The Video Call Time Zone

Mateo has been dating Rosa for almost a year, but they have never lived in the same city. He works in Toronto, and she moved to Lisbon for a new job last spring. At first, the six-hour time difference felt like a small detail. Now it feels like the reason they keep missing each other.

马特奥和罗莎谈恋爱快一年了，可他们从来没有住在同一座城市。他在多伦多工作，她去年春天为了一份新工作搬到了里斯本。起初，六个小时的时差好像只是个小细节。现在，它却像是他们总是错过彼此的原因。

Their video calls used to happen every evening, right after Mateo finished work. But Rosa's schedule has changed, and her evenings now start hours before his. Last week, he called at his usual time and she didn't answer. He assumed she was busy and didn't think much of it. When she called back the next morning, he was already asleep.

以前，他们每天晚上都会视频通话，就在马特奥下班之后。可是罗莎的安排变了，她的晚上现在比他早开始好几个小时。上个星期，他在平时的时间打过去，她没有接。他以为她在忙，也没太放在心上。第二天早上她回电话的时候，他已经睡着了。

"We keep doing this," Rosa says on Saturday, when they finally catch each other awake. "I feel like we're always a few hours behind." Her voice sounds tired, not angry, and that worries Mateo more than an argument would.

“我们总是这样，”周六，两个人终于都醒着碰上了，罗莎说，“我觉得我们总是差了几个小时。”她的声音听起来很疲惫，并不生气，这比吵一架更让马特奥担心。

"I know," he says. "I've been guessing at your schedule instead of asking what it actually looks like now."

“我知道，”他说，“我一直在猜你的作息，而不是问问你现在的日程到底是什么样。”

They open a shared calendar app while they talk. It's a simple step they never took before. Rosa blocks out the two hours in the evening, her time, when she is reliably free. Mateo does the same for his mornings, before his commute starts. It isn't a perfect overlap, but it's a real one. They mark it in both time zones, so neither of them has to do the math again.

他们一边聊，一边打开了一个共享日历应用。这是个简单的做法，可他们以前从来没有试过。罗莎在她所在的时区里，把晚上确定有空的两个小时标了出来。马特奥也把他上班通勤之前的早晨空了出来。这并不是完美的重叠，但确实是真实的重叠。他们把这段时间同时标注在两个时区里，这样谁都不用再算一遍时差了。

"If we protect this time," Rosa says, "we won't lose each other in the gaps."

“如果我们守住这段时间，”罗莎说，“就不会在空隙里把彼此弄丢了。”

Mateo laughs. "That's a very serious way to describe a calendar reminder."

马特奥笑了。“用这么严肃的话来形容一个日历提醒，真有意思。”

"I'm serious about the reminder," she says, but she's smiling now, and he can hear it.

“我对这个提醒是认真的，”她说，不过她现在在笑，他听得出来。

Before they hang up, Mateo opens the calendar on his phone and adds their new time. He labels it clearly, right where he'll see it every single day.

挂电话之前，马特奥在手机上打开日历，加上了他们的新时间。他把它标得清清楚楚，放在他每天都能看到的地方。