我12岁时开始对学习英语感兴趣。杭州西湖区位于上海西南方向100公里处。
for eight years to a hotel near the city of Hangzhou's West Lake district, about 100 miles southwest of Shanghai. China was opening up, and a lot of foreign tourists went there.
每天早上我都会骑40分钟的自行车，去附近的一家旅馆，8年的时间里，风雨无阻。中国正在不断地开放，许多的外国游客都会来到那里。
I showed them around as a free guide and practiced my English. Those eight years deeply changed me.
我作为他们的免费导游，带领着他们四处游览，同时锻炼了我的口语。
I started to become more globalized than most Chinese. What I learned from my teachers and books was different from what the foreign visitors told me.
那8年彻底改变了我。比起大部分的中国人啕珑更能感受到了全球化的脉搏。我从老师和书本那里学到的与那些外国游客告诉我的完全不同。
The other event that fundamentally changed me was in 1979, when I met a family with two kids from Australia. We met and spent three days together and played Frisbee.
发生在1979年的另外一件事从根本上改变了我。当时我接触了一个来自澳大利亚的家庭，这家有两个孩子。我和他们在一起呆了三天，还和他们玩飞盘游戏。
We became pen pals. In 1985 they invited me to go to Australia for a summer vacation. I went in July, and those 31 days changed my life.
后来我们成了笔友。1985年，他们邀请我到澳大利亚度暑假。我七月份到了澳大利亚，在那儿的31天可以说改变了我的人生。
Since then, I started to think differently.
从那时起，我开始以不同的思维方式来看待问题。
I flunked my exam for university twice before I was accepted by what was considered my city's worst university, Hangzhou Normal University.
在我被杭州师范学院，也就是被认为是那个我所在城市里155最差的大学录取之前，我曾两次在大学入学考试中失利。
I was studying to be a high school English teacher. In my university, I was elected student chairman and later became chairman of the city's Students Federation.
我努力学习，希望能成为一名高中英语教师。在大学期间，我被选为学生会主席。之后，我又成为杭州市高校学生联合会的主席。
注释：
1. globalize v. 全世界化
例句："Both foreign recruits and Korean employees learn from each other, and that helps globalize the company. "
“外国员工和韩国员工都彼此学习着，同时这也帮助者公司全球化。”
2. flunk v.(使)失败;放弃;通不过n. (考试等)失败
例句：About 5 percent of students in the language program flunk out before their freshman year.
语言学院大约5%的学生在他们的一年级课程开始之前退学
3. chairman n.主席;主持人;(公司等的)董事长 v.当(会议等)的主席[议长等]
例句：The committee differed on the question of appointing the next chairman.
委员会在任命下届主席的问题上意见不一。
