When I was 9, we packed up our home in Los Angeles and arrived at Heathrow, London on a gray January morning. Everyone in the family settled quickly into the city except me. Without my beloved beaches and endless blue-sky days, I felt at a loss and out of place. Until I made a discovery.
我9岁的时候，我们收拾好洛杉矶的家，在一月一个灰蒙蒙的早晨抵达伦敦希思罗机场。除了我，家里的每个人都很快适应了这座城市。这里没有我心爱的海滩和无尽的蓝天，我感到不知所措，格格不入，直到我有了一次发现。
Southbank, at an eastern bend in the Thames, is the center of British skateboarding, where the continuous crashing of skateboards left your head ringing. I loved it. I soon made friends with the local skaters. We spoke our own language. And my favorite: Safe. Safe meant cool. It meant hello. It meant don't worry about it. Once, when trying a certain trick on the beam, I fell onto the stones, damaging a nerve in my hand, and Toby came over, helping me up: Safe, man. Safe. A few minutes later, when I landed the trick, my friends beat their boards loud, shouting: “ Safe! Safe! Safe!” And that's what mattered—landing tricks, being a good skater.
南岸位于泰晤士河的一处东部弯道，是英国滑板运动的中心，滑板的不断撞击让你的脑袋嗡嗡作响。我喜欢滑板，很快就和当地的滑板运动员交上了朋友，我们说自己的语言。还有我最喜欢的：安全。安全意味着很酷，友好，不用担心。有一次，当你在横杆上尝试某个技巧时，我摔倒在石头上，伤了我手上的一根神经，托比走过来，扶我起来：安全，伙计。安全。几分钟后，当我落地时，我的朋友们大声拍打着他们的滑板，大喊：“安全！安全！安全！”这就是成为一名优秀的滑板运动员，落地技巧的重要性。
When I was 15, my family moved to Washington. I tried skateboarding there, but the locals were far less welcoming. Within a couple of years, I'd given it up.
我15岁时，全家搬到了华盛顿。我试着在那里玩滑板，但当地人没那么欢迎我。不到几年，我就放弃了。
When I returned to London in 2004, I found myself wandering down to Southbank, spending hours there. I've traveled back several times since, most recently this past spring. The day was cold but clear: tourists and Londoners stopped to watch the skaters. Weaving among the kids who rushed by on their boards, I found my way to the beam. Then a rail—thin teenager, in a baggy white T—shirt, skidded up to the beam. He sat next to me. He seemed not to notice the man next to him. But soon I caught a few of his glances. “I was a local here 20 years ago,” I told him. Then, slowly, he began to nod his head. “Safe, man. Safe.”
2004年，当我回到伦敦时，我在南岸闲逛，在那里呆了几个小时。从那以后，我回去了好几次，最近一次是在刚刚过去的春天。天气寒冷但晴朗：游客和伦敦人停下来观看滑板比赛。我在踩着滑板匆匆滑行的孩子们中间穿梭，找到了通往横杆的路。然后，一个身材瘦削的少年，穿着宽松的白色T恤，滑过了横杆。他坐在我旁边，似乎没有注意到旁边的我。但很快他瞅了我几眼。“20年前，我是一名当地人，”我告诉他。然后，慢慢地，他开始点头。“安全，伙计。安全。”
“Yeah,” I said. “Safe.”
我说：“是的，安全。”
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