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這本書主要是想分享給兩種讀者，一種是在做遷移研究的人，另一種是本身即為遷移者，也許您可以參考與閱讀本書。作者稱，本書不是完整的回憶錄，而是把在臺灣居住五十年中，聚焦於描繪出在臺灣大學的學術角色，也是把自己人生最寶貴的歲月做個記錄。本書所要呈現的，不是只有關於移民生活成功的一面，其實在此過程也夾雜了挫折與失意，以及適應上的躑躅與徬徨。
【作者的話】
This book shall not be boring, as I do not write about successes, but was quite candid about my hardships. I encourage the reader to write about yourself, and be a better and happier person when you have finished. I have personally benefitted from a better knowledge of people I wrote about including family members, friends and academics. When I first came to Taiwan, I encountered traditional Chinese values in the family, but I did not succumb to prescribed gender roles like the women of my age, nor let other people define me and obstruct me from pursuing my dreams. The unrelenting support of my husband for me to get a Ph.D was a critical enabling factor in my pursuit of a fruitful university career. I am truly grateful to him for helping me to get through the “storms” of my life in Taiwan.
The two high schools that I attended in Hong Kong were different in their school missions and visions, apart from being government subsidized for one, and church subsidized for the other. HTTS had always been on my mind for the last five decades. The motto of HTTS, “Justice and Truth,” taught me the principle of conducting matters in life. Two years of enrolling in the matriculation class at MCS also affected my life a great deal. Apart from the good Chinese teachers, the American nuns from whom students received a liberal education, were excellent English teachers……The Maryknoll spirit is inherited by their students in being independent, free-thinking, outspoken, and courageous. Their belief that nothing is impossible is demonstrated by their pioneering role in emphasizing gender equality.……Learning to be a better person from my educational experiences in two different high schools has helped me to meet challenges of various kinds later in later-life.
Fifty years ago in Taiwan, girls were discouraged from attending universities, and were expected to earn an income before getting married, to help improve the family economy, and support their younger brothers for their education. They were also expected to play subservient roles in their husband’s family. Patriarchal values may not have totally disappeared today, however, but are more bearable at home and in the workplace. I do believe that this has to do with the women’s movement that not only has sensitized consciousness in both men and women, but socio-economic changes in Taiwan have also shielded women who are better educated, self-reliant, and assertive. As an educated woman and a pioneer feminist scholar who had survived the storms of patriarchy, I could not help looking for the new model.
In this second edition, I have tried to fill in some gaps that were omitted from its predecessor, based on reader feedback. It gave me the opportunity to produce a more candid (坦率) version based on my lived experiences in Hong Kong, U.S. and Taiwan. I do hope that this renewed effort will take my Memoir to the next level. This book does not intend to be simply a personal history, rather, it was written to help shed light on “transitional international migration”, a subject that has been overlooked in literature. In my case, the migration began with my family in Mainland China, ventured to Hong Kong, then to the United States, and re-migrated with my husband to Taiwan. I believe that the physical movements of people should be studied in greater depth and with a wider focus on social and cultural concerns. I hope that my life story might be an inspiration to young people, so that they might choose the more difficult or uncommon road in their lifetimes, that is, to be ‘out there’, physically, not just virtually and to be somehow adventurous. I do hope that their lived experiences will be as exciting and fulfilling as mine have been for me.
這本書主要是想分享給兩種讀者，一種是在做遷移研究的人，另一種是本身即為遷移者的人，也許他們可以參考與閱讀本書。在書中以我自身五十年的經驗，記錄、表達了一個從香港去美國，再來到臺灣的移民心聲。此外，從事香港移民研究的人也不多。政府單位如僑委會與移民局，也都可以參考這本書，從作者的移民經驗來看當今移民的生活。對於那些想要移民的讀者，本書可以提供作為一個過來人的經驗，讓大家一窺移民生活的酸甜苦辣。
來臺的頭三年，也是人生最煎熬的一段時間。我無法忍受臺灣父權興盛的家庭文化而毅然決定暫時「拋家別子」，出國到夏威夷大學再念博士，也花了一段時間，才找回自我價值，不怕再與批評及指責我的長輩互動。藉著充實及知識訓練出無比的毅力，終於擁有獨立的人格，我也勇於在夏大嘗試多元文化的環境，不畏艱難越過求學時代的關卡。由於我個性溫柔善良，獲得很多異國友誼，也認識了幾位已經當母親的亞洲女性出國求學位。當然，我也承受著不輕的罪惡感，以及心酸的求學過程，家人的支持即便需要，更要有自己的決心與堅持。
筆者還記得早期討論職業婦女時，女性常常被問「在婚姻與事業間， 你要選擇哪一個？」我當時的反應是「為什麼這個問題只問女的，而不問男的？為什麼我只能選其中一個？」而如今我已身經百戰、走出陰影，也走出一條自己的路時，如果有人問我，「如果你從頭再來，你還是會走同樣的路嗎？」我會回答說：「會的，因為我做了對的選擇，沒有放棄家庭， 也無需放棄事業。」家庭與事業不是魚與熊掌，那是一個虛構的比喻，我認為只要女性在兩方面都用心，用對了策略，就可以兼得。現代的女性學者若要成功結合她們家庭與工作的雙重角色是沒有問題的。
各界推薦
Lee Chack Fan/ 李焯芬
President, Chu Hai College of Higher Education
Emeritus Professor and Former Vice-President, HKU
Nora is well respected as a diligent and highly productive scholar, and a very able organizer of academic conferences and international scientific exchange programs. Nora reminds me of my late teacher, Professor Jao Tsung-I, who officially retired at the age of 70 but continued his scholarly research studies until he was close to a hundred years old.
John Lidstone
Professor of Geography, Queensland University of Technology
As my own life continues, my reading of Nora’s “Memoir” both educates me on the unfolding of an academic career across the US and Asia vastly different from my own in England and Australia. We started in very different places and although we lived through the same historical period, we operated in vastly different social, cultural, gender, political contexts.
林楨家
國立臺灣大學理學院前副院長
地理環境資源學系教授
在繽紛閃亮的字裡行間，翻山渡海的故事情節中，愈加了解這位學術前輩深受大家敬重的原因。特別是在每個轉折處，感動中不忘問自己，我會用什麼態度？做什麼決定？能像姜老師這樣勇敢與堅韌嗎？
張瓊惠
國立臺灣師範大學英語系教授
田野研究及人物訪查是Nora的學術專長，現在她拿這個本領，把自己家族的移民史仔細探究了一番。……這本書讓她好好地訪談了自己，思考在臺灣五十年來的人生起伏；這本書是Nora與自己的對話，情真意切。
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