One day I saw this sticker in a WeChat group and it made me realize that this is what China is all about and that it’s why I’ve been attracted to China in the first place. In my life it has become my personal philosophy and I express it in many ways.
有一天，我在微信群里看到這個表情，頓感它概括了我在中國的生活，也是我當初向往中國的原因。“要堅強”已經成為我的座右銘，我經歷的許多事情都印證了這句話。
People in China know me as 劉藍地, but my name in my native English is Randy Alexander. I am a conductor and composer from the American midwest city of Cincinnati, Ohio. Growing up I didn’t have much exposure to Chinese things; my biggest impression of China was from a 1970’s TV show called Kung Fu. The main character was a half-Chinese Shaolin monk who wandered around the American old west. He was quiet, calm, and intelligent – a wonderful role model. It wasn’t until I attended an arts high school that I actually met Chinese people. Later I became good friends with some while studying at conservatory (1985-1989). But the real China was still a mystery to me.
我叫 Randy Alexander，在中國，人們叫我劉藍地。我是一名指揮家和作曲家，來自美國俄亥俄州中西部城市辛辛那提。我成長過程中，接觸的中國元素并不多，印象最深刻的是 1970?年代的一部中國電視劇《功夫》。主角是具有一半中國血統(tǒng)的少林僧人，他在美國舊西部闖蕩。他沉著冷靜，聰明睿智，是少林僧人的榜樣。高中我選擇讀藝校，那時我才真正認識中國人。后來我在音樂學院學習時（1985-1989 年）交了一些中國朋友。但中國到底是怎樣的，對我來說仍然是個謎。
In 1993, when I was in grad school my father called me and said he was invited to give medical lectures in China and had an extra ticket. I had no idea what was in store, but whatever it was it was sure to be interesting! China at that time was far behind the US technologically, so it was like a trip back in time, but the people (and the food!) were amazing. That two week trip planted a strong seed in my heart.
1993 年，還在讀研的我接到父親電話，電話中說他受邀去中國做醫(yī)學講座，而且還多出一張機票。中國就像盲盒，不知道里面有什么，但不管怎樣，一定非常好玩！當時中國的科技水平遠遠落后于美國，所以那趟旅行就像回到過去，但中國人和中國美食真是太棒了！那趟中國之旅雖然只有短短兩周，卻在我心中埋下了一顆蓬勃的種子。
In 1999 I got married to a Chinese woman and had my first kid while working on Wall Street. Things were going well until 9/11.?
1999 年，我和一個中國女人結婚，有了第一個孩子，當時我在華爾街工作。一切都那么順利，直到 9/11 打破了以往的安寧。
?I was lucky not to be at work that day. And there was no full time work there after that at all. Being unemployed I spent more time doing things I love doing: raising my son, writing music, and studying languages. Since I had married a native Chinese speaker, I started seriously studying Chinese. But since there wasn’t much income, I suggested moving to China where the economy is on the rise.
我很幸運，那天沒有去上班。從那以后，我就沒有正經的全職工作了。失業(yè)后，更多時間花在了我喜歡的事情上：陪伴兒子、寫音樂、學語言。因為我妻子的母語是中文，所以我開始認真學習中文。為了提高收入，我希望搬到經濟蒸蒸日上的中國。
We moved to her icy hometown, Jilin, had another son, and opened an English training school. There wasn’t much going on there culturally so somehow I got interested in the local history, which involved studying the Manchu language. Here is a Manchu 對聯 I wrote:
我們搬到了妻子的家鄉(xiāng)——冰天雪地的吉林市。來中國后，我們又生了一個兒子，還開辦了一所英語培訓學校。當地的文化活動較少，我又對當地的歷史感興趣，所以開始學習滿語。這是我寫的一副滿語對聯：
But Jilin is pretty far away from the capital, so sometimes people can go astray morally. One morning I was on my way to work and my already cramped parking lot was filled with a large group of shady-looking men getting ready to go to a wedding. They made it very difficult for me to slowly get my car out and then one of them apparently thought it was funny to open his door just at the moment I was backing out, and I very lightly touched it, doing absolutely no damage. Then they all started picking a fight and I found myself against eleven people. The good thing is that the police dealt with it well and put three of them in jail.
但吉林市畢竟不是長春，不道德的行為偶爾會發(fā)生。有一天早上，我準備出門上班，已經很擁堵的停車場里擠滿了一大伙看起來不好惹的人，準備去參加一場婚禮。我只能慢慢把車挪出來，就在我倒車的那一刻，旁邊一輛車里的人突然打開車門，兩車刮碰到了一起，但完全沒有損壞，然后他們 11 個人開始圍毆我。好在警察及時處理，把其中三個人送進了監(jiān)獄。
?After eight years of harsh Jilin I moved to Xiamen to get away from the cold and focus on raising my two boys. My wife and I decided to separate (things weren’t going so well anyway) and she stayed in Jilin for a year and then moved to New York.
在嚴酷的吉林生活了 8 年之后，我搬到了廈門，因為我受不了嚴寒的環(huán)境，而且想專心撫養(yǎng)兩個兒子。我和妻子決定分開（因為關系不好），她在吉林待了一年，然后回到了紐約。
It was the best time of my life, my boys and I studied together, ate together, and hiked all over. I taught them to be frugal and inquisitive, and any question they had about anything I either answered directly or researched. It was a paradise.
那是我人生中最美好的時光，我和兒子一起學習，一起吃飯，一起旅行。我教育他們要節(jié)儉，要保持好奇心，他們有任何問題，我都會回答他們，或者一起研究。那時我簡直過著天堂般的生活。
?After three years my wife decided suddenly to visit us. She said that she wanted to get back together. At that time my visa was about to expire, which required me to make a trip to Changchun where her hukou is. With all the correct documents I expected I could get the visa renewed by myself, so I went there alone, but just in case they needed to come later, I gave her the boys’ passports. I got there and called them frequently, but on the third day all their phones were off. I couldn’t reach them all day and couldn’t imagine what happened. Did they go on a day trip and somehow got in an accident? I was panic-stricken.
三年過去了，我的妻子突然決定來看看我們，想和我重歸于好。當時我的簽證即將到期，我需要去一趟她的戶口所在地長春。準備好所有文件，我獨自去長春續(xù)簽，為了讓他們不用再跑一趟，我把孩子們的護照交給妻子保管。我到長春后，經常給他們打電話。可是第三天，他們的手機都關機了，一整天都聯系不上，我想象不到發(fā)生了什么。他們是不是去了一日游，然后發(fā)生了意外？我頓時驚慌失措。Three days later I got a message from my wife saying that she thought that the kids should grow up in the US and so she took them there. It turned out that she told them that my visa was denied and that I was deported to New York!
三天后，我收到妻子的信息，說她認為孩子們應該在美國成長，所以她把孩子們帶到了美國。妻子告訴他們，我的簽證被拒，不得不回到紐約！
I didn’t know what I should do; my life was swept out from under me. My kids were my purpose. I decided the only thing I could do was to go to New York and find them and try to reason with the unreasonable. I reminded her that she said she wanted to be together. She said she wouldn’t go back to China but that we could live anywhere in the US. My mother had just gotten married and had an empty house that we could live in, so we moved there. After ten months of the kids begging her to go back to China, she eventually gave in and we moved back to Xiamen. Two years later she moved out and we divorced amicably. I continued to raise the boys. She stayed in Xiamen (after all it’s the best city in China!) and sees the boys about once a week. I will be married again soon.?
我不知所措，生活將我掃地出門。我想要回孩子，唯一能做的就是去紐約找他們，試圖與不講理的人講道理。我提醒妻子，是她說想一起生活的。妻子說她不會回中國，我們可以在美國的任何地方定居。我的母親剛剛結婚，空出一棟房子，我們住了進去。孩子們求她回中國，十個月后，她終于妥協了，我們搬回了廈門。兩年后，她搬走了，我們和平離婚。我繼續(xù)撫養(yǎng)孩子。她留在廈門（畢竟那是中國最好的城市?。?，每周見一次孩子。我很快就會再婚。
Now that my sons are grown up I have been focusing on my specialty (music), and studying languages a lot. Recently I’ve been studying Literary Chinese (文言文) and Manchu. A couple days ago I celebrated my 20 year anniversary in China! Life is indeed beautiful, but you have to keep yourself strong!
現在兒子們都已長大，我一直專注于我的特長（音樂），時常學習語言。最近我在學習文言文和滿語。幾天前，我隆重慶祝了我來華 20?周年紀念日。生活確實美好，但你必須保持堅強！
困苦成就勇士，勇士造就盛世!
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