最近，美国小伙Jason刚刚从老家印第安纳波利斯回到杭州。

　　对他来说，回老家过的这个假期特别值得纪念。他第一次成为杭州的文化使者，把杭州的“福”字带到美国，送给了当地人。

　　3月14日上午，我和刚刚回到杭州的Jason一家聊了聊。

　　出生于1986年的Jason是杭州的忠实粉丝。“2012年冬天来到杭州，到现在已经六年多啦！”Jason现在的中文水平，听和说都很流畅。

　　在来杭州之前，他在四川的一个农村参与一个文化交流项目。“当时，我听说‘上有天堂，下有苏杭’。‘天堂’啊，一定要来看看！”Jason第一次来杭州，住在杭州动物园对面的四眼井。“我还记得去萧山机场坐飞机时，坐的车要出西湖景区，路两边都是绿树，哇，真的太美了！”很快，Jason就来到杭州，成为了一名英语外教，还和杭州姑娘陈琳一见钟情，在杭州安了家，有了一个可爱的宝宝。

　　现在的Jason，和妻子一起做自媒体“地球观察”，还是杭州市上城区的一名志愿者。

　　今年1月，Jason参加了杭州的一个新年送福活动，和来自世界各地的志愿者一起，把杭州的“福”带回老家。

　　“过年前我在杭州图书馆发现，有几个书架上的书来自我老家印第安纳波利斯。我这才知道，原来印第安纳波利斯和杭州是友好城市，这些年有很多的文化交流、合作。所以把杭州的‘福’带回去，很有使命感！”

　　2月1日，Jason带着妻儿到了老家，休整了几天，2月4日中国除夕夜那天，就开始了送福行动。

　　“亲戚、朋友、邻居，都非常喜欢这份新年祝福！很多人马上就把福贴到了门上。”Jason和妻子还把“福”字送到了警察局、消防队、超市、餐馆、小学等地。

　　“大家都很开心！我跟他们说，福字代表好运，还告诉他们要把‘福’字倒过来挂，代表‘福到’！”

　　Jason还把“福”字送到了印第安纳州政府，带去来自伙伴城市的新春祝福。

　　在送福的过程中，他们惊喜地发现，当地人对中国文化非常感兴趣。“我们认识了两个小朋友，在当地的国际学校读书，都会讲中文。他们还邀请我们到家里作客，特意穿上唐装与我们开心地合影！”Jason的妻子陈琳说。这两个孩子一个三年级，一个五年级，中文说得很棒，还有很可爱的中文名字：萌博帆、萌博恩。“两个孩子还给我们看了他们每天的中文课作业，字写得很不错哦！”

　　为完成送福任务，Jason非常拼，叫上了妹妹和朋友，驱车10个小时到华盛顿，去了几个景点，给市民游客送福，并拍了视频作纪念。

　　“我们前前后后花了快一个月，送了近一百幅‘福’字。真的没想到，可以把福送得这么远！”Jason说，成为一名文化使者他很自豪，让两个城市的人们更了解彼此、更亲近。

　　今年，Jason打算继续做文化交流的工作。在他的公众号“地球观察”中，他打算用英语教育视频的方式来记录杭州，让更多的中外孩子了解杭州的风土人情，展现杭州的美丽。“做完杭州篇，我们还想走遍中国的各个地方，拍摄视频，记录当地的文化，传播出去。”

　　Jason Gives Away Spring Festival Blessing in Indianapolis and Beyond

Jason is an American living in Hangzhou now. In January 2019, he participated in an international program sponsored by Hangzhou. Internationals living in Hangzhou went back to their home countries to give away 福 printed in golden color on a red piece of paper, which is a traditional Chinese New Year blessing posted on the door of almost all Chinese homes. In Chinese 福, pronounced as fu, refers to happiness, good luck, fortune, safety, health, good job, family harmony. 

Jason is from Indianapolis, an American city. He went home with his Chinese wife and kid in January and came back in March. On the morning of March 14, I had a chat with Jason and his wife, just back in Hangzhou, to find out how they shared 福 with people in Indianapolis.

Born in 1986, Jason loves Hangzhou. He has lived in Hangzhou for about 6 years since he came to the city in the winter of 2012. He speaks Chinese fluently. He first learned about Hangzhou while taking part in a cultural exchange program in rural Sichuan in southwestern China. What he heard was, “In heaven there is paradise and on earth Suzhou and Hangzhou”, a popular saying in Chinese culture. He visited Hangzhou and stayed in a hotel in the scenic West Lake area near a zoo. He remembers seeing the scenic West Lake on his way to the airport and wowing at the beauty of the lake. He decided to come to work in Hangzhou. He found a job for teaching English in Hangzhou, met a girl named Chen Lin and married her. Now they have a child.

Before the Spring Festival this year, he visited Hangzhou Library. After finding there were a few shelves full of books from Indianapolis, he learned to his surprise and joy that Indianapolis and Hangzhou are sister cities. That partly explains his enthusiasm in taking part in the program. He regarded the assignment as a mission.

Jason, Chen Lin and their child reached Indianapolis on February 1. On February 4, the eve of the traditional Chinese New Year, they started giving away the 福 pieces to friends, relatives and neighbors. These people liked the 福 pieces very much. Some of them immediately put one on their doors. Jason also presented some 福 pieces to the offices of Indianapolis government, saying this was a greeting from Hangzhou. Fu pieces were also distributed to the police department, the fire brigade, supermarkets, restaurants and primary schools in Indianapolis.

To their joy, Jason and his wife found that local residents in Indianapolis take a strong interest in Chinese culture. For example, they met two native boys from a family. The two were learning Chinese at an international school in Indianapolis. They had Chinese names and they were able to speak Chinese fluently. The two school children showed the couple their Chinese homework. Their handwritings looked perfect.  

Jason drove ten hours with his sister and a friend all the way to Washington. They gave away 福 pieces at some tourist attractions. Their interaction with local residents and tourists were videotaped.

“It took us about a month to distribute nearly 100 福 pieces. To our own surprise, 福 reached so far out! ” says Jason. As a cultural envoy, Jason feels proud that he did something to bring the people of the two cities closer with more knowledge of each other.

Jason plans to continue his cultural exchange engagement this year. He will upload some video clips to his WeChat account, video clips with English voiceover so that children in Hangzhou and beyond can learn more about Hangzhou. “After we are done with Hangzhou project, we are going to travel around China and make more videos so that local cultures can be broadcast to the world,” says Jason.

　　(Executive Editor: Liu Liu)