I feel lonely sometimes, and the fact that I sometimes feel lonely doesn't mean that there's something wrong with me. Loneliness is a part of life. Of course we don't like to talk about it, but sometimes talking about loneliness is a way of making that feeling go away. 我有時候會感到孤獨 ，但那不表示這種心情下的我有問題 。寂寞是生活的一部分 。 當然， 我們不喜歡談論這件事 ，可是有時候說了， 孤獨感會慢慢消失 。
When do I feel lonely? I feel lonely when I'm excluded from something. Even if the reasons for my exclusion are completely reasonable, I still feel lonely when I'm left out. No, I don't get invited to every party, dinner or informal get-together. Sometimes I'm out of town, sometimes people think I'm out of town, and sometimes people know (or at least think) that I won't like an event, so they don't invite me. 我什麼時候會覺得寂寞 ? 朋友聚會沒請我去。 可能他們有不請我去的理由，可是我一樣覺得寂寞 。 我沒有被邀請參加所有的晚餐和聚會活動， 有時候是因為我在外縣市 ， 有時候是朋友認為我不在，有時候是朋友認為我不會喜歡那個活動，所以他們沒有邀我一起。.
I also feel lonely when I'm in a group of people, and they're excited about something that I'm not interested in. I'll feel their sense of enthusiasm, and I'll want to share it, but I just can't for whatever reason. This makes me feel like an outsider, and this in turn makes me feel lonely. 當我在一個群體中，發現他們感興趣的事物是我沒興趣的，我也會覺得寂寞。 我感覺到他們很興奮 ， 可是我卻因為某些原因沒辦法分享他們的情緒 ， 那讓我覺得自己是局外人， 這也讓我感到寂寞。
I feel lonely when I miss someone, when I reach out to them, and when it's obvious that they don't miss me the way I miss them. I'll want to make that connection, but it's not there. Sometimes we think we're important to other people, and this turns out to not be the case. 想念一個人並跟他聯絡時發現， 他並不像我想念他那樣的想念我，我覺得孤獨 。 我想與他們有連結 ， 可是那種感情已經不在了 。 有時候我們覺得自己對於他人很重要， 後來發現根本不是這樣子 。
Of course to be a foreigner living in Taiwan can be its own kind of loneliness. I'm not immune to this feeling. In some cases it's even worse for me because I've been here so long. I get tired of people speaking to me (and explaining things to me) as if I just arrived in the country. I get tired of people assuming - without attempting to talk to me - that I don't speak Chinese. I get tired of people treating me differently, and asking me the same cross-cultural questions I've been answering for years. Many people would refer to this kind of loneliness as culture shock, but the "shock" part of that term seems to imply that the culture encountered is new to the person being shocked. The culture I'm encountering in Taiwan isn't new to me. I've been living in it for over two decades. 當然，在台灣當外國人有一種獨特的孤獨 。我住在台灣那麼久也沒辦法對這種寂寞免疫， 有時候甚至更嚴重 。 我厭煩別人跟我說話(解釋事情)的態度像我才剛來到台灣 ；厭煩別人自認為我不會講中文(沒有嘗試跟我說話) ；厭煩別人對待我的態度不同於其他人；厭煩多年來問我一樣的文化差異的那種問題。 很多人會稱這種煩惱為 "文化衝擊" ， 可是我對"衝擊"我的文化已經有20多年的經驗了 ， 我覺得這種煩惱也算是一種孤獨 。
Not that Taiwanese people don't get lonely. There's plenty of loneliness on that side as well. Just think of the formerly independent woman who married into a traditional family. Think of the guy past 40 trying to find a wife to please his parents. Think of the kid bullied in the local school, whom everyone views as the crooked nail to be pounded down. There's plenty of loneliness in Taiwanese society, and if people don't show it or express it it's because they find doing so demeaning, or - in some instances - it's a feeling they don't even recognize in themselves. 當然台灣人也會覺得孤獨。 試想獨立自主的女人嫁入傳統的家庭 ； 40多歲的單身漢努力的找讓他父母滿意的新娘 ； 在學校因為與眾不同而被欺凌的小孩 。 台灣社會充斥著寂寞 ， 很多人沒有表現出來， 可能是因為他們覺得很丟臉，或是他們自己的心沒認出來這種情緒。
Much is made of the individualism present in Western culture, but when I look at the Taiwanese people around me I don't see them as any less individual than myself. In my opinion they just don't feel the need to flaunt their individuality, and they're happy to mute this individuality for the sake of a larger group. I think rigidly individualistic, rigidly Western sorts of people could learn something from this attitude, and could draw strength from it. 很多西方人很重視西方文化的個人主義 ，可是我覺得台灣文化一樣有個人主義 ，差別是台灣人不一定每次都把個人表現出來 ， 他們願意為了團隊退讓一步 。 我覺得重視個人主義的西方人可以學這種態度 ， 進而得到力量加強自己的文化 。
But of course at the end of every day we're alone with ourselves, and that selfhood can be a source of loneliness. We can't always be like everybody else, we can't always like the things they like, and we can't always be liked by them. These facts are often a source of loneliness, even while being, in other instances, a source of joy. 我們每天最後面對的就是自己，"面對"這件事就是孤獨的來源 。 我們不能總是跟他人一樣， 不能總是喜歡他們喜歡的事物，也不能總是被他們喜愛。 這些事實常是讓人覺得孤獨的源頭，另一方面，卻也是讓人喜悅的源頭。
Do you ever feel lonely? If you do, please don't think there's something wrong with you. It's a normal feeling. It's part of being alive. And if you feel too lonely you can always do what I do, you can find someone to talk to or, failing that, you can find someone to help. 你有時候會覺得孤獨嗎 ? 如果是的話 ，你應該知道感到寂寞是很正常的。 這是生命的部分， 如果覺得孤獨 ， 可以找人跟你聊天 ， 也可以試著找需要你幫助的人 。
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