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My mother, my sister and I slept in the same bed. My mother was exhausted each night,
我、我妹妹和我母亲睡在同一张床上。每晚母亲都拖着疲惫的身体回家，
but we told one another about our day and listened to the movements of my grandmother around the house.
但是我们互相交流一天的事情，听着旁边房间祖母的动静。
My mother suffered from nightmares, all about the boat. And my job was to stay awake until her nightmares came so I could wake her.
我母亲一直梦魇困扰着，都是关于小船的。我的工作就是保持清醒，在她做恶梦的时候叫醒她。
She opened a computer store, then studied to be a beautician and opened another business.
她开了一家计算机商店，学习美容，将来开一家美容店。
And the women came with their stories about men who could not make the transition, angry and inflexible, and troubled children caught between two worlds.
女人们过来谈论关于男人的故事，他们无法完成过渡，生气，顽固，问题小孩困在两个世界之间。
Grants and sponsors were sought. Centers were established. I lived in parallel worlds.
寻求资金和资助人，建立了中心。我生活在一个平行的世界。
In one, I was the classic Asian student, relentless in the demands that I made on myself.
一方面，我是典型的亚洲学生，对自己特别狠；
In the other, I was enmeshed in lives that were precarious, tragically scarred by violence, drug abuse and isolation.
另一方面，我纠缠于现实的危险，被暴力、毒品泛滥和种族隔离弄得伤痕累累。
But so many over the years were helped. And for that work, when I was a final-year law student, I was chosen as the Young Australian of the Year.
但这么多年来，很多人都得到了帮助。当我曾为法律系毕业生的时候，我被选择作为当年的澳大利亚年轻代表。
And I was catapulted from one piece of the jigsaw to another, and their edges didn't fit.
我直接从一个片段跳到了另一个，没有漂亮的连接。
Tan Le, anonymous Footscray resident, was now Tan Le, refugee and social activist,
Tan Le一名Footscray普通居民，现在是难民，社会积极分子，
invited to speak in venues she had never heard of and into homes whose existence she could never have imagined.
被邀请演讲，去一个从未听说过的，去一个无法想象是否存在的地方。
I didn't know the protocols. I didn't know how to use the cutlery. I didn't know how to talk about wine.
我不知道礼仪，不知道如何用刀具，不会谈论葡萄酒，
I didn't know how to talk about anything. I wanted to retreat to the routines and comfort of life in an unsung suburb --
不会讲话。我想要退回到原来，无名市郊的舒适生活--
a grandmother, a mother and two daughters ending each day as they had for almost 20 years,
祖母、目前和两个女儿过着20多年的平淡生活，
telling one another the story of their day and falling asleep, the three of us still in the same bed.
相互谈论着过去的日子，渐渐入睡，我们三个还在一个床上。
I told my mother I couldn't do it. She reminded me that I was now the same age she had been when we boarded the boat.
我告诉我母亲，我做不到。她提醒我，她带我们乘船出国的时候，正好是我现在的年龄。
"No" had never been an option. "Just do it," she said, "and don't be what you're not."
没有任何选择。“放手去做”，她说 “做真正的自己” 。
