已累得腰酸背痛，也没力气在当地观光。最通常的消遣是窝在宾馆里做脸：因为“高空紫外线辐射强，机舱里又干燥，不注意保养，过几年就老得满脸皱纹了!”
　　比紫外线更难应付的是难缠的乘客。有一些客人在地面受了气，便往洋空姐头上发泄。琳娜刚工作时，遇到过一位日本乘客，拖上机的行李大概被检查过了，衣服都露在箱子外面。他一上机，就说要白开水。琳娜没多想，端来了一杯矿泉水。没想到他突然用英文破口大骂：“傻女人!没耳朵啊你?我要白开水!”琳娜被骂得直发呆，这时一位中国空姐过来劝阻：“先生，公共场合，麻烦你说话客气点!”“骂她怎么了?我还骂你呢!”等到五大三粗的中国机长过来问：“先生，有什么不愉快吗?”这家伙朝他看了一眼，没事人似地用轻松的语气说：“没有啊。你看我像是那种很粗鲁的人吗?”
　　
　　因乘客的素质不同，有时候琳娜对乘客说“请系好您的安全带”，一些乘客却不理不睬，她就要不厌其烦地“背诵”安全常识给客人听；有时机舱内特别吵，一些性格粗犷的俄罗斯乘客甚至在唱歌，琳娜请对方安静下来，他们却狠狠地瞪这洋妞一眼。刚开始，琳娜没少为此抹眼泪。
　　当然，大多数乘客还是对琳娜热情周到的服务直竖大拇指。一些法国乘客则直言不讳地说：“我们在中国飞机上能得到琳娜小姐的服务，感到很亲切，有一种回家的感觉，因为我们彼此没有语言障碍。”尤其是一些不懂英文的法国老人和孩子，更对“本土”空姐出现在身边感到惊喜异常!
　　琳娜和她的洋姐妹还人手一本工作手册，详细记录了中国乘客的习惯和喜好。“比如给欧洲乘客发餐盘时，我们一般只用一只手递，而对中国乘客这样做就不太礼貌了；法国人吃饭喜欢光线柔和、音乐舒缓的餐厅，而中国乘客吃饭时灯光一定要明亮，还要大声说话，所以在向中国客人发餐盒时，我们就把灯光调到最亮。”笔者要来这本小册子，发现里面居然还有“只需礼貌地用一个头部动作来表示问候”、“如果事先知道乘客的身份，最好以一定称谓向乘客问候，如‘张部长’、‘周老师’”之类。据说在泰国航线的工作手册里，“欢迎”就变成了双手合十——对这些不同的细节，她们必须烂熟于心，真是难为这些土生土长的洋小姐了。
　　
　　幽默的美国妞凯瑞
　　
　　“您好，需要我为您做点什么吗……”。一位身材高挑、长相靓丽的金发女郎站在机舱门口，用热情的微笑，给登机的乘客铺一条温馨的路。她那天空一样深邃的碧眼，忽闪忽闪地招呼着乘客，一口甜甜的洋味普通话，如春风扑面而来。女孩主动帮乘客将行李小心地放到机舱内的行李架上，轻柔地扶乘客坐好后，尔后悄悄地离去……机舱内的许多中国乘客，都用好奇的目光打量着这位异国美女。她就是东航的洋空姐凯瑞，一位来自美国芝加哥的23岁洋美眉。
　　
　　因不懂中文，凯瑞被东航挑中后她和她的同伴在上海接受了为期两个月的“突击培训”。第一节中文课，就让上海老师彻底领略了美式幽默：先是一位26岁的美国空姐为自己起了一个令人吃惊的中文名字“小菜菜”；接下来轮到凯瑞起名了，因对“马”字情有独钟，她“闹”着要取名为“马马虎虎”。最后老师强行给她指定了中文名字：“马认真”。
　　凯瑞是一个好学的女孩，上岗后她的口袋里总是装着一个小本子和快译通，对汉语有不理解或吃不准的地方，她就会记在本子上，下来向同事请教。她幽默地说：“中国有句古话叫‘活到老学到老’嘛。”如今，在不懈努力下，凯瑞的中文水平已经很棒了。有一次，她走在上海大街上，身边有两个小伙嘀咕道：“这洋妞长得真性感啊!”“谢谢夸奖，两位也帅呆了!”猝不及防地听到凯瑞来这么一句中文，他们知道遇上了“中国通”，窘迫地落荒而逃。
　　生活中的凯瑞也是个有趣的人。作为洋空姐，凯瑞小姐的确挺有钱，她的富有从“大手笔”的消费上就可以看出。本来她只和东航签订了一年的聘用合同，短短的一年时间，要是中国人，衣食住行就会一切从简将就一下算了，但凯瑞不同，她首先购置了一台立式大空调，然后又买了一台带烘干的高档洗衣机和冰箱，一下花去近3万元。在她看来，洗衣服太费时间，而没有空调就没有好的休息环境，会影响工作，所以，这几样东西必备。不过这位洋妞也有小气的时候，她的“大气”和“小气”形成了强烈反差。机场离住处较远，开始，凯瑞去上班都坐出租车。但在上海打的挺费钱，于是她就每天早起一小时乘公交车。坐了一段时间的公交，她又发现了一个“窍门”：原来中巴上了车得2元，而公共汽车才1元!从此，她便只坐公共汽车。
　　不仅如此，凯瑞竟还从旧货市场“淘”来一辆二手白行车，每逢轮休的日子，就乐滋滋地骑上她的这辆“破马”在大上海四处游逛。登东方明珠电视塔、逛徐家汇……异乡的点滴都很精彩，她一说起这些景点来如数家珍，余味无穷。凯瑞说，她几乎每周都要骑车去城隍庙玩，一边嚼着冰糖葫芦，一边流连在琳琅满目的货品间，此时此刻让她觉得连空气都充盈着中国文化的气息。不过一位月入万多元人民币的洋空姐，竟然选择一辆如此破旧不堪而又不上档次的“坐骑”，不由令凯瑞的中国同事们大跌眼镜!这位洋妞却乐呵呵地说，挺好呀，这辆旧车很便宜，骑着又挺舒服，还能在游览风景的同时强身健体，何乐而不为呢?!
　　
　　“韩国媳妇”眼里的中国
　　
　　今年24岁的韩国美女金仪雯，曾在上海交大中文系留过学。在她心目中，上海是世界上最激动人心的都市：城市面貌日新月异，高楼大厦拔地而起，在每天汇集近200万人仅1公里长的南京路上，不但可以买到各种名牌时装，而且还能买到西藏毛皮以及产自世界各国的华丽手饰。
　　留学期间她在上海认识了许多当地朋友，他们对金仪雯都很好。“在中国旅游时，我发现中国真是太大了，中国人真是太热情了!去乌鲁木齐玩，我和当地的一个维吾尔族女孩交上了朋友，她还邀请我去她家作客……”这一切，都为她选择留在上海、进入东航当空姐埋下了温馨伏笔。
　　
　　成为东航的一名空姐后，她飞翔在中国和韩国之间，感到无比快乐。旅行开始时，韩国乘客往往以为她是中国空姐，频频用汉语或者英语和她打招呼：“嗨!小姐，你好!”当她微笑着用家乡话和他们交流时，客舱里就涌动着阵阵惊喜。每当碰到初次出国远行的韩国老太太、老先生，金仪雯总是特别细心周到地服务，“我有能力为别人做事情，感到很自豪!”
　　旅程结束，许多时候金仪雯都会小心翼翼搀扶着老人走到地面，此时，老人总会不舍地拉着她的手问长问短，说：“我把儿子介绍给你，做我的儿媳好吗?”无疑，他们十分欣赏这位可爱的东航空姐。不过，这位温柔漂亮的韩国美眉早己名花有主了，她的男友是一名帅气的上海白领。说起两人在万米高空上的相识，还缘于一场惊心动魄的“历险”：2002年5月的一天，在一架从汉城返回上海的飞机上，金仪雯和同事正面带微笑地为乘客们服务着。突然，飞机剧烈地摇摆震荡了几下，灯光时隐时现。接着，客舱内哭喊声、惊叫声乱成一片。此时空姐们一齐动员乘客不要惊慌，因为这是受天气突变的影响才出现这种情况，机组人员并且已经联系好备降机场，看来飞机不会有大的问题，但乘客们越劝越乱，许多乘客甚至不听劝阻纷纷拥向了舱门。就在这时，一名年轻男乘客挺身而出，他与空姐一起劝慰大家别慌乱，并刻意用轻松幽默的语调使大家很快安静了下来。“脱险”后，金仪雯不由对这位颇具男儿本色的中国青年产生了好感，通过一段时间的交往，两人的感情迅速升温。如今，金仪雯已成了这位中国小伙的“准未婚妻”。谈起男友，女孩赞不绝口，说上海男人情感细腻，很会关心人，没有韩国男人身上那股霸道的大男子主义。“而且，他还会烧一手好菜呢!”女孩一脸甜蜜地说。
　　由于常年“飞”在蓝天上，根本没有时间和男友卿卿我我，作为空姐的恋人，注定要付出许多。去年的除夕夜，本是万家团聚的时刻，男友却陪金仪雯穿过空荡荡的街道走向机场。因为春节当天的航班需要金仪雯值班。这样的别离他们每年都要经历上百次，而一年中手牵着手体验“最浪漫的事”的时间却不足两星期!金仪雯成为上海人的女友后，每当回到韩国家乡，她都会向身边的人“义务宣传”中国的飞速发展和翻天覆地的变化。有一次，她和男友请一位初到上海的美国朋友吃饭，席间，美国佬怯怯地问：“有一件事可能有点冒犯，不过我还是忍不住想问问。小时候我妈妈每次让我把盘子里的饭吃干净时，总是说人家中国人都吃不饱，你还挑三拣四!是这样吗?”他的话音未落，金仪雯已笑得前仰后翻。美国朋友更加不好意思，赶紧解释说：“我看你们每顿都点这么多菜，每顿都剩这么多。”金仪雯笑着对他说：“你对中国的认识仍停留在穿破棉袄、留大辨子的年代呢!”
　　
　　
　　Foreign Stewardesses Work for Chinese Airlines
　　By Xie Haiyun, Yu Lan
　　
　　They are blondes with winsome smiles. They attract attention of passersby when they walk out of the airport in Shanghai. They are foreign stewardesses working for China Eastern Airlines. It Domestic airlines in recent years have hired foreign stewardesses to work on their international routes. They make the services more attractive.
　　It is said that they receive handsome salaries and some of them even have married Chinese. But how is their work? What their lives are really like? Here are two stories about two foreign stewardesses.
　　Lynne is a French girl who has worked on the Shanghai-Paris line for two years. She speaks Chinese so fluently that you think it is beautiful on your ears. Lynne is a graduate of Chinese language. She studied Chinese for four years at college in Paris and worked as a Chinese translator for a government office in Paris for a year. In 2002, she saw an ad in a newspaper that China Eastern Airlines was recruiting French girls. Excited, she applied and she was hired. She works as a stewardess with a monthly salary of 2,200 dollars.
　　
　　At first Lynne thought she had landed an easy job with a good pay and opportunities to travel overseas. But she was wrong. She needed to push a food cart which weighed dozens of kilograms. She needed to move a heavy box of rice out of the stove. She needed to practice the simplest movement: bend, squat and stand up and repeat the movement for several hours in a row. After a day of hard training, she felt the feet the shoes were tight, though they were one size larger than her usual size.
　　Traveling? Yes, she does fly to Paris almost every day, but she sometimes cannot find time to visit her family in Paris for a few months. When she returns to Shanghai, she is often too fatigued to do sightseeing in the oriental metropolis. Her usual pastime is to stay in the hotel room and take care of her face. The ultraviolet radiation is particularly strong at high altitudes and the cabin is extremely dry. She needs to take care of her face as much as possible or, she believes, it will be full of wrinkles in a few years.
　　
　　But ultraviolet radiation is not the only problem. Some passengers sometimes lose their manners. One day shortly after Lynne started working as a stewardess, she was confronted with a difficult passenger. He was angry probably because his cases had been checked, for when he was aboard, the garments still stuck out from the cases. He said he wanted a cup of plain water. Lynne brought him a bottle of mineral water. The passenger lost his temper and said rude words to her. When a colleague came over to help Lynne, the passenger spat rude words to the colleague too. Finally the captain arrived and asked politely what was going on, the passenger replied most innocently, “Nothing is wrong. Do you think I look like a rude man?”
　　In order to provide better services to Chinese passengers, Lynne reads the service handbook. She learns how to make passengers of different countries feel good. Lynne is popular with French passengers.
　　Carrie, 23, is from Chicago. Chinese passengers feel curious about the tall American girl when they hear her speak Chinese with an accent. She received a two-month crash course in Chinese when she was first hired by the Shanghai Oriental Airliner. The teacher learned about her sense of humor during the very first class. She was particular fond of 马 (horse), and wanted that word to be her surname. And she insisted in calling herself 马马虎虎 （the set phrase literally means, among other things, careless in Chinese）, the teacher finally decided to call her 马认真 （the given name 认真 in Chinese means earnest）.
　　
　　Carrie is a studious language learner. She carries a notebook and a pocket electronic translating gadget in her pocket. Whenever unsure about a Chinese word or a phrase, she will jot it down in her notebook and will ask her colleagues later. Now she speaks Chinese well. One day, she heard two young men whisper behind her that she looked quite sexy. She turned and beamed and replied in Chinese, “Thank you for your compliment; you both are very handsome too.” Taken by surprise, the two young men felt extremely embarrassed and fled.
　　
　　Carrie is well paid and she is a big spender. Though she signed a short one-year contract with the airlines, she decided not to be short of comforts during her stay in Shanghai. She bought an upright air-conditioner and a washing machine with a drying function. The two large appliances cost her nearly 30,000 yuan. Her philosophy is to make her life as comfortable as possible. She does not want to waste time on laundry and she wants to sleep well. But she is most tightfisted with her transportation bill. She went to work by taxi first. Thinking taxi was too costly, she got up one hour earlier and bused to work. But since she found the bus cost her one yuan and the minibus cost her 2 yuan, she has been a happy bus rider.
　　Carrie has a second-hand bike and rides it for sightseeing around the city when she is off work. Among other attractions in the city, the Town God Temple is a must for her almost every weekend. She is fond of eating candied haws on a stick available there. She shops around the market in the temple. Her Chinese colleagues often tease her for her choice of a second-hand bike.
　　
　　(Translated by David)