PersonalFile
Name： Michael WilliamsChinese Name： DalongNationality： AmericanOccupation： FinanceTime in China： 6 yearsMichael Williams， a young man fromPhoenix， in the United States， claims to have allthe most typical characteristics of a mixed-bloodperson — intelligence， good looks， and evenmore a warm heart. An accidental trip openedthe door to China， hence starting a brilliant life.
He is the subject of this article Dalong.
14 One day in November 2006， I came to interview Michael Williams，the vice president of Lingo Media’s Beijing Office， in his officeon the 11th floor of Dongfang Yinzuo at Dongzhimen.
I knew Michael Williams’ name was Dalong before I came， becauseit was printed on his business card. He is the third foreignerI know who has the Chinese name Dalong. The other two were sonamed because they were born in the year of the Dragon. I wonderedwhether the foreigner I’m going to interview today was also born in theyear of the Dragon. So as soon as I met him， I couldn’t help asking himright away， “Are you called Dalong because you were born in the yearof the Dragon? “No， I was born in the year of the Rabbit，” Michael smiled.
“Why did you call yourself Dalong then?” I continued.
“I like ‘dragon’ becauseI like Li Xiaolong， a famousKungfu movie star known asBruce Lee. So I named myselfafter him. “Do you have a surnamein Chinese? “Yes， Ma. “Ma? Why?” Obviously，it has no relation to his English name Williams.
“Look at me，” Dalong pointed to his face， “I’ve got a long facelike a horse， so I chose Ma as my surname. “You’re very funny，” I smiled. This way of greeting immediatelyremoved the sense of formality and enlivened the atmosphere.
An Accidental Trip to ChinaMichael was born in Germany and migrated to the United Stateswith his parents at the age of nine months. His father is half German，half British， and his mother is half Polish， but both were born in theUS and both are American. Michael smiled and said， “Actually I’m atypical mixed-blood， with multinational blood in my veins. Michael’s home is in Phoenix， Arizona， in the United States，where most of the people are white， and some Mexican， but few Chinese.
He grew up surrounded only by white people. When he was alittle boy， he knew nothing about China. In his own words， “My understandingof China was zero. “What made you want to come to China?” I felt very surprised. Iknow a lot of people who decided to come to China because they hadheard of China， knew something about it， or were curious. But beingabsolutely ignorant of China， what had made Michael travel all theway from his hometown to the remote east — to China?
“I came to China completely by accident. In 1997， during thespring break of my last year in college， I went to Hong Kong withsome of my classmates. That was my first trip to Asia. Hong Kongto me was just like New York in the States — a prosperous city fullof busy working people. Before our trip come to an end， we went toGuangzhou for one day. That day left a very deep impression on me.
I saw many beggars in the railway stations， and the city was dirtyand messy at that time. It gave me a very bad feeling. compared withHong Kong， it was a completely different world. I felt sad for thosepoor people and really wanted to help them and do something forthem. After graduation in 1997， with the help of the Amity Foundation，16 I went to teach English at a normal school in Shandong， in northernChina. With me was another American boy， Robbie， who was one yearyounger than I. He told me once that he used to be a missionary， which remindedme of the main male character of the novel The Thorn Birds. To me， apriest is an occupation， someone who works for the Church. But wherein China was the need to hire a foreign priest? Had he come to Chinajust to be a missionary?
“I’m a Christian， and a missionary， but this wasn’t due to the influenceof my family. Being a missionary is not my profession. I onlyworked in my spare time for the Church in college and spread Christianity.
So after I decided to come to China， the Amity Foundationhelped me find a teaching job in a school， and supplied me with an airticket. The school provided accommodation and paid me 1，000 yuanper month.
One thousand yuan can maintain a normal living standard fora Chinese person. But for a foreigner， this sum doesn’t quite seemenough. “Was that little money enough for your living expenses inChina?” I was a little bit concerned.
“It was enough because I didn’t need to pay for lodging， andmoreover， the school was located in a remote place where there werefew opportunities to spend money. So one thousand yuan was morethan enough for my monthly expenses. Of course it depends on howyou choose to live. I’m an industrious person， never dip into my purse.
Besides food， which cost me about 300 yuan per month， I saved theremaining 700 yuan. I had never imagined he would be so good at housekeeping.
“To tell the truth， I love to travel. I thought that， since I’d alreadymade it to China， I should go to more places and visit various scenicspots. In addition， there are advantages to being a teacher — winterand summer vacations. You can make full use of this time to travel. “Where have you been? “I’ve been to a lot of places… “How did you travel， by plane?” I asked.
“I was making so little money each month， how could I afford totravel by plane? I took a train each time. “Hard sleeper? “No， mostly hard seat. Sometimes it was difficult to get tickets，so I bought standing tickets. I remember once I went to Xi’an by trainand there were no seats left. I stood in the corridor of the carriage.
At that time the carriage was swamped with people and the air wasfilthy. A farmer-looking man standing beside me struck up a conversationwith me by asking me where I was going. Upon hearing that myjourney would be quite long， his expression became very sympathetic.