He Just Feels Like a Canadian
他喜欢作个加拿大人

　　Dennis Raphael was raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., in the same tough neighborhood where the movie "The French Connection," based on a real-life drug-trafficking case, was filmed. He grew up looking over his shoulder.

* look over one's shoulder：shoulder是肩膀的意思，看自己的肩膀是不是要回头啊？所以look over one's shoulder就表示“回头看”的意思。这里指Dennis Raphael回忆幼年时的情景。是“回忆”的意思。

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　　But when he arrived in Toronto in 1973 to attend graduate school, Dr. Raphael was beside himself at the difference in quality of life. He became a Canadian citizen two years ago. "I thought I had died and gone to heaven," he says. "I just couldn't believe a city could be like this; safe. Clean, polite. After I had been up here for two years and received my doctorate, I just didn't want to leave."

* beside oneself：“对自己的感情失去控制”、“极度兴奋”的意思。Raphael觉得加拿大的生活水准比以前在美国强多了，所以每次谈起来会有一种抑制不住的兴奋。

　　 Raphael soon took the plunge and applied to become a permanent resident. Now after more than two decades of living in Canada, he feels more like a Canadian than an American. "I decided to become a Canadian citizen when it reached the point where names like Saskatchewan and Alberta-which initially are very foreign sounding-just start sounding very normal to me," he says.

* take the plunge：plunge是“投”、“跃”的意思，take the plunge则表示“决定冒险一次”的意思。是啊，美国是一个人人向往的国家，离开它当然要踌躇一番、甚至感觉冒险了。 　

　　"After being here a while, you just don't feel American anymore." When Raphael first came to Canada, many young Americans had fled here to avoid the draft and the Vietnam War. He had a medical deferral and was under no pressure, yet Canada held a mystique for him.

* draft：“征兵”、“服兵役”的意思。当时有许多美国年轻人为了逃避服兵役和越南战争，都纷纷逃往加拿大。
* deferral：“推迟”、“延期”。这里指“缓役”， Raphael由于身体原因，推迟服役期。
* mystique：“神秘气氛”、“神秘性”的意思，Raphael去加拿大没有以上的那些目的，在他眼里，加拿大是一个神秘的地方，一定要去探究一番。 　　

　　He married a Canadian and now works as an associate professor at the University of Toronto. What attracts him to Canada? " Americans are concerned with individualism and the pursuit of happiness," he says. "Canadians are concerned with peace, order, and good government. It's very much a ...European approach. I like that." Will he ever return to the US? "I'll never move back," he says, then waffles, saying he might return if he lost his job and was forced to look for work. "To me its inconceivable moving back to the States," he says. "I came up here because I wanted to be up here. This is a great country. I'm staying."

* waffle：“含糊其词”、“躲闪”的意思。这里指Raphael觉得话说的太绝对了，于是再说得委婉一些。
* inconceivable：“不能想象的”、“不可思议的”的意思。