放飞梦想，没有不可能

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I have a band in Beijing, Woodie Alan. The moniker is a joke, reflecting my name and that of my Chinese partner, Woodie Wu, but the group is not. In fact, much to my surprise, I am fronting a pretty happening little band.

我在北京组建了一支乐队，名为Woodie Alan。这个名字是个玩笑（译者注：Woodie Alan与美国知名电影导演伍迪•艾伦(Woody Allen)发音相同。），是我跟我的中国搭档Woodie Wu的名字组合，但我们的乐队可不是玩笑。事实上，我所领衔的是一支很不错的即兴小乐队，这一点连我自己也感到惊讶。

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I never could have pulled this off back home. I owe my success as a gigging musician, however far it goes, to being an expat. Moving here and re-establishing my identity has allowed me to redefine myself, casting off old insecurities and pursuing a reality I always envisioned but didn't quite know how to achieve. In this, I am not alone.

Woodie Alan乐队成员要是在美国，我绝不可能做到这一点。我将自己能成为一名乐手──不管能做到什么地步──归功于背井离乡。移居此地、重新建立自己身份的过程让我重新认识了自己，摆脱了以前的不安全感，追求我一直想像但并不知道该如何实现的生活。在这点上，并非只有我一个人是如此。

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Many people find that expat life allows them to liberate themselves from the accumulated reputation and history that can come to define you. Everyone plays an established role with his or her families and old friends, and moving somewhere new gives you an opportunity to reboot. Expats may also be more willing to give something new a try; after all if you've traded Milwaukee for Beijing, why not try your hand at fronting a band, or running a bar, or riding a motorcycle?

许多人发现海外生活能够把自己从原先的名声和过往中解脱出来，那些东西可能会束缚你。每个人在自己的家庭和老朋友中间都扮演着固定的角色，而移居新地可以让你有机会过新的生活。移居外国的人也会更愿意尝试新事物；毕竟如果你都从密尔沃基搬到了北京，那干嘛不试试去当个乐队领唱，或是开间酒吧，抑或骑骑摩托车？

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Woodie Alan plays regularly at The Stone Boat, inside Ritan Park, within one of the city's Embassy districts. The little bar is actually a stone boat and sits on a lake with a small stage extending over the water and tables spread along the banks, a surprisingly serene, pastoral setting right in the middle of downtown Beijing.

Woodie Alan乐队定期在北京使馆区日坛公园内的“石舫”酒吧(The Stone Boat)演出。这个小酒吧其实就是一条石舫，位于湖中，小小的舞台伸展到水面上，桌子则散布在岸边。地处北京市区中心地带，这里却是一幅难得的幽静田园风光。

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American expat Jonathan Ansfield and his wife run the Stone Boat. Jonathan is a journalist and blogger, contributing to Newsweek and other publications and Web sites. Now he is also a bar proprietor and a small-scale Beijing music impresario, booking performers for free shows three nights a week during the warmer months.

经营石舫酒吧的是来自美国的乔纳森•安斯菲尔德(Jonathan Ansfield )和他的妻子。乔纳森是新闻记者和博客作者，为《新闻周刊》(Newsweek)及其他出版物和网站撰稿。现在他又经营酒吧，同时还是一位小型音乐制作人。天气暖和的时候，他每周预约表演者进行三个晚上的免费演出。

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'It's an out of body experience -- certainly nothing I ever did or would have done had I stayed in America,' he says. 'I've always loved music and spent a lot of time going to clubs and seeing bands in college, but I can't see how I ever would have ended up booking bands had I stayed in the U.S. But I've been into the Beijing music scene since I got here [over 10 years ago] so it's something I really enjoy.'

“这真是意想不到的经历──在美国，我从来没有也绝对不会做这样的事，”乔纳森说。“我一直爱好音乐，大学时经常去酒吧、看乐队表演，但如果我留在美国，绝不会有自己去预约乐队的一天。可自从我（十多年前）来到这里，我就进入了北京的音乐圈，我真的很开心。”

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It's manifestly easier to realize some goals here than it would be in the U.S. American Jonathan Anderson, now an analyst for the investment bank UBS, fronted blues bands in Moscow in the early '90s and in Beijing at the end of that decade. In this city he co-founded the Rhythm Dogs with some of the city's finest musicians, including key members of the Cui Jian Band, China's first significant rockers.

在这里显然比在美国更容易实现某些目标。美国人乔纳森•安德森(Jonathan Anderson)现在是瑞士银行(UBS)的分析师，上世纪90年代早期和晚期他分别在莫斯科和北京担任乐队领唱。在北京，他与几位才华出众的音乐人共同组建了“节奏之犬”(Rhythm Dogs)乐队，其中包括中国首批出色的摇滚乐手──崔健乐队中的主力成员。

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'I'm a mediocre harmonica player and a worse guitarist but I had my pick of incredible musicians,' says Mr. Anderson. 'With some vision, drive and hard work, anything was possible. It was like living out a fantasy. The quality of the guys I played with was head and shoulders above what I could have rated at home. It was like walking in and gigging with Led Zeppelin and that just doesn't happen in a more developed market.'

“我只是个马马虎虎的口琴演奏者和不怎么样的吉他手，但我挑选出了一群令人赞叹的音乐人，”安德森说。“只要有眼力、有干劲并付出努力，就没有不可能的事。这一切就好像梦想成真。我的这些搭档，他们的演奏水平远远超出我在美国时的想像。简直就像轻轻松松地与齐柏林飞艇(Led Zeppelin)一起演奏，这即便是在音乐发展更为成熟的地方，也不是件容易的事。”

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Kaiser Kuo has a similar story. He moved to Beijing in 1988, formed the hard rock band Tang Dynasty in 1989, put out an album in 1990 and was touring all over the country by 1991. After returning to the University of Arizona to pursue a doctorate in East Asian Studies, Mr. Kuo found himself daydreaming about Chinese rock stardom and eventually quit school to return to Beijing. He rejoined Tang Dynasty and was soon performing in 35,000-seat stadiums. Now overseeing digital strategy for Ogilvy and Mather's Beijing office, Mr. Kuo still performs regularly with his band Chunqiu
郭怡广也有类似的经历。他1988年来到北京，次年参与成立了“唐朝”乐队，并于1990年发行了专辑，之后到1991年期间都在全国巡回演出。当郭怡广回到亚利桑那大学(University of Arizona)攻读东亚研究专业的博士学位后，他感到自己仍然朝思暮想着中国的摇滚乐同伴们，于是退学回到北京重新加入唐朝，不久后他就和乐队在一座能容纳3.5万名观众的大型体育场登台演出了。郭怡广现担任奥美集团(Ogilvy and Mather)驻北京的数字战略总监，并且现在仍然定期参加他组建的“春秋”乐队演出。

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'I can sit in a guitar store in the U.S. and hear 10 guys who smoke me in just an hour but here I am,' says Mr. Kuo. 'For me, this could only have happened in China.'

郭怡广称：“在美国一个吉他店里，一小时内能听到10个人提起我的名字，但我还是回到了中国；只有在中国才能成就我的今天。”