人生不设限·移民美国行不通
My mum and dad were both born into strong Christian families in the part of Yugoslavia now known as Serbia. Their families immigrated separately to Australia while they were young because of Communist repression. Their parents were Apostolic Christians, and their faith included conscientious objection to bearing arms. The Communists discriminated against them and persecuted them for their beliefs. They had to hold services in secret. They suffered financially because they refused to join the Communist Party, which controlled every aspect of life. When my father was young, he often went hungry for that reason.
“二战”后，我父母的家族都加入当时成千上万塞尔维亚基督徒的海外移民行动，移民地点包括澳大利亚、美国和加拿大等。我父母的家庭决定移民到澳大利亚，好让儿孙拥有信仰自由;家族其他成员则移民到美国和加拿大，因此我在这些国家也有许多亲戚。
Both sets of my grandparents joined many thousands of Serbian Christians who immigrated to Australia and also to the United States and Canada after World War II. My parents' families moved to Australia, where they and their children could be free to practice their Christian beliefs. Other members of their families moved to the United States and Canada around the same time, so I have many relatives in those countries too.
我的父母在墨尔本的某个教会相遇。我妈妈，杜许卡，当时是护校的二年级学生;我爸爸，鲍里斯，则从事管理与会计工作，在正职之外，他后来成为一位带职牧师[3]。在我差不多7岁时，父母考量到装设义肢和照顾行动不便的我的医疗需求，决定移民美国。
My parents met in a Melbourne church. My mum, Dushka, was in her second year of nursing school at the Royal Children's Hospital in Victoria. My dad, Boris, worked in office administration and cost accounting. He later became a lay pastor in addition to his job. When I was about seven years old, my parents began considering a move to the United States because they felt there might be better access to new prosthetics and medical care to help us deal with my disabilities.
我叔叔贝塔·胡哲在靠近洛杉矶的阿格拉丘经营营造及物业管理公司，贝塔叔叔常跟我爸爸说，只要爸爸能取得工作签证，他就可以给他一份工作。洛杉矶附近有一个很大的塞尔维亚裔基督徒社区，社区里有几个教会，对我父母来说，这里的确很有吸引力。虽然爸爸知道申请工作签证是个冗长的过程，但他还是决定申请，同时我们也举家北迁到昆士兰的布里斯班，因为那里的气候对我比较好——除了身体有一堆问题，我还有过敏的毛病。
My uncle Batta Vujicic had a construction and property management business in Agoura Hills just 35 miles outside Los Angeles. Batta always told my father he'd give him a job if he could obtain a work visa. There was a large community of Serbian Christians with several churches around Los Angeles, which also appealed to my parents. My father learned that obtaining a work visa was a long, drawn-out process. He decided to apply, but in the meantime my family moved a thousand miles north to Brisbane, Queensland, where the climate was better for me, as I had allergies along with my other challenges.
差不多在我10岁、小学四年级的时候，移民美国的时机成熟了，因为父母认为弟弟亚伦、妹妹蜜雪儿和我的年龄应该可以融入美国的学校体系。我们在昆士兰等待爸爸的三年工作签证核发下来，等了18个月，我们终于起程了。
I was approaching ten years old and in my fourth year of elementary school when everything finally fell into place for a move to the United States. My parents felt that my younger siblings—my brother Aaron and sister Michelle—and I were at a good age for assimilating into the United States school system. We waited in Queensland for over eighteen months for Dad's three-year work visa to be arranged, finally moving in 1994.
不幸的是，在加州的生活不算顺利，理由有几个。离开澳大利亚时，我已经开始上六年级，而在洛杉矶郊区的新学校学生很多，他们只能安排我进入高级班，这个班级所上的课程跟正规班不同，而且很难。我一直是个好学生，但到了美国之后，我得费好大的劲儿去适应学习上的变化。因为学校课程不同，我在加州算是进度落后的，所以追赶得非常辛苦。上了初中，不同的科目还要换不同教室上课，跟澳大利亚不一样，这也增加了我适应上的难度。
Unfortunately, the move to California did not work out for several reasons. When we left Australia, I had already started sixth grade. My new school in Agoura Hills was very crowded. They could only get me into advanced classes, which was difficult enough, but in addition the curriculums were very different. I'd always been a good student, but I struggled to adapt to the change. Due to different school calendars, I was literally behind before I even started my classes in California. I had a difficult time catching up. The junior high I attended also required students to change classrooms for each subject, which was unlike Australia and added to the challenges of my adjustment.
我们搬去跟贝塔叔叔、丽塔婶婶和他们的六个小孩一起住，尽管他们在阿格拉丘的房子很大，生活空间还是十分拥挤的。我们打算尽快有个自己的家，不过美国的房价比澳大利亚贵多了。爸爸在贝塔叔叔的公司工作，妈妈则没有继续当护士，因为她并未取得加州的护士执照，而她之所以没去申请，是因为她认为应该花更多时间帮助我们适应新学校和新环境。
We'd moved in with my uncle Batta, his wife Rita, and their six children, which made for a pretty crowded house even though they had a large home in Agoura Hills. We had planned to move into our own home as soon as possible, but home prices were much higher than in Australia. My father worked for Batta's real estate management company. My mother did not continue her nursing career because her first priority was to get us settled into our new schools and environment, and so she had not applied to become licensed to practice nursing in California.
与贝塔叔叔一家人生活三个月之后，父母觉得移民美国不大行得通。我在学校过得很辛苦，要安排我的健康保险也有困难，而为了照顾我们，妈妈得当个全职主妇，但加州的生活费用很高，靠爸爸的一份薪水很难过日子。另外，我们也担心可能无法取得美国的永久居留权。有个律师说，我的健康状况可能会增加取得居留权的难度，因为怀疑我们家不能应付庞大的医疗支出和照护费用。
After three months of living with Uncle Batta's family, my parents concluded that the move to the United States just wasn't working out. I was struggling in school, and my parents had difficulty arranging for my health insurance and overall handling the high cost of living in California. There were also concerns that we might never be able to secure permanent residency in the United States. A lawyer advised my family that my health challenges might make it more difficult to win approval because of possible doubts about my family's ability to keep up with medical costs and other expenses related to my disabilities.
在众多考量之下，在美国仅仅生活了四个月后，父母就决定搬回布里斯班了，他们甚至在之前住的同一条巷子里找到房子，所以搬回来之后，我们几个小孩可以回到原来的学校和朋友圈里。爸爸在“科技与未来教育学院”教资讯与管理，妈妈则将她的生命奉献给了我们三兄妹，不过主要还是我。
With so many factors weighing on them, my parents decided to move back to Brisbane after only four months in the United States. They actually found a house in the same cul-de-sac where we'd lived before the move, so all of us kids could return to our same schools and friends. My dad went back to teaching computing and management in the College of Technical and Further Education. My mum devoted her life to my brother and sister and, mostly, me.
