從歷史上看，澳門從來都是多元文化集中地，自古至今都不乏往來澳門的外地人。很多人選擇來到這片小地，當中的原因可能是為了家庭、工作、觀光、探索不同文化或是純粹途經本地；也有不少人選擇暫時留下來生活，而他們在澳門的生活和對澳門的印象往往不被重視。畢竟，現今社會充滿矛盾，而矛盾的成因就是因為缺乏了解和溝通。
Looking back into the history, Macau is always a multicultural city from a long time ago, foreigners from many countries travelled to Macau for visiting families, careers, sightseeings, cultural-exploration or just passing by. Someone may choose to stay, their life in Macau is a topic which has not been narrated. However, the city is full of contradictions nowadays and it is apparently caused by misunderstanding and lack of communications.
Karen來自菲律賓，出生於陽光與海灘的宿霧市(Cebu)，在甲萬那端(Cabanatuan)完成大學課程後再於馬卡蒂(Makati)的公司中任職客戶服務員。她靠自己能力養大孩子，形容自己是一位很驕傲的單親媽媽，每當她提到兒子時都能看到她驕傲且堅定的眼神，遺憾是不能陪伴在兒子旁看他成長。因為一次際遇，Karen的男朋友提及想來澳工作，Karen便跟他一起來到澳門這片陌生土地尋找更多工作機會。
Karen came from The Philippines, born in a city where beach lovers are excited for — Cebu. She finished her bachelor degree in Cabanatuan and worked for her first job as a Customer Service Representative in a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company in Makati. Karen is a proud single mother who has a 6 yr old son, and whenever she talks about her son, I can see the proud and steadiness through her eyes. Yet, she feels upset for not able to be with him all the time. Almost 3 years ago, her boyfriend found a job in Macau, and she also decided to go abroad taking the chance to find a better job opportunity.
「我真的很幸運」，當我問到她在澳門生活快不快樂時，Karen笑著回應。她一來到澳門，透過轉介公司找到在咖啡店工作的機會，當Karen談及工作的情況時，她的臉上都是流露滿足的表情。她的工作內容跟店中所有本地店員都一樣：咖啡師、煮食、店面服務、清潔。「我在家時連煮餸也不會，都是媽媽在做這些工作。Kenny(僱主之一)教我正確用刀的手勢；Ron(僱主之一)教我沖咖啡。在這裡一邊工作一邊學會很多東西，雖然店裡的同事中我是唯一一位外地人，他們也很熱心跟我溝通、教我很多東西，例如講廣東話。對於學習和嘗試我永遠不會覺得疲累。」除了與同事的相處之外，她說在工作中最開心的事情，就是當看到客人讚賞他們的飲品和食物，單單是一句「這個很好！(This is really good!)」我就能感到開心和滿足。
“I am very lucky,” when I asked her if she is happy to stay in Macau, Karen replied me with a smiling face. “I got a chance to work in a coffeeshop through an agency once I arrived in Macau.” She works like everyone else does in the coffeeshop: making coffee and food, serving and cleaning. “I didn’t cook when I was staying with my family in The Philippines; my mum did it. Kenny(one of the owners of the coffeeshop) taught me how to use a knife correctly, and Ron(the other owner of the coffeeshop) taught me how to brew coffee. I learned a lot from the people who I work with. Even I’m the only foreign worker here; my colleagues are so warm-hearted to teach me everything. I never get tired of learning and trying.” Except sharing the happy moments with colleagues, she mentioned there’s one other thing makes her feeling so cheerful from her work. “When a customer tells me that the food or drink is good, I feel satisfied.”
生活中總會有小小瑕疵，無論是在澳生活的外地人，抑或是在外地生活的澳門人、你和我，日常總會遇上一些令人不愉快的事情。唯一讓Karen感到失落的，是一次她在餐廳中遇到很差的服務態度，同樣從事服務業的她很了解這種狀況是互相不了解所造成。
Not only the foreign workers in Macau, people who are working aboard, you or me. We all have flaws in our life. The barely moment that let Karen down was the bad experience in a restaurant; a waiter has ignored her. As she’s working in a service industry, she knows it would turn up to a bad service, and it is caused by the misunderstanding between people.
「我很喜歡街市」，放假的時候Karen很少外出，多數留在家中看電影和生活在菲律賓的兒子用視頻通話。但她很喜歡去街市買菜，「我去街市時，菜店店主都會『朋友！朋友！』這樣叫我，他們不太會跟我溝通，但他們帶著很好的笑容，有次還看到蔬菜欄上放著用菲律賓文寫的貨品名字。」有時侯這些輕輕不經意的問侯，帶給別人無法想像的溫暖，尤其是對離開家園棲身遠方的人來說。
She prefers to stay at home during the day-off for watching movies, chatting with her son through video calls. She loves to go to the local markets in Macau. “They always call me ‘Paan Yau! Paan Yau!(which means “Friend” in Cantonese)’ They don’t speak English but always show their smiles to me. Some locals in the market know how to speak few Filipino words. They wrote the vegetables, fishes, and meats in Filipino. I felt so amazed and touched because I can see their effort to communicate with us. The impression of Macau people try to talk to us in our language makes me feel somehow I am still at home.” A simple greeting brings people lot of love, especially to someone who’s long way from home.
這個小城還是充滿人情味，當我提及天鴿風災時，那天咖啡店休息，Karen就留在家中。Karen的住所也剛好在重災區的鄰近地方，沒有電力但有水供應，他們讓附近無水的人到住宅裡洗澡和向他們提供熱咖啡。「有一位老伯伯，他用廣東話說很冷，我們邀請了他來我們的家坐。在街上我還看到很多澳門人和不同國藉的人在互相幫忙。」
Macau is still a city with human touches. Karen stayed at home during the typhoon Hato as the coffeeshop closed on that day. She lives nearby the flooding affected area. “Our electric power has broken down, but we still have water supply. So we let people came into our home to take a shower, we provided them hot coffee, an easy one. There’s a senior man said he’s cold in Cantonese, we invited him to our home to take some rest. We saw many Macau residents and foreigners were helping each other on the street.”
只要對別人少一點批判，多一點溝通，要了解別人其實很容易，即使人與人之間有語言隔膜，微笑總是一個很好的解決方案。
Less judgement, more communication. The way we get closer to know each other is easy. Even we have different languages and various cultures. A smile is the best way to deal with it.
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～～～用力點讚 歡迎分享～～～
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“來自《澳門正能量協進會》，網站：http://mpea-plus.org/，
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